Mini Album using Kaisercraft Papers

Hello sweet friends and welcome to my blog.

My oldest grandson celebrated his 18th Birthday not long ago and, instead of a Birthday Card, I decided to make a Mini Album so he would have somewhere to keep the photos taken at his Birthday party.

Here is the front cover.  

Some of you may recognise the centre piece.  I did a post on my first attempt at Mixed Media and this is the actual piece from that project.  

Yes, I chopped it up and re-used the main piece here.  I wanted cogs in the middle of this cover and could not get any in the size I wanted.  Then I realized the centrepiece from my Mixed Media Collage would fit beautifully.  I didn't even cry when I cut it apart.  Hey!! It's for my Grandson, right?  Anyway, I really like it here.  The little hinges are wooden embellishments also from Kaisercraft.

Page 1 &2

The papers I used for this album is a mixture from Kaisercraft.  I used some from their 75 cent Collection and some also from their Timeless Classics paper pad, plus an odd piece or two from other collections as well.

The pocket on the inside front cover holds the tag  I made for his Birthday Greeting.  The embellies on this tag follow the theme from the album cover.  The idea for this tag came from a You Tube Video by Rach0113.  You can find it HERE.  I used a piece of kraft cardstock and cut out the tag shape and then used black cardstock for the corner pieces.  I embossed the black with the Tim Holz Cogs Folder and then lightly rubbed over the raised sections with Versa Color Stamp Pads in Bronze, Silver and Gold.  The cogs were colored the same way.  The little clock  was fussy cut from another set of papers, glued onto one of the cogs and then covered with glossy accents.  His Birthday message is actually on the back of the tag.

 The right hand page opens up to reveal ...

... there are quite a few pockets and tags in this album.  I wanted to give him plenty of spaces for his photos.

Pages 3 & 4

 The right hand page here opens one way to reveal ...

 ... and then opens the other way as well.  ( A sheet of Kaisercraft Sweet Nothings paper found its way in here too. )

Pages 5 & 6

 

 Again, the right hand page opens to reveal ...

... I've only used two styles of pages in this book.  One opens once like this page, and the other style opens twice.

Pages 7 & 8

All of the left hand pages are void of pockets to give him space for large photos if he wants.

 This is the style that opens twice.  One way it opens out from the book ...

 ... and the other way it opens into the book.

Pages 9 & 10

The inside back cover has a single pocket just like the inside front cover.

I love making mini albums.  It's a lot of fun deciding how to construct it and what style pages to use and then to decide which papers are the most suitable.  I don't use a lot of embellishments in my albums, mainly because it does inhibit the placement of photos, etc. but I do love a lot of tags for journalling.

Thank you so much for visiting my blog.  I hope you've enjoyed it and will decide to come again.

Take care and God Bless.

oxox Marg

 

 

 

Baby Steps Mini Album

Hello everybody.  I hope you are all having a fabulous day.

I'd like to show you the Baby Album I spoke of a few posts ago.  A close friend's daughter is having a baby and I made this for her.  I must warn you this is quite a large post with a lot of photos.
This album was made using Kathy Orta's All  Occasions Mini Album Tutorial.  If you wish to have a look at the album she made  you can find it HERE.

The papers I used are from the Baby Steps Collection by Simple Stories.  These are gorgeous papers with lots of bits and pieces to fussy cut and lots of really cute little phrases as you can see above.  Instead of using cardstock I covered the spine with some cotton twill which I purchased at Spotlight.

This is the inside cover and the first page.  The cute little teddy bear is an applique which I found  at Big W and the little jumpsuits and the pram are images fussy cut from the paper line. 
The inside cover opens out to reveal some photo mats....

....and a spot to record the baby's birth details.

Pages 3 and 4.

On the left hand page you can see two photo mats held in the book by a heart shaped paper clip.  The mats are tucked into a pocket formed by the little sleeve which holds the journalling tag.

On the right hand page there are two more photo mats tucked into the pockets.

See what I mean about the gorgeous papers?  Lots of details and cute little phrases.

Pages 5 and 6.

In between these two pages you can see one of the little half page pockets that are in this book.
I love this feature, it's one of the reasons I decided to buy this tutorial.

There is a photo mat inside the pocket but I'm thinking about making some small envelopes instead so that she can perhaps place things in it like the first haircut or other memorabilia.   I don't have much time to decide though because the baby was due yesterday.  LOL

Here is the photo mat from the pocket on the other page .....

Pages 7 and 8.
This set of pages holds the other half page pocket.  This one is set a bit lower in the book...

