DIY With the BIA

Jennifer Priest here to share with you a custom scrapbooking sketch book I created. It's one of those things you just can't buy because no one sells them.

I’ve been clipping sketches from magazines, printing them from the internet, and sketching my own over the years and I have amassed a large collection of bits and pieces of papers with sketches on them. I’ve seen sketch books made from Composition books but I wanted something totally customized to me. Enter the Bind-It-All!

I started my project by designing blank sketch pages on the computer. I set the margins to ½” on all sides but left about an inch on the bottom so that I had room to punch my binding holes. The pages are printed on 8.5x11 paper and then cut in half to create 8.5 x 5.5 pages. This is a nice size for taking in a crop bag, I think! I printed all the pages on both sides, creating single 12x12 sketch blanks on one side and double layout sketch blanks on the other side of each page.

After I printed and cut all the inner pages, I cut some blank pages to put in the back so I have a spot to glue sketches I’ve printed or cut from mags. You can put divider pages in if you want – I put one to separate sketches I make from the ones I printed or cut out.

To assemble the book, cut one Zutter Chipboard Cover down to 8.5"x11". Then cut it in half to make two 8.5"x5.5" covers. Cover with paper, then punch binding holes on the 5.5” side. Put the book in order with a cover, inner pages, and then a cover. Lay the back cover on the front cover so the outsides of the covers are facing each other. Insert binding wires and bind with the Bind It All. The rule of thumb for choosing wires for your project is to choose a wire with a diameter ¼” larger than your project is thick. Since I plan to glue things to the inside of my book, which will make it thicker over time, I am using an O-wire with ½” bigger diameter than my book is thick right now. Use the Binding Buddy to close all 9 loops of O-Wire at one time. After the book is bound, add a title and decorate! You can also use the Round It All to round the corners so they don’t get bent up while the book is stowed in your tote bag.

Supplies:

• O-Wires, Chipboard Cover, Round It All, Binding Buddy – Zutter
• Paper – The Paper Company, October Afternoon
• Stickers – American Crafts, Making Memories, 7 Gypsies
• Stamp – Scenic Route
• Diecuts – October Afternoon, K&Company
• Ink – Close to My Heart, Colorbox
• Ribbon & Seam Binding -- Offray, May Arts, Making Memories

What book would you make that you can't find on the market to buy?

Visit my blog at: hydrangeahippo.com

Paper Hearts...

Yes, Valentine's Day has passed but love can last the whole year! I created this mini for a private class I taught at an event for a group of sophisticated crafters who love all things elegant yet over the top--the bar was set high so this is the mini I created, full of details, trims, and more.

Really the sky is the limit with the types of items you can create as pages in your books using your Bind-It-All. Now that I have worked "behind the scenes" in the paper crafting industry I know that some of the pre-made albums and books you can purchase pre-bound, off the shelf have been in development for months if not YEARS! Imagine if you could see something hip, cool, and trendy and make a book out of it today, right now, this very moment! Well, that's why I love my Bind-It-All.

In October I attended Jennifer Jensen's class at Spark the Event and she had these square doilies in her class, folded into envelopes. I wanted them badly badly badly so I could make something from them but when I started searching online, the packs I found were just too wildly expensive. Imagine my surprise when I was in the local 99 Cent Only store, you know, the chain store with the purple logos, and there was an entire DISPLAY of square doilies!!!!! I bought them all -- teehee!

Immediately I came home, folded one of the doilies into an envelope, and punched it with my Bind It All. Here is the result:

Now, if I were to take this idea to "market" and have a company make this, you would not see it for a good 6-12 months! I just can't get over how awesome it is to be able to incorporate current trends into my books instantly.

Here are some other things I added to the book:

Coin envelopes always seem to be on clearance somewhere but the color is too yellow for alot of products. A light coating acrylic paint will tone them down before punching with the Bind-It-All.

Shipping tags are another great way to add to interest to your books!

And don't forget paper bags--this striped Valentine sack was a seasonal offering at Target. This is a great way to use up leftover party bags or just add a touch of "cute" to your books. I can guarantee no one else has a book just like mine :)

I hope this post causes you to look at flat items in your life as possible pages in mini books. And that you can have it all RIGHT NOW by using your Bind-It-All to handcraft custom books.

Happy Binding!
Jennifer Priest
http://hydrangeahippo.blogspot.com

Love and Marriage - BIA Style

What better way to share in a friend's wedding bliss? I celebrated my co-worker's wedding with a personalized Bind-it-All album in her wedding colors and the couple's names on the cover.

The Bind-it-All allows for great versatility and flexibility to create something beautiful for every occasion.

Hope this inspires you to create handmade projects to celebrate milestones in the lives of your friends and family.

Zutter Products

• Zutter Tools Used: Bind-it-All
• Owire Size & Color: 1 1/4” white

Other Materials

• ClearScraps – tabbed chipboard
• Stampin’ Up! – ink, scalloped chipboard, striped grosgrain ribbon
• Basic Grey - patterned paper
• PaperSourceBazzill – cardstock
• Lil’ Davis Designs – epoxy alphabet
• Prima – flowers, bling, patterned burlap
• Pebbles – cardstock stickers
• DoodleBug – jewels
• acrylic, ribbon

Lea Millora Sanders

Original Zutter Zister