Chipboard Flower Book - made a bit easier....

The burn on my hand is somewhat better but it was slow going today - sorry it took so long but here is "part one" of the project I have been working on.



These chipboard albums have shown up recently in the dollar bins at Michael's - they may be available in other stores too. They are made by Colorbok. I have a hard time resisting items in dollar bins, so of course I picked some up.

I got them home and thought - now how do I cover these with pretty paper? I think sometimes people adhere paper that is close to the correct size and then trim at the edges - but that sounded like a lot of work to do for every album.

I decided to invest some time and effort in making a cut file to fit these particular albums - it did take a long time to do, but now I can quickly and easily cut nearly perfectly sized patterned and cardstock papers to cover the books.



First, I needed some pretty paper - something young and happy! I just picked up this 8 x 8 stack on sale this weekend for $2.99 and thought the papers would work nicely.



Above is the selection of papers I chose - I had some DCWV textured cardstock on hand in colors that coordinated so I decided to make the book with one side patterned and one side solid.



Here you can see another colorway from the same stack - I may try this next.



I measured carefully and started arranging the small circles around a larger circle. I did this using individual elements and placing them in fixed positions. It took several test cuts on "ugly" paper, but finally I got a result I was happy with.



I set up the file to cut the shape in the center of an 8 x 8 paper on the Expression. The flower is a bit too large to fit on the baby bug mat - the design would extend into the "uncuttable" area.



I thought the offcuts could be used for page frames or layouts on larger 12 x 12 pages.



Here are my ten cuts ready to adhere to the chipboard (this was the sneak preview photo yesterday).



I figured out a order for the patterned papers on the fronts...



and the solid colors on the backs,



I used binder clips to temporarily keep the correct pairs together.



I had read about "Zip Dry" glue and that it was recommended for adhering paper to chipboard books by others who make these regularly. I bought some a while ago (when I had a 50% coupon and everything else was on sale!) and found it in my stash so I was ready to assemble the book.



The directions said to apply the adhesive in a thin bead along the edges - here you can see my first attempt. The glue dries quickly so you need to work fast. I aligned the cut paper on the shape - you have a bit of time to slide it into position if you are a slightly off center with your placement. Remember - the books could have a bit of variation in size and the calibration of your machine may also make slight differences in the exact fit.



I wanted to be sure the paper was well adhered so I also used my brayer to help stick the paper down smoothly.



Once the paper is adhered to one side you need to remember to punch the hole before the second side totally covers it.



I used my Crop-a-dile - the 3/16th size seems perfect for this particular book (you can use a regular hand held office hole puncher - just try to find the matching size).



When you cover the opposite side of the book you will be able to see the hole and punch again to get the hole smooth on each side.

Below are the completed pages of the album - front....



...and back.



The edges of the pages show the chipboard and the layers of paper on either side. You could leave these like this but I wanted to try for a more "finished" look.



To smooth the edges and apply ink I used some tools from the beauty supply store - a sanding block (I assume it is meant to be used for nails) and some makeup sponges.



Below you can see the plain edge...



and the edge after inking. It is tricky to get into the deep indents between petals.



I wasn't sure about the inking - I haven't done much of this - and I decided to experiment with different colors.



Here are the five inks I tried - I kept a sponge for each color so I can use these again for another project.



The first color I tried was a dark brown - it is tricky to get the controlled smudgy look for the edges but I thought this wasn't too bad for a first try.



Here you can see the patterned paper on the opposite side after inking.



I tried different colors on the various pages - I think the darker colors work better for the edges but I need to be more careful so the pages look a bit neater.



Above you can see the five solid pages after inking and below are the patterned pages after inking.



These albums are held together with a plain office supply ring - rather boring....



So I looked through my ribbons for colors that would coordinate with the papers.



I tried to find a variety of styles and colors.



I tied the ribbons around the ring in a random order. Above you can see the back side of the album pages and below is a photo of the front side.



The albums are fairly uniform but you may find that a page is slightly "off" - minor adjustments can be made after adhering the paper by using the sanding block on the edges before inking.



I could have left well enough alone with the fixed file since the album comes in just the one size - but I got to thinking.... wouldn't it be nice to use the the same shape to decorate the book. Also, it would be nice to be able to copy and paste the design and to move it around on the mat to cut the most shapes with the least waste.

So, I spent some time reworking the file to make it adjustable (keeping all of the elements in the same selection box). It is frustrating to do this - the process of nudging all of the pieces into place takes quite a while and you lose the ability to place elements in precise, mathematically determined positions by entering values in the Shape Properties box.

I have done several tutorials about how to make adjustable designs and they can be found by checking the labels in the side column. In the file I went ahead and added a page for each inch increment to save you a bit of time. You may notice that the values in the Shape Properties box are not exact inch sizes. I kept the various cuts in the exact proportion of the original six inch one that fits the album.



Here is my test cut of the concentric shapes still on the mat.



Above, you can see the cuts after the outer offcut was removed and below with some of the individual shapes removed..



These can be used to frame the pages or a smaller photo or sentiment on one of the pages.



You can even use these shapes for some other project.

If you are cutting just the full pages to cover the book you will probably want to copy and paste the shape from the first page of the file and place it on the 12 x 12 paper in a position which enables you to add a second cut on the same 12 x 12 page. Unfortunately, you will only be able to cut two per sheet of paper but you will be able to use the coordinating offcuts to decorate the book.



Tomorrow I will post some more photos and a surprising idea for some additional cuts to use in this book as you embellish it.

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