Welcome to our first MiniBook Monday.  For the next four weeks, each Monday will be devoted to bringing you new minibook inspiration. This week, we bring you TWO fabulous minibooks by Annette (Voodoo Vixen).

Please upload your own minibooks into the Sultry Summer Stash Bash folder in the Gallery.  There is no deadline but it would be great to see how much Stash we can get through during August

Circle Minibook

Supplies:
4 sheets - 12 x 12 cardstock
4 sheets - patterned papers
Ribbon/flowers/brads
Chipboard shapes

Instructions:
Cut 4 large circles from the cardstock.  I used my largest dinner plate as a template but you could use a compass or a circle cutter if you have one.

NB: before you start folding the cardstock cut a smaller circle from plain white copy paper and use it as a practice piece – it is worth it, honestly!!   I used a 6 inch circle for practice after ruining 3 sheets of cardstock.

1. Take your first circle (hopefully your practice sheet of paper) and fold it in half.
2. Open it up, turn it 90 degrees and fold it in half again.  Your circle is now 4 quarters.
3. Open it up flat and make one final fold through 2 of the quarters dividing them into 1/8ths.
4. Using a bone folder go over all your fold both sides, this makes it easier to do the next step.

Now this is the only tricky bit and describing it in words may prove difficult so here goes...

Hold the last fold (the eighths) between your index fingers and thumbs on both sides of the circle and bring them together to meet in the middle – you end up with a coffee filter shape.

Repeat this for each of your four circles.

Decorate the pages whilst they are flat, designate a top and bottom for your smaller fold section. Make sure you cut the smaller sections to fit and don’t try to make the paper go over the fold, it won’t look as nice in the end.  The spots and stripes sections  in the photo are in two pieces, not one.

Anyone still with me?  Oh good!! ;)  Now you can decorate your pages with chipboards bits, flowers, ribbons etc and  add photos and journaling. 

Whilst the small top fold is free, I added some folded ribbons and lace with DST holding it all in place and hung small chipboard shapes from a narrow ribbon which I DST’d to the fold – I think it looks quite cute!

I used some clear buttons and glued small offcuts of patterned papers to the back of them, then threaded contrasting cotton through the holes.  Call me weird but buttons without thread bother me!!

Clear buttons backed with paper.  Covered chipboard shapes hanging from fold.

Decorate your front and back covers but remember that if you are going to use ribbon to hold your book closed, it’s a good idea to attach this before you cover it, I have added mine afterwards and used chipboard and a brad to attach it firmly to the outside covers.  If you have a metal closure you could use that instead.

Square Minibook

Supplies:
Cardstock
Patterned papers
Offcuts of chipboard
Ribbons
Brads/flowers and bling

Instructions:
Before cutting up and folding the actual cardstock I suggest you cut a 8 x 8 square from plain white copy paper and practice the fold.  Once you have the idea, you will get the 4 pages done without hiccup! Please don’t be put off by the number of photos I have used to help make this – it is a quick and simple book that looks a lot more involved than it actually is!

Cut four  8 x 8 squares from the cardstock and taking the first one, fold it in half.  See fig 1
Open it up and fold it in half the other way. See fig 2
Open it up and fold it corner to corner to make a triangle. See fig 3
Open it up once more and fold it corner to corner the opposite way to make the last triangle. 
Open it out and you should have something that looks like fig 4  I drew the lines on it so you could see where the folds are.

Here's another Circle Minibook Annette prepared earlier...