Debs Crafting Room

We are going to make 6 pages that are open on both ends.  One end will attach to the hinge and the other will be open for adding a photo mat. We will be cutting (6) pieces of black card stock that measure 5 3/4" x 8".  The hinge is 5 3/4 so this is where we get our first cut from.  If your hinge is different then your measurement will change. The second piece measures 6 1/2 x 8".  We add 3/8" to the top  and 3/8" to the bottom so it's a little taller that the first page. We are using a lighter background so you can see the difference between the 2 paper that we just cut.  I will make one page to make sure I have the right measurements before cutting the remaining pages. Fold the 3/8" flap over the top of the smaller paper.  We will glue the flaps and leave the sides open. I slide the flap around the hinge on the bottom so I can check the flap along the top before anything is glued.  I am checking twice so I only have to ...

This is the easiest part of making a mini album as long as you measure and glue correctly. You can measure twice and still something is not right.  Practice makes perfect.  We give credit to Laura Dennison for creating what is called the "Stack The Deck". Measure and cut a piece of black card stock 4 x 5 3/4. On each of the long sides score at 1/2" and 1".  We are going to make a "tray" that the other 2 trays are stacked on top of.  We will now fold the 1/2" section onto the 1/2" section next to it making it twice as strong.  The pages are attatched to these 1/2" hinges. We can use glue or double sided 1/4" Scor-Tape (from amazon) to glue the 1/2" parts together.  Put tape on the first  1/2" piece along the top and the second along the  bottom so when you press them together you have tape covering the whole 1/2".  Use glue or  tape to glue the bottom of the tray to the album. You can glue all 3 trays together...

Now that the chipboard cover is done we can cover the outside with pattern paper or you can use black card stock.  I will show you my way for this album first.  I should point out that I chose to do this size mini album, 6" x 8.5" x 2.5" spine after I looked at my paper. I wanted to make sure this paper would fit without making the mini album too big. You can see that the orange paper does not cover the entire album.  The dark paper that covers the spine will overlap the orange paper.  By doing this I am reducing the amount of paper that has to bend when you open and close the mini album. Here we have chosen (2) 12 x 12 sheets of cardstock and before I turn them upside down and set them on my table I want to make sure the pattern continues from the front to the back of the mini album. Starting with the front we lay the chipboard cover down on top of the backside of the paper.  You can see that the white Tyvek hinge is 3/4" away from the paper. ...

11 Easy Steps to "Creating the cover of a Mini Album" Gather your tools needed to create a mini album.  I use the orange-white Fiskars paper trimmer (from walmart), it has a rotary wheel that easily cuts "Chipboard" used to make the cover. The blue-green paper trimmer/score board is from We R Memory Keepers.  It does not cut chipboard very well so I use it to score my paper. I have two scissors, the smaller for fussy cutting small images from the paper.  My tape runner is from Teresa Collins, it's more cost effective than other tape runners because I use it occasionally, I prefer glue. Aleene's is just that, it's tacky but still gives you a moment to move your paper around and double sided sticky tape (from Amazon) 1/4" and 1/2" is used throughout the album where it will not come in contact with something you put into a pocket because it will stick. I use a lot of magnets, purchased from Ebay, measures 3/8" x 1/32".  We...