Graduation Guest Book

Hello WeR fans! It’s Chantalle with you and thank you for stopping by the blog today to check out this little graduation memento/guest book.

I will admit to creating this book after the fact, as a celebration of my daughter having successfully graduated from year 2 to 3, which in Australia moves you up in the world from ‘Junior’ to ‘Middle’ status in primary school. I will also admit that I am rubbish at filing things properly when I first get them. I kinda collect similar items and then have a big filing session (which then becomes a big task lol) so I was really happy to gather things that I had saved over the course of the year and then compile into this mini book. She still sees all of these kids every day so I can grab them to add a few more signatures to the hall of fame area at the back haha!

The book consists of some covered heavy weight kraft card for the covers and some patterned paper inside, bound together using my Cinch Binding Tool.

The covers are measured at 6×6 inches and the inside pages are 5 ¾ inches squared.

I trimmed my kraft card using my Supreme Ruler and a knife. I ran the paper which is a lighter weight through my Trim & Score Board so all the pages would be the same.

I applied some bright Amy Tangerine Washi Tape to the edges of my kraft card and folded it over to give a neat finish, before I glued the cover papers on. This beautiful woodgrain print is from the new 12×12 Hawthorne Paper Pad by Heidi Swapp.

Some of the pages have some machine stitching for detail and others have been stitched to create pockets.

I wanted the first spread to feature my DD and thought her school portrait would be great. I used my Circle Clear Cut Punch to pop a 2 inch circle in the centre of the paper and then embellished around the image.

The chipboard alphas for the date are from a pack of AC ‘Sunshine’ Chipboard Stickers and the words are from American Crafts Girl Power Chipboard Alphas. The ‘dream big’ is a super convenient die cut shapes from my DCWV Die Cut Shapes paper pad. I used this pad in my last post and it’s awesome!!

The next couple of pages feature an award and coloring competition she entered.

This spotty page is the first of the pocket pages. I just machine stitched around 3 of the sides, leaving the last one open and then used a 1 inch circle punch to pop a half circle shape on that edge, so the viewer knows that the page contains something.

Overleaf we have an adorable observation with a little ‘peek-a-boo’ cutout in the paper announcing the title of her worksheet.

Her interest definitely lies in story telling. She has always gone in to lots of detail when explaining something or telling us about her day. This argument to keep the news on television is too hilarious not to keep!

The back section of the book focuses on some of the friendships she has made. I’ve included polaroid snaps of the children involved so she can look back on them and remember. TIP: If this was at a graduation party, one could leave a couple of Instax cameras on the table for guests to add their own pics along with their messages.

Her class was encouraged to share some compliments with each other and the ones she received melted my heart!

The book includes a friends list where she can add in her BFF’s

Throughout this book, I’ve used the most gorgeous colourful rub-ons from Paige Evans’ ‘Pick Me Up’ collection.

There is also a pocket for her report cards.

Don’t forget to keep your Typecast dust-free with the handy clear covers, which are now available!

Grab those signatures while you can sweetheart!

Binding using the Cinch is so easy and convenient. I have used the smaller size 0.625inch binding combs as there weren’t that many pages in my book.

I punched all of my pages and the covers and then popped the comb onto the side of the binding tool. First, I put my inside pages onto the comb, followed by the top cover, face up then finally, the bottom cover, face down. This technique gives a cleaner binding finish.

To secure my book, I have included a ribbon closure. Two sections of ribbon have been glued under the cover papers. In my case, I changed my mind from an eyelet system so I was able to lift my papers, which were adhered with double sided tape, so it wasn’t that difficult. If you prefer to use liquid adhesive, then you would have to add your ribbon before you glued down your cover paper to your book/chip board.