How to make notepads using The Cinch! Making notepads is such an obsession for me. They are so functional, and they make for great items to sell or give as gifts.
How to make notepads using The Cinch
My favorite thing is to use my own artwork or vintage postcards. There are so many options to really make this project your own.
First of all, let’s talk about The Cinch binding system. I bought this a few years back and it is one of those tools in my studio that keeps on giving. If you are someone who doesn’t mind making your own merchandise, this is such a good investment. It has paid for itself tenfold!
I’m going to share my method of making these notepads.
Supplies to make notepads
4×6″ heavy card stock images to use as the cover.
4×6” cardboard or shipboard for the back of your notepads
A binding machine, such as The Cinch
Wire nippers
How to make notepads using The Cinch
Take a stack of 50 blank index cards, the cardboard or chip board backing, and the postcard for the front. Make sure they are all aligned.
Move the guideline on the left side of The Cinch machine to create an edge.
Use one of the blank index cards to align next to the edge and move it to the top under the punches.
Count how many notches you need for the index card.
Pull out the round tab after the number you need.
Check out my video tutorial to see what I mean.
Once you have it aligned, then apply the holes to all of the pages the back and the cover so they all lineup equally.
After all the holes are punched in the pages, turn the machine around and place the notepad’s coil on the little hooks.
Insert your pages starting with the stack of blank index cards, and then the cover image, and then the backing cardboard.
Use wire nippers to snip off the excess coil that you do not need.
Carefully lift the coil with all the pages attached And turn the machine around one more time to the back.
Insert the coils with all of the pages attached so that the coil opening is flush with the machine, and then very carefully press down the lever to close the coil.
Remove the coil and the pages from the machine and flip the cardboard backing around to the back. The reason the cardboard backing goes on top is so that when you flip it, you won’t see the closing of the coil.
And there you have it a super cool notepad!
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