Beautiful mini album

Hi everyone and welcome to my Happy Place.....

Today I will be showing you how to create this pretty mini album using Mon Amour

it is a rather long tutorial to create from start to finish ......so stay with me!

To start with we will build the cover....

cut your chipboard to 2 pieces at 6 1/2" x 6 1/2" and spine at 6 1/2" x 1 3/4"

then glue down to your chosen cardstock leaving about 1" edge all around (see pictures for a visual description)

Make sure you leave a gap between each piece ...TIP...I leave double the thickness of the cardstock!

Trim away corners as shown leaving around an 1/8" for turning under, add your score tape as shown..

Next score around the outside of cardstock and ease to fold around your cover.....add wet glue to cardstock just to make sure everything is secure (not too much..or it may tear if too wet) and fold over these flaps....

use your score tool or finger nail ;) to press and fold the wee corner in

Your cover will look like this....now gently using your score tool make a crease where your cover folds....gently...did I gently fold to stretch the fibres for opening and closing your album

Now cut 2 at 6" x 6" and 1 at 6" x 4" cardstock in same colour as cover...

take the 6" x 4" glue down with score tape and wet glue over the spine area (line up top and bottom then sides so it fits nice)

Next glue down the two cover pieces...line up with spine section...now give this a few minutes to settle then again gently mark spine groves as shown and fold gently to stretch fibers

Next its time to create the "Stack the deck" binding.....cut these pieces measuring 

6 x 2 3/4"....6 x 2 1/4".....6 x 1 3/4"

score all three on both long sides at 3/4" to look like below 

using your score tape completely cover the outside middle section of all three and attach to each other by stacking to look like this....there is a 1/4" gap on both sides of each piece!

Next you need to line this up and attach to your spine section on the cover piece....ANOTHER TIP is to cover score tape with wet glue to give you some wiggle room to get things straight....

Congratulations your cover and binding system are complete!

Now onto the pages construction.....you will need to cut 

For pages        2 at 6" x 5" and 4 at 6" x 6"

For page flaps 2 at 6" x 4 1/4" and 4 at 6' x 5"

You can take the 2 6" x 5" pieces and attach them to first and last binding sections using any type of glue you like to use....then the last four pieces measuring 6" x 6" attach to the remaining centre binding sections... remember to leave a smidge by binding hinge or your pages wont move freely....

For the fold out sections I have used a decorative die to give them a pretty edge then on the straight edge score at 1/2" 

you are still with me :)

Next attach the two smaller sections to the two small pages using score tape or wet glue on that 1/2" section....then the four other sections to the four pages in the same way.....

Your beautiful album will now look like this......great job!

Now to move onto adding the pretty papers and embellishments.......

Just a wee tip, I only have the 8" x 8" paper pads so you can still create a gorgeous album using just them!

Select the papers you want to use to cover your pages and cut

4 at 5 3/4" x 4 3/3" and 8 at 5 3/4" x 5 3/4" ....if you have used a decorative edge make sure you match it up on the fold out pieces  

Work your way through adding the papers to each page.....Next lets create two pockets to add to the front and back inside of the covers to hold the pretty extras like photo mats or journaling cutouts

Cut two at 6 1/4" x 3" from same coloured cardstock and add a decorative edge if you like....

This is how my inside front cover looks, the tag I created and the measurements are 5" x 5"

and this is the back inside cover....the little metal pieces I cut to fit an image from the collection for an added embellishment......

Here are the final photos so you can see how I have put the final touches together....I have used another decorative die to create photo mats and a small banner for documenting the memory, laying them in offset places on the page for added interest.....

The cover is created by covering with a 6 1/4" x 6 1/4" base paper, then I used the back cover from the paper pad cut into a circle added some pretty pom pom trim creating a  base to work from....

Next I selected and fussy cut the flowers and couple, added them and a spray of flowers I had rescued from my daughters bin.....bad bad girl lol!

I also added the Mon Amour cut out and butterflies with stickles for some sparkle effect finally I added some ribbon to match for the closure....

Here are the inside flap pages showing how I decorated them using cut outs, bling and die cuts.
I have left the inside larger  pages undecorated so I can use up the space with photos....

We have come to the end of my tutorial I do hope you have as much creative fun as I did putting this beautiful album together....

This is my second entry showcasing my love of altering and repurposing items to give them a new life..... This beautiful decor piece started its life as a pin cushion and cotton holder I found at a secondhand shop and a wee wooden birdhouse........

Using the beautiful Graphic 45 Mon Amour collection......

I have painted a vintage cream colour on the base and bird house then glued them together......

Using my favourite embellishments Pearls, Bling, Dangle bead trim, flowers .......

I just love the little birdies

thank you for stopping by 

where you can find more of my creations

https://www.pinterest.nz/mysticaltouch/my-creations/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDe55ZnOt-PckNp_sa4tjDQ/videos