Piano hinge journal

Hi

At the last craft club at Jendenink's  http://www.jendenink.co.uk/ I was asked by the group to show them how to make a piano hinge book. I don't normally stand up and do stuff like this so was a great challenge for me. Happily the evening went well and everyone had fun and went home with a journal.

To make an A5 journal you need:
Scoring board
Ruler
Scissors
A4 Paper - any sort depending what you want to use the journal for. I used water colour paper so I could     paint backgrounds.
Bamboo skewers
Wool and/or ribbons

Method:
1. Fold the paper in half and score a 1/4 inch or 5mm in from the folder edge.

2. Measure and mark at 1/2 inch or 1cm along the folder edge and then snip to the score line and bend backwards and forwards.

3. Push the pointed end of the bamboo skewer through every other tab.











4. With another piece of paper and bamboo skewer...push it through the 1st tab of the 2nd piece of paper and the 2nd tab of the 1st paper and continue to weave them together. (I hope that makes sense!) and continue till your journal is the size you want it.

As you add more paper and sticks it can become a bit of a challenge to get the sticks through. We thought whether candle wax can be used and some people put the bamboos through the tabs first to open them up and then remove and weave with page before. You may have to make tabs deep especially if you have very thick paper.





5. Weave wool or ribbon in and out of the sticks. This stops the sticks moving. You may wish to add a little amount of glue that dries clear to stick the wool to the bamboo. I used acrylic glue. Leave the ends as that is what you will use to hang beads and embellishments. Then snip the bamboo ends.












So that is the basic journal and the fun is in the decorating. You can make them in various sizes and types of paper.






This one I added an old book cover too. I made the pages the correct size before putting in the bamboo. This was my Paris scrap book.













I also found you can use cockail sticks!











This I used to stamp and add silly sayings. I did have to readjust the score and tab measurements though. It is small and dinky and could be used for birthdays and other occasions.







Have a go and enjoy and remember it is not meant to look perfect.