Fan Folded Kimono Book

 

Here's a fun and elegant book project for all you Kimono lovers. It's an art piece that showcases the beauty of Japanese paper. Enjoy!

Kimono Fan Book
Materials:
Black cardstock:
11”x 4 ½” (3)
6 ½” x 4 ½” (1)
3” x 4 ½” (1)

Metallic gold cardstock:
2 ¾” x 4 ¼” (12 mats)

Variety of Japanese Washi paper (or similar colorful paper or cardstock

MSRS Kimono Metal Die Cutter

Thin ribbon (color should coordinate with color palette of papers used)

Cuttlebug or any other embosser such as Big Shot, Big Kick etc.

Scor Pal or Scor It scoring tool or similar

Glue, double-sided tape or other adhesive

Steps:
Use a scoring tool to score the three 11” x 4 ½” panels. Starting from the left side, score at 3”, 6” & 9”
This will yield a piece with three 3”x 4 ½” panels and one 2” x 4 ½” panel. Accordion fold the piece and set it aside. Repeat the scoring with the remaining 2 pieces, accordion folding each of them as well.

Score the 6 ½” x 4 ½” piece of black cardstock at 3” and ½” This will yield a scored panel with two 3” sections separated by a ½” section.

Glue or tape the four scored panels together. Cover the 2” x 4 ½” section of panel #1 with glue and attaching it to the back of Panel #2. Cover the 2” x 4 ½” section of panel #2 with glue and attach it to the back of panel #3. Cover the 2”x 4 ½” section of panel #3 and attach it to the back of the cover panel. (See pictures)

Attach the metallic gold mats to each of the 11 panels of the book as shown.
Close the accordion book up and press it flat with the cover over the front. NOTE: The cover opens from the left side.

Before attaching the gold mat to the front cover of the book, attach a 12” length of thin ribbon by taping it to the center of the cover. Now attach the gold mat over the taped ribbon.

Attach a second piece of ribbon to the back of the book in the same way. Cover the ribbon attachment with the remaining 3” x 4 ½” black panel.

Use the Kimono Die Cutter and your embossing machine to cut out 12 colorful kimonos and attach one each to the 11 inside panels and the front cover. NOTE: If the paper is too thin, you can glue it to cardstock before sending it through the embosser.

To finish, fold the book up accordion fashion and tie the ribbons together. The opened book would look great on a mantle. Enjoy!