December Kit Mini Album

This is a little Bonus Project for you! It's especially great for those of you who snagged the December Kit at the store. But if you weren't one of the lucky ones, it's still a snazzy mini-album to make! Contained within are some super fun and easy Techneeks and it's a great way to get yourself in the Christmas spirit PLUS have somewhere to put all those photos you're going to take!!

You will need:

• the Treasured Memories December Kit - essentially you need 5 pattern papers, and since the ones in the kit are double-sided they do double-duty, a light coloured cardstock, some paper flowers, bling and letter stickers.

• A journaling stamp - I used the Bam Pop fancy frame, but you can use whatever you have in your stash.


• Black Staz-On ink pad


• A couple of different-sized circle punches
  
• Pink and green craft paint and a paintbrush - I used Making Memories and Ranger


• Liquid glue - I use my trusty Ranger Glossy Accents


• Glitter paint - I'm using Making Memories, but you can use whatever you have in your stash that works the same way. For example, a bottle of Stickles and a paintbrush will have the same effect!


• Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Pearl, Jazz Blue & Pink Ink - or whatever colours match that you have on hand


• A black pen


• A chipboard album - I made mine out of leftover chipboard from the store and some binder rings, but use what you've got

NOTE: All of the photos I'm including in my book are 3.5 x 5. If you want to include smalelr or larger photos in your book, adjust for that while your doing the layout. And since this is going to be my Christmas book for THIS YEAR, I don't actually have any photos for it yet. I stick a white sheet of cardstock on each page over top of which I will eventually place my photo.

AND REMEMBER that since this is a homemade chipboard album the back of page two is actually page three!

Step One: If you're making your own chipboard album, cut your pieces down to 6 x 6 (or 6x6.25 in my case). I used the big Making Memories trimmer for this.

Step Two: Take a ruler and measure the places you want your holes. I'm using three binder rings, so I took my calculator and figured out what 6/4 is (about 1.5) and marked that along my first page. Then I made a mark in from the edge at half an inch. The place where these two marks cross is where I'll punch my holes.

Step Three: Punch the holes in your album. I used the Crop-A-Dile because it punches very easily through chipboard. Once you've got the holes in the first page, line up the second page and use the holes as a guide. Keep going like this until you have holes in all of your pages.

(Note: I left the binder rings out until I finished embellishing the entire album. They are pictured here to show you how it will look once you have all your holes punched in the right place!)

Step Four: Now that this is done, we can move on to the fun stuff...sort of! Since this is meant to be a super simple and QUICK album to put together, I want you to put away your trimmer and pull out a nice big pair of scissors. We are going to cut strips of paper without measuring it, and without straight edges! Now I know some of you are thinking "ack!" but this is a lesson in "letting it go" and just having fun with the supplies and enjoying the creative process! Woo!

So grab 5 of the pattern papers from the kit that you like (or ones from your stash at home) and start cutting strips of various widths. Cut all the way across the 12x12 sheet, and you can cut down the long strips when you go to use them on a page.

Once you have a respectable amount of strips cut, set them aside. We'll use them as we go.

Step Five: Using the stamp that you chose, and your black Staz-On pad, fill the sheet of shimmery blue cardstock from the kit (or on the colour of your choice). We're using the Staz-On pad because regular ink will smear on the shimmery paper. If you are using plain cardstock, any black ink pad will do.

I also stamped a bunch of 7Gypsies labels for good measure! These guys will smear a little (the self-inking stamps are just regular ink), so be careful!

You don't have to cut all of them out now. I cut each one as I went. Every double-page layout in my album has a journaling spot, so that means I needed 10. You will see that there are only 9 pictured here...well I am sneaky and did the extra one on the green cardstock that comes in the kit!

Now onto the REALLY good stuff!! You'll need your pile of paper strips, your circle punches, and the Glimmer Mist & paint. We're going to do one double page layout at a time. And remember, your book won't really look the same as mine, as your strips of paper will be a little different, but you can copy my layouts to make it easier on you!

The cover page is super simple. I used half of the journaling tag that came in the kit, a strip of pattern paper, a KI Memories paper clip (my kit came with the tree, but each kit will contain a different shape), a Prima red flower and the Doodlebug green bling.

For Pages One & Two you will need two pattern paper strips (cut in two for each side of the layout), a circle of a third pattern paper, and some glitter paint. Cover each page with the glitter paint. Make sure you get all the way to the edge. Let it dry. While it's drying you can cut down the long strips of paper to fit on the page. Also, cut out one of the stamped journal spots.

Once the paint has dried, adhere the pattern strips, the journaling spot and your photo mount. I'm not adding any more embellishments at this point, because I don't want to run out before I finish the album! I embellished the entire album once I had completed the basic "bones" of each page (paper, journal spot, etc.)



