Craft Consortium The Gift of Giving Mini-Album

   My great-niece has a birthday coming up and she wants everyone to pitch in money to get her a lap top.  She will be 10 years old.  I was given strict instructions from her grandmother -- no other gifts.  So, I thought I would make her a little mini-album to put her birthday pictures in and I also made a couple booklets for her to write and/or draw in (she loves to draw).  And because it is a crafty thing that I am making, it doesn't really count as a gift, but I hope she will like playing with it.  

   I used Craft Consortium's The Gift of Giving 6 x 6 paper pack and some of the decoupage sheets from the same collection.   

   The cover chip board is 7 1/8 inches long and 6 5/8 inches tall.  The spine is 1 3/4ths inches wide, but I wish I would have made it an even 2 inches wide, because I had to modify some of the decorations and such to keep the covers from gapping open.  There are 3 base pages, but I glued the pockets of them shut to help with the gapping problem with the covers.  There are only 3 pages.  I used the Country Craft Creations basic build to the book, but I modified the hinge to be similar to Kathy Ortega King's hidden hinge plus system.

The front of the album has a page of the Craft Consortium paper on top of a piece of cardstock.  The background piece of one of the decoupage papers was placed on top of a piece of glitter paper and that was backed with chipboard and glued on top.  

The spine is matted with some designer paper from my stash (I think it is ancient Debbie Munn) and some of the fussy cut pieces from the inside covers of the paper pack.

The back cover has the same papers from my stash and my Paper Sushi stamp.

When you open the front cover you see this:

The inside of the front cover has an accordion pocket with a little booklet in it (it is only white paper stapled inside for her to write of draw in) decorated with one of the cut a-parts from the collection.  And it has a tiny folder decorated with another of the cut a-parts.

The 3 pages are 6 1/8 x 6 1/8 inches.  

Page one has a pocket decorated with part of the decoupage images and Allie's name.  The pocket has two tags in it with the main images from the decoupage sheets and the backs blank, so Allie can add pictures or draw on them.  This pocket page unfolds to the right, leaving room for pictures and it has one of the cut a-parts that will fold up.

The next pages:

The left page has a vertical pocket decorated with some of the decoupage pieces containing a folder (again decorated with the decoupage pieces).

The right page is the pockets that open to the right with plain white tags inside.  The bottom pocket (decorated with a fussy cut piece from the inside covers of the paper pack) opens down and the top pocket opens up.  These are real tight, so I am suspecting that because the page is so little (and then obviously the pockets themselves are even littler) it makes it too tight to work well.  So, I learned not to use this type of pocket on the smaller albums.

And the next pages:

The left hand page has a tuck spot decorated with one of the cut a-parts from the collection.  I tucked a tag into the spot with room for a picture.  The right side has a waterfall held close with a magnet on the strap.  I had a cute plastic balloon on the strap, but I had to remove it to make the pages close better.  I replaced the balloon with a circle punched from the paper.  

And turn the page:

The left page is plain except for part of the decoupage piece.

The inside of the back cover is another pocket page.  Originally, it was suppose to be a gusseted pocket, but I had to cut the gusset part off to get the covers to close properly.  It has another booklet in it, again just made with stapling pages.  It is decorated with the base sheet of one of the decoupage pieces.

I think I have found the way that I like the hinges and spine!  I just have to be more careful watching that I have enough room to keep the covers from gapping.  I hope Allie likes it.

Graphic 45 Home Sweet Home Mini-Album

 I started this album way before Christmas and finally have it finished.  Again, I had used the Country Craft Creations Beginners Mini-Album for my base (see the above My Mind's Eye Gingham Garden post for measurements).  I love, love, love this paper collection.  It is Graphic 45's Home Sweet Home collection.

On the front cover there is a layer of Bazzill cardstock with a piece of the Graphic 45 paper on top.  Then the signature piece from the collection is mounted on chipboard with two corners rounded and two of the corners have simple metal corners. I like an album to be fairly flat, so they can be kept in a bookshelf without having to worry that the decoration will get damaged.  I am definitely a form has to follow function type of girl.

The spine has a piece of the chipboard with a brad glued onto the two layers of paper:

I left the Bazzill cardstock off the back, because I ran out!  The back cover with my stamp from Paper Sushi on it:

The inside front cover and first page:

The inside cover has a gusseted pocket holding an accordion fold book (held together with magnets).

