A Maze(zing) Birthday Book

This book was one of my Design Team Projects for Club Ruby Designers back in 2011. The basic tutorial can be found in this post.

In this case, I cut two covers to go over the ribbon glued to the front and back of the book. The fronts and backs of the pages were glued together to give a more finished appearance. The pages were decorated with party embellishments leaving room for small pictures and journaling.

Other variations can be found by clicking on the maze book label to the right, or using the search button at the top right of the page.

A WOYWW Maze Book

As I mentioned before, I made about 5 PiFs, not knowing which would be the "one" to send. After this one was finished, it demanded to be sent to our fearless WOYWW leader, Julia. I wrote a basic Maze/Meander Mini Book tutorial (which you can see here). This is another variation.

The outside I could photograph, but I had to scan in the pages to show them properly.

front.

side. And I just have to say, that's the best looking bow I ever tied lol.

open front.

open back.

Attaching the pages together makes the book more solid. I used a paper piercer, a piece of cork and made holes for sewing along the appropriate pages to make pockets. Except for one pair that I left unpocketed so it could be a panorama. I used a book needle and some Papertrey Ink Twine, then lost the book needle and used a thin tapestry needle. I had the darnedest time finding the paper for the cover and nearly passed this up because it was too "cool/blue". Tim Holtz (crafty super hero) to the rescue with some Antique Linen Distress Ink! I used Distress Ink for everything inky in this project.

The pocket art is shown "out".

Tiny piece of sea glass (aka Mermaid's Tear) sewn on before the covers were attached.

Basic Maze Mini Book aka Meander Mini Book Tutorial

I've become addicted to maze or meander mini books, and there are several ways to make them, with pockets, without pockets, glued, stitched, unattached. Basically so many ways to use a 12 x 12 sheet of paper. I made a test book to wrap my head around it which took away the pressure of working with "good" paper lol.  I numbered the squares following the page orientation illustration below and still refer to it when I'm trying to work something out.

These can be scored before folding at the 3, 6, and 9 inch line. Rotate paper 90 degrees and score at the 3, 6 and 9 inch line.

Or they can be folded without scoring. It really helps to have a bone folder though.

Fold paper in half.

Then fold each half in half again so it looks like the picture above. It works best if each half is folded separately.

Rotate the paper 90 and fold it in half and then each half in half again. The end result will be 16 equal squares.

After the folding, it's time to cut the paper. The cutting can be done with a trimmer or scissors.  When you are done it will look like an "M".

 Fold as illustrated and you'll have a little book 3" x 3". I find it helps to line up the pages and use a bone folder to get a more even book.

The pages can be decorated before or after folding, cutting etc. The edges can also be glued or sewn together to make pockets. The pages could also be glued together for a more solid page as follows. Many people leave the book unbound except to put covers on the front and back.

Backs of pages 2 and 3.
Backs of pages 4 and 5
Backs of pages 6 and 7
Backs of pages 8 and 9
Backs of pages 10 and 11
Backs of pages 12 and 13
Backs of pages 14 and 15

So many possibilities for one sheet of paper :D. Look for more examples in the coming weeks.