A scrapbook for Baby Zayden

I started with sturdy cardboard.  It is almost like chipboard but thicker.  I cut two cardboard pieces 8 1/2 inches by 10 1/2 inches.  I then cut 10 pieces of brown craft paper the same size.  I lined it all up and with my "Crop-A-Dile II Big Bite" I punched three holes all the way through the Cardboard and paper  (Love the Big Bite).

I used blue book rings to bind all the pages together.  You can pick up book rings at any office supply store.

Here is my "Crop-A-Dile II"

The next thing I did was to find the paper I wanted to use to cover the front. 

I outlined where the cardboard was going to go so I could make sure the patern lined up well.

Using a sponge "brush" that I got at the hardware store and a burnishing tool,

I Decoupaged the paper and layed the cardboad on it.  You have to work really fast to get it where you want it. once it's down use the burnishing tool to roll over it.  The cardboard can curl so I put mine under something to flatten it out.  Make sure it's dry first because it will stick to whatever you put it under.

Once in place fold over all corners.

Then all the sides.  Notice the holes from the previous punches that I did.  At this point I poked a small hole to mark the original holes.

 I cut a solid color paper a little bit smaller than the cardboard to cover the rest of it, this will be the inside cover.

I decoupaged the solid paper to cover the edges.

Rolled it with the burnishing tool and presto...

My back cover. I found the holes and repunched them and with an eyelet setter/Crop-A-Dile II put in eyelets.

This is what the set eyelet looks like from the other side.

This is the front of the book.  I did all the same things with the paper as before.  I added the ribbon to cover the line betweet the different papers.  I also used a "latch" type buckle to add a little charactor (got the buckle at Jo-Ann's).  I inked the edges of the letters and used pop up foam to lift them a little from the surface.  The bee hive and little bee are from "Eyelet Outlet" (great products there).  The bee hive is a type of eyelet and the bee is a brad.  I used my "Crop-A-Dile" to punch the hole.

 Added more eyelets.  

Notice that I didn't wrap the ribbon all the way around, there was no need since this will be covered up, it saves on ribbon.  All that is left is to add the solid paper and I have the outside done.  As you can see I should have waited to do the eylets on the front cover after I added the solid paper but I got in a hurry, that's what "handmade" is all about.  I will add more as I do the rest of the book.  I will be busy getting my son's scrapbook complete before graduation so hopefully I can work on both projects at the same time.  Well maybe not at the exact same time.

Okay, so I finally finished this baby book and I am just gonna add the pictures and maybe one or two comments about them. 

I hope she likes it.  It was a lot of work.  Now I only have three weeks to get my son's senior scrapbook and his display board done for graduation. 

Ask any questions you might have about what I did for this album and I will be happy to share with you how I did it.