SB/GB January = Covers!

Can you believe it? We're almost done! My book has turned into two books, and I love them! Now it's time to start thinking about our covers!

Because our books are going to be big and fat, we need to use something heavy for the covers. Heavy chipboard or mat board is what I recommend, but if you have any ideas, please share them in the comments below. Make the cover boards 5 1/2" X 8" or 6"X8", so there will be some extra room around the pages to protect those little somethings that stick out. Use nice papers, which can include scrapbook papers, heavy book pages, vintage documents, etc. (The photo above is the cover of my summer smashbook, and I had a lot of fun with it.)

Please check your partner's profile for likes and dislikes for embellishment ideas, so you can make a cover that they will love. And once again, everyone needs to comment below on the colors they would like included on their covers, and then pay attention to your partner's wishes. This doesn't mean you have to use only those colors, but at least incorporate them into the papers or embellishments you choose.

Do a nice, professional-looking job. Cover the edges, miter the corners, use end papers, etc. For those of you who have never covered book covers this way, I am including some links below.

Don't punch the covers. Leave it for your partner to decide how she wants to bind her book (or books - lol). Make something that your mama would be proud of and that your partner will want to show off. I can't wait to see what you do, and I want to see them ALL, so the last part of this swap is to take a photo and send it to all of our participants! I will send you all emails or messages with everyone's email addresses, so we can all see what beautiful work we all did!!!

Because this swap will be a little more time and labor intensive and probably cost a little more in shipping, you will only have one partner to send to. (If you want to split your pages into two books, like I'm doing, then make two covers but only send one out. I'm using my second one as a gift for a special friend. I know she will really love it!) I am also giving a month to complete it because of the holidays. Have fun with this last swap in our series and I hope to see you all in the next series!

The first link is to a post on my blog. You don't need to make a hinged book like the one in this post, but pay attention to how the corners and end papers are done.

This link will take you to another tutorial that has really good photos of the process. Again, you won't be making a hinged book cover, but just see how she does the corners.