Today, we have a fabulous little mini album to share with you, from Local Artista, Katherine McElvain. She was even kind enough to write up a tutorial for us on how she created the base of the album.
"Dirty Girl" mini album, by Katherine McElvain.
Recently I participated in the Dirty Girl Mud Run with my college roommate Polly, Stephanie, and her two sisters. It was lots of fun! We got some great pictures so I wanted to make a mini album to fill with the memories. I constructed my own book from cardstock and wanted to share the idea with you today.
Here is what the book looks like when complete. It is interactive and fun with all the folds and flaps. Stay with me on this...it's not as hard to make as it looks.
To make the book you will need one 12 x 6 piece of cardstock, three 12 x 5.75 pieces of cardstock, and two 5.5 x 5.5 pieces of cardstock. And of course all your favorite Bella Blvd goodies!
First we have to score the cardstock pieces. Score the 12 x 6 piece at 3 inches and 2.5 inches from each end.
Score the three 12 x 5.75 pieces at 3 inches from each end.
Adhere the three scored and folded pieces of 12 x 5.75 cardstock together to make a paper chain.
It should look like this when complete.
Adhere the center of your paper chain to the center of your scored and folded 12 x 6 piece of cardstock. It should fit perfectly edge to edge in the center. I use super sticky adhesive on this part since when the book is folded, this is the place that is most likely to get tugged on the most.
Take your two 5.5 x 5.5 pieces of cardstock and adhere to the outer flaps of the 12 x 6 cardstock leaving an even boarder around all three edges.
And now you are ready to fill your book with all the Bella Blvd goodies. This is what I did.
Thoughout the book I used flowers that I cut from Birthday Girl "Party Dress" and Thankful "Bountiful" papers. So of course I wanted to use some on the cover. I backed it all with a page from an Alice and Wonderland book that I bought at a used book store.
When you open the first part of the cover this is the first page.
Then the second part of the cover has this image.
I backed most of the photos with the Bella designer tape in random patches.
After opening the cover is when the book is when this mini really gets fun. There are so many ways to look at it, depending on how you fold the flaps. This also makes it a little hard to photograph so here are some peeks at different sections of the book.
The Bella Blvd tags make great additions to the flaps. This one is from the Baby Boy collection and the paper behind is from the Baby Girl. I loved how the pink zebra stripe matched the socks Stephanie bought for the team. You never know what collections will mingle into a project.
My friend Polly does not scrapbook (can you believe it? lol). So I plan on making her a mini of her own for a gift. Since she is not a scrapbooker, she will not be looking at the blog. Which is probably a good thing. It won't ruin the surprise, and she won't see that I posted pictures of her, like the one below, on a public site. Let's keep that our little secret. She would kill me if she saw it!! But isn't that what old friends are for?
Thanks for looking,
Katherine
This is a great mini! Love!
Posted by: Diane Payne | November 09, 2012 at 10:07 AM
This is so flipping awesome!!! What a great mini album!
Posted by: meganklauer | November 09, 2012 at 10:55 AM
I love it! TFS!
Posted by: Melinda T | November 09, 2012 at 11:57 AM
OMGOSH! I just LOVE this! I'm definitely going to make a couple of these as Christmas gifts for my kids to give to their grandparents! Thank you so much for the inspiration :-)
Posted by: Kerys | November 09, 2012 at 12:00 PM
This is sooo fun! I love all your catchy titles and the mixes of pink and brown to fit the theme. Your friend is going to love hers! :)
Posted by: Mendi Yoshikawa | November 09, 2012 at 12:18 PM
Awesome album! Very talented lady :)
Posted by: Charlene O | November 09, 2012 at 12:26 PM
Oh Goodness...this is amazing! LOVE all of it, down to every last detail. I can't wait to give it a try. Thanks for the tutorial
Posted by: Becki Adams | November 09, 2012 at 12:37 PM
I Loved this MINI!! Great job!
Posted by: Jodi | November 09, 2012 at 02:48 PM
ILOVE it! Filthy Five....so awesome! Great mini!
Posted by: Kathy Martin | November 09, 2012 at 02:55 PM
Great post, Katherine. I love the album, plan on making one myself, not of the filthy five, though. Awesome work, as always. :)
Posted by: AnnaMarie | November 09, 2012 at 03:23 PM
One of my favorite product lines!
Posted by: Christinedrasher | November 09, 2012 at 04:20 PM
Wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!! This is GORGEOUS!!!! I am IN LOVE!!!!!
Posted by: Julie Tucker-Wolek | November 09, 2012 at 07:40 PM
this is awesome! I need to make an album like this...thanks for the inpso!!!
Posted by: Shellye McDaniel | November 09, 2012 at 08:07 PM
Thanks for sharing . I love this mini album!!!
Posted by: Carol | November 09, 2012 at 09:23 PM
Love the look of the album although the instructions seems a little confusing to me. Ha... Thinking of doing something similar for my sister's wedding. Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Jeannie L | November 09, 2012 at 11:18 PM
Brilliant!!! This is such a FUN mini!!!
Posted by: Leanne | November 09, 2012 at 11:40 PM
Oooo love this, saving it for later to try!
Posted by: SammyD | November 10, 2012 at 05:46 AM
Love it! Great tutorial!
Posted by: Malika | November 10, 2012 at 01:55 PM
My friend just sent me a link to this. What a delicious project!!! Fantastic tutorial and delightful album!
Posted by: Nadia (WithGlitteringEyes.com) | November 11, 2012 at 12:45 PM
looove this mini! let me go ahead and call that i will be copying it soon! :)
Posted by: gretchen | November 11, 2012 at 02:07 PM