I got a little distracted yesterday by another project, so my folio tutorial is a day late. Sorry about that, but when an idea possesses me, I just have to see it through. I’ll post that one tomorrow, ok?

Here’s the folio tutorial, as promised.

1) Start by gathering your supplies. For this size you will need 3 sheets of 12 x 12 paper. I chose double sided, because I’m like that. You will also need some sort of tape. I went with some Heidi Swapp ribbon tape I found at Mikes but I could see using just about any kind that will coordinate with your paper. If you are going to do the padded board and memory board inserts, you will also need a couple of pieces of felt, a piece of thick chipboard, a sheet of coordinating paper, a hand full of brads, and a bunch of ribbon. You will also need some sort of heavy duty adhesive like glue or double stick tape.

2) Cut your 3 sheets of paper down to the following dimensions:

Note that the two 9 x 6 sheets come from one 12 x 12 sheet, the 8.5 x 12 from another sheet, and the 12 x 12 is the final sheet. You should score this last sheet 3″ in on one side (see above) to create a 3″ flap. I used a border punch on the flap to make it more decorative, but this is clearly optional.

3) To make the padded board, grab the two pieces of felt and sheet of chipboard. The felt should be 8.5 x 11 and the chipboard should be cut to .5 inches smaller than the felt.

4) Iron the felt so it is nice and pretty.

5) I used snot dots to adhere the first layer of felt to the chipboard. This helps to keep it in place when we sew the edges.

6) Stack the chipboard and the two sheets of felt. I didn’t need adhesive for the second layer of felt because felt on felt is kinda like velcro.

7) Carefully sew around the edge of the felt, felt, chipboard combo. Now your padded board in complete. Use the heavy duty adhesive to stick it on to the center sheet of the folio.

8) Now we are going to make the memory board. Cut your sheet of coordinating paper down to 8 x 11. This is the base of the board. Create an angled grid over the top of the paper with your ribbon. Tape the ribbon down on the back of the paper.

9) Finish the memory board by adding brads to the ribbon intersections.  Then adhere the board down to your folio using the heavy duty adhesive.

10) Using your ribbon tape, join the seams between the sheets of your folio. Make sure you leave a gap so it will have room to fold up with a bunch of cool stuff inside it. I’ve found that a bigger gap is better.

11) Flip your folio over and finish each seam on the other side with more ribbon tape.

12) Your folio is done. All it needs is some means of closing it. I went with some seriously antique ribbon (like 200 year old Italian stuff) and a Bakelite buckle, two things I’ve been waiting to use. That’s the beauty of the folio. It’s a great project to keep lovely things close at hand and allow you to bask in the glow of their inspiration.

Ah, my lovelies.