November Project--Anniversary MiniAlbum by Chrystal Riddell

A few months ago I made a photo collage of my favorite "self-portraits" of me and my husband. I had this printed as a 4x6, so each picture was about 1 1/2 x 2. I decided to make a mini-album in honor of our anniversary this past month. My goal here was to make it fun, simple, and "go-with-the-flow." Although it was hard to let go, I didn't let myself plan each page ahead. I gathered some paper scraps, buttons, punches, and a sheet of die-cuts.

1. When starting out a mini-album with a uniform shape, trace, cut, ink, and adhere all the background pages first. This will save "thinking" time that you'll need for the goodies!

2. Ok. I did plan a little. I had to see how many photos I had and how many pages I had. That left me 2 spots left over to journal on.

3. I started with the cover. I never start with the cover. Why did I do this? So I couldn't change my mind, obsess over the title, then change it again. This sheer ticket was cute, it fit the theme, I stuck it down. Done!

4. I then embellished and added pictures, each page at a time. (With Zip Dry paper glue, so I couldn't rearrange stuff.) A paper scrap here, a die-cut there. Don't think about it. Just do it! Making this album helped me realize that I could have spent days on this, and it probably would have turned out the same way.

5. Use your own handwriting. I resisted the urge to go to the computer, where I would have gotten side-tracked, probably on the TT message board. This easily saved an hour :lol:

Tip: As a fun way to add some chunkiness to this album, I popped up the photos with foam squares.