Minialbum for 6×6 mats

Sometimes, when I see a nice mix of things,  I buy second-hand stuff from Ebay.
A bunch of 6×6 paper pads give me the idea to write down the measures of a minialbum bade with one of this pack.

Minialbum

The basic page is a square of 6 1/4 x 6 1/4 to leave 1/8 border around the mat.
Its mat measure 6×6 so you can only have to glue the 6×6 sheet of paper down.

All the structure is made with A4 cardstock but can be done with letter size cardstock as well.
One can also use 12×12 plain cardstock or even design paper.

I normally use 1/2 inch flap to glue down paper together but, obviously, one can use different measures for that.

For the cover, I used recycled chipboard but one can use recycled cereal boxes maybe glued together if they are not enough thick.

Globally my mini album is 7 x 7 x 2 but it could be different.

Half Main Page

Since the main page is more than 6×6 one can’t use just one sheet of paper to create it, not even using 12×12.
The main page is made of two pieces glued together to cover the attachment with the spine.
In this way, one gets the hidden attachment plus a side pocket.
One can also glue one main half-page with one page with a flap to create a more interactive page.

Half a page is 6 1/4 x ( 1/2 + 6 1/4 ) = 6 1/4 x 6 3/4

Half Main Page + Side Flap

This page consists of half a main page with attached a side flap.
The size of the flap will be signed as X and can be anything less than 6 1/4.

( 6 1/4 + X ) x ( 1/2 + 6 1/4 ) = ( 6 1/4 + X ) x 6 3/4
X = size of the flap
for easy mapping X = 3 1/4

Pay attention when attaching the pages together and even more when attaching the mats, that this flap can close the entry for the side pocket od the main page.
If one has big photo-mats for the main side pocket attaching the side flap in the wrong way could be a disaster.

Half Main Page + Top Flap

This page consists of half a main page with attached a top flap.
The length of the flap will be signed as Y and can be anything less than 6 1/4.

6 1/4 x ( 1/2 + 6 1/4 + Y )  =  6 1/4 x ( 6 3/4 + Y )
Y = length of the flap
for easy mapping Y = 3 1/4

Side Flap

This is a simple flap to be added everywhere.
I used this size to mat the page with half a 6×6 paper.
One can anyway use instead of 3 1/4 any size minor to 6 1/4.

( 1/2 + 3 1/4 ) x 6 1/4 = 3 3/4 x 6 1/4

Cover and Spine

The size of the cover depends on how much one likes to embellish the top of the pages with clips and other stuff.
If one has bigger size paper can use it but one can double matt the cover to use only 6×6 paper top mat also here.
One can also size the cover at 6 1/2 x 6 1/2 or even as big as the pages without bouble matting.

cover size 7 x 7
cover low mat 6 3/4 x 6 3/4 or 6 1/2 x 6 1/2
cover top mat  6 x 6

The size of the spine depends on the number of the pages of the album and the space one likes to have between the hinges.

spine width = space before and after the pages + space between the pages  = b + a  + ( s * (n- 1) )
spine height = the height of the cover
paper width for the spine = space before and after the pages + space between the pages + n hinges = b + a  + ( s * (n- 1) ) + ( n * h )
paper height for the spine = the height of the pages
n = number of pages
h = hinge
s = space between the pages
b = space before the pages
a = space after the pages

In my case, with 3 pages, a 1/2 + 1/2 hinge and using 1/2 also as space between the pages and before and after them, it comes
spine size = 2 x 7
paper size for the spine = 5 x 6 1/4
The paper size for the spine can be also longer if one likes to make the spine go under the mats of the cover to secure it well at the whole cover not only at the spine.

Covering the Cover

To cover the cover just glue together two sheets of A4 paper positioning the glued piece under the spine.
Position the covers letting 1/8 of an inch between the spine them, some people use twice the thickness of the chipboard in between the pieces.
Leave enough paper all around to fold the paper on to the chipboard.
With my measures and two A4 paper, I left 5/8 all around.
Once one has glues down the chipboard to the paper, use a bone folder to sign the scoring line before folding the paper on to the chipboard to have a nice score.
Don’ forget to cut the angles a bit far away to be able to fold them well without any piece of chipboard showing through.

For inner cover with my measures, I used 6 3/4 paper covering the cover and the spine before adding the hinge.
To mat the back of the cover I use 6 1/2 x 6 1/2 mat but as the cover one can double mat and use 6×6 too.