One-Sheet Accordion Mini-Album

Christy Ink & Paper, Tutorials 11 Comments

Okay, technically speaking, I didn’t make either of these with a single sheet of cardstock. But you could, and I’m going to tell you how.

All you need is a 12×12 sheet of cardstock, a paper cutter, and a scoring board. If you want your cover and accordion to be different colors, use two sheets of paper (and make 2 albums!).

First, cut your paper into 3 strips. The two strips that will make your accordion should be just under 4 inches wide. Let’s say 3 7/8ths. That leaves your 3rd strip about 4 1/4 inches wide. Trim the cover strip to between 9 1/2 and 10 inches long. You can use an edge die for this if you want to be fancy. Next comes scoring. Score the two accordion strips at 4 inches and 8 inches.

Then score the the cover at 1 1/2, 1 3/4, 5 3/4, and 6 inches.

Now you’re ready to assemble. Fold your accordion strips and glue together as shown below. I find it helpful to trim about 1/8th of an inch of the 2 panels I’m gluing together, that way everything lines up and folds nicely.

Then glue the whole thing in between the score lines of the cover. Embellish as you will.

Finally, to create the belly band, I have a nifty trick using cardstock stickers. Select your sticker and set it sticky-side up on the top of your album. Place the end of your ribbon right in the center of the sticker, wrap it around so it fits perfectly, and then trim it so there’s no overlap.

Now you still have all this exposed sticky surface around the ribbon. That’s where the EK Success Powder Tool comes in. Just brush it over the back of the sticker until it stops sticking. Now you have a pretty tagged belly band that won’t stick to your album.