Girls Day Out Mini-Album

Hi Everyone,

I haven't posted all week because I've been working on a mini-album, and I'm happy to finally post it!  YEAH!  This is my first Bind-It-All project.  I've had my BIA since Christmas (I'm embarassed to admit) and had never used it; and as it turns out, it was very easy to use after I watched the video.

So you've all seen those chipboard albums in your local craft store; probably even in the dollar bins!  I bet you all have some in your stash.  I certainly did!  I used a 6x6 square one with rounded corners--looked like this.



A few months back, I had covered all the pages with paper I had from a coordinating set of pinks, greens, and whites.  And then I left it to sit.  Until I finally said to myself, "do something with this!"  And so the above turned into this:

It's only a 5 page album, and I'll go through it page by page, so this post might be long.  Hope you stay with me.  I am real happy with how it turned out, and I certainly learned how easy it is to keep adding and improving the look.  I did enjoy blinging it up!!

To me, the most tedious part was sanding the papers to perfectly fit the shape of the chipboard, but after that part, the fun begins.  As you can see, my 2 covers were green so those edges got inked with green, and the inside pages were inked with pink.

For the front cover, here's what I used:
        Elegant Edges, pg 29 Leaves, book feature for the pink background.
        Embossed with Kassie's Brocade Cuttlebug folder.
        Green cardstock attached under cut-out leaves edge.
        Tiny pink flowers (and bottom 2 layers of center flower) are from my stash. Stickled the tiny ones.
        Flowers at top and bottom and the small one in the middle are a set from Joann's dollar bin.
        Cut out the leaves freehanded and embossed with Herringbone Cuttlebug folder.
        Two gems and a small green pearl finish the flowers.
        The title is cut from Cherry Limeade, varying between 3/4" to 1-1/4" with shadow.

Journaling for the whole book is on this first page--it's a pullout from behind the picture--basically for the purpose of remembering what we did, where we went, and when it was!  The "girls" are my daughter, Nicole; my niece, Missy; and my sister, Diane.  Missy is also Diane's niece.  On this page, I used the Martha Stewart doily edge punch.  The semi-circle is cut from Lacy Labels and cut in half to cover front and back of the pullout.  Stamped the word FAMILY with a set of clear alphabet stamps I have, and added the green brads.  At the top of this page, I later added some rub-ons that went perfectly with our theme; you'll see more on the other pages.  Just one of many embellishments I've had in my collection for so long that it feels good putting them to use finally!

Page 2 includes a picture of a fountain and gardens in the area where we shopped.  Just some pretty scenery.  That picture is matted on pink cardstock embossed with Spots and Dots Cuttlebug folder, and I have an EK Success punch for the corner adornments--aren't they cute?!

Pages 3 and 4 show an interesting shop and a neat sculpture, and the adorable butterfly chair my daughter and niece sat in for this picture.  Other items to note:
        Butterflies cut from Kate's ABCs; punched pink 1-1/2" scalloped circles for mats.
        "Girls just want to have Fun" stamp is from an Inkadinkadoo set, "Thoughts for the Day."
        Other stamps on these pages are from My Pink Stamper's Pinkalicious set.  This is the set I chose for winning an honorable mention during her recent Design Team challenge.  Such great sentiments; so perfect for this mini-album, I was laughing about what to use!

Mounted these tiny letters on ribbon for this "counsins" label, again embellishments from my stash; never used.  I was really trying to use things I've had for a long time.  I hope to be getting back to more scrapbooking soon and start using more and more of my supplies.

Another very unique shop shown on pages 5 and 6 is called Precious Gifts.  Note that their sign is an old theatre marquee because the building they occupy used to be an old theatre!  This store carries figurines of every collection imaginable including Disney, MouseTails, Jim Shore, and so much more.  The place is jam packed with glass shelves holding various collections and these pictures are just a teeny glimpse of that.  Anyway, more MPS stamps used, lots of bling, and a pair of rub-on sunglasses I just had to include.  Check out the sunglasses my daughter is wearing!

Pages 7 and 8 show more pretty landscaping, which I tried to expand with a grass border punch and rub-on flowers (now I'm not sure I like the grass!)  Oh well, I do like the Peachy Keen flowers I added.  Only the "Pinkalicious" stamp is from MPS stamps.  The green strip on the last page started with green cardstock, punched with the Fiskars ribbon threading punch.  After weaving my ribbon through, I then embossed it with a Cuttlebug border punch from Pop Culture, and it turned out looking like a quilted pattern.  That was a happy accident!  More bling, and ta-da, finished.

Had to put my sticker on the back even though I may wind up keeping this for myself.  Was originally thinking of giving it to one of the girls, but I'll hold onto it for a while.  I want to link this up to several of the Linking Parties out there. 

Please let me know what you think of my project!  Thanks for looking.

My First Mini-Album

My husband and I took a short overnight trip for our anniversary this past weekend.  We went to Peddler's Village in Lahaska, PA.  It's a quaint shopping village with unique stores, restaurants, and an Inn.  We had been there once before last October, and really liked it there, so we went back.  After we had returned from that trip last fall, I knew I wanted to preserve the memories we had made with the many photos we took.  I had been wanting to make a mini-album for some time and this was the perfect reason to do it.  I had just gotten my Cricut Expression back then, but hardly had any experience with it.  Since I already owned a Sizzix BigKick, I decided to get a die that was an "Album Cover and Page" to make a mini-album. 

This die was perfect.  I liked the shape of it, and it punched 3 holes down the left side on each cut.  So all I had to do was put 2 diecut pieces of cardstock together with adhesive, and voila, a two-sided page.  Then I added my pictures and embellishments. The size of each page is 3" H x 4-1/4"L.  Now remember, I made this mini-album last fall, not just now upon our return from our mini-trip!  That would be pretty amazing if I had made an album in one day, now wouldn't it!!  Here's the cover page.

All the patterned papers came from the DCWV Amber Autumn matstack, 4.5x6.5, so not much waste of paper.  I used textured cardstock for all the solid color pages.  Here's a few more pages.

My husband is on the left and that's me on the right.  Notice all the beautiful flowers.  The landscaping was so beautiful throughout the whole village and so well maintained.  I used butterfly and dragonfly mini-punches to decorate the edges. 

I did some journaling (typed on my computer) and created a pull-out card from behind the picture.  Had a few of these throughout the album. 

The flower shapes were cut using my Cricut and the Accent Essentials cartridge.  I probably only had 4 cartridges then--the ones that came with my original bundle!  The back cover is green to match the front cover, and left un-embellished. 

So that's my first mini-album; in total there were 19 2-sided pages, and 32 pictures!  Glad I could share it with you. Yes, it's simple, I know.  But that was my first one and now I kinda know what I'm doing, so I should be able to improve upon the next one!  Thanks for looking; appreciate all your comments.