Art Girlz Scrapbook Nook: How to: Make a Mini Coaster Book

I have seen these "coaster books" and they looked so cute. I found some square coasters (about 4" square) and covered them with printed papers. I like to use glue sticks because it allows you to SLIDE the papers just a bit to get the paper on exactly.

I used Daisy D's "Wonder Year's" papers for this book. I wanted something fun, and non-seasonal.

Well, my daughter just LOVES it and I guess that's why I made it!!

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I printed photos in a smaller size to put them on these pages. The photo prints were about 2 x 2 1/2.

I added buttons & flowers to the bottom of this photo and found a SMILE sticker.

I inked the edges of all pages with a pigment ink. This ink takes longer to dry so the inking was the last step.

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I wanted a cute quote or sticker here, but nothing with the wording I wanted. I CUT APART a sticker about scrapbooking -- it said "God made us friends, but scrapbooking made us sisters." So I changed the order of the words and added a heart (in place of the word "love") and it came out to be: "God made us sisters but love made us friends".

There are 4 coasters that make up this book. The front & back of each "pair" are the same. So instead of having all identical backgrounds on my pages, I used coordinating papers from Daisy D's "Wonder Years" collection.

Next time I might use black & white photos or play with Photoshop Elements. Notice the color cast of the backgrounds in these 2 photos?

One photo has a warmer tone and the other a cooler (blue) tone. Some of this is due to using / not using flash indoors and the background color variations (wall color).

Pet photos are the most challenging for me. The colorations make it difficult to see their face ... but in these photos of our cat, I captured him on his back, and he let me get a close-up. So excited!!

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Making a book for my daughter, I HAD to have photos of her cat. I have a number of photos, but not too many close ups. Added the stamped image "one of a kind" (SU! stamp set) a few stickers, and some buttons for embellishments.

Some scrap papers (dark blue) make a matt for one of the pages. This is a good way to use up scraps!!

I try to keep scraps in a box that I can look through quickly ... and sort by color. What to do with really small pieces? I take some punches and punch shapes out of these pieces. I WILL find a way to use them later!!

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The graduation photo is REALLY cropped close, eventhough I took it at about 15 feet away. If you have a photo editing software, zoom in on an area!

It used to bother me to have ANY part of the photo "cut off". But I've found that these books and some other projects are more fun & less formal.

It doesn't bother me that the graduation cap & the diploma are cut off. I just really wanted the faces! But this less formal style has taken me a long time to feel comfortable.

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The back cover is similar to the front with the photo at a angle, buttons & flowers under the photo.

I used LARGE puffy sticker letters here. These are not part of the "Wonder Years" collection, but the colors are similar.

Binding was done with my Bind-It All from Zutter, Inc. This was my first project with the Bind-It All (BIA) and I LOVE it!!!

I'm having so much fun using the BIA now I have about 10 projects that I'm working on -- going to be Christmas presents.

I have found quite a bit of information on the Bind-It All on the Zutter Sisters site. I'm still learning about all the possibilities!! And I see they have a new PINK machine. I really want that pink one, mine is a light blue...

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