Making the Most of a Mini...

Over spring break, I took my boys on a day trip to explore our state capital. We really enjoyed our trip, but I came home feeling a bit overwhelmed with what to do with the 64 photos I captured that day. The images were parked on my hard drive waiting for a plan until I realized how perfectly the Pink Paislee "Starlight" line would match.


The search was then on for the perfect mini album format to pull it all together. Kaisercrafts's Beyond the Page MDF Long Ticket Album was just the "ticket" since I knew I could easily expand the album to fit my needs.

The Kaisercraft's four 4-1/8"x9-1/8" MDF pages came without rings. I knew I'd be able to add pages as needed and use whatever size rings necessary to accomodate my project. This was an album without limits. To make sure I had enough supplies for this project, I ordered two of each double-sided paper in the line, a sheet of alphabet stickers (who different colors!), adn the element sticker sheet from Scrappin' {Sports} Stuff. The double-sided papers made an excellent option for adding pages into the album. My final project had 17 pages! (And I had plenty of supplies left over!)

To start this project, I edited my photos into 4x6 photo collages so I would have smaller photos in varying sizes to work with.

The first spread in my album includes a Maya Road envelope that holds the "driving itinerary" we printed out for our adventure. I also journaled about our plan and included the first photos from the day. I accented the pages with the Element Stickers, Alpha, and a random Scenic Route chipboard accent I had in a bowl on my desk.

One of my favorite stops that day was to the Rebecca Ruth candy factory. This stop is documented with a "flower" I made using the red liner from one of the bourbon balls I purchased that day. :)

The next stop included more photos and didn't allow much room for journaling. I added a journaling card (Studio Calico) from my stash in between the pages to include a story from this stop.
For the full-sized pages I added to the album, I trimmed them all to 4-1/8"x9-1/8". Then I traced the corners from one of the MDF pages. I could have cut out the corners, but instead lined up a 1" circle punch to punch out the section I had drawn in. For the extra insert cards, I also trimmed the corner.

The next photos didn't require much journaling. The banner stickers from the Elements Sticker Sheet provided just enough space.

The ledger pattern on the backside of one of the patterned papers was the perfect clean backdrop for these photos from a stop at one of the memorials.

Our next stop at a museum provided several stories I wanted to tell. To allow more space for journaling, I added an envelope from my stash (Making Memories). I used it as a mini page for a photo and journaling on each side.

The double alphas with this line made making titles simple.

For our lunch stop at at a little dive, this "menu" journaling card from Studio Calico was a perfect addition.Our next stop was one of the most fun and required some additional journaling space. For that, I used a scrap left over from cutting the 4-1/8" x 9-1/8" pieces of paper. The ledger side made great journaling space!

The back of my journaling card was perfect for adding a sticker strip and another photo. We had tickets from this stop, so I included another Maya Road album to hold them.

The backside of the envelope was great for another photo and story. I was even able to add a brochure from our stop. Having the brochure punched and in the album makes it easy to read all sides without having to remove it from the album. A white ink pen was great for journaling on the darker papers. When an additional journaling card (made from scraps!) was needed for another partial page, an Elements Sticker made a great accent along with a decorative border punch. Finally...the project is complete!

I debated adding ribbons to the rings, but really liked the simplicity of it without them.

I was able to complete this project in just a few hours, spread out over a few days.

Thanks Scrappin' {Sports} Stuff for providing me with the products to tackle this project and make it manageable!

Christmas gifts...handmade with love

When I found out this summer that my younger sister Lindsey was having a baby girl, I was excited. When I saw this 8x8 felt album by KI Memories on sale at Tuesday Morning, I scooped it up knowing I'd be able to use the PINK for a girl some day soon. On a later trip to Archiver's, they had 8x8 paper packs of a Christmas line by Fancy Pants that used A LOT OF PINK. When I saw them, I instantly thought of the little felt album I had at home and for the price, knew it was going home with me.

