Smash Book Tutorial - Part Two: The Removable Cover

Hi guys, okay so here is the second part to my Smash Book tutorial; The Removable Cover ( - sound like a B movie much?! lol). If you need part one, where I made the actual Smash Book, it can be found by clicking here.

First let me again mention that this is just how I did it, but there's a million zillion ways to make a Smash Book, so it you want to go off and do it another way, do it. Also that I didn't buy anything to make mine, I just used things I already had in my art room so that's why there's things like watercolour paper etc being used here. I just want to make it clear that you do NOT need any of these items specifically, just take a look around and see what you already have that you can make use of =D

So for this part

You Will Need:

1) Sturdy Cardboard for the Covers - I'm using grey-board

2) 3x Pretty Papers to cover it - one for the front, back & spine

3) 2x Large Papers for the Slip-in Pockets - I'm using medium-weight watercolour paper (I'd say use a goodish-weight for this, as these pockets will be taking the weight of your smashbook)

4) Adhesive (I'm using double sided tape, glue stick and tacky glue - you know me I love to make things that are SOLID lol)

5) Ruler, Scissors and/or Trimmer, Bone Folder/Brayer

Creating Your Cover:

So first up you will need to decide how big you want your Removable Cover verses your Smash Book.

There's no right or wrong here, I decided to add an extra inch or so to the width, and half an inch to the height. So I ended up with front and back covers that were 7 1/2" x 11 1/4". 

Next cut your spine, which obviously needs to be exactly the same height as your front and back covers but it also needs to be a little bit wider than the spine of your actual Smash Book. So given that my Smash Book spine is 1 1/2" I just added 1/4" to make it 1 3/4". 

Now you want to make your Removable Cover look pretty so cover it with your chosen papers: 

...because my front and back covers are so tall, and I used 12x12 scrapbooking paper, my cover was pretty tight, but as long as your savvy with your wrapping this shouldn't be a problem. 

I used a lot of glue at these points so that I didn't get those hated air-bubbles under my paper, smooth and silky is how we like it ;) 

For a nice neat job cut your corners to avoid overlapping 

Can you see how I put more paper over to one side of this board? Well if you use a bigger sized paper (or have a smaller sized cover) than me you won't need to worry about this, but if you don't then make sure you put more paper over to one side (you'll see why in a mo). 

Nice n' neat 

Now line up your covers, and if you have an 'extra' bit of pattern-papered cover like I do then put them on the inside, towards your spine like this:

Next cut and put your chosen Spine Cover paper on: 

The size you make this paper is up to you but the larger you make it, the more it will be a feature on the front and back of your Removable Cover. Make sure you glue the WHOLE piece of paper. 

*Tip: I recommend using a good quality weight paper for this bit, as this paper will turn into the 'hinge' of your Smash Book. 

Now line up your covers on either side of your spine, allowing space for the opening and closing of the book. The best way to do this is to 'butt-up' your first cover to your spine piece vertically, then lower it down onto the glued paper horizontally - then that gap that is left between your spine and your cover is *exactly* the space the book needs to open and close. 

Fold over your end bits, score them in neatly and here's what you should get:

I covered the inside of the spine with a strip of matching paper, not necessary but it does smarten it up:

Now it's onto the pockets so take whatever large paper you are using for this and place it on your Smash Book. 

...then fold it over your original Smash Book's cover, first length-ways...

...then in at the end too.

This is by far the easiest way to create a perfectly sized custom pocket I have found, without worrying about all those pesky things like measurements lol

Now you just have to glue it down to make a sort of envelope:

I again cut the corners as you can see, it's not necessary but I just think it neatens it. 

Now glue it onto your cover: 

*Tip: You want your slip-in pocket as close to the edge of your cover, and as far away from your spine, as possible. This allows your Smash Book slip in and out a lot more easily. 

(It's also why I put the extra patterned-papered part of my front and back covers in towards my spine, so that any parts the pocket does not cover of the grey-board will already be covered by the patterned paper - arrrrh that's why! she's a smart one that Jennibellie! lol) 

Secure your pocket with pressure; Bone Folder, Brayer, or hands: 

This just also helps the underside of the pocket to be firmly stuck down, so your Smash Book doesn't snag on anything as it slides in and out. 

