A Place to Sketch

I’ve been clipping sketches from magazines, printing them from the internet, and sketching my own over the years and I have amassed a large collection of bits and pieces of papers with sketches on them. I’ve seen sketch books made from Composition books but I wanted something totally customized to me. Enter the Bind It All!

I posted a link to a sketch book design by Kinsey Wilson as one of my “Little Somethin' links” a couple weeks backs. On her blog, she had links to templates but I could not get them to open on my computer. She made her book using the Bind It All (yay!) but I wanted something a bit smaller that could fit easily into my tool tote to take to crops. I also wanted to have some sketches for double layouts so I started my project by designing blank sketch pages on the computer.

I set the margins to ½” on all sides but left about an inch on the bottom so that I had room to punch my binding holes. The pages are printed on 8.5×11 paper and then cut in half to create 8.5 x 5×5 pages. This is a nice size for taking in a crop bag, I think! I printed all the pages on both sides, creating single 12×12 sketch blanks on one side and double layout sketch blanks on the other side of each page.

After I printed and cut all the inner pages, I cut some blank pages to put in the back so I have a spot to glue sketches I’ve printed or cut from mags. You can put divider pages in if you want – I put one to separate sketches I make from the ones I printed or cut out.

Cut one Zutter Chipboard Cover down to 8.75×11.5. Then cut it in half to make two 8.75×5.75 covers. Cover with paper, then punch binding holes on the 5.75” side. Put the book in order with a cover, inner pages, and then a cover. Lay the back cover on the front cover so the outsides of the covers are facing each other. Insert binding wires and bind with the Bind It All. The rule of thumb for choosing wires for your project is to choose a wire with a diameter ¼” larger than your project is thick. Since I plan to glue things to the inside of my book, which will make it thicker over time, I am using an O-wire with ½” bigger diameter than my book is thick right now. After the book is bound, add a title and decorate! You can also use the Round It All to round the corners so they don’t get bent up while the book is stowed in your tote bag.

Supplies:

O-Wires, Chipboard Cover, Round It All – Zutter

Paper – The Paper Company, October Afternoon

Stickers – American Crafts, Making Memories, 7 Gypsies

Stamp –

Diecuts – October Afternoon, K&Company

Ink – Close to My Heart, Colorbox

Ribbon & Seam Binging — Offray, May Arts, Making Memories

Now I am off to have Sunday Dinner with the family. Happy Creating!

Author: Jennifer Priest

It started with jewelry, beading, sewing, home decor, painting, basket weaving, pottery, and cross-stitch. Marry that to an entrepreneurial spirit & at 9 years old a girl is selling her wares at craft fairs as far as her parents and grandparents would drive her. These days, Jennifer enjoys crafts of all genres from sewing to scrapbooking to jewelry with a little dabbling in the mixed media world. Her style is approachable and she wants everyone who sees her work to feel that they too can embrace creativity and make their home and life beautiful.