Scrapadabadoo: Mini Album Construction by Carol

The last blog post I did was for the mini album made from the Lifestyle crafts Folder and insert die.. well I had a lot of questions as to how it was constructed and attached to the hidden hinge. I have made another one and took pictures along the way.. they may not be great but you will get the idea of how it goes…

The first thing you want to do is cut out 12 folders, I used two of each paper . 3 pattern and 3 coordinating cardstock. These are papers from the Bo Bunny Madeleine Collection

glue the tabs on the sides to make the folder

close the folders and place them with the openings facing out and spine to spine. Cover all but 1/4” near the spine of of the folder on the right with scor tape or tape of your choice.

remove tape backing and lay the left one on top of the right one so that they will look like this. Set aside and do the same thing to the remaining folders so that when you are done you have 6 sets

stack your folders up in the way that you would like to put them in your mini.

I chose to add pattern paper to the cardstock ones on the front and back using the cut apart sheet from the collection.

Ink the edges if you choose .. this is the best time to get that done

Following the directions from

Kathy Orta’s hidden hinge

Make your hinge 11 1/4” x 4 1/16”

Cut Chipboard for your covers 2 pieces 4 1/2 “ x 3 1/2 “ and

1 spine piece 4 1/2 “ x 2”

Cover one side with tape

Choose either Cardstock or Pattern Paper for your Covers and cut

1 piece 10 1/2” x 5 1/2 inch

Mark the center of this with a pencil both top and bottom

Remove tape from the 2” spine piece and place in the center of the paper both with your mark and from top to bottom

add one piece of 1/4” tape to each side of the spine for spacers

add both remaining chipboard pieces to each side of the spine lining it up next to the tape.

add tape to the edges on all sides

Miter the corner .. I use the perfect trim tool and it makes it easy to see where to cut.

Fold the edges up starting with the long sides to wrap the chipboard.

oh and remove the spacer tape before wrapping .. I forgot to but it wasn’t a problem to remove after the fact ..

Your covers will now look like this..

I chose to cut a piece of tyvek before adding the binding

be sure to miter the edges of each hinge to make it easier to put your pages on

line your hinge binding up in the center of the 2” spine piece, centering from side to side and top to
bottom

Cut paper to finish the inside covers

now take your first folder and you will have 1/4” at the spine that is not taped and will work as the “pocket” needed for the hinge. I open mine up to make it easier to slip onto the hinge .