Mini in an Hour




I created this not-so-mini 6×12 book about our road trip to Arizona last summer — I plan to give it to my sister once I am finished using it as a sample ;) Those of you who have taken a class with me know that I don't like minis. It's only because of storage and the fact that I don't really know how to reconcile having a scrapbook page AND a mini of the same event. However, for gifts, they are perfect! And I do enjoying making minis, its the keeping of them I don't like I suppose ;)

This mini can be made in just about an hour. Here's the steps:

Create A Base:
I like to use 5-6 pieces of 6×12 chipboard. For each piece of 6×12, you'll need one sheet of 12×12 patterned paper to cover. You can also cut the chipboard down to other sizes like 4×6, 6×6, 6×8, and 6×9.

For this book I used:

  • 3 pieces of 6×12 chipboard
  • 3 pieces of 12×12 patterned paper
  • 6×9 chipboard
  • 6×6 acrylic pages x 2 — from Zutter
  • 2/3 sheet of patterned paper (to cover both sides of the 6×9 chipboard)
  • 3 pieces of 4×6 chipboard
  • scrap paper to decorate 4×6 chipboard
  • 1 sheet of Donna Salazar's ARTISTIC PAPER

Cover the 4×6 chipboards with Artistic Paper cut down to 4×6 and with photos. If your photos are digital prints like mine (5.3″ wide, not 6″ wide) then use a scrap of patterned paper to cover that last little bit of chipboard on each page.
Prep Time: 10-15 minutes

Decorate The Base:
Inking, painting, and misting are all things you want to do before you bind the book–doing them afterwards can result in pages getting stuck together or the wet medium getting on things where you didn't want it. I painted all the edges of my chipboard with a beige paint to bring in the colors from my photos and then I misted it all with a couple colors of spray ink. After the pages are dry, you're ready to bind.
Prep time: 10 minutes

Bind with the Bind It All:
I love the Bind It All! No, they do not pay me to say that ;) I could use binder rings but I always seem to reach for my Bind It All when making books.

So, what makes the Bind It All more attractive to me over other binding options?

  • Compact–the Bind It All stores easily and it has a small footprint. I can leaveit out on my table while I am crafting and it won't be in my way. Also, since it is compact, I can store it within easy reach of my scrap table.
  • Versatile — You can choose the size of your book, you can easily mix pages of different materials and sizes, and you can choose how much o-wire to use to make your book stable. With Binder Rings you'd need about 6 – 8 of them to bind this same book. And then you'd have to figure out how to line up the holes–yikes!
  • Economical — I can use as much or as little binding wire as I want–I decide how many loops to use. And I can really get alot of bang for my buck–just one length of o-wire costs about $1 retail (for the large sizes, small sizes are under $1 each) and I can easily 3-4 books out of one wire. For this book I am using one length of o-wire but that is for stability since I am using a variety of page sizes.

Start with the largest pages, 6×12 in this case. Set the Bind It All on the C Setting (for use with books that measure in 1/2″ or full inch increments i.e. 6″, 6.5″, 7″ and so on).

Punch the top and the bottom of each 6×12 page on C. Then use the peg on the black stop guide tab to insert into the holes you've punched (for proper spacing) so you can fill in the middle with binding holes.

Inner pages that are various sizes (like mine) are a little tricky but here are some tips!

For the top 4×6 page, insert it into the Bind It All so the top of the page butts up against the stop guide tab (on C Setting).

For the bottom 4×6 page in it into the Bind It All so the bottom of the page butts up against the stop guide tab (on C Setting).

For the middle 4×6 page punch on C setting then punch on extra hole on the top and one extra hole on the bottom using the peg on the black stop guide tab to insert into the holes you've punched (for proper spacing).

For the 6×9 and 6×6 pages, punch them the same was as the middle 4×6 page.

Stack your pages in the following order:

  1. Back Cover (inside facing up)
  2. Front Cover (outside facing up)
  3. 6×6 page
  4. 6×9 page
  5. 6×6 page
  6. 6×12 page
  7. 4×6 pages

Thread the o-wires through the pages from the bottom. Then close using the Bind It All Machine. I used 1″ Antique Brass O-Wires on my project. Flip the back cover back to the back of the book.
Prep time: 15 minutes


Decorate!
Add journaling, photos, ribbons, and embellishments to your pages as desired. To easily mat my photos, I cut the Donna Salazar Artistic Paper into the 4×6 journaling cards that are printed on the paper, following the outline of the cards. If you have a Dreamkuts machine you can run the paper through there to get a perfect cut. Ink the edges of the journaling cards and apply them to the page perpendicular to your photo orientation. For example, if my photo is landscape (horizontal) then I placed the journaling card in a portrait orientation (vertically) on the page. This way a piece of the journaling card peeks out from behind the photo for an instant journaling spot.

An easy way to decorate your O-Wires is to tie ribbons, tulle, and trims to just 2-3 of the wires at the top of the book.

Cut titles with a diecutting machine. Use the same font throughout the book for a unified look. If you used an electronic diecutting machine to cut your titles, use the same font in a Word processing program to create extra journaling or subtitles. I used Honey Script (free at dafont.com) for the titles and subtitles in this mini book.
Prep time: 15 minutes

Here are some of the inner pages of my book, ready for my sister to add journaling:




Hope this inspires you to make some minis. Really you can create this whole book in about an hour — you don't need to spend days on a project and whoever you give it to will appreciate the love you put into it, even if it did only take an hour ;)

Happy Scrapping!

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.

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2 thoughts on “Mini in an Hour

  1. gorgeous as always. I find that Minis allow me to scrap guilt free, I do minis of recent events or things I want to do. Sometimes I use the same pics in my albums but most of the time not…

    Posted on March 19, 2010 at 8:47 pm
  2. 1) You came to AZ and did not come see me?
    2) Holbrook? what? why Holbrook? lol
    Love Riorabbit from sb.com

    Posted on April 12, 2010 at 6:56 am