Happy New Year everyone. I did a step by step blog post today at Lily bee detailing this quick & easy mini album. It could be used for multiple projects such as a goal journal, a One Little Word album, a monthly glance at your upcoming year, a reflection of your last year, etc. So many possibilities in one sweet little album.
Supplies:
- a variety of Lily Bee patterned papers
- Lily Bee Alphabets
- Lily Bee Happily Lost Stamps
- two 4 x 6 Chipboard pieces
- scoring tool
- Paint (JBS Malt Milk)
- Binder Rings
- Border Punch
- hole punch
- Sewing Machine
- FREE downloadable Journal insert
First you need to cut two pieces of 4 x 6 inch chipboard pieces to create your cover. You can usually purchase these pieces fairly cheaply from your local scrapbook stores. I usually have a stack on hand so i can create my own covers.
Choose your favorite patterned paper for the cover. Here i am using Lily Bee's This & That Milk Bottle. I just love that blue! Adhere to the front of the chipboard, gluing in the center of the paper. Why you ask? Well i knew i wanted to stitch around the edges of the chipboard so i didn't want my needle hitting the adhesive & getting sticky.
I added a thin paint layer around the edges of the album to give it some texture. I used Jenni Bowlin's Malted Milk paint. I love that it is quick & a bit rough aroudn the edges. i stitched around the edges of the cover. Yes you can stitch through chipboard. Just go nice & slow, using a long stitch making sure your tension isn't too tight.
Next i added a chipboard accent piece from Maya Road. I painted the top of the butterfly using the same paint i used around the album cover. Then i added a bit of clear glue & some German glass glitter that my fabulous friend Lisa Pace gave me. You could also use regular glitter as well.
Once i added the butterfly to the album i decided the solid orange background wasn't popping enough for me so i changed it up with strips of leftover patterned papers. I added two green stick pins for the antennae which added that pop of color i needed.
I grabbed my Happily Lost Banner Stamp and stamped it on a piece of neutral patterned paper. I went with the same color palette as the paint. This way my title could really stand out.
This album is titled Reflections. In order to get the position right on the banner, i first wrote out my word and found the center letter. I work out from there to fill in the rest of the letters. Sometimes i add the first letter so i know how much room i have. You also have to remember you may have to adjust your "center" letter depending on the font size of the letters.
Next choose a variety of coordinating patterned papers. I have picked some Lily Bee papers with a fun bright palette of colors choosing warm greens, yellows, pinks, oranges, blues, and a hint of black. They make me happy! You will need twelve 4 x 12 sheets of patterned paper plus one 4 x 6 piece. These are going to be the base of your interior pages.
These 4 x 12 pages become pocket pages similar to the So Blessed Lily bee album i did in 2010. Score your twelve 4 x 12 pages at 2 inches and at 6 inches. Fold the page in half at the 6 inch score mark. Fold the 2 inch score mark down & punch the edge with your favorite border punch.
You can adhere the two sides down and create the pocket. I like to stitch mine down by stitching all around the edges of the page. Now you have 12 pockets for your mini album, one for each month if you so choose.
I have created these journal inserts for my pocket pages. You can download the pdf of the interior pocket journal cards here: Download Ronda Palazzari reflections tags 2012 I am planning on using this to capture my month's at a glance. I will place a photo on one side of the page & the pocket page on the other side. You will need to print 4 or 5 pages of these pocket inserts for your album depending on how you do your cover page.
Because of the way i am doing my photos, i needed a cover page. Here i have two options for the interior cover for you. One uses the the journal card on the cover page to create consistency. The other makes use of the scraps of patterned paper. I gave you this option because you would need to print out an extra journal card sheet to use it on the cover.
It looks so pretty and is just waiting to be filled with photos and my thoughts.
Here's the start of my interior pages. I plan on placing a collage of photos on the backside of the green paper, opposite of the January pocket that is a snapshot of my month.
Join me tomorrow & i will show you how to create those collage monthly images for your album. If you create this mini, send me a link & photo. I would love to share them all here on my blog!
Edit: Photo Collage Tutorial & Simple Picture Frame Tutorial
Reflections of Love
