Techneek of the Week

Sorry this post is so late today!! I was busy playing with the little guy outside today!

So last week I covered how to make a scrapbook "on-the-go." And this week I'm going to give you some tips and pointers on creating a simple, yet beautiful MINI ALBUM. These "tips and tricks" work for any theme and any size and are great to keep in mind when doing gifts for parents, grandparents, wedding or anniversary. Or for yourself when you don't want the project to get too complicated or pricey!!

I myself am horrible at creating mini albums if I have to come up with a new idea for each page/layout/photo, or if I don't already have all my photos picked out and ready to go. So, Step #1 is to choose your photos and your album size. There are so many sizes, shapes and styles of mini albums out there nowadays that this might end up being the hardest step for you!


Decide how many photos you would like to include, and be reasonable and ruthless when choosing! For example, a 50th Wedding Anniversary album could have 100s of photo possibilities, but unless you willing to put together a 50+ page album, maybe only include photos of significant events (wedding, 1st home, birth of kids, etc.). You can always give a simple photo album in addition to the scrapbook to include those "extra" pics. If no matter what you do, you still have a lot of photos consider printing them smaller than 4x6 (3.5x5 is a nice size), or going up a size of album (example: 8x8 instead of 6x6).


Once you have chosen your photos, choose your album. Size is the most important choice, and will depend on how many photos you want to include on each page. If you only have a handful of photos and can crop them down to a fairly small size, consider a 4x4 or 4x6 album. KI Memories has a new line of cute felt 4x4 albums that come in a variety of colours. You can't add any pages to them, but they have page protectors for 20 layouts. Treasured Memories carries many brands of albums, many of them available in a smaller size.


Check out:

• Making Memories has some beautiful 9x9 leather ones, or baby boy/girl album kits that come with a 9x9 album and some coordinating embellishments
• American Crafts for 6x6 and 8x8 post-bound or D-Ring albums in a variety of colours


• K & Company does 8x8 albums, and you can also purchase a kit with coordinating embellishments and paper in a variety of themes


• Prima Marketing has some nice 6x6 embossed chipboard albums, or check out their Build-A-Book acrylic album line where you can mix and match page designs, adding as many as you need in a variety of styles (avail. in 6x6 and 6x12)


• Chatterbox's new line of albums are 6x6, come in at least 6 different colours, and have embossed pages inside


• Cosmo Cricket's chipboard albums are black and come in a variety of neat shapes!


• ColorBok and Home are two new lines we have in store that offer 8x8 albums with beautiful cover designs (both are post-bound)

NOTE: Not all of these items are always in stock. Please check the store for current availability.

If you can't find an album you like, you can always make your own! I often find that I would rather save money on an album and spend more on the pretty stuff that goes inside! So I create my own out of chipboard, cardboard, tags, etc. I attach the pages together with a binder ring or ribbon, and can make it as many pages as I need! This is more work for you, so if you are under a deadline, consider purchasing an album.

Step #2: Selecting the papers you want to use. Remember that these are tips and tricks for creating a simple mini album. I pick at most, three coordinating patterns and one neutral solid. And that's all! Not only does this save your budget, if prevents you from having to match papers to each photo, and it gives your mini album a nice cohesiveness that will unify the album. This is especially good if you have photos from many different events. Using the same colours throughout the book will make it seem like the photos are meant to go together. If you are worried about the colours clashing, print all of your pictures in black and white (or sepia). This only adds to the unity and appearance of the album.

Make sure you purchase enough paper to complete the entire album! It's always so frustrating when you are short one or two sheets, only to return to the store and find the paper sold out! If you require a solid as your background on every page, buy enough solid cardstock to do the job Example: 10 page protectors, means 20 layouts and if you're doing a 6x6 album, one 12x12 piece of cardstock will do 4 layouts. Do the math and that means you need to buy 5 sheets of cardstock. After you complete Step #3, you will be able to figure out how many sheets of each pattern you will need.

Step #3: Decide the layout of each page. For the one mini-album I have made that I actually completed and totally love, I did the same page layout for each page. You may think that sound boring, but if you add unique embellishments to each page, that will be enough to add interest to the album. This is essential to save time (and your sanity!), and means you can spend more time on the fun part: the embellishing! For the album I created, each page had a rectangle of pattern #1, and a square of pattern #2 that I positioned beside the photo. I added a stamped image (a label) punched into a circle shape to finish the page. This worked for both portrait and landscape photos, as I could just turn my layout depending on the orientation of the photo. (See picture of purple album below). If it helps you, sketch out a couple of options, or choose a layout from a page you have already completed that would be simple to duplicate and flip 180 degrees when called for.

Now you can determine how big each element is going to be, and trim your pattern paper accordingly. And since each cut is the same, just cut as many as you'll need (for as many pages as you've decided to include), and then start putting your album together. Easy as pie! And tasty too!!

Pictured below, is the one and only, completed Mini Album I have in my collection! It was super easy, once I chose my photos (from a vacation I took with my family in the 90s...please ignore the horrible fashion and hair-dos!), and paper (there was a lot of purple in the photos...again, please ignore the horrible fashion!!). I cut a rectangle out of the polka dot and a square from the floral print. You could even use a large square punch to save more time! I also punched out a circle label stamp to add to each page. It is within this circle that I did most of embellishing...

...of which there is a minimal amount...some travel-themed chipboard and epoxy stickers; rub-ons; a fabric flower and brad; and some travel label stickers from 7Gypsies. I added a little bit of journaling to some of the pages, but I felt the pictures mostly spoke for themselves, and a lot of the details of the trip are fuzzy as it happened so long ago.

I made the album myself out of 12x12 chipboard I cut down to 6x6 pieces that form each page. I didn't have to use any cardstock as background, as my chipboard matched the colours in my pattern paper. On the cover I used the same pattern papers, and added a Heidi Swapp damask sticker (that I also used inside) and some American Crafts Thickers letter stickers for my title.


(Please excuse the 1st two pics. For some reason Blogger keeps turning them on their side!!)








For more examples of mini albums, you can check out the store...we have a resident "Mini Album Master", as I like to call her. Anam is always pumping out the mini albums, and most of hers follow these same guidelines I have offered here...Keep It Simple Sweetie!

Until next time...