Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Travel Cover Tutorial

We are leaving in a few days and all I have done so far on my travel journal is a cover.  But at least I have a tutorial for it!  I chose to work with a vintage book cover for this journal. Book lovers and librarians may want to turn away because I'm pretty sure this will make you cringe! 
 Tutorial:
  • Choose a vintage book with an interesting cover.  In this case I found one with a lot of great detail on it and a rectangle I could cut out.   Even if you can't find one with a place to cut out - you can always measure out a rectangle or keep it whole (some of the same steps will apply)When pulling a book apart for this first pull out the pages all in one bunch (and use them for some other crafts or include a few as pages in your journal).  The book cover will be in one piece at this point.  Cut the spine in half down the middle - you might be tempted to cut the spine piece down right near the bookboard but don't! (you will see why in a second)  Can't bear to tear up a vintage book?  Any book will do - try checking out the dollar store for cheap books - look under those paper dust jackets - sometimes you can find something really good!
  • Use an exacto knife to carefully cut out the rectangle
  • Turn the cover over - take the small piece of spine (you know the part you resisted cutting down!) Fold it over and glue it to the back of the cover (with a strong tape).  This will make the edge smooth (instead of seeing the chipboard and having frayed edges - unless of course you like that look!)
  • Cover the backside with a piece of patterned paper
  • Cut the rectangle out of the paper.  And there you go! 
And here's another idea for you:  try using a notebook as a cover for your journal.  I took a small lined notebook I had (this one was part of a set I bought at target a year ago) - pulled off the cover (which was a thicker paper cover) and glued it to a piece of chipboard to make it more stable.   The great thing about this idea is you can then use the pages too - because they are already the perfect size! I then mixed it up with patterned papers.

Did you like this post?  Make sure to pin it! 


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3 comments:

donna!ee said...

this is awesome, thank you much...you've been pinned! blest be :)

Paper Craft Island said...

You are amazing! I can't wait to come back and look at more of your projects! WOWZAA!!! I also wanted to let you know I am starting a new challenge blog in a few weeks & would love for you to stop by and check it out! Hope to see you there!

Hugs from the Island ♥

Ioana-Carmen said...

love it sweetie!

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