The first page is a 3/4th page with a pocket and flap (held shut with photo mats) and the side pocket with a mat:

And turn the page:

The left page is a simple belly band with a sticker from the collection as a stopper to keep the photo mat from sliding out the bottom.  The right page has a pocket with photo mats on a flap that folds up.  Then there is a flap that folds down.  And a cut apart from the collection that folds left.   And a photo mat slides out of the base pocket page to the right.

And turn the page:

The left page has two pockets that open to the left with matted cut a-parts that slide out.  The top pocket decorated with another cut apart flips up.  And the bottom pocket flips down.

The right page is another 3/4th page.  It has a pocket on the bottom with a photo mat holding a flap that folds up.  And because it is a base pocket page it has a photo mat that slides to the right.

And turn the page:

The left page has a vertical pocket decorated with stickers from the collection.  It has a folder for pictures inside the pocket.  The inside of the photo folder:

The outside of the photo folder: 

The right side has a flap that folds up, then a flap that folds down.  Then a cut apart that folds to the left.  And the photo mat in the side pocket.

And turn the page:

The left page is just two pieces of the collection paper pieced together to make a flat mat.  The right side (the inside of the back cover) in a side ways waterfall that is held shut with a magnetized strap piece.  I was running out of the papers I liked best by now and so the waterfall is not fully matted.

This album has plenty of room for pictures and I love the paper.  The only thing I don't like is the amount of the page that is actually glued to the hinge and although it lays pretty good, the pages still won't lay flat.  

I have started another album and it is almost finished.

My Mind's Eye Gingham Garden Mini-Album

    I really like mini-albums, but I don't like how stiff they always turn out when I make them.  So this time, I am using the Country Craft Creations Beginners Mini-Album Tutorial, which wraps the spine and the front and back covers all separately making for a more pliable spine.  The thing that I have the most trouble with is laying the hinges on straight, because it seems that the flaps on hinges get in the way of me seeing the edges to line it up straight.  The Country Craft Creations way, folds those flap under the hinge and just glues it on top of the spine.  That makes it easier to put on straight, but I am not sure if it will make the hinge connection on the spine too weak.  

   The spine is 2 1/2 inches x 8 1/2 inches and the covers are 6 1/2 inches x 8 1/2 inches.  The pages are 8 x 6 inches.  The paper is a collection called Gingham Gardens by My Mind's Eye.

   I left the front cover very plain -- just a couple strips of the matching washi tape and a strip of border from a punch in my stash (which I used throughout the album).  I covered all the edges with more of the washi tape from the collection.

The spine:

The back (the stamp I bought from Paper Sushi on Etsy):

There are 4 hinges using a 7 7/8 x 9 1/2 inch strip.  It was scored at 1 3/4, 2. 2 1/2, 3, 3 1/2, 4, 4 1/2, 5, 5 1/2, 6, 6 1/2, 7, 7 1/2. 7 3/4.  All said and done this makes four 1/2 high hinges with 1/2 inch gussets between the hinges (and an extra 1/4 inch on each side of the hinge).

The inside front cover and first page:

The actual page one (on right) just has a tuck spot for a big picture.  The inside cover:

The inside cover has a deep pocket with one of the chipboard pieces from the collection on it.  Inside the pocket is an accordion folder tied with ribbon:

And turn the page:

The left hand side has a flap that folds down and then a longer flap that folds up:

The right hand side is a 3/4 wide pocket page with photo mats and a flap:

The mats in the pocket are what holds the flap closed.

There is a photo mat that slides out on the right hand side when you pull the ribbon:

And turn the page:

The left side is a belly band with a photo mat.  (One of the book mark magnets from the collection is on the top middle of the photo mat and there is a chipboard piece to use as a stopper at the bottom of the page.

The right hand page is another three fourths pocket page, done the same as the previous one:

And turn the page:

The left side is a vertical pocket with photo mats

The right side is two pockets that have the opening on the right with tags inside the pockets.

The bottom pocket flips down and the top pocket flips up to reveal more places for pictures:

And the last page and the inside back cover:                                                                              

The left hand side is a pocket page with a flap (held down by photo mats):                                  

The inside of the back cover (right side) is a water fall, held closed with a magnet of the strap:   

                                                                    

I didn't take a picture of it, but when the book is closed it does not gap open at all -- actually it is smaller on the right edge than the spine is (if that makes sense), so there is plenty of room for pictures.

Now, on to the next mini-album.