Interactive Book Layout

Hi all! It’s Emily here today, and for the first time ever, I am showing you a fun scrapbook layout! I typically stick to cards but was very inspired by the new line “My Story” from Simple Stories. I am a big fan of books and reading, so I was motivated by the adorable bookshelf paper in this line and all the lovely sayings about book reading. This layout is unique in that there are no pictures of actual people in it. I decided to take pictures of 8 books (their covers) that I loved reading and essentially make them into little books (or cards!). Let’s walk through the process!

Interactive Book Layout

First, I chose my books and took pictures of the covers of each of them. I started out with 8 of my favorite books, to make sure I had enough. I then decided to measure how big the pictures would have to be in order to fit about 8 on the page. I did this with some scrap cardstock. I knew I wanted to use the “Share Your Story” Paper as my background.

The sizes for my mini books turned out to be about 3×3 inches, and since the books were all a little taller, they ended up being a bit smaller than that to make sure the pictures on the covers turned out nice & readable. I printed the photos of the book covers out and cut them out to look exactly like the book itself. From this point, I realized I had to pick 6 of my books instead of the originally planned 8, just because they fit better.

I decided to create a base for the picture of each book cover to go on. It was basically like making a mini-card! I made sure the cardstock was about the same height as the book picture, and then made it 6 inches wide, so when I folded it halfway, it would fit perfectly on the page as I planned.

I used Cherry Tape to add the book cover picture onto the cardstock front. I made 6 total (one for each book picture). I decided to use a coral color, dark green & the “Just be You” paper from the collection (a lighter blue) as the bases so there would be some contrast with the busy background. I also added in some brads for flash!

I knew I wanted to play on the book idea even more, and create actual mini-books. To do this, I got some white cardstock, cut it down to the correct size, and folded it in half. I only needed one sheet of the white cardstock, so once folded there were 3 total “pages”. I used more cherry tape to adhere the back of the inside of the white cardstock to the back of the “book cover” so it would stay inside the “book”.

I did this for each book, and on the inside, I wrote what I enjoyed most about the book, why I loved reading it, and something I remembered most about it. I did my writing before adhering to the “book covers” I made. That way I had plenty of space to write!

Doing this for every book was a lot of fun, and I was able to decorate each cover with more brads. Once I was complete with every book cover, I adhered each onto the page one by one with some more Cherry Tape.

I knew from there I wanted to add some sort of title, and the “Tags & Bookmark Elements” paper worked perfectly for this. I used the bookmark that read “Next Chapter” as my main title and added some more brads to it. I also wanted to add the chipboard sticker that came with the brads which was a stack of books but didn’t want it to clash with the background, so I added it onto some yellow cardstock first. I added the bird & tea cup (or coffee) onto the title once I adhered it to the background.

I also really loved the saying “reading is dreaming with your eyes open” so I wanted to make sure I incorporated that as well. I had a little more space left in the corner of my layout, so I put it there, with more brads and the flower chipboard sticker. What I love about this layout is that it is more of a memory keep for myself & it is also interactive! Anyone can turn the cute little pages on each mini “book” and read what was great about it.

This is something I will continue to do with all the books I read! That way I never forget why I love them all (as if I could!). You can also see all your books displayed in a fun, unique way.

Thanks so much for reading (pun intended)! I hope you enjoyed this layout and I hope this inspires you to create (or read!). Check out below for the list of all the books I have shown here on this layout and click here for a short video that shows the interactiveness of this page.

Stay crafty!

Emily

Books in order from left to right:

“Don’t Stop me Now” by Colleen Coleman

“The Midnight Library” by Matt Haig

“Someday, Someday Maybe” by Lauren Graham

“Turtles All The Way Down” by John Green

“Book Lovers” By Emily Henry

“The Holiday Swap” by Maggie Knox

Emily Moore

My name is Emily Moore & I love handmaking cards! I have an amazing, supportive husband, and a giant beautiful Bernese Mountain dog named George. I get very excited about pretty paper & love making detailed designs using die cuts, stencils, and any new techniques I can find! I used to work as a scrapbook teacher at Scrappy Chic in Livonia, but the pandemic allowed us to move up north more towards family (& A Cherry On Top!). I also recently made a career shift from finance to working at A Cherry On Top and absolutely love it. Come, stop by & say hi! You can find me in the storefront!

You can find more from Emily on her Etsy, Gallery, and Instagram!