Monday, August 3, 2009

Mini Album Fun, Fun, Fun!

Hello all my bloggy friends! Have you seen Mary's new video on Cardz For U or at Cardz TV? Hop on over there and check out all the mini albums she is going to give us a tutorial on. So many ideas! I can't wait to learn how to make them all!! I LOVE mini albums! Inspired by Mary (and anxiously awaiting the first mini album tutorial video from her), I made a little mini album this morning. I have this DCWV designer paper, The Stack 6, that I ordered recently. There are 180 sheets of fun, beautiful, and inspirational patterned sheets in that stack all screaming,"USE ME! USE ME!" I picked 3 papers from that stack that coordinated plus 2 solid colors from another stack to make this album. The inside "book" pages were made from one 12 x 12 sheet of pattern paper. Yepper! Just one sheet! Can't beat that! Score one 12 x 12 patterned paper at 3", 6", and 9". Turn sideways and repeat. You should have a full sheet of squares now. Cut the outside square lines until you reach one square from the top. Leave the middle score line alone. Turn the paper all the way around until the 2 cut lines are at the top. Now, cut the middle score line up leave one square uncut. If you gently spread the paper apart, it should look like a "W" or "M" depending on which way you hold it. Now, start in one bottom corner, and fan fold all squares. When you reach the top, continue folding the squares up and over and down until the entire sheet has been folded. That is all the inside pages of your book! For the covers, use chipboard or any stiff material. I used a thick junk mail flyer. I cut it just a little larger than the inside pages and covered both sides with solid cardstock paper. (Sorry, I don't have exact measurements for you, I hate using a ruler and tend to measure and mark with my fingernail where to cut.) After both sides of the front and back cover have been covered with cardstock, lay them down side by side with a little space between them to allow for the book thickness. Place a ribbon all the way across both pages including the space between, and adhere it. I used Fiskars photo splits to adhere my ribbon (which was bought at Michael's). Put adhesive all over the inside front cover including across the ribbon and place the book pages on top. Squeeze to make sure you got a good bonding. Repeat for the back over. You should see the ribbon sitck out so that you can tie your book shut. And the extra allowance of ribbon at the spine should allow for the page thickness. I hope this made sense to you. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to leave me a comment and I'll respond as quickly as possible. I cut a small bit of patterned paper for the outside front and back of the book. I left a little bit of the solid color showing all the way around. I made a couple of pages with pockets and cut out paper tags. I used paper for the pull tabs folded and stapled to the top of the tags instead of using ribbon this time. I had taken some pics of the inside pages, but am having a hard time getting them to upload. They look right on my computer, but when I upload them, they are all turned sideways. Can't figure that one out. So... enjoy the sideways pics! :) lol Hugs! Can't wait to see your mini books you create! Leave us a link so we can all check them out. And don't forget to hop on over to Mary's blog! She's so creative!!

4 comments:

  1. Janis! That's one of the cutest mini albums I've ever seen...and uses 1 sheet of paper!!! I've got to try this when I get home from work. Your tutorial is great and you made it so easy to understand. Thanks for showing us this wonderful album! You need to do some more videos girl!
    Thanks so much for that great shout out! When I make this album, can I post a link back to you for the credit? Can't wait to try it!
    Hugs,
    Mary

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  2. Of course, and thank you! I've made this kind of album lots of times. I made one for Mama for Mother's Day and put poems and flower pics from my yard on the pages. I made a friend one and included all of our "inside jokes and sayings". They are so easy to do, I hope I explained it right. Email me if you have any questions. I'd love to make videos, but the only kind I know how to make are with still pics since I don't have a video recorder... well that's not exactly true. I have one... just don't know what box it's in. :) But yeah, I'd love to make some videos. A word of warning though, these mini albums are so easy to make, they are addictive! I went to Mama's one day and me, her, and my sister made tons of them just for fun! It doesn't take long for them to get given away either. When Mama was in the hospital, I gave her a get well one. And when Daddy had his 2nd brain surgery, he got one too. There are so many different uses for them.

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  3. You're right about mini albums making good gifts and it's fun for the giver and receiver!
    I just use my Kodak Easy Share camera & a tripod to do my videos. I didn't know I could 'til I read the manual, lol! It can do an 18 minute video or hold 1256 photos with a 2 gb card. LOVE my camera!!

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