Discovery of the day: you can cut foam board with a paper cutter

A while ago, in the magical land of Pinterest, I saw a pin on how to create your own journal/blank book. (See it here.) I thought it was really neat, and wanted to try it. My deterrent? I was having trouble finding chipboard to use for the cover. At Hobby Lobby, they had chipboard frames and cut out letters, but not just a plain old sheet of it. I thought I could try thin plywood/craft wood so I settled on that. Funny, Alexx, because you have absolutely no tools to cut wood. So now I have a long board of craft wood that needs to be returned. I finally realized I could try foam board - even if it didn't work, it's at least cheap (at the Dollar Tree anyway).

So last night I pulled out the yardstick, Exacto knife, and some leftover foam board to try this out. This was my best result at cutting foam board: lining up the yardstick and dragging the Exacto knife down the edge a few times until it got all the way through the foam. The problem with this is that the knife can sometimes get stuck and dig out little chucks of the foam. This leaves a pretty decent cut on both sides of the poster board, but the foam middle is a little jagged in places. This did not pose a problem with the front or back covers; the fabric did a good job creating an even edge. However, you can feel the jaggedness in the spine.

Here's the journal I made

Bottom view of signatures and cover

Minus the inside cover glued in. I realized that I left my spray adhesive glue at school. Whoops.

I think I'm probably being a little picky about it, but I can just make the next one even better. I got to thinking, how can I cut this poster board better? And, BAM, it hit me (not literally). I have a paper cutter that could work. I first tried feeding it in over the plastic piece to hold the paper down. That did not work. It caused the poster board to rip and create a jagged line. So I cut the foam board down the middle into two 10 inch strips. From here I could fit the foam board under the plastic piece and cut. It was a little tough pushing the handle down, and you have to be careful not to put pressure on the foam board.

Cutting covers 8" x 5.5" for a slightly larger journal. I didn't like the waste of using 6" x 9" signatures. 

The paper cutter gave a nice edge to the foam board, and even slightly depressed it around the edges. The spines and similar skinny pieces were a little hard to cut and keep in place, but I managed. The spines are cut at 1 inch, which is a little wide, but I will simply have to add the signatures to fill it.

All cut and ready for a new book!

This was a much easier and faster process. Yay efficiency! Now if only I hadn't used up all our computer paper making the last one. Whoops!

Any thoughts on patterns/fabrics to use on future journals? The first fabric was a scrap piece of duck fabric from Hobby Lobby, and I really like the weight of it. I do have some extra fabric from my piano bench...think it would make a good cover?

What inside cover color and pattern would match?

More to come when I get some paper!