On Pages 3 & 4 I used Pearl and Jazz Blue Glimmer Mist on the background. Spray the Pearl all over the two pages, then add the Jazz Blue in the corners or along one edge as an accent colour.


While it is drying, cut out one journaling spot and cut down 3 strips of pattern paper. I also punched 2 circles out of a different pattern paper and crumpled them up before attaching them. You can assemble the elements once the Glimmer Mist is dry.
For the rest of the pages, I took the photos after I embellished the page, so you can embellish as I did, or let your imagination go wild!!

On Pages 5 & 6 I used a Heidi Swapp polka dot mask to create the circle pattern. But you can use any stencil or stamp to create a similar effect. I laid the mask on the chipboard, and used some green craft paint to fill in the circles. Before it had a chance to dry, I sprayed over top with Pearl Glimmer Mist and carefully pulled off the mask. Clean off the mask, and do the same thing on the next page.
While it's drying, cut the Little Yellow Bicycle journaling card in half (you'll only have half left, as you already used part of it on the cover). Once it has dried, adhere this tag, add a stamped journal tag, the Jenni Bowlin mini Bingo card and a strip of pattern paper.

Pages 7 & 8 are nice and bright and very pink!! They match the Prima Popsicle flowers that were in my kit. If you got a different colour of flowers, you might want to change your paint colour to match!!

I messily brushed on some bright pink paint, but I made sure not to cover the entire background. Next I adhered some pink and red pattern paper strips (and blue on page 8). The Popsicle flowers are further embellished with circles punched from the flocked Heidi Grace pattern paper.

On Pages 9 & 10 I used the Glitter Paint again all over the chipboard. Then I added two strips of pattern paper, my journaling tag and a smaller 7Gypsies journal stamp.


Pages 11 & 12 got a little doodle treatment. If you're comfortable with your doodling skills, just add a journaling spot. I used some misshapen pattern papers strips and a Jenni Bowlin mini Bingo card to create a bit of an "embellishment corner" then added my doodled frame to fill out the page. This looks complicated, but is actually super simple to do...you can even copy a stamped design!!

The right side of the layout got some doodled stars, and was complete!



Pages 13 & 14 are really simple to put together. Cut down three strips of pattern paper to three different sizes (short, medium & long) and mirror their placement on each page. I punched a circle out of my blue shimmery cardstock, doodled a little frame and stuck an "ampersand" in the centre from the sticker letter set in the kit.

For Pages 15 & 16 you get to add some shimmer to the leftovers from your Popsicle flowers with some Glimmer Mist. I used a pink Mist, sprayed the circles liberally, let them dry, sprayed them again, flattened them out and stuck them down. You'll need to use Glossy Accents to adhere the fabric flowers to the page, and I usually rest something heavy on them so they dry flat.

Add some circles punched from the Heidi Grace flocked paper (I doodled on them, but the ink smudges so I don't recommend this!!), some strips of pattern paper and a journal spot.

You'll need your paint and Heidi Swapp mask again for Pages 17 & 18, or some other way to make circles! I adhered my pattern paper first before applying the mask and paint, and I only did it on the right page. The bottom of the Sassafraslass paper is a cute little scalloped border that works great on this page. I added my journaling spots and some Doodlebug bling to finish off the pages.

And instead of using Glimmer Mist to give my paint dots a little shine, I used glitter paint!!


Pages 20 & 21 are again super simple to make. I used 2 strips of pattern paper, then cut out the words on one of the Prima sheets of pattern paper: wish, Holly Jolly and Joy. I ON that same sheet of paper, there are some pointsettias, which I punched out with my circle punch, crumpled and uncrumpled them, and stuck them in the corners.


I always like to embellish The Back of any mini album I create. This is where I can sign my name, or write a special greeting if the album is a gift. Some words cut from the Prima and Heidi Grace papers and a 7Gypsies stamped journaling tag are all that's needed. I would avoid adding any 3D embellishments to the back because they might get worn off!


Once you're done with all the paper, you can go back in and embellish with the goodies in your kit! I wanted to keep this album super simple, so I didn't add any extra embellishments; that is, I ONLY used what came in the kit! Feel free to add on, but I find it more fun and more challenging to just stick with a handful of flowers and bling, and not worry about going through my stash to find "the perfect" embellishment...as if it even exists!

Now, all you need to do is enjoy the holidays, print off some pictures and complete your album in the New Year!

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I'll see you back here on Thursday for my regularly scheduled Techneek of the Week post. Hint: it's all about buttons this week!! And I also have another surprise (re: PRIZE) for my loyal Blog Readers!

Love Ya!