Watch Us Wednesday with Becky: Mini Album from Scraps

Hello and welcome to Watch Us Wednesday at The Kraft Journal!  Becky here with you for this week's tutorial.  The theme for this week is 'Use Your Scraps', and I wanted to take a few minutes to show you that you really CAN make a mini album, and a cool one at that, with just scraps!

For the pages in the mini I used Library Pockets from Kraft Outlet, and the cover is made from plain chip board.  Let's start with the library pockets ...

 
The first thing I did was decide where I wanted the holes to be punched.  Because of the shape of the pockets, I couldn't go too close to the top, so I chose about 1 1/2 inches from the top edge, and then about 7/8 inch above the bottom.  Next I took my measurements ...

Are you like me and use scraps of paper, envelopes and packaging for writing notes?  I often use small strips and scraps of card stock or patterned paper for writing measurements or products I need, etc. and find it uses up scraps that normally would be thrown away!  So, the top piece of the mini will fit down inside of the pocket, and it is 3 7/16" x 1 1/2".  The front piece is 3 1/2" x 3 11/16", and the back side is 4 7/16" x 3 1/2".  Now bear in mind that these are not always the same exact size, so you will need to adjust your cuts accordingly.

For the top part, cut your paper and then round the corners, either with scissