Hello, friends! It’s Andrea Lake with you today sharing a fun project. This month, I got to create a project of my choice and that means I had to create a mini album! One of my goals for this year is to create more layouts, but this story deserved a mini album. Guys, we adopted a puppy and we are now a family of 6! The Poppy & Pear collection by American Crafts had the perfect colors and embellishments to record the memories we made the first week of having Indie Luna with us. 

Supplies| American Crafts Poppy & Pear collection: Patterned paper, cardstock, foam and puffy stickers, paper clips, ephemera, metal rings, wooden clips, Thickers; Scrapbook.com exclusives: Nested Metal Dies, Magic Mat, Mint Tape, Platinum Six die cutting machine (Black), cutting mat, tape runner adhesive, foam adhesive; We R Makers: Crop-A-Dile multi punch, All-in- One Tool; Other: sewing Machine, journaling pen

The Poppy & Pear collection includes a set of metal rings that were the reason I decided to make a simple structure for my mini album using these rings to bind the book. To create the shape of this album, I used the Scrapbook.com A2 Arches Nested metal dies and flipped them, with the flat side to the left to add the rings. I punched holes through all the pages and added machine stitching details around the edges of all my pages. 

When decorating the inside pages of my album, I like to divide the work into three rounds (at least!) I place my photos against the background I think goes best and I do a first round of embellishing. I then go back and finish decorating each page, and do one final round to write the journaling. Most of my journaling is handwritten, so I prefer to add it at the end.

By dividing the work this way, I can make sure I have enough of my favorite embellishments to play with, and I can also pay attention to the amount of dimension I’m adding as I go. That’s why you will always find a good assortment of adhesives on my table. For this project, I used Scrapbook.com tape runners, foam strips, and foam squares. 

The cover is a different story. I love adding layers and dimension to the cover of my projects. Fun covers are inviting and make me want to explore the inside of a project. I kind of tend to judge a book by its cover when it comes to mini albums. 

If you want to check this project in more detail, watch my process video below! You can see how this sweet mini album came together, as well as a flip-through of the finished mini album.

I love using fun products and tools to create simple yet beautiful and delicate projects to record my memories. I would love to see what you have made using this gorgeous collection by American Crafts, or the fun nested metal dies from our friends at Scrapbook.com 

Find more of Andrea’s creations here: Instagram | Facebook | YouTube