Hi, it’s Jamaica. The first time I saw the collection of papers in Bloom, I had a vision of them rearranged from light to dark and knew I wanted to use them all together. I decided on a small, accordion-fold book with eight of the patterns from the collection. The mix of soft pinks and greys with the high-contrast black and whites would be the perfect backdrop for a collection of photobooth pictures I’ve been saving.

I paired up my favorite patterns and printed four sets onto 4″ x 6″matte photo paper, then cut the papers that would become the front and back into individual 3″ x 4″ cards.

Once I had them all lined up in the order I wanted, I turned them face down and used white washi tape to connect them together leaving a tiny gap between them to act as a hinge once it’s folded. The white tape blends in with the edges of the white photo paper, becoming invisible.

After taping all the cards together, I trimmed off the excess washi tape and glued the long strip of patterned papers onto a piece of kraft wrapping paper so that the back looks finished and it gives the strip a bit more rigidity. Because it was so long, it was either wrapping paper or several smaller pieces of paper. I chose the kraft paper out of convenience but it ended up folding really nicely.

Once the glue dried, I scored the center of the three 4″ x 6″ cards that I didn’t cut down (the three spots where the panels meet that aren’t already hinged). After scoring them using a ruler and a bone folder, I began to fold the panels in opposite directions carefully folding along the scored lines then running my bone folder along the crease to make crisp edges.

If you’ve lined everything up carefully the panels should all fold up into a tidy 3″ x 4″ book. All that’s left is to embellish!

I added a simple gold foil chipboard heart to the cover and photobooth pictures of me and my mom from the last few years to the inside panels. The photos are printed from scans, not the original strips, so I varied the sizes slightly to make it less cookie-cutter.

When it’s done, it can stand unassisted on display or be folded into a tiny book. It unfolds a bit when closed so I’ll tie it up with a ribbon before gifting it to my mom on Mother’s Day.

xo, jamaica

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