For April, We R Memory Keepers is featuring the Baby Mine collection and the oh-so-popular Lucky 8 punch. Using these products I created some fun little brag books to give to the grandmas for Mother’s Day.
I used just the inner cut of the floral burst Lucky 8 punch to add a decorative look to the cover. For the closure I added an eyelet to the cover tying the twine around the base of the eyelet before I secured it with my Crop-A-Dile II.
Here’s a shot of what it looks like when you first open it up. The cover has three panels…
…and I added an accordion folded page inside for photos. I’ll have the kids add some journaling about their favorite things about grandma later.
Here’s the front side of the accordion folded page…
…and here’s the back side. As you can see I avoided adding too much depth so it would close properly, and so I could send it in a card envelope in the mail. I cut most of these embellishments out of the patterned paper. That’s one of several reasons why I love this baby line–it’s got plenty of generic patterns that work great for any theme or subject.
Here’s how to create the base of the brag books:
Cut two 5 1/2 x 12 inch pieces of cardstock–one for the cover and one for the inside pages. Score them both at 4 and 8 inches. The final dimensions of your book will be 4 x 5 1/2 inches–perfect for a card envelope! You can also punch the far left panel of your cover with the inner cut of your Lucky 8 punch, if you have one, to add a decorative touch.
Score the cover 1/8 inch apart from each previous score line going toward the outside edges. This will leave you with a 4 inch center panel and two 3 7/8 inch side panels. Your book will have a bit of bulk to it, and this will help it to close properly.
Now take your cardstock piece for the inside pages and fold it accordion or zig zag style. This is where the photos will go.
Place some adhesive on the back side of the far left panel and adhere it to the center panel of the cover.
This is what front of the inside pages look like unfolded.
And this is what the back of the inside pages look like unfolded.And this is what the inside pages of your brag book look like all folded up.
I hope this makes sense. Shoot me an email if you have any questions–link’s in the sidebar. =)
I’ve got two Baby Mine kits to give away–one for girls and one for boys.
If you’d like to be considered for this giveaway just leave a comment below telling me which of the two kits you’d prefer to get. Comments will remain open until midnight (MDT) on Thursday 5/3/12. I’ll announce a winner on Friday morning. Be sure to check back and see if you won. Good luck!
ETA: comments for this post are now closed. Thank you!
Thanks for a great tutorial, what a cute line of paper for this little album! Love the boy kit!
LOVE those brag books! Those are awesome gifts! I would love to win the boy set, thanks for the chance!
Thanks for the info, I love those punches! I'd love the baby girl kit! Love Penny
Wow, this is amazing! I love it, so creative!!! π
Thanks for a chance to win this awesome kit. I would like a boy kit please since this is the first boy in three generations in our family. once again THANK YOU!
Great tutorial and what an awesome gift.
It would be the boy kit for me since I have 2 boys. Thanks for the chance!
I love this project and both sets. Who would not want both sets? Since I only have one grandchild and it is a boy, I would have to go with the boy set. Thanks for sharing this with us.
The flowery paper you used is so sweet! If I win the prize, I'd like the girl one. THANK YOU!
Beautiful!
I loved it! First time here and I am sure I will come back =) I would love the girls kit!!! Thanks a lot π
First time here and I loved all!!! Tks for this nice tutorial. I will go for the girls kit π Mariana