A book card

After thinking about it for an age, I finally got around to making my first book card this week. My friends had made one at a Saturday class that I hadn't been able to go to and I had seen one by Debbie Dolphin in Craft Stamper. Neither seemed the right size for what I had in mind, so I made up my own measurements as I went along and ended up with this...

This is the front view, its about the size of a paperback but a bit deeper.
I went overboard with the spellbinders 'Bitty Blossoms' on the front, but I kind of like the effect.
I stamped the peach pearlescent card first with one of the Big Blossoms stamps from Chocolate Baroque. I have a feeling this one has been discontinued, but the new 'Sunny Sunflowers' would do the same thing. The lines of the petals have put an attractive design onto the petals of the flowers.


The next view is of the inside...

Again, its a bit OTT on the decorative front but who cares! I love the design paper - its by KaiserCraft - I've bought a whole lot of the new designs as they are gorgeous and I'm a paper addict anyway. These flowers were from Wild Orchid Crafts who have a brilliant range of flowers and other embellishments.
On the whole, I'm fairly happy with how it turned out for a first attempt and I liked the size and proportion.
If you want a go, here are the instructions:
The book cover is from a piece of 12 x 12 pearlescent but all measurements are in cm

• cover - 1 of 30.5 x 16
• mats - 4 of 15.4 x 12.9 and 2 x 15.4 x 3
• design paper - 3 of 14.9 x 12.4, 2 of 14.9 x 2.6 and 1 of 12 x 9.5
• pages - 2 of 25.5 x 14.7 and 2 of 25.5 x 12.2

Cut the book cover and score in 13.5cm from each short side.
Attach the mats front, back and on the spine - inside and out
Attach the design papers front, back and on the spine - inside and out. The smaller design paper goes behind where the 'pages' fit.
Make the pages by scoring every half an inch using a Hougie board along the short width of the card. Fold in a concertina, making sure to keep the folds square and properly aligned. Do this to all 4 of the card pieces.
Interlock the 'pages' and glue top and bottom to hold them in place.
Now its matter of choice - I stuck the pages in place and then decorated inside. Some people prefer to do the decoration and then stick the pages on afterwards - its up to you.
Cut some decorative strips with a decorative punch or spellbinder and attach them to the front of the pages as shown.
Die cut some corners or use purchased metal corners for decoration.
Decorate front and insides as you like with a scene or sentiment. These are computer generated and die cut.
I have another one in mind, but it will be next week before I manage to make it. 
Gina x