Hi there. It is Cec here and today I am presenting the Saturday Showcase featuring the wonderfully vintage Memoranda paper pad from Tim Holtz.
I thought it might be fun to make an accordion mini album that could be mistaken for a little junk journal in the making. I sure hope I haven't confused you but as you walk through this project with me I think you will understand why I could not decide what it really is.
This little album is about 3" square and 2" thick at the thickest part and before I share the instructions for constructing the base, here is a little walk through. I think the most fun part of going through this little album when it is untied is that because it is an accordion, it is never ending.
This is one of the covers and since I wanted it to lie flat when it was completely open I decorated it very simply:
- Flower made from Kraft Core (Tim Holtz) cut from the Shabby Posies die (Tammy Tutterow) with a button for a centre
- Leaves cut from Kraft Core (Tim Holtz) cut from Garden Greens die (Tim Holtz)
- Venise lace
- Chitchat sticker (Tim Holtz)
- Ephemera (Tim Holtz)
Left side:
- Triangular tuck spot
- Hand cut tag with burlap string at top. The back is left plain so it can be used as a journaling spot
Right side:
- Pocket trimmed on an angle and glued on right side
- Quote chip (Tim Holtz) inked with Vintage Photo DI
- Two rectangular journaling spots
Left side:
- Rectangular tuck spot with carved coconut shell button
- Rectangular journaling spot with punched trim
Right Side:
- Flip-up that can hold more journaling or a small photo
- Ticket from my old stash (Tim Holtz)
- Punched circle to hold the flip-up down when closed
Left Side:
- Half circle tuck spot with venise lace
- Rectangular journaling spot
Right Side:
- Pocket with metal key
- Little folded book with journaling spot inside
Left Side:
- Rectangular side tuck spot
- Rectangular journaling spot with punched trim
Right Side:
- Triangular tuck spot
- Hand cut tag with Ephemera topper (Tim Holtz)
- Flower made from Memoranda paper (Tim Holtz) cut from the Shabby Posies die (Tammy Tutterow) with a carved coconut shell button for a centre
This is the other cover and it was decorated in the same way as the first one.
Left Side:
- Pocket trimmed on an angle and glued on right side
- Quote chip (Tim Holtz) inked with Vintage Photo DI
- Hand cut tag with Ephemera topper (Tim Holtz)
Right Side:
- Band tuck spot
- Little folded book with journaling spot inside
Left Side:
- Rectangular tuck spot with filigree metal embellishment
- Rectangular journaling spot
Right Side:
- Triangular tuck spot
- Hand cut tag with burlap string at top
Left Side:
- Flip-up that can hold more journaling or a small photo
- Ticket from my old stash (Tim Holtz)
- Punched circle to hold the flip-up down when closed
Right Side:
- Chevron tuck spot
- Rectangular journaling spot with punched trim
Left Side:
- Pocket tuck spot
- Hand cut tag with Ephemera topper (Tim Holtz)
Right Side:
- Half circle tuck spot with flower made from Memoranda paper (Tim Holtz) cut from the Shabby Posies die (Tammy Tutterow) with a button for a centre
- Rectangular journaling spots
Left Side:
- Pocket tuck spot with metal key
- Little folded book with journaling spot inside
Right Side:
- Rectangular tuck spot
- Hand cut tag with burlap string at top
I am going to explain how this came together even though I did make a few changes before I decorated it.
These instructions are just meant to be guidelines and can be altered to suit you. My husband kindly made a template for you to follow. If you have a printer that will print on legal sized paper (8 1/2" x 14"), you can print this to size if you wish since he made it to scale.
- Create the accordion base from a 12" x 12" piece of kraft card stock or whatever heavy weight card stock that size you choose.
- Cut card stock into three strips 4" x 12" and score each piece on the short side at 1" and on the long side at 3", 6" and 9".
- Clip from the bottom up to the 1" score line on each of the folds at 3", 6" and 9". Now you will be left with little flaps that can be turned into pockets.
- On at least two of the strips, cut away the bottom right section as shown in grey.
- Glue the remaining portion of this section with the bottom cut away to the corresponding section on the left side of the second strip.
- Add the third strip in the same manner as the second strip.
- Starting with the first strip, fold on all the score lines as indicated by the dashed lines making sure to alternate mountain and valley folds. You should now have an accordion folded strip about 30" long with a mountain fold at each end.
- Mark the two end panels as covers and leave alone for now. The pocket flaps on each end should be folded to the back.
To Finish:
- Decorate each remaining panel and create inserts.
- Cut a background piece of Memoranda paper 2 7/8" square for each panel, distress the edges and ink with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.
- Create pockets and tuck spots on each panel, decorating everything with Memoranda paper. At this point I decided I didn't want little pockets on every panel so I removed some and replaced them with a variety of tuck spots.
- Turn the accordion over and decorate each panel on side two, including the back sides of the two covers panels.
- Add a strip of ribbon centred across each cover panel. These will act as ties to hold the album closed and the length of ribbon will depend on whether you want to make bows or knots as I did.
- Cut two pieces of chipboard 3 1/4" x 3 1/4" and adhere to cover panels over the ribbon.
- Decorate the covers.
There you have it - a little album that could be turned into a little junk journal if you want to add more "stuff" in each tuck spot.
If you want an album that is large enough to hold photos, then just adjust the size of your strips but join them together in the same manner as shown to make a larger accordion.
Despite all the pages, tuck spots and inserts, I only used a few pages from the Memoranda paper pad so watch for more projects from me featuring this fabulous paper.
