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Tunnel Book

By Jaine Drake

For this tunnel book project you will need some stiff cardstock for the front and back covers, some patterned papers, cardstock for the sides and your pictures and other imagery.

Decide on the dimensions of the project. I based mine on a regular 6 x 4 photo which I used as my background.

Gather together all of your pictures which will make up the layers of your finished project and decide how many layers you're going to make. For the first time it's advisable to stick to about 4 layers so as not to make the project too complicated. Cut out the different images and lay them out in front of you. Create a frame for the front to look through.

To make the sides, cut two pieces of cardstock the same height as your finished project and to calculate the width, measure 1" for every layer and 1/2" for the front frame. For my project I had 4 layers including the background and the frame on the front, so I calculated 4-1/2". Score at every 1/2" and fold accordion style.

Adhere all the layers to the sides starting with one side first. Start with the background layer and work your way forward to the frame layer. Carefully do the same with the other side.

To make the cover cut two pieces of stiff card (I used chipboard) about 1/4" larger all around than your finished inside layers. Cut also a spine from the same card just 1/2" wide. This is wide enough for a book with about 4 or 5 layers, but if you decide to make many more you'll need to make the spine a little wider. Cover the front and back covers but not the spine yet.

To cover the spine, take two strips of thin card or book binding tape and cut to 3" wide. Center the spine down one of the strips and glue in place.

Also glue onto it either side the front and back covers leaving a gap of 1/8" in between.

Turn over and glue on the second strip. Using a bone folder or the corner of a rounded ruler, gently locate the gaps and re-score folding up the covers as you do it.

Glue the inside layers to the back cover. To keep the book closed, I made two holes to thread ribbon through.

Just a note to thank Jaine for this wonderful mini scrapbook! Wow! The tunnel book idea came to our attention through a swap on our Mini Books Yahoo! group. We really have a lot of fun on that group. If you want to join us click the above link or the one on the home page. Everybody is welcome! It's all about making mini scrapbooks no matter your ability!

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