Valentine's Day One Sheet Coupons Mini Album

Here's a fast and easy project to create as a gift for Valentine's Day! A One sheet coupons mini album. You can create a few of those and write different treats or gifts on the coupons according to who will get them.

For a spouse or a boyfriend you can give a massage, a fancy dinner or even the s word. For a friend it can be a manicure, a movie or anything that you like to do together. The choices are endless! Just customize your coupons mini album with your choice of papers, colors and embellishments.

You can even create a large mini album by attaching a few small mini albums together. Attach two ends of the mini album back to back with a little double sided adhesive. You will have more room for extra coupons...

Isn't that a really cool project? You have a gift, which are the coupons and what is written on them of course, and a pretty way to present them inside the mini album. And you only need one 12x12 sheet of double sided cardstock to create it!

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Have fun creating!

Maximize Your Supplies: How to Create a Star Mini Album from Three 8.5"x11" Papers?

When I go through my stash I sometimes find the most amazing things. When I started scrapbooking there was NOTHING here. No 12x12 papers, no embellishments and I had to create scrapbooks and mini albums from  8.5"x11" patterned papers, and there weren't many of those too. I found some of my old papers and decided to use them for a really cool and fast project: a Star Mini Album.

1. Fold the paper in half. Fold each side into half again. Open and fold in half in the other direction.

2. Cut the paper only on the center spreading on two of the horizontal squares.

3. Fold in half and the paper will open up on its own.

4. Close the paper to a + shape and glue the sides together. You can glue only the sides and create pockets.

5. Fold all the flaps to one direction to create a mini album.

6. Create two more mini albums. arrange them back to back and glue together. You can leave it as a closed mini album or present it in its open star shape!





This is a great idea for a kids craft in school or on a cold winter weekend. They can make it with or for their frinds. You can make it as little gifts or even use it as a brag book. The possibilities are endless! I was really happy I could use something old that I thought would be thrown away...

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What Do You Do with All Your Mini Albums?

This is a question I get asked a lot. You make so many, what do you do with all of them? Well...There are a few things I do, depends on how much I love the mini or how long I worked on it. When I began making mini albums I designed them all with photos inside, 20 mini albums later I realized if I onlyput my photos in them there isn't a lot I ca do with them once they're finished. So I started creating empty mini albums and that opened up a whole new world of possibilities.

Give as a gift
This is kind of obvious. make a mini album for someone and give it to them on their birthday or on Christmas. But I want you to consider other gift options for example as giveaways in a raffle on your blog or website. Make a bunch of mini albums and give them to someone to give as gifts. I made my mom a few mini albums with inspiring quotes in them to give to her patients (they loves them).

Sell them
I sell some of my mini albums in my Etsy shop. You can also sell them in craft fairs and holiday gift fairs. I went to a fair once (when I was still doing that) with a few mini albums among other things and they were sold like hot cakes. The mini albums were very simple but people liked them because I they were themed: baby mini album, wedding, grandma, field trip etc. So everybody found something that appealed to them.

Donate them
This is especially good for junk journals and mini albums without too many embellishments. Every time I create a junk journal I don't need or won't use I put it in the donation box and then go to a children hospital and give it to the kids, the older kids. I sit with them for awhile and explain what they could do with it: add photos, journal, add quotes etc.

Display them
My favorite mini albums are displayed in a center location in my house. I found that when they are in the living room for example, my kids and family look at them often. These are the mini albums with photos in them so they sit and browse through them remembering trips, experiences, holidays and they talk, laugh and it's great! It's like kids and vegetables unless you have a nice plate with veggies on it they won't eat it...but if it's there on the table...well..it disappears.





So you might ask yourselves why make mini albums anyway? Other than it being tons of fun, alone or with friends it's also...you can read all about it here.







I don't need an excuse to make mini albums and I share the love for mini albums, binding and surprising moving parts in my online class inter-ACTIVES - Moving Mini Albums click the link to register.

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5 Minutes Craft - Christmas Junk Journal/ Mini Album

You need a last minute gift or you are stuck with so many Christmas paper scraps and you're lost! I have an idea...take all those paper scraps and turn them into a junk journal or a mini album. Not only will it get you into the holiday spirit but you'll use all your supplies and not feel like the piles of scraps are going to take over your craft space.

All you need are papers, tags, journaling cards and a Bind-it -All. If you don't have a Bind-it-All that's ok, bind your journal with rings. Start with giving the papers the shape you want: a square or a circle. I even made a stocking shape to one of the pages. Cut different sizes so it'll be interesting. Then bind all of them to a journal or a book and embellish!

If you have pieces of fabric or felt add them too. it'll add a soft fuzzy feeling to the album. Fill it with holiday photos, inspirational quotes or family memorabilia, keep it for yourself or give it as a gift. In any case you'll be happy you created something from leftovers and in only 5 minutes!

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Twine Binding Envelope Mini Album

I always try to think about new and easy ways to make mini albums. The faster I can make them the better. One of the things that takes a long time to make is the cover and binding mechanism. Personally I'm not a big fan of rings and/or bind-it-all although i use them often. I want to have a fast binding mechanism (like rings or Bind-it-all) but professional looking like a full cover binding. So I came up with a solution...Twine!

