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Monday, February 15, 2010

This is an awesome project that Linda shared with us! She made it for her son's baseball team. It's really easy using 3 full sheets of cardstock. Using one cardstock, you'll fold it down the middle from one corner to the other. Unfold it and fold it in half from top to bottom and then again from side to side. Do the same folding in exactly the same way to two other sheets (3 in all) of matching cardstock. To adhere the sheets together, you'll lay the sheets so that the unfolded squares (without the diagonal folds) are the sides of a diamond (with the 12 x 12 sheet on point). The top and bottom of the diamond have a diagonal fold through them. Overlay the left square of the right side sheet with the right square of the center sheet and adhere them together. Do the same on the other side of the center sheet, overlaying the right square of the left side sheet with the left square of the center sheet and adhere them together. At this point, you should be able to collapse the diagonal fold into the centers making a square book.


The front and back covers of the book are decorated chipboard - giving more stability to the project than plain cardstock. The chip board should be 6 1/2 inches square to be about 1/4 inch larger (all the way around) than the cardstock book. If you want to cover it with paper, you can use a 7 1/2 inch square. It is better to use regular paper with this or our Background and Texture (B&T) paper as cardstock will be too bulky. You'll want to cut the corners so they will lay flat and while this can be done a number of ways, if you do it right, you won't have to add any extra paper to the back of your cover. The trick is to measure a one-inch square on the backside of the paper at every corner. Then adhere your chipboard directly into the center of your paper. The 1-inch squares should be corner-to-corner with the chipboard. Now fold the corner of the paper across the corner of the cardstock, making the diagonal fold directly across the 1-inch square you've drawn on the back of the paper. Do that on all corners, using a little adhesive to hold it in place. At that point you can fold the sides of the paper around the chipboard and adhere it onto the back. The sides of the paper should meet or almost meet at the corners of the chipboard. Once you've covered the front chipboard, do the same to the one you will use on the back of the book, making both a front and back cover. You can get your bearings on how it all fits together with the close-up picture to the right. Notice that the back chipboard, covered in striped paper, peeks out from behind the book (black cardstock and baseball paper).




Having covered the front and back cover, it's merely a case of gluing the cardstock book to each. With the book folded, center the front on the backside of your front cover (the 6 1/2 inch square chipboard you just covered) and adhere it firmly into place. Do the same to the back cover and your ready to decorate. Use coordinating B&Ts that measure 5 1/2 square on the unfolded square pieces, and 5 inch squares cut diagonally in half for the folded pieces. I've even cut my square pictures in half, diagonally, to post on those pages and they looked really cute! Don't forget embellishments and journaling - even journaling pockets! Finish it off with some ribbon and decorations on the back and front covers!

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