PDF tutorial news!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone has enjoyed the Holidays and had the opportunity to spend quality time with those you love (and snuck in a little crafty time too!!)

 I've finally done it!! It took me weeks to put together, but I've completed my first PDF tutorial that's now available in my Etsy shop. This is a tutorial on my 8x8 First Noel Mini-Album from a few weeks ago. The details on the tutorial are available in the Etsy listing, but I thought I should mention again here that this tutorial covers the step-by-step process I used in making the front and back covers and 14 pages with photo mats and tags. It DOES NOT cover the binding system that I use. I have almost finished the PDF tutorial on the binding system and I'll be offering that separately in my Etsy shop as it's the basis for all albums and can be used over and over.

 I have spent about 3-4 months on a trial-and-error basis devising a "hidden-hinge" type system that works independently from the covers and spine of the album. For any of you that have attempted to use solid covers and spine with this type of system, you have probably experienced a certain amount of frustration with things not working quite right, papers not staying adhered, failures here and there, etc. At least, I know I did. I was never satisfied with the end result until I worked out the kinks and finally succeeded in producing a solid, durable method that looks and acts like a real book.

 If you're interested,I should have that binding tutorial in my Etsy shop within a day or so. Of course, there are plenty of tutorials out there on YouTube that teach a hidden-hinge system and any of them can be used in conjunction with my mini-album tutorials that use this system. I think mine provides something the others don't as I've tried just about every one of them out there and they all have their strengths and weaknesses. I just focused on the strengths and tried to make them even stronger! Who needs or wants weaknesses, right?

 I hope to have a few more mini-album tutorials available in the next month or two. They take quite a bit of time to create, so please be patient with me!

 Hope you have a happy and safe New Year's!