Making Mini-Books with Pamela and Lowri, Part 1

If I could hole up in my art room for a week, and just work my way through all of the pins on my Book and Journal Making Pinterest board, I would be a happy woman!


A paper-folding paradise on my art table

As it is, I am moving much more slowly than that, but it is one of my favorite boards to consult when I'm looking for a new project. 

Two of my pins show how to make a mini-book from a 12x12 sheet of paper, with pretty amazing results.  In Pamela's version, the project is an accordion-fold-style book, while Lowri applies a little extra glue to create a book with more traditional pages. 

Also, Pamela's book has pockets on each page, while Lowri's does not. 

In this post, I will show you the little book I made following Pamela's design, and in a future post, I'll share one that has pockets like Pamela's but book pages, like Lowri's. 

The book that Pamela designed has a page down the middle, with an accordion fold to the right and to the left.

It also has pockets for storing all kinds of notes, tags, and paper goodies--the kinds of things I love exchanging with my mail art friends (including the generous and creative Pamela, herself!).

One thing I learned in the process of making this little book is that if you use a paper design that goes in one particular direction, then the pictures will be upside down in certain places.  In this case, the houses on my cover were upside-down, so I chose to glue another paper over top of them.  I used a really pretty picture I clipped from Mary Jane's Farm magazine.

It doesn't particularly bother me that the houses on some of my pockets are upside-down.  That doesn't keep me from stuffing them with goodies to send along to a friend!


Goodies on one side of the center page



Goodies on the other side of the center page

Hmmm...what could be tucked away in all of these spaces?

I tied the book closed with some beautiful turquoise bias tape, tied into a bow.  You could glue your ribbon along the back cover of the book to hold it on permanently, but I chose not to glue it down, so it can be taken off entirely if the future owner prefers.

I wonder where this little gem is off to when the P.O. opens this week?

Be sure to check out Pamela's tutorial to make one of these little pocket notebooks of your own.  And if you are interested in doing a swap of one with me, let me know!

In an upcoming post, I will show you the booklet I made using a mash-up of Pamela and Lowri's tutorials.

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Links to the tutorials:
     Pamela's on Cappuccino and Art Journal
     Lowri's on PaperVine