Then finally repeat the pocket making process for the other side: 

*Tip: I'd recommend having the back cover of your Smash Book already in place in your pocket when you stick it down to the Removable Cover - it just makes it easier (and means once you've done it, then you're completely done yay =) )

Also of course you can just make this Cover and stick your Smash Book permanently down into it, as I did with my previous Smash Book...but I would still recommend putting in one pocket, it just allows the natural movement of the spine to not put stress on your book =)

So that's it, congratulations you've made a Smash Book (Cover)! lol 

Here's a little video showing a bit of a flip of the finished Smash Book =)

And here's the bit of the tutorial I didn't include: 

a mandatory interruption or two from Sweepiebum ;) 

I hope this has been helpful to everyone that's wondered or asked how I made my previous Smash Book =) 

Till next time, 

Much love 

Smash Book Tutorial - Part One: The Book

Hi guys, no I didn't forget about this tutorial lol but it's turned out so long for a blogpost I'm splitting it into two to save the length. 

So this section will be for the book itself, aka this bit:

Part two will be for the Removable Cover and fitting the book inside, aka this bit:

So this tutorial is just how I created my Smash Book, it is not the only way to create a Smash Book (there must be a bunch of tuts out there by now) or the 'official way' or anything, just how I went about doing it, as I've been asked a million bazillion times how I made my previous Smash Book I wanted to show & tell how I made this one. 

So first up you will need:

1) A binding machine 

(I have the Zutter Bind-it-all. I have a little more info on binding machines in my FAQ page if you want it.)

2) To know how to use your binding machine 

(this is not a product demo - one of the reasons I didn't want to do a video tutorial on this was so it wouldn't get all caught up in machine settings etc, just use your machine however you would ordinarily.)

3) Paper to fill it, I'm choosing 12x12 pretty pattern papers

4) A cover to encase it, I'm using a large sheet of heavy-weight watercolour paper (approx 16x11 or something similar)

5) Owires, I'm using 1" wires

6) Ruler, pen/pencil and scrap paper for template

7) Glue and Bone Folder, optional if you want to make pockets.

Creating Your Smash Book:

So first you need to decide what size you want your pages to be, as this will also determine the size of your covers. I went for something really easy; 6x10 so that I could pick some scrapbooking papers I found pretty and have minimum wastage (cut 2" off the top, and then straight down the middle). This also meant my large watercolour sheet would be pretty much the right size for a cover without having to cut that down either.

*Tip - My last homemade Smash Book taught me that if you are going to be sticking a lot of things into your book then your pages are going to need to support them, so either you choose only card-weight papers, or double them up as I'm doing here. To do this simply fold your paper over (pretty side out), glue the bottom and once bound you'll have a full sized-pocket opening via the top!

Next measure your cover:

Whatever size you want your cover to be is entirely up to you but you will need it to be big enough to a) fit your spine and b) have enough extra space either side to fit your pages when the book is both open AND closed. By that I mean you have to take into account both the width of the pages AND Owires (i.e. I have to account for 6" pages AND 1" Owire). If you only calculate your pages you will come up short when the book is closed and have your pages sticking out. If in doubt add on some extra, k? Ok =)

Then I measured the direct centre of my cover sheet, and 0.75" either side of it, like this:

I then scored all three lines to create an 'M' shaped cover, like this:

That centre line is what I will later put into the binding machine but the reason I scored the line at 0.75" either side of it (making the spine a total of 1.5") is so that the ending result will allow room for the 1" Owire and the 'M' to remain an 'M'. If you create the spine too tight the 'M' will straighten out and not allow for any give, so I would recommend measuring 3/4 of the size of your Owire either side (therefore your spine should turn out to be one and a half times the Owire size). 

I then created a template for binding by taking a scrap piece of paper the length of my pages and measuring the centre point (5") and from there I measured either side where I would like my wires to go. 

