How to easily make a single signature bound mini-album from card blanks

For my Creativity magazine try out I had to make one project using the docrafts Papermania Home to Nest A4 Ultimate Die-cut & Paper Pack I been given to craft with (trial cards I made with this pack are here and here). I was free to choose any kind of project, the only requirement was that it be 100% docrafts products. I love docrafts, but unfortunately they're not easy for me to find in France so I didn't have as much product to choose from as I'd have liked. Still, I was quite pleased with how it turned out. The above is the album front.

I took three card blanks and made a single signature bound album. This is the side view. Since written instructions had to accompany my project, I thought I'd post those, too, just scroll down.

If you've never made a stitch bound book or album this might sound complicated, but it is super easy to do. This is how it looks in the center,

The next time you'd like to make a mini, but don't have the supports, take some card blanks and stitch one up!

Introduction

If you have three card blanks lying around, a needle and some twine, you have the basics needed to make a ten page stitch bound mini-album or journal.  To alleviate strain on the binding, the decorated pages of these types of bound albums and journals need to stay relatively flat.

Top Tips

For a decorative bow binding on the outside of the journal, start sewing from the outside.

Substitute fussy cut decorative border stamps for bulkier ribbon.

Instructions

1. Unfold three 6 x 6" card blanks and nest them together. Secure the right and left sides with binder clips. With a ruler measure from the bottom edge and make a pencil mark in the fold at 1 ½", 3" and 4 ½". Poke holes at these marks (I used a 1/16" eyelet setter).

2. Thread a large eye needle with baker's twine. Sew into the middle inside hole. From the outside sew into the top hole. Skip the middle hole making one long inside stitch to the bottom hole and sew into it. Sew into the middle outside hole, to return to the inside. Tie a square knot around the long inside stitch to secure and trim excess twine. You will have two neat stitches on the outside binding and what looks like two stitches on the inside with the knot in the center. Remove binder clips. The album edges may be just a tad uneven. You can leave as is or trim slightly, one page at a time, to even up.

3. On solid light blue paper, stamp the ruler from Papermania Urban Stamps Trim Borders set twice, stamp the lace trim stamp twice. Using the Daisy palm punch, punch three daisies.  Fussy cut the rulers and one of the lace trims. Punch three daisies from the widest parts of the remaining lace trim stamp. Glue the stamped daisies to the solid blue daisies. Glue a pearl in the center of each daisy. Punch three leaves from pale green solid paper with the Hawthorn leaf embossing punch. Set aside.

4. Cut twelve kraft paper squares measuring 14.7cms square each.

5. Front and back covers – Cut two 14.2cm squares from the light blue bird paper. With the running stitch stamp from the Trim Borders set stamp a sewing border on the edges of each square. Glue the fussy cut ruler to the bottom of one square and the fussy cut lace trim to the other. Use the two decoupage bases shown as toppers, gluing each to kraft paper and trimming a small 2mm border. Glue a topper to each square. Cut two pieces of 30cm Bexley Black ribbon. Center and glue 7cms of ribbon to the front cover right edge and to the back cover left edge. Glue the decorated kraft paper squares to the front and back covers. Glue the flowers and leaves in the cover image's left corner. Cut the Enjoy word from a tag die-cut, glue to kraft paper, cut a small border and glue to the cover image just beneath the flowers. Fluff the petals of the flowers slightly for volume.

6. Inner pages – Each of the inner pages are decorated with a kraft square, a 14.2cm decorative paper square and a die-cut with small 2mm kraft border. You can follow the paper and die-cut choices shown here or decide on your own. The Home to Nest paper pack is so versatile anything you choose is sure to look lovely. Glue square decorative pages to kraft squares. Glue die-cuts to kraft paper and cut small borders. Glue die-cuts to page squares. Some pages have a self-adhesive Daisy Chain border. The third page has the second fussy cut ruler. Page five has seed packets fussy cut from a die-cut and added to the topper.  Smaller die-cuts are used as embellishment throughout. Note – if you have trimmed your album pages under #2, before gluing in the album you may have to trim the kraft paper squares just a bit; the album holes must be kept clear for the album pages to turn easily.

7. Final page – Take one of the die-cut boxes and trim the tops and sides to make a pocket, glue to kraft paper and cut a small border. Embellish with a round die-cut and choose a variety of die-cut tags to go in the pocket.

Shopping List

Artiste

Pigment Ink Pad Black (DOA 550105)

Papermania

Home To Nest A4 Ultimate Die-cut & Paper Pack (PMA 169051)

6 x 6" Cards/Envelopes White (PMA 151603)

6 x 6" Kraftstax Paper (PMA 160602)

Adhesive Pearls White (PMA 351425)

Capsule Collection

Spots & Stripes Brights Baker's Twine (PMA 171203)

Capsule Ribbon Bexley Black (PMA 367123)

Capsule Daisy Chains Bexley Black (PMA 181123)

Urban Stamps

Trim Borders (PMA 907192)

Xcut

Large Palm Punch - Daisy (XCU 261809)

Botancial Embossing Punch  - Hawthorn Leaf (XCU 2702405)

Other

Binder Clips

Mini-Albums & Journals, Tutorials