...and also holds a photo mat.

These are the mats from the larger pockets.

Pages 9 and 10.

Each even numbered page has pockets which hold photo mats.  On some, both pockets are the full height of the page, but on a couple the pocket is smaller.

 Most of the photo mats I made are folded over so there is room inside them for more photos.
Last page and inside back cover.

Not a lot here, just a pocket on the inside cover for a mat.
When I first started this album I had great plans for lots of embellishments.  I was going to use bits of lace and nappy pins and little bibs and lots and lots of flowers.  But, as they say, the best laid plans of mouse and men, etc.  I wasn't able to do much of anything because when I finished the book I found it only just fit into the box I had made previously.  So I was really lucky that the papers do stand up all on their own and it didn't really need too much extra stuff.
In case you haven't seen it, here is the box I altered to place the album in.

If you'd like to take a look at the post for this box you can find it HERE.

That's all from me for now.  Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care and God Bless.
ox Marg

 

Fixes for my Mini Album

Hello everyone.  So pleased you took the time to drop by.

I don't know if any of you ever have problems when making your projects but there are times when things don't go the way they should for me.

In a previous post I said that I was making a mini album for a close friend's daughter who is having a baby.  I obtained a tutorial  because I wanted it to be special and I didn't want to be worrying about how to set up the pages and photo mats etc.  And that side of it is working really well.
Now please don't think that there is anything wrong with the tutorial, because there isn't. It is well set out and has lots of pictures and clear instructions and is really easy to follow.
My problem is that the double sided tape and the wet glue I am using doesn't seem to work as well with the cardstock I selected.  I have used both products with other cardstock and they both performed really well.  This cardstock appears to be more fibrous than what I usually use and maybe that's why things went wrong.
On the pockets I was having problems with the double sided tape coming away from the base.

No matter how many times I stuck it down, it just kept peeling away.  Very frustrating.
Also, I was using wet glue to stick my papers down and that ended up buckling the pages.

Unfortunately, once I had made the base pages, I attached them to the binding and the cover before I started to decorate them.  Bad mistake.  These problems didn't really show until I was about half way through, but once I noticed it there was no way I was giving this to my friend's daughter.  So, guess what?  I chopped it apart and had to start again.  Did I say frustrating????

On the second version I slightly altered the way I stuck the double pockets down.  I still used double sided tape and the same cardstock, but instead of glueing the second pocket on top of the first  I glued the hinge to the inside.

 It looks so much neater and it hasn't come apart.  Yayy!!
And, instead of using wet glue to stick the papers down, I again used double sided tape.

So now the pages are lovely and smooth.

And there is no buckling.  (Sigh of relief)
Also, I glued the papers onto the pages before attaching them to the spine which made it a lot easier to decorate.
I think from now on, if I use a different type of cardstock, I'll do some testing first to see which glue works best.  Might save a bit of angst and a bit of money.  I was lucky I had enough papers and cardstock for my second attempt at this album.
I am actually making two albums at the moment.  This baby album and another album using my usual cardstock and following the same tutorial. I am happy to say that the second album has given me no problems at all. Yayy!

Thank you for stopping by.
Take care and God Bless.
ox Marg

'Rondelle' Mini Album

Hi everyone! Wanted to show you a few pages  of a mini album I'm working on.  It's for a close friend of mine.  We don't  'do'  birthday presents so I'm giving this to her instead of a card.  She is the most amazing person.  She had polio as a child and now has to wear a caliper but she doesn't let that slow her down.  She is always busy  helping others (she bakes cakes for me) and never thinking of herself.  I love her to bits.  

The base album is made from cardstock along the lines of   Kathy Orta's  envelope album but with a couple of my own ideas incorporated into it.

 

    

The papers I've used are mostly from the Prima Rondelle Collection  (love these papers, they are really beautiful)  but the black spotted one is from Graphic 45's Olde Curiosity Shoppe and the orange spot is from their Nutcracker Suite  papers. I needed a couple of contrasts and felt these fitted in really well. All papers are distressed with Kaisercraft Bark Stamp Pad.

 

The small journalling tags I'm using are from various sources.  Some are Kaisercraft, some are free printables from the net and some are from my stash.

The charms are ones I put together myself.

It's not quite finished, I'm having problems working out how to decorate the front and what embellishments to use  inside.  Doesn't help when you're not feeling well but I'm sure it will all come together eventually.  I'll show the rest when it's all finished.

Thanks for visiting. Take care and God Bless.
xx Margy