NOTE: If you still have questions, e-mail
cardkeepers@gmail.com and we'll try to help!
Step 1
Cover your work surface with a craft sheet or large
scrap paper. Place the two pieces of outside cover
paper (8.25" x 7.5" each) right side down
on the work surface. Center the book boards on the
paper (close is good enough, or you can use your ruler
to get it perfectly centered with 1" margins
all the way around). Use a pencil to lightly draw
a line around the book board on each cover paper.
Now you know exactly where to place the book boards
when you're ready to glue them down.
Step 2
Squirt a little puddle of PVA adhesive in the middle
of one book board. Not too much, but you want enough
to spread to all the edges using the foam brush. There
shouldn't be any white globs left after brushing the
whole side. Now place the book board, glue side down,
inside the pencil lines you drew earlier on one piece
of cover paper, and press it down lightly. Flip over
the paper with book board attached and use the bone
folder to smooth the paper down, all the way to the
edges. It should be perfectly smooth and neat when
you're done. Work quickly, as the adhesive dries fast.
Repeat with second book board and cover paper.
Step 3
Turn book board and paper right side down again. Take
your acrylic ruler and stand it up on its narrow edge,
diagonally against a corner of the book board, so
that there's a triangle of paper extending beyond
the ruler. It doesn't have to be a perfectly equal
triangle, but as close as you can get it just doing
it by eye. Draw a light pencil line along the outside
edge of the ruler. Remove the ruler and you'll see
the pencil line is around 1/8" out from the book
board corner (1/8" is about the thickness of
the book board and of the acrylic ruler). Repeat for
all four corners. Use your scissors to cut along the
pencil lines. Repeat with second book board and paper.
Step 4
Now you are going to fold the paper margins over to
the inside of the book board. Using your bone folder,
make a nice smooth fold up and over the edges. Do
all four sides before you begin glueing. You want
to get the paper "trained" to go where it's
supposed to go. Once the paper is folded and it "knows"
where it's supposed to go, use the foam brush to apply
adhesive to the paper flaps. There's probably enough
leftover adhesive stored in the brush that you won't
need to add any more for this part of the project.
Glue, press down, and smooth with the bone folder,
doing one paper flap at a time. You will need to fold
the paper up at the tiny corners and then flatten
it against the sides before folding up the long flaps
to get a nice, smooth folded corner. Repeat with second
book board.
Step 5
From the back (uncovered) side of the book board,
use your paper piercer to poke a little hole through
the pre-drilled holes into the paper cover on the
front side. Flip over the covered book board and use
the tip of your finger (gently!) to outline the entire
hole. You're just trying to identify its exact location
here. Then use the hole punch to punch out the paper
from the pre-drilled hole. Repeat with second book
board.
Step 6
Apply a light coat of PVA glue to the back side of
the inside liner paper (6" x 5.25") and
center it over the back side of the book board. There
should be about 1/8" of the front cover paper
showing all the way around. Smooth it all the way
around using your bone folder, paying particular attention
to the edges. (You do not want any loose edges of
liner paper coming undone!) From the front side of
the book board, use your paper piercer to poke a little
hole through the pre-drilled holes again. Then use
the tip of your finger to gently outline the entire
hole. Use the Japanese screw punch or 1/4" hole
punch to punch through the inside cover paper. Repeat
with second book board.
Step 7
Embellish the front cover as much or as little as
you like. You can find ideas for embellishing in the
Tips below, and also in the Gallery
and on the Ideas page.
Congratulations! You have decorated a set of book
boards and are ready to use them as album covers!
Slide one cover onto the book rings and add 10 or
more card sleeves. Slide the second cover on and close
the rings. Fill the sleeves with cards, photos, or
whatever you like. You're done!
Tips
TIP: Another option is to paint the book boards
using acrylic craft paint, OR you can just paint the
edges and then cover the board back and front with
paper that just goes to the edge. Then distress the
paper edges with fine sandpaper and add more paint
or ink.
For embellishment ideas, try stamping, ribbon, brads,
small photos, buttons, rub-ons, paper flowers, tags,
pockets, lace, bookplates, 3D stickers, chipboard
letters, dimensional adhesive, mini calendar pages,
metal words . . . basically, anything you would use
on a card front or scrapbook page can be included
on your Card Keeper covers. Check the Gallery for
ideas on how others have finished their albums.
TIP: If you want to use an embellishment that
will poke through to the back side, such as brads
or eyelets, apply them before adding the paper liner
to the back of the book board. Unless you want a hole
that goes all the way through, of course!
Just be sure to use strong adhesive to hold everything
in place, because it may get some wear and tear when
your family and friends admire your work.
TIP: Another fun idea is to tie short lengths
of ribbon (lots of different colors and styles) around
the book rings on your finished album. Check the Gallery
for an example of this technique.
