a binding twist showcases ART in Memory File fashion
Happy Friday! this week, I LOVED the inspiration served up by 2 of my Media Team members: Jennifer Evans and Kim Jeffress. Both ladies are teachers by profession and moms to cute little boys! As we discussed this challenge, of HOW do you manage, save, choose, store, showcase these precious little masterpieces…I think that it was more than just a project for a blog post… it was something that we all just really wanted to create, something that we really need a solution for!
I like to think of this project as ‘pre-scrapping’. Much like a plug and play, a turn-key situation, this project is ready to capture the little art pieces as they are created. Every mom has a different approach to collecting and saving, sorting and storing the bits they want to keep –my approach has been less proactive for my oldest 3 kiddos, so now that I have these last 2, I just want to hang on to their sweet little drawings and their handwriting… today I want to show you what I have created for miss Capri. I have been thinking about this project for a couple of weeks—I wanted it to be full of pockets, and places to tuck pages into. Because of the size that most of her artwork comes home, the memory files house them perfectly! I knew that this would be a FULL book, so I started out with one of the chipboard files.
I covered the outside of the book with a combo of the Sugar Chic Fabulous paper and Vintage Chic textbook…I ripped a page from the Sugar Chic ‘fotoflip’ book and used some Color Magic letter and glitter letters from Pink Paislee. BE SURE to crease the chipboard file on the 2 score lines to open it up to ¾”.
Before you can bind it up… you have to create the inside pages. For a project like this, you have to imagine how you would choose to add stuff in.
Here are some of my tricks:
- I started with a ‘divider’ made from ½ of a file folder. I stole her ‘title page’ art from her magnet board, and added a few pics from the first day of school. This section has about ten 8 ½ x 11 white cardstock papers that I intend to just adhere art to.
2. I think it will be nice to simply TUCK papers in loosely so they can be handled… for this page, I took a 12×12 piece of Vintage Chic paper, cut it down to 11” tall, and folded it over 4”. I used 2 paper scraps folded over the top and bottom to secure the side pocket.
3. I love those metal paper fasteners that you get from an office supply store, and I thought that would be a great way to harness several papers! So, I cut a piece of Sugar Chic Sparkle paper to the back of the side pocket paper, and sandwiched the paper fastener in between. Love that!
5. I tried another version of a side pocket, this time using a 4” piece of Bazzill plastic paper sewed along the right side. Love the CLEAR! The Color Magic paper is great for a divider page because it’s such heavy, thick paper.
6. This second folder has more photo sleeve and clear page protectors as compartments to slide in art and keepsakes. I sewed a baseball card sleeve to the front, and how fun will it be to have a mix of photos and drawings tucked in here!
7. By sliding a 12×12 sheet protector over the back of the folder, it created a clear sleeve on the front and back again, allowing me to tuck papers underneath. Multiple pages can be tucked in here.
10. Binding:
It’s no secret that I LOVE my binding machines! I have both the We R Memory Keepers Cinch and the Zutter Bind-it-All, and I love both of them. If you get to know them, (the machines) I think they both work great. I used the Cinch for this project…it’s so smooth!
Take a look in your own book shelf, and find a book that has a coil binding inside a chipboard book cover. This is the concept that I knew would be perfect! I could use a regular file folder for the inside chipboard folder and the housing for the coil.
Punch holes in each page…because they are all different in size, it’s good to punch them one at a time. Especially the sheet protectors, they are slippery suckers! I punched them with the papers inside. I also punched holes in the file folder that will be covering the inside of the book itself.
I stacked all the papers onto the binding coil (last page first, on the bottom, and, up from there). Then the very LAST piece is the file folder that will cover the inside folder.
Place it on the coils with the sides that will adhere to the chipboard folder TOGETHER. Adhere the left side of the folder first. Do a great job with the adhesive! NO adhesive inside the spine on the front OR back. Once you have the inside front secure, adhere the inside back of the folder. Works like a charm!
This afternoon I showed Capri the book, and she lit up! She went about collecting more art for me to add into the book, and went to work creating more additions. I can’t wait until it’s FULL of HER art! Oh, what stories this book will tell!
Big cyber hugs to Jen and Kim for their inspiration! I still have one more yet to make for my Connor…after seeing Capri’s book, he brought me in a new drawing, and told me it was to go in HIS book, and that he wants a skeleton on the front!
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