I’m obsessed with scrapbook mini albums. I collect examples of mini’s on my Pinterest Mini Albums board and never tire of making them. I’ve created mini albums to commemorate family vacations, recount the year’s science project and as tribute to a lost family pet. I use Smash albums for my daughter’s “school year” archive, alter books to make special mementos, and give ready-made mini scrapbooks to new Mom’s so they can easily and quickly add their photos and thoughts in the first weeks of their child’s life.
I love a mini’s potential: it’s a small package that can have a huge impact. It has secret spaces and pull out cards. It has ribbons and tapes and embellishments hanging from it to give it so many dimensions. Plus, the variety of styles, bindings, and formats that creative crafters dream up seems to grow and grow, giving what seems like endless options for new ways to capture moments in a mini package.
Recently, I made a mini album out of the beautiful pages of an Anthropologie catalog. The artistic photography and decorative patterns of Anthropologie’s brand always catches my eye. Because the pages often have little (or small) text, they are perfect scrapbook paper, easy to make into page backgrounds, photo mounts and accent pieces.
I first put the base of the book together. I used this easy mini album construction since I knew my mini album would have just a few pages. This design includes one single piece of accordion fold paper with the individual album pages glued along the folds, with another scored piece of paper that wraps around the end as the binding. I used this binding technique for my book.
Once I assembled the book, I added elements to decorate the pages. This “I love you because” album for a cherished girlfriend includes stitching, embellishments, Washi tape, stickers, enamel dots and lettering.
A vellum envelope has a pull out card where I tucked away a special “secret” note to her. How lucky I was that its colors match the background catalog page so perfectly! This was a quick little gift that makes a special surprise for a friend. Having a finished hand made product so fast means I can make these just about any time I need a personalized gift. I always have magazines and catalogs around, so I’ll never be without supplies.
So get out those magazines and catalogs you have lingering on the side table. Who knows, it could be an untapped resource you can use on your next project.
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