M-C's May Challenge - Lunch Anyone? (may be accessed on the website under Challenges and 2005 - May Challenge - Lunch Anyone? OR directly at:
Lunch Bag or Star Album - Challenge (don't want to do an album check out the Alternate Challenge at the bottom!)
Well with both Mother's Day and Father's day coming soon, I thought we would all work on paper bag albums this month! And no, they don't have to be made for mom or dad, you can make them for anyone, including yourself! However since this is a challenge there must be some rules!
You must use at least:
- 3 paper bags
- 2 yards of ribbon
- 4 eyelets OR brads
- 2 big tags
- 3 different patterned papers
- 3 different colors of card stock
- alphabet stickers (die cuts, stickers OR rub-ons)
- 1 sentimental tear jerking quote (the more tissue we need reading this, the better!!)
- As many pictures as you like but not less than 6
Here are some directions that I found:
Here are the directions for a star album as found and posted by Sandy:
You will need the following:
Color A: seven pieces of cardstock size 5 ½ inches x 11 inches, folded in half to form signatures measuring 5 ½ x 5½
Color B: seven pieces of cardstock 4 inches x 11 inches. Score lengthwise down the center, fold in half, then fold in half lengthwise to measure 2 inches x 5 ½ inches folded.
Color C: seven pieces of cardstock 5 ½ inches x 8 inches, folded in half to measure 5 ½ x 4 inches.
Color D: seven pieces of cardstock 5 ½ inches x 7 inches, folded in half to measure 5 ½ x 3 ½ inches.
Form for front and back cover: 2 pieces of mat board measuring 5 ¾ x 5 ¾ inches. These will be covered with your exotic or decorative paper for front and back cover.
Front and back cover paper: 2 pieces 7 x 7 inches
One roll of Wonder tape, Terribly Tacky Tape or equivalent. Needs to be double sided heavy duty sticky as it will be holding pages together.
4 yds of linen thread or other heavy duty thread, preferably in a coordinating or like color to A as this will show on the edge of your book.Tapestry needle.
Ribbon to tie book opening together.
Construction:
Color A will be your page foundation and colors will work out to Color D, which is the page you will embellish either with stamping or scrapbook type embellishing.
Taking one page of A, insert B inside the fold of A. Open flat and in the crease of B, measure ½" in from the edge of paper on both ends, then 1" from that dot toward the center. These are your sewing guides. Do this on all 7 pieces.
Now with A and B together, punch a hole at each dot you have made. Use something relatively small, sewing awl, long quilling tool, but a punch will make too big a hole. Do this to all seven pages.
Thread your needle. Make sure that the tops and bottoms of the pages match (I put the folded edge of B at the top).Taking the first set, push needle from the mountain side of the fold to the valley in the first hole. Leave a tail of about two inches on the outside. You will tie this off later. Continue to sew, ending on the mountain side of the pages of the first set. Now line up the second set of pages on top of the first, insert needle and pull thru snugging page 2 up to page 1. Now, when your needle is back on the mountain side, run the needle and thread under the long thread of page 1 and continue to sew to the top of the page. Tie off the tail to the working thread. Don't cut anything. Put the third page on top of second and begin sewing together, remembering to go under the long thread of the previous page. Now when you get to the bottom of page 3, run your needle under the bottom stitch that joins page 1 to 2. Begin sewing page 4 to page 3, remembering to go under the long thread of the previous page and under the last stitch. When all the pages are sewn together, tie off and run the thread to the inside crease, trim and tape down. Do the same for the beginning tail.
Whew, the hardest part is done!!
Now place wonder tape between page 2 and 3 of color A. You are taping these pages together. Leave the first and last page as you will attach the covers to these.
Attach the outside edge of Color C to the outside edge of Color A---outside edge of A 1 to C 1 and C right edge to A2-clear as mud?)
Now all you have left for pages are the seven pieces of D to decorate and attach as in C to A.
COVER
Cut the decorative paper about ½" larger than the mat board. Apply glue stick to mat board, apply paper, then turn over and glue down the "hem". I suggest cutting off the corners of the deco paper so that the corner is mitred when glued.
Attach ribbons to front and back and adhere strongly, you don't want them to pull out. Be sure your ribbon is coming out of the front of the book and not the spine.
Apply wonder tape to 4 edges of front page and adhere cover, do the same for the back.
Hints: Try to make your thread closely match the base color of the book, this way it won't show. I have natural linen and just took a Sharpie and dyed it.
Hope it helps. I've been wanting to make one so I had the directions to try.
Sandy
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Alternate May Challenge
Create a 2 page layout using at least half of the materials listed in the lunch bag album section. I can't wait to see how you'll use 1.5 paper bags..lol!