Crafty Scrappy Mamas: Fall Birthday Minibook

So I finished the mini book that I started 2 weeks ago for my baby son's birthday day. We went to a
pumpkin patch and apple picking... had soo much fun. It was great that all three of the boys had a good time!! So let me talk a little bit about this book!! I used a "kit" or products from my stash... October Afternoon, My Minds Eye, MAMBI, Recollections, Smashbook, Basic Grey, Paper House, Snap and more! You know what, I just decided to pull from my stash and have fun! I did pull some 12x12s, but didn't really use any. I knew I wanted the book to be more like an embellished photo album than a scrapbook! I grounded each photo by using photo corners. I have to say those were the hardest to decide on... black, clear, or craft.... In the end I went with the black ones... which I know tied in better... since the binding and pen holder are also black. I used the Recollection brand.

Here are some hints with doing a One event mini book...

1. Put your photos in order first. I printed out and numbered all my photos first. I would even trim them down if needed.

2. If you are using a pre-designed book go thru and see if you love and or need all the pages. This Smashbook minibook had a few pages I didn't want to use. Some I ripped out and some I just glued together.

3. Place the pictures into the book(not glued) so you see how they will look next to each other. I personally went in order of the day... so I could be telling a story with this book as well as showing the pictures!

4. Decide whether or not you will be doing layer and such or just photo corners and journal or Both. I did both so I really knew that I would be using the photo corners and only a single stripe of glue(glue runner) down the middle of each photo... so later I could tuck in layers and embellies without issue.

5. Add the photo corners to the photo... don't try to put the corners on the page then fit the photo. Add the glue then put on page.

6. Put all the photos down first on all of the pages, then go to town embellishing the mini book. That way if you come across something in your kit... and you are like "Oh that would go great on the Hayride page" you can just stick it in there.

7. Don't feel like you have to finish it all in one night (like me)! I used a bin and drawer to contain the "kit" while I worked on this minibook.

8. Not every page needs to be a layering masterpiece... some simple pages are good!! Like this page... I just added stickers of pumpkins to beef up the real pumpkins in the photo.

9. Try doing the journaling after you finish the embellishing. Now that the book is all fun'ed up and lovely... it will be easier to conjure up things to say about the events. I decided to use one 2 page area for the main journaling since it was of my son's birthday. I also did "one line" journaling thru out the book where I thought some of the pictures needed a bit of explanation.

I had a lot of fun working on this mini book! I couldn't even think that I would be able to do 10+ 12x12 layouts as well I did this mini book. Thanks for stopping by and check out these hints and photos. If you want to see more please click here for the YouTube video that is live right now!!