8x8 ALWAYS mini album... made completely from scratch.

I've been sick since last Wednesday and really haven't stepped outside since I got home from work that night.   So I spent the majority of the past 5 days working on this album.   I recently resigned from the Cricut Mini Albums design team and I can honestly say it was very freeing to me to make this album.  I could make whatever I wanted.  I guess structure is not for me.  I need to be able to make what I want when I want. 

I made this album completely from scratch. I absolutely love this album with all of it's pink and girliness.  It is 8x8 covered chipboard and bound with 2 jump rings.  I wanted to make a little album highlighting me and my better half.  We are getting married this  year and I plan on adding a couple of pictures from our wedding this fall.

The frame from the cover is from Create-a-Critter and "ALWAYS" is a Cuttlebug alpha cut out of chipboard.  The leaves for the flowers were handmade.

The photo mats thruout the album are from the $ spot at Target and the rub-ons are from Cloud 9 that I found in my stash.  I also decided to drag out the sewing machine and sew on some of my pages.

The library pocket is from FABULOUS FINDS, the tree is from STRETCH YOUR IMAGINATION, and the little hearts are from SWEETHEARTS.

This is my FAVORITE spread in the whole mini. The foam letters are some Thickers that I had in my stash from Big Lots- I got them for $2.

You can see the stitching and gems that I used on the heart. I cut a couple of the mats to make a patchwork look on the heart.  I cannot remember which cart the heart is from- I cut part of the left side of the heart off so that it would fit into the album nicely.

This is one of my favorite photos- it was taken when we went to Letchworth State park last fall. 

The index tab is a punch that I bought from Big Lots a couple years ago- I think it is by McGill.

Close-up of the patchwork heart.

Side view of the binding of the album.  I just ran some ribbon thru the jump rings and tied in a bow to stabilize the rings.  You can also see the dimention-  I LOVE POP DOTS!  In fact I used up my whole stash of them on this project. OH NO!!!

The binding inside the book...

I just loved these rub-ons... This one is my favorite...

This week's Cricut Mini Albums DT challenge was Back to School. Stop on by to see what cute albums the other gals have created.  They did a wonderful job!

 I decided to make my own 6 1/2 x 6 1/2  chipboard album by covering 3 pieces of chipboard and scoring between them to make the album fold over.  I then used my bind-it all for the inside pages and ribbon closures.  I will post close ups of how it all came together at the end of the post.  If any of you would like to see how I did it I would consider doing a picture tutorial for you.  The paper that I used is called Hittin' the Books by DCWV and some of the embellishments are a new little line by K and Company that I found at Joanns.

The pencil is from Locker Talk.
The library pocket and insert are from Fabulous Finds.

The backpacks are from Doodle charms.

The rounded squares are from Slumber Party Cricut Lite, the envelope is from Just Because Cards, and the apple is from Doodlecharms.

Close up of the ribbon closure... fastened the ribbon by running under the inner cardstock layer of the covers.

Close up of how the book folds together...

Inside cover showing how the binding...

Close up of inside back cover showing how inside pages are attached to the book.  I just added a black piece of cardstock to the end of the binded pages and glued it to the back cover.  I use Fabri-Tac to glue the cardstock to the covers and pages of my minialbums- it seems to make them sturdier. I also glued the last piece of black cardstock with the Fabri-Tac to make sure it adhered securely. 

Thanks so much for checking out my album.

CRICUT MINI ALBUMS DT project #3

For this project the theme was Mother's Day. I had heard somebody on the Cricut Message board asking why anybody would want to buy Fabulous Finds so I decided to look it over and see what cuts I could use on this mini album. Sooo here it is...

First Day of School Layout

I love the collage feature on Picasa! I made this one using the photos that I took of my girls on the first day of school. I made this layout 8 1/2" by 11". I like doing this size- it's easier for me. I have a couple of albums that I have made using this size. The chipboard bookplate was cut out using the Fabulous Finds cartridge- I covered it with fine red glitter so I brushed the most of it off and then painted it with black acrylic paint. The red glitter faintly shines through. I just got a whole bunch of photos developed. Hopefully I will be able to scrap a few.