Mini Photo Album - Handy Hippo Monday

Hello Everyone ...

... and a Happy Handy Hippo Monday to you all!

And it's a holiday Monday for many of you too - here in the UK folks have been celebrating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. I watched yesterday's Thames flotilla on television ... it was a fantastic site marred only by the rain ... such a shame that it didn't stay bright and dry for such a special event. I was glad to be watching in the comfort of my own home as most of the onlookers, and not a few of the participants, were absolutely drenched!

However, the weather looks better today, perfect for the picnic partying and the Jubilee concert at Buckingham palace later today ... again, I will be watching from the comfort of my sofa :)

Right, on to the project for today, a mini photo album. This is going to be a photo-heavy post from here on as there is a lot to show you.

A perfect gift at any time of the year, depending on the papers and embellishments used, this project is an easy made album containing 4 double-sided photo mats - room for 8 photos altogether.

Using one double-sided 12”x12” sheet of a beautiful floral design paper from the K & Company Flora and Fauna pack to create the base and a further sheet (there are two of each design in the pack) for the mats.

A second sheet of 12"x12" DP is used to make the 4 photo mats, two for inside and one for the front and back pockets.

The photo mats tuck neatly inside the pockets.

A close up of the back showing the decorated pocket and mat.


As usual materials used for this project are available from Handy Hippo and if you would like to make the same project then simply click on the magic button below and it will take you directly to a shopping cart that contains everything you would need to make it. Once there, you can simply and easily remove any of the items that you already have in your craft stash. 

It’s easy to add to your basket any other purchase that you might like and if something is temporarily out of stock you can request to be emailed once it is back in stock.

How the album was made:

Step 1.

Using a scoring board score and taking the first 12"x12" sheet of paper, score at 6" both horizontally and vertically so the the paper can be folded into 6" squares. Next, draw a faint pencil line from the two bottom corners into the central point - now cut out the triangular section formed by inside the pencil lines and retain this - you will need it later. I hope you can see the markings - this was the best shot I could get at the time :(

Step 2.

Here you can see the the base of the card with the triangular section cut out. The cut-out section is then cut in half to form the base of the pockets for front and back of the album.

Step 3.

This photo illustrates how the inside pockets are formed - fold back the triangular shapes left when the inside section is removed. However, before these sections are stuck down the ribbon that will form the closure has to be fixed in place as in the next step.

Step 4.

Use the ultra-sticky tape (the red one) to fix the lengths of ribbon in place. About 12" lengths of ribbon should do it - this will be trimmed down once the bow has been tied. Once the ribbon is in place you can then adhere the pocket pieces in place down the side edges - again using the ultra-sticky tape for maximum adhesion.

Note: the inside edges are not stuck down - they form the pockets ... I know, you're probably thinking that's obvious, but it's an easy mistake to make, believe me!

Step 5.

You can go as fancy or plain as you like when decorating the albums. Here the pocket edges are edged with white cardstock decorated with a Martha Stewart edge punch and ribbon trim in a coordinating colour.

Step 6.

Do the same with the two pieces cut to form the pockets for front and back before adhering them in place, down the side and bottom edge only. All that remains is for you to decorate the front with a selection of flowers and embellishments.

Step 7.

This floral embellishment is made up using a variety of flowers from various sources.

At the base are flittered flower sprays that have been fussy-cut from one of the DPs to be found in the Flora and Fauna paper pack.

The central 'rose' was made by cutting out a circle of coordinating paper, spiral cut and then rolled to form the flower.

The remaining two flowers were made by layering up punched paper shapes, topped off with purchased paper flowers ... these were white to start with but with lots of heat embossing, using a mix of several embossing powders, white, pink, irridescent and clear, the colour has been transformed. (You'll find the EPs used by clicking the Handy Hippo button.)

Even the letter J that has been used to personalise the album is cut from one of the sheets in the Flora and Fauna pack – it has also been embossed using the same mixing technique. Gems and pearls provide the finishing touch.

I did say it was going to be a photo heavy post, but I thought it would be better to illustrate the process of making the album rather than try to explain it all in words. I hope I've succeeded in making it as clear as possible.

Finally, I haven't been around much over the weekend, not because I've been out enjoying the Jubilee jollies and neglecting the craft space, but because my PC has been acting up and proving difficult to simply start up after being closed down overnight. I'm very much afraid that it may need more than my pathetic attempts at troubleshooting ... I might just have to get my techie guru in to take a look at it ... there goes my new stash money for months to come, sigh :(

Anyway, instead of crafting and blogging as I would like, I've been hurriedly ensuring that I've got all my photos and documents sorted out and backed up just in case something dire happens - I'd really hate to lose any of it.

So if my appearance are spasmodic over the next wee while, you will know the reason why :)

After this heavy post, I think a tea break is called for and happily it's lunchtime anyway.

Best wishes to you all, I hope you have a lovely day and happy crafting,