Tools Rule!!

I made my first mini book this month and it was a fun and easy project, thanks to having the right tools - my Scor-Pal and my Crop-o-dile. I started out with a 12" x 2.75" strip of cardstock and scored it with my Scor-Pal...every inch on the inch up to 6", then flipped it over and scored it again, every inch on the half inch up to 5.5"...does that make sense? Here's a visual to clear things up:

Using the Scor-Pal, the lines were even and exactly where I needed them to be.I made the accordian folds and then, using my Crop-o-dile, I punched holes through the first 3 folds which was (6) layers of cardstock...yes, I said S-I-X layers...and it was a piece of cake (which is why I love my Crop-O-Dile)! Using one fold as a guide to make sure all the holes were lined up properly, I punched through the next 3 accordian folds (See photo at right). As I added pages to the book, I just used the holes I had already punched in the accordian folds as guides to punch holes in the pages.

When it was finished I used brads to hold it all together. I put one brad through the front of the book and the first 3 folds. Then I put a brad through the back of the book and the last 3 folds. Finally I glued the spine together where the brads met.
Obviously, the number of pages you have in your book would be limited by the length of the "legs"(?) on the brad. I had 6 pages, plus the thickness of one layer of cardstock at the front and back.

The other limiting factor is the length of the cover. My cover was 6" long, and since I was using a 12" piece of cardstock, the maximum number of 1/2" folds I could create for the spine of the book was 6.

I don't know if the double brad thing is a new technique because I made it up as I went along...but it is new to me!! Oh, I will post the actual pages of the mini-book tomorrow.