Good morning, everyone!!! I am so excited about this next tutorial…actually, I’m going to be doing a series of tutorials…a mini album series! I had such fun making the card caddy last week, I just had to do another creative project with you 🙂
I have decided to do this series with no design even started :O I know…sounds shocking, but I want to show you the creative process I go through when making a project…from start to end. AND…when I start, I never know where I am going to end up. How is that for suspense? I think it will be alot of fun discovering what this mini album is going to look like together, don’t you?
So…where to start? I start with the basics…the pages and binding, so that is what we will be constructing together this week 🙂 I thought about creating a not-so-mini album measuring 11″ x 11″, but found a boat load of 6″ x 9″ envelopes in one of my drawers so opted to use them to create the pages instead.
I played around with the envelops for a little bit until I came up with two different page styles that I decided to alternate throughout the album. DISCLAIMER…I have no idea if these page styles have been created by anyone else. I did NOT go searching through the plethora of videos on YouTube to find a page style; however, I can’t guarantee that you haven’t seen the page styles I came up with, either. It is always possible that I designed the same page style that someone else out there has in the history of scrapbooking 😉
For the binding, I opted to use Kathy (Orta) King’s hidden hinge binding system…but with a twist 😉 I make a slight modification to it so that your pages will lay flat when the album is open. Nope…it is not Kathy’s Hidden Hinge Plus binding system. I do go over how to make the mini album binding in my tutorial; however, you can also find Kathy’s video on this binding method HERE.
Now, the amount of pictures that I would have to take to clearly show you how to put together the base of this mini album would be quite staggering, so I opted to record a video and chat at ya instead 🙂 Don’t worry…I’ll still include a list of materials and dimensions for you here, too 🙂
Materials
- 15 – 6″ x 9″ envelopes
- 2 – 12″ x 12″ solid cardstock (to match envelop color)
- 1 – 12″ x 12″ colored cardstock for binding (to contrast envelop color)
- 11 – 8-½” x 11″ solid cardstock (to match binding color)
- 2 – 6″ x 7″ pieces of muslin fabric
- ink pad (for distresses edges of pages, if desired)
- glue (I use Fabri-tac)
- paper trimmer
- score board
- bone folder
- corner rounder
- 1-½” circle punch
Instructions
As I mentioned above, it is waaaay easier to show you how to construct the pages and binding for this mini album using a video. AND…to make your life super easy, I’ve embedded it right here for your viewing pleasure…just keep scrolling to find all the measurements that I give in the video 🙂
Measurements
Binding:
- made from 6″ x 11″ cardstock
- score at ¾” from each end and in ½” intervals between
Pages 1, 3 and 5:
- require 3 envelopes each
- score 1 envelop 6″ from open end, and trim flap and a sliver off the bottom
Pages 2, 4 and 6:
- require 2 envelopes each
- score 1 envelop 6″ from open end, trim a sliver off the bottom, and cut a 45º angle from bottom corner at 1-5/8″ (as measured on score board)
Photo mats:
- 3 @ 5-½” x 8-½” (score @ 4-¼”)
- 15 @ 5-½” x 8″
- 3 @ 5-¼” x 8″
- 3 @ 5-½” x 5-¾”
Well…I hope you enjoyed the tutorial this week and are as excited as me to be creating a mini album together. Thanks a bunch for popping by 🙂 Cheers!
So excited to be starting this mini album. I have so many photos and documents from my parents, grand parents and great grand parents. My grandparents and great grandparents came to the US by ship from Europe, it’s fascinating to see the documents and pictures. I have my pages put together on the binding and have my tags all cut out 🙂 Thank you for all your great tutorials!!!
I always learn something new when I watch another paper artist work. Thanks for your tips and tricks for success. We’re off to a good start on this project!
I’m excited to start too.
Can’t wait to go get my envelopes and get started. Thanks for doing this tutorial!