A Mini August Sneak

Hi everyone!!

So here I am with my very first WIP blog post! Woo hoo! I'm a little nervous, but let's just jump right on in, shall we?

I've made a quite a few things with my August DT kit, but I think my favorite thing that I've made with it (except for one particular LO that you can't see yet) is this little mini album using leftovers from the kit.

I am a huge fan of the mini. HUGE. They are perfect for preserving that one special event, or just for celebrating one thing in your life like your favorite cupcake recipes or pictures of your grandson or daughter or places you want to visit someday. They are also perfect for using up those scraps...and that's what I used to make this one.

Ok, so here's how I did it
What you will need is a trimmer or scissors, cropadile or a hole punch, scraps and 2 small envelopes from the August kit, ribbon or jump rings from your stash, a shape punch, and decorative edge scissors or edging punches of your choice.

I built the mini around the two envelopes that come in the August Add-on kit. When I opened up my DT kit, I knew that they would be perfect for a mini album the minute that I saw them. You can use them for receipts or ticket stubs, dried flowers, pictures you just didn't know how would fit into the album but you still wanted them to be in it, love notes, or any other little secret you want to tuck away for later. Endless opportunities!

So, the larger envelope of the two was folded in half and set aside. Then I collected all of my scraps and separated the larger pieces from the smaller...those sheets that you think will make big pages for a mini are the ones you want here. I folded them around the folded envelope and trimmed them down to make sure that everything was the same height and general width. Be careful not to cut too close or you'll open up that envelope. Then I made sure that I alternated the pages so that every other page was pink patterned paper.
I put the little envelope right in the middle, made sure everything was even, and poked two holes with my cropadile. Here, I put it in vertically, but you could also put it in horizontally (which now that I think about it, I kinda wish I had done it that way. Anywhoo....) Don't worry about thickness. It will all fit...trust me. That cropadile can cut through anything!!! If you don't have one, don't worry! You can use a hole punch too, but be sure to make sure all of your holes are lined up. You can easily do that with a straight pin. Also, be sure and cut your holes so that the little envelope is included...that way when you tie the book with ribbon or secure it with rings, your little envelope is securely enclosed and won't fall out. On my mini, I used some ribbon from my stash, but some jump rings would look great too.
Then I started on the edges. I'm obsessed with decorative edge scissors right now, especially the scallops, and I just can't get enough of my butterfly punch. So, I went through the mini and edged a few sheets here and there, making a few pages different lengths for some whimsy. I also cut the edge of little envelope in the center as well for fun.
For the cover, I took my butterfly punch and punched 3 shapes out of the edge. Don't have a butterfly punch? No biggie! You can use any punch you want...heart, star, flower. I thought about going back and adhering some of the blue patterned paper behind it to really make it stand out, and I still might, but decided for now I like the open shape.
And for the finale...I stamped "this book belongs to" on the back of my mini with the Scenic Route Office Stamp set found in the August Add-on kit.

Voila!
One mini album that took me maybe 45 minutes to assemble.

When you guys make your album, be sure and post it in the Work in Progress Flickr Gallery and post a link of it here too so we can oooh and ahhh over it!!

Happy Scrappin!
~Colleen