Mini Album and an Address Book

Good morning ! I'm sitting here sipping my coffee and I got to thinking that lately I have gotten a lot of calls from customers who are wanting to make journals, albums or book type projects. Sometimes its difficult knowing which product is the right one to choose. I say this because I was in the same dilemma recently. I decided to join a circle journal group. A circle journal is basically a journal that will travel the world and come back to you after reaching the destination of all those who are part of ones group. At first I thought picking a theme was going to be the difficult part. But when I sat down to make the book I realized .....oh boy I had no clue where to begin.

Well I decided on making my book as colorful as I could and this is what I came up with.
I made the cover and back pages using our 12x12 Kraft Chipboard.
I than covered the kraft chipboard pages with some pattern paper.


I especially luv our metallic cardstock/sparkly cardstock. So I decided to use them. I also decided since they look so pretty I wanted them to be immediately visible so what I did was cut them in a steeping pattern where you could see a 1/4" of each color. Some of the colors I used are:
Curious Metallic Ice Gold
Curious Metallic Lustre
Stardream FUSE Metallic Fairway
Stardream FUSE Metallic Lagoon
Stardream Metallic Crystal
Stardream Metallic FUSE Vista
Stardream Metallic Amythest
Stardream Metallic FUSE Punch
Stardream Metallic Dolomite
Stardream FUSE Metallic Flame
Curious Metallic Ice Silver
Malmero Perle' Abysse
Malmero Perle' Noir

Here are the pages I scrapped based upon the topic I choose for my album which is "Inspiration". Now each girl will choose a page/color and scrap about this topic.



Now these colors where chosen simply for aesthetic purpose. I knew I did not have to print on them and I wanted the book to be quite sturdy since it will visit many homes and be in many hands. The metallics/sparkly cardstock we carry are quite heavy in stock. Ranging from 86lbs cover weight (Astrobright Glistens), 89lbs cover weight (Curious Iridescent), 92lbs cover weight (Malmero Perle'), 92lbs cover weight(CHIARA Stardream Metallic), 105lbs cover weight (FUSE Stardream Metallic), 105lb cover weight (Stardream Metallic) to 92lbs - 111lbs cover weight depending on the color in the Curious line (Curious Metallic).

Now had I wanted to print on them or just wanted something lighter in weight I would have chosen:
Curious Metallic 80lb text weight, Malmero Perle' 80lb text weight, Curious Iridescent 80lb text weight and Stardream Metallic 81lb text weight (including the Chiara and Fuse line).

After I covered my Kraft Chipboard (front and back cover), cut my metallic/sparkly paper in a stepping pattern I was than ready to bind it all together. This is one of the best tools you can own if you like creating art books/journals. It is made by ZUTTER and super easy to use. It punched right thru the heavy metallic cardstock with no problem at all.

Now my next project started out due to the fact I was on an address book hunt. I quickly found out that the pickings are very slim ! I found out that most people are using their computers or digital devices to store their address's in. I really wanted a physical book I could sit and browse thru.....go ahead and call me old fashion, I'm OK with that. I wanted something pretty but I was also wanting something that would function for today's techno world . I wanted to be able to include websites/blogs, emails and birthdays for all family members. I also wanted a spot to be able to add pictures. After searching high and low I realized If I wanted something like this I was going to have to make it myself. So I got busy.

I started by making a template in PhotoShop. After much thought I decided to make the address book a landscaped 8.5 x 11. I choose this layout for many reason. I knew I could easily print all the information I needed on this size and it would limit my cutting. After much debate I decided to use our Wausau Royal Linen® 80 lb Cover wt Cardstock in NATURAL . The reason I choose this cardstock was because the texture in this cardstock is fantastic and it perfectly gave my album the rich/quality feel I was looking for.


I than decided to use some fabric I all ready had at home that I had gotten on clearance at JoAnn's last year. I knew I wanted some pretty matching pattern paper and I didn't have to go far to find some.....October Afternoon was just what I was looking for:


I was clearly on my way. Once my printing was done and my pattern card stock cut I worked on my search tabs. I decided to use the yellow My Little Shoebox mini alphas. A perfect fit for my tabs. I also was a bit worried about all the handling the alpha's would receive and I wanted them to hold up well so I Modge Podged the tabs.


I was than ready to punch the binding holes. Before I punched my holes I created the cover and back pages by cutting and using the 12x12 Kraft Chipboard . I than glued on a layer of felt to the cover pages so that when I added my fabric it would give my book some substance:


I than started working on my fabric. I knew it could get tricky since I wanted to be able to bind it, cover it with fabric yet not have any seams showing. I did not want it to be glued together either. I created a pattern and was ready to start stitching. Binding it all was actually the Fun part and super easy using my Bind it all:



I created envelopes to hold little odds and ends like receipts and added them to the front before binding. In the back I created extra pages for notes (not pictured):


Here are some pictures of it finished and the spine:



Some other options for printing the address pages could have been (I am only listing a few since we have so many products in stock that could work as an alternative):
Curious Iridescent 8.5 x 11 Cardstock
89 lb Cover weight CRYOGEN WHITE
or
BASIS White/Natural 80lb Cover weight Cardstock 250 pk 8.5 x 11
or
Domtar Lynx Opaque WHITE 250 sheets 65 lb cover weight
or
Wausau Astrobright STARDUST WHITE 250 sheets 65lb cover weight
8.5 x 11

Well I truly hope you were inspired today to create using Card Stock.
Have a Blessed and Creative day,
Norma