I spent the other morning in my art studio crafting books with my Cinch Book Binding Tool, by We R Memory Keepers. I created a few different types of books in a short period of time and thought I’d share with you just how fun and easy book binding can be with the Cinch.

I received mine a few months ago and have used it a few times, but with the holidays fast approaching, I thought it would be a great opportunity to whip up a few gifts and make it a handcrafted holiday.

There are a couple of different versions of the Cinch available; one punches round holes, the other square. Mine was purchased from Amazon and I opted for the square holes. You can find more info about it HERE .

This first book was created with a mixed media background, using dictionary paper, alphas, paints, inks, stamps and pens.

For the inside of the book I used heavy drawing paper and incorporated a few extra bits like a mini file folders, a few journaling cards, a mini paper bag and although you can’t see it in the photo, I added in a few of my own gelli prints cut down to size.

You can add a variety of different elements to your books to really personalize them, like calendars, artwork and even photos.

If you are into mixed media and using a gelli plate, this is a fabulous way to use up some of the gelli prints that you likely have piling up. You can incorporate them into a junk journal.

The other type of book that I made, the one I’m most excited to share with my fellow scrappers, is one that I created using my stash of Project Life cards!

With my focus more on mixed media these days, I find that I’m doing fewer scrap layouts, yet I have more kits than I care to admit just collecting dust. This is a great way to use some of them up.

For the demo I’ll show you here, I chose the Sunshine core kit and selected both 3×4 and 4×6 cards.

Taking care to align the cards properly, I inserted them into the Cinch to punch the holes.

You only want to punch a few at a time.

Next, using wire cutters, I trimmed a Cinch binding wire to the appropriate size, placed it on the pegs along the side of the Cinch and threaded my cards onto it.

To close the binding wire, I inserted it, along with the threaded cards, into the slot in the back and cinched it closed.

To jazz it up a bit, I added some ribbon along the wire binding and there you have it, a Handcrafted Holiday gift that is sure to touch someone’s heart.

These little books make great gifts because of their versatility. They can be used as Smashbooks, photo albums, day books, recipe books, even small art journals; the possibilities are virtually endless.

A view of the inside of the book.

Thanks for looking!

With my focus being more on art journaling these days, I’m just not putting together as many scrapbook layouts as I used to. There are, however, a couple of monthly kit subscriptions that I just can’t bear to part with, the OhDeerMe kit by Freckled Fawn being one of them, so I decided to put some of those adorable embellishments to good use making a handcrafted mini notebook.

I’d been hanging on to some leftover pieces of cardstock “just in case” so I thought this would be a good opportunity to use those as well. Sometimes it pays off to be a “craft hoarder”!

Using fluid medium, I adhered an old dictionary page to the piece of cardstock that was to be my cover, then scraped on a thin layer of gesso using an old gift card. Once dry, I brushed on some Dina Wakley acrylic paints and used her stiff bristle brush to really work the colors until I got the desired blended look I was going for. Since I used such little paint it was dry enough to bind in a matter of minutes.

To bind the notebook I pulled out my Cinch Book Binding Tool and a scrap piece of cinch wire… yay, another scrap used! If you’ve never used Cinch Book Binding Tool, let me just briefly tell you it’s pretty darn cool and so easy to use! I got the newer version because I wanted the one with the square holes, but Amazon carries both versions at a decent price. Last week Scrapbook Steals had The Cinch as one of their daily steals and it may still be available in their archives. Of course, you may have heard of different binding solutions, perhaps for companies and businesses and charities, but as this is just a hobby and a craft, it is not something we desperately need! This tool will really do the work for you!

Once the notebook was bound, which took just a couple of minutes, I set about to make it pretty using embellishments, washi tape and stamps from various past OhDeerMe kits.

Credits: Embellishments, star stamp and washi from Freckled Fawn, acrylics are by Dina Wakley, The CInch Book Binding machine is by We R memory Keepers and the paper is from my own stash. Thanks for looking!