The Open Sea + Nautical Expedition Mini Scrapbook

Happy Monday Everyone!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and that the fathers in your lives were treated to an extra special day on Sunday!

Today I'm sharing with you another of my mini album experiments.  This one is a great exercise in recycling for me.  I used Laura Denison's old Ustream video dated 6-4-10 entitled "Envelope Accordion Album."  However, she has had to move some of the older archived videos elsewhere and I haven't figured out where this particular one is.  So I'll try to give you a translation of the hand-written scribbles I made when watching the video!

The cover is just simply embellished with some strategically placed paper designs and buttons.  I don't have "chipboard" but I hoard cardboard pieces, such as from cereal boxes or the pieces that come with the designer papers, and that's what I cut and cover for my book covers.

The inside of this album is made with five #10 envelopes.  As I pay most of my bills online, I've been saving the payment envelopes out of my bills and that's what I used for this book.  Score and fold the envelopes in half and then cut out 4" in either side of the fold so that your total width is 8".  Then attach the alternating edges (L-R-L-R) so that you have two end flaps and an "M" configuration.  After you cover each panel with patterned paper, you can use a circle punch to create pull out spots for your tags (punching a half circle).

Here's what my finished interior (front then back) looks like:

The covers are 5" squares covered with coordinating papers.  Be sure to attach your ribbons for your closures (about 18" each - two pieces) so that it sandwiches between the covers and the end flaps.  If memory serves me, in the video I watched, Laura ran the ribbon vertically.  I chose to run mine horizontally.

You end up with a total of ten pages and pockets for ten tags.  I made very simple tags, stamped with a simple image.  I took punched circles of matching card stock, scored them in half and attached them to the top of the tags for reinforcement.  Then I stapled on a bit of coordinating ribbon for the pulls.

If you don't have envelopes, you can make your own by cutting card stock or paper to 8" X 8 5/8".  On the 8 5/8" side, score in 2 1/4" on each side.  Score, fold and adhere, forming your own "envelope."  Then score in the middle at 4" and fold.  For a simpler version (without pockets), you could simply take  card stock or paper to create the accordion pages and adhere to your covers (similar to this video).

Please feel free to leave a comment or email me if you have any questions about how this mini album was made.

Thanks for looking at my blog. I appreciate all the wonderful comments everyone leaves. Happy Stamping!