It's not entirely my idea, I saw the use of twine for binding on the internet but I took it a step further and upgraded it a little. All you need to do is create a cover from three pieces of chipboard and attach the twine to it by wrapping the twine on a strip of chipboard.

Check out the video tutorial for step by step instructions, measurements and tips for creating your mini album! 

 

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"I like to move it, move it" - Interactive Mini Albums

If anybody here doesn't like mini albums please raise your hand! I don't think there's anyone...right? Mini albums are so pretty, easy and great they are every body's cup of tea. A while back I shared with you the 10 Reasons to Create a Mini Album and I hope I convinced the few that were still on the fence about mini albums.

Today I want to go a step further and get you all excited about interactive mini albums. Interactive mini album is a mini album that has active mechanisms inside, such as pockets, flaps and tags. The viewer is not just looking at pages and photos but has to be actively participating by opening, pulling, sliding parts on the page. I love interactive mini albums and I want to show you why.

Abundant Space
A mini album has lots of space for photographs in a compact-size album, because all those tags, flaps and pockets allow you to add more photos and journaling in the same size page.

Technique Extravaganza
Interactive mini albums are heaven for all you technique lovers. Creating these moving mechanisms is easy but requires knowledge with the basic paper engineering techniques. Once you master those, and like I said it's really easy, you can go wild with your imagination.

Professional Result
When you create an interactive mini album the result is AMAZING! It looks much more professional and complicated and it makes you look like an accomplished master crafter (which you are!) People will be looking at the mini album over and over again and wondering how you did you create it.

Above & Beyond
If you are a mini album enthusiast interactive design is the next step that will take your mini albums to the next level. It will give you a new versatile set of option to add to your mini albums. 

The Fun Element
Interactive techniques will be a new injection of fun to your craft night with friends, crops or gifts!

Are you convinced yet?
If you are then come on board and join the fun! If you don't know where to begin or you are confused by all the interactive pages and albums online you can join "inter-ACTIVES" - Moving Mini Albums Class and learn everything you need to know about interactive mini albums!

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No Sew Fabric Mini Album

I love creating mini albums but not always use paper. I try to challenge myself to try new materials and see what kind of mini albums they would make. Today I played with fabric. And the best thing is that this mini album doesn't need any sewing at all. So if you don't have a sewing machine or don't know how to sew you can still create this mini album! All you need is some ink, acrylic paint and stamping objects to create this fun project! I'm sure there are some fabric pieces in your stash you can play with...right?

For this mini album you can use any type of cotton fabric or cheesecloth. It needs to be flexible and thin enough to be folded and its texture needs to be the kind you can paint on because it will be covered with gesso to prime it. felt, for example will not work here. This is basically the same process as creating a canvas for the wall only without the frame. We will prime the fabric with the gesso so it will seal the fabric and prevent any absorption of the mediums we will be adding.

Once all the fabric pages have been primed and thoroughly dried we can start adding the patterns, words and colors to the pages. I used Ann Butler's pigment ink by Clearsnap that is suitable for fabric and is permanent after a heat set with a heat tool or an iron. The color scheme I chose was teal, purple and black. I also used black acrylic paint. As usual, I didn't have a plan, so I started adding colors and shapes. The important thing in creating this type of project is layering. Layer colors, words and shapes to create an interesting page with a message. I didn't add photos but it is definitely something you can add. Just make sure everything is completely dry so the photos will not be stained or wet.

To create the different patterns on the page I used Ann Butler's 2" Faux Quilting Acrylic Stamps and found objects like TP roll and an old credit card. You can use whatever objects you have to create stamps in any shape or size. I also used the really cool martha Stewart brushes to add all kinds of lines. Make sure to dry each page before turning it over to work on the other side.

Here are some of the supplies you'll need for this project. Some of these are affiliate links which means if you click the link and make a purchase, I get paid a few coins. This helps me keep on blogging and sharing different projects with you. Thanks in advance for your support, dear friends!

White Canvas Fabric

Fabric Ink

Martha Stewart Brushes

White Gesso

Letter Stamps

Fabric Tac

For all the tips, tricks and a full process check out the video.

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Ready, Get Set, DESTASH! Love Story Mini Album

Every now and then I believe we must go into our stash pick up a few things and use them in a project. Half finished sticker sheets, rhinestones, rub-ons etc. use old stuff to make room for the new. Sometimes we don't even remember what we have and we buy new products because we don't realize we already have what we need.
This mini album is made entirely with leftovers from my stash and one 12X12 double sided cardstock.

Here are the steps you need to follow to create a project from leftovers:
1. Decide on the project you want to do. It can be a mini album, layout, home decor piece etc. You can create it for yourself or as a gift.
2.  Pick a theme and a color palette. Deciding that will help you pick out different products that match together and will look great on your project.
3. Go to your stash and take out everything that fits the theme and colors you decided.
4. work on your project with as many products as possible. Be creative and try to think of new ways to incorporate embellishments, papers and other products in your projects.
5. Works in stages. Create layers, Starting from paper and stickers and moving on to the smaller embellishments like flowers and rhinestones.

Purging your stash from old half used supplies is not only fun it decluttering your work space and your mind. It's like going to the craft store and getting new stuff! You will find things you didn't know or forgot you had.

Check out the video tutorial for step by step instructions to create this mini album.


What will be your destash project this weekend?
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Have fun creating!
Einat