Today, we have a fun and colorful summer mini album to share with you. It's based on the photo-a-day idea, but on a smaller scale, covering just the summertime.
Summer Holidays mini album, by Marie-Josée Hamel.
In January, I wanted to start taking a picture a day for the whole year, but I changed my mind quickly, because I knew I would forget to take one some days or lose interest after a while for lack of interesting things to feature. However, at the beginning of the summer, the idea surfaced again and I decided to do it from June until September. Since I spend all summer at home with my daughter, I knew the timing would be perfect and that I would have plenty of things to document. So, I started taking pictures right on the first day of our summer vacation. I decided that I wanted a quick and easy way to document our summer and as such, I decided to add text directly to each picture using Photoshop Elements. Here are a few examples of the pictures I took so far.
Then, I had to start working on the album that would be used to feature those pictures. However, I knew right from the start that I could not create a traditionnal mini-album, because it would be way too thick, given that I will have over sixty day of pictures to feature by the end of the summer.
So I browsed the Web in search of ideas and found many examples of three-ring albums. I figured a 2.5" spine would be perfect and big enough to include all the pictures I would take over the summer. So I got the biggest ring I could find to fit that size. I also settled on a 5.5" x 7" format, which will allow me to included patterned papers and embellishments. Since I take both landscape and portrait pictures, I will have to flip the album while looking through it, but I prefer this format to a square, bigger format.
I created the base of the album with chipboard that I covered with patterned paper. This makes the album sturdier. The spine is 2.5" x 7" and each covers measures 5.5" x 7. I adhered the ribbons that I will use to close the album to the chipboard before adhering the pattered papers. It is important to use three rings, otherwise, the pages will move too much.
Once the base of the album was created, I added tabs, once for each month of the summer as well as one more for special events.
When working on a huge project like that, I find it is easier to cut most of the pieces in advance, instead of cutting them one at a time. So I cut more than 60 pieces of Bella Blvd paper, in various colors and patterns. Each piece measures 4.75" x 6.6".
I also set aside a few pieces of paper with patterns that can be used as embellishments when cut out. Here's a sample of such papers.
Once this was done, I started adhering the pieces of paper to each piece of white cardstock. I selected a different paper for each day, either choosing a color that was part of the color scheme of the photo or an opposite color. I also created a cover page for each month.
As you can see, the album is already pretty thick, and I have not added papers nor pictures for the month of August yet! So, if you chose to create a similar album, don't forget to make it large enough so you will be able to close it once it is completed.
And finally, I decorated a few pages. As you can see, it doesn't need many embellishments since it is already pretty busy with the background paper and the text right on the photo. I added a bit of washi tape, flags and stickers.
Supplies:
Patterned papers: Various collections, among them Sunny Happy Skies, Family Dynamix and Socialite; Designer Tape: Red Dot, Pickle Juice Dot; Ciao Chip Versatile Elements: Stars & Hearts, Borders; Ciao Chip Simply Simona Alphabets & Numbers: McIntosh