Again how you want to bind your book is personal preference, you may wish to run your wires down the entire length of your book. I prefer the look and ease (not to mention the savviness of using the minimum) of just doing two punches per page, and therefore using only two 6-ringed Owires for the whole book. 

Here's how I used the template, 

I stuck my pages securely to it with a clip, lined up the centre to my punch line and BAM!:

So all my pages once done looked like this:

I then took my cover and folded it inside out as you can see above, then stuck the template on that too, lining up the middle line with the centre of my cover:

Once punched and flipped it back the right way it looked like this:

Then I stuck in my Owires:

And added my papers:

Squeezed the Owires together and BOOM, a new Smash Book.

Here's what some of my inside pages look like:

I chose all kinds of pattern papers from different collections to keep my interest, but that meant they really didn't match. So to make it work I put in 'filler' colours & simple patterns etc so that overall it flowed from one collection/colour to another cohesively. 

Spend some time arranging the order of your pages to be exactly how you want them, because once they're bound it's tough titties, as my Grandma would say!

And that's part 1 done, yay! and of course you can just leave your Smash Book at that if you want but in part two I'll show you how to make a more 'proper' cover that your Smash Book can slip into (think of it like a dust jacket lol). I'm still working on that one but should have it posted next week =)

Now get Smashin' ;)

Much love

What a Week! Update & Tutorial Update

Hello beautiful readers, 

I'm so sorry I've not blogged much this past week I've been insanely busy =(

If you follow me on facebook you'll probably have seen that I have still been making things. Often very quick things that have been squished into what time I have had, which was mainly yesterday, but I didn't blog about that because I fully intended to do a new post today, which was supposed to be a Smash Book Making Tutorial;

see, I have been gettin' on making it, bit's here & there ;)

but again I've been so busy today that I'm now at 10pm and facing an early start... so alas the tutorial, which will probably take me quite a long time to write, will have to wait for another day....look out for it later this week.

Other things I've been making this week include:

Videos

(yes new videos woohoo! but again these take A LOT of time to make so please be patient with me)

New Greetings Cards for my shop:

Customizable for ANY occasion, multipurpose yeah baby!

Thank you so much to everyone who's purchased something from me this weekend, parcels are being posted tomorrow so your goodies will be with you soon =)

At the very start of the week I made a mood board 'jus coz..':

And I've also been making a new *ZINE* woohoo!!

I'm in total zine heaven at the moment, I love reading and making them sooooooooooooo much!

And finally today...

even though I've had next to no time to get creative I made these rush paper beads:

from this junk mail brochure

love me some fatties!!!

they still need jazzin' up but at least they're a start because HELLO you can never have too many beads ;) lol

and I've also done this blogpost,

...ok so that was rushed too, and not the tutorial I had wanted to do but still...

I hope it gives some inspiration to show that in those times

when life refuses to give your creative muse the reins

it's still possible to say 'stick it daily crap, I'm having five'

and pick up a glue stick to literally do just that!

I REFUSE TO NOT STICK SOME STUFF!!!!!

tee hee

much love

Smash Book Flipping

I completed my smashbook yay! =) 

I am actually quite happy I have finished this smashbook, usually I'm a little devastated whenever I fully complete a journal/notebook/diary, but this time it's so not the case

...each journal/notebook/diary I go through dictates to me what I will be doing in it, 

for example in the horrid journal I did only 5-10 min art journal pages, in my current one I take my time and layer, in my ideas journal I both write and draw like it's a sketchbook and in this smashbook I most often did simple straightforward smashing

...which was fine, nothing wrong with good old fashioned a' cutting and a' sticking

...and a' taping and a' clipping 

and I like this smashbook, I do, but now I just feel ready to make 'pretty' smashbook pages which means I'm reeeeeeeeeeally excited to start a new one =D

Here's the flip through, it's short (under 4 mins) as I wanted it to just be a bit of inspiration, rather than a distraction of explaining stuff like receipts, id cards or love notes. Hope you enjoy =)

Tell All Tuesday's here tomorrow, make sure you're back ready for some art inspiration ;)

much love