Finally, two days before Christmas, I STARTED the Christmas album for Reese. Surprisingly, I was able to finish it on time, too! I wasn't sure if Lindsey would add a photo of Reese to the cover or not, so I went ahead and inserted a piece of one of my favorite patterns into the front frame. The paper pack I had purchased included two sheets of each pattern. I took the style I was going to use for my title page and cut the trees out of one of the papers. I then adhered them on top of the same pattern with pop dots for my cover. The chipboard Thicker title and some bling accents finished the page.

The remainder of my pages were kept simple to allow for easy photo placement. I used my scallop punch on some pages, hand cut a few accents from the papers and adhered them with pop dots for dimension.

The pages here appear in no specific order...

I should probably apologize for the poor photographs. I took these pics right before I wrapped the album!

I even offered to add the photos to the album when Lindsey decides which ones she'd like to include in the album. Another neat thing is that the pages can be rearranged to fit her photos, too. I also made several ornaments this year (13 to be exact). I kept a set of the boys for me, but forgot to get photos of the others before I either gave them away or wrapped them up! To make the albums this year, I took mini acrylic albums by Clear Scraps that I purchased at Archiver's. There were six "pages" per album and they were already punched with a hole for the binder ring. I purchased the albums in Stars and Snowflake shapes. I took photos of the kids in both of our families and punched the photos with circle punches. I also punched out circles of patterned paper to back the photos. I wrote the year on the patterned paper.

On the side with the photo, I accented the shapes with silver and red Stickles and finished them off with a ribbon. They make a great keepsake.

Sweet Baby Girl Album

When my brother-in-law asked me if I'd make an album for his sister-in-law for Christmas, I have to admit that I took it as a big compliment! His brother adn sister-in-law are expecting a baby girl, but didn't have a name picked out.

I kept the album really simple and tried to work with a size that would allow for uncropped 4x6 prints. I used a tabbed Scenic Route chipboard album that was already "covered" in grid paper to keep things extra simple on my end. I chose the Basic Grey "Oh Baby Girl" paper line and added "girl" in pink chipboard Thickers, some ribbon, buttons, and flowers. The chipboard album I used, was only four chipboard pages. To expand the album, I took solid Basic Grey papers and folded them in half and adhered the two sides together to make a stiffer page. The large flowers you see are actually folded around the solid pages to accent both sides of the page. I used a BG tag for every page that they can use to journal about the photos they choose to include in the album. My sister and brother-in-law were very pleased with the results and told me the recipient was also. :) The whole project took me just over two hours to finish.

For a sweet baby girl...

As the oldest of six girls, having two boys has become an everyday adventure with daily events that I never could have imagined. Then my sister Ashley had two boys of her own. My sister Lindsey and her husband Brandon are expecting a baby at the end of September and they are having a GIRL!!! I don't think anyone is quite as excited as my youngest sister Molly though.

Earlier this month, I helped my two youngest sisters host a shower for Lindsey and Brandon.

Kaitlin, Me, Brandon, Lindsey, Molly

I think it's gotten to the point where I am expected to give scrapbooks as gifts, so I was happy to make a 6x6 album for their "first photos" of the baby.

I found a 6x6 American Crafts modern album at Tuesday Morning (cheap!) and it was PINK! Then I found some Heidi Grace papers at Michael's that actually match the decor for their nursery. I covered the front and back covers with patterned paper and embellished the cover and spine with Heidi Swapp chipboard letters, Creative Imaginations felt, and a bit of bling. The pages are really simple so they can just add their 4x6 photos of the baby's first day(s) - depending on how many pics they take! On the first page, I have a blank journaling card for them to record the baby's stats. I kept the rest of the pages really simple. (These are in no particular order...)
And finally...the end.On the way out the door to the shower, I realized we'd need a notebook to record the gifts. Well...I had scraps left over from the album, so I grabbed a mini composition notebook I had and altered it with the scraps. I finished it off with a cute little pacifier charm. Now the countdown is on until we get to meet Reese Adeline.