Mini Gatefold Album by Gill Humphrey

Following on from my post last week this time I have decided to focus on the mini gatefold album that is in the second set of templates in Liz Wheeler's latest release. Although described as mini it is curiously deceptive as it really can hold a lot of stuff making it ideal for documenting a weekend away or may be filled with pictures a brag book for parents.

Start by drawing round Template 1 A marking both sets of score lines as these will form the sides of the book (they are slightly different sizes so if you forget and have to replace the template make sure that you align it up carefully so the bigger spine sits the side of the album you want it to). Cut out and reinforce the score lines. I then added some stamping with the watercolour flowers set to the spine area and inked all of the edges with brown Archival ink. I then matted and layered papers on top cutting them approximately 5mm smaller than the panel dimensions. I then used Template 1 A to mark the spacing for sewing in some signatures of paper - this fits well on the bigger of the two spines if you want to use all three lines holes which was my plan.

I have filled my album with three signatures. This spine depths are quite small at around 1.5cm so you need to think about how bulky your signatures are going to be so that they fit in comfortably. I have chosen to use pearlised paper to make mine as it is less bulky than using the kraft card that I used for the cover piece. Through out this album I have used Fleeting Moments 6 x 6 and 12 x 12 paper collection for my decorative elements.

My first signature uses Template 1 B which I drew around and then scored all of the lines. I then folded the bottom piece upwards and adhered the tabs inwards to create a pocket along the whole length of the piece. This then leaves you with a flap on one side which I cut off as I wanted to sew my signature into the spine.I then moved the area of the template with the holes in it so that it aligned along the centre score line and made my holes for sewing the signature into the book. I  decorated the parts of this signature popping paper elements some with stamping from the Sketchy Flowers and Words Stamp Set along with "pictures"  from Vintage Photos and elements taken from a number of the decorative tracing paper sets.

 

For the middle signature I took Template 1 B and cut off the pocket area and also the side flap to give me plain pages. I layered one plain page with one of the pocket pages and then another plan page before making my holes for sewing through all 3 layers. This was then sewn into the spine and the pages then decorated.

 

My final signature was created in the same way as the first signature.

To close my book I then made a belly band using a 2cm strip of kraft card along the whole length of an A4 piece of card stock before folding this around my book. I inked the edges and then added paper to the outside piece before layering two of the co-ordinating thick cardboard die cuts on top of each other. I stamped and embossed the title on to the top shape using Acorn ink and Clear Embossing Powder - adding the embossing powder is important as the die cut shapes have a shiny surface so the acorn ink remains wet for a very long time if you don't seal it with embossing powder - alternatively you could use an Archival ink.