Excuses, excuses….

  Oh I always have excuses as to why I don’t get more blogging done. I’m tired, the room is too cold,  I have nothing important to say or the cat is in my way. They are all true at some point, the cat one occurring most often. Zelda thinks that when I am at the computer I am there for her. To hold her, to pet her, to let her climb upon my breast and treat them like pillows. Ouch. She doesn’t pull in her claws in an effort to gain purchase on the moving body and I have the scars to prove it. She jumps from my art table to my shoulder and perches there like an errant falcon (me wishing I had leather shoulder pads) until she decides it is time to come around under my chin, trying to stay off any surface other than my body, rubbing my chin and purring madly all the time. Only with great reluctance will she move from my chest to the computer table so that I can at least get a little bit done. And as you can tell she hates having her picture taken….I think she is of the mind that it steals the soul.

   

I want to give you, my dear reader, a wee giftie, a small something you can make for yourself. They are Pocket Folder Booklets. These are great booklets that are handy for all kinds of things. And they don’t require a lot of materials or tools.

I am posting directions and a diagram here for your personal use. Please use the idea to your heart’s content but if you wish to teach it or make it into a kit, please, please, write your own directions and use your own diagrams (I hate even having to say that stuff...such is life). Now that that is out of the way…

To make your own Pocket Folder Booklet you will need:

• One piece of 12” x 12” cardstock, decorated on both side is very nice (usually found with scrap booking stuff)
• 10 sheets of text weight paper, cut to 8½” x 10¼”
• ½” or less wide double stick tape
• Approx. 15” of waxed linen thread or embroidery floss or pearl cotton thread
• pencil
• ruler
• scoring tool like a bone folder or the smooth side of a table knife
• An awl or something you can make holes with
• A cushion, like a mouse pad or a folded towel to make the holes on
• Scissors
• Needle (I like to use a #2 crewel with the tip sanded down (thanks Dorothy!)

Cick on the diagram and pictures to get a much larger view. 

Now to make it

1. On the back side of the card stock, score a horizontal line 8½” from the top edge. Score vertical lines at ½”,6” and 11½” from the left edge. (see the diagram)
2. Cut out the shaded areas shown in the diagram.
3. Apply double stick tape to the areas marked on the diagram. Don’t worry about fine trimming the double stick tape, just fold it back onto itself. Fold down onto the card stock. This gives a nice reinforced edge.
4. Fold up the pockets onto the inside of the card stock. Fold the tabs so that they are between the pocket and the cover. Apply double stick tape to the side of the tab closest to the cover and press into place.
5. Fold the cover in half. Place the cover onto the mouse pad and make holes along the center fold at 2”, 4¼” and 6½” from the top of the card stock. Set aside.
6. Fold the text pages in half. They can be folded individually or as a group. I tend to fold them as a group. Place on the mouse pad and make holes along the center fold at 2”, 4¼” and 6½” from the top edge.
7. Place the pages inside the cover and with your threaded needle start sewing on the inside of the pages through the cover at the center hole. Leave a tail of thread of about 3”.
8. On the outside, stitch up and through the cover and pages at the top hole. On the inside stitch down to the bottom hole and out through the pages and cover.
9. On the outside stitch up to the center hole and through the cover and pages to the inside. On the inside notice the long stitch in the middle. Make your threaded needle come up on one side of this long stitch and your starting tail come up on the other side. Tie off the thread with square knots over the long stitch. Trim off the thread ends to about ½”. Depending on the thread used you may want to put a drop of glue on the knot and let it dry.

Now your Pocket Folder Booklet is ready for you to fill with projects, recipes or dreams. Have fun playing with these and let me know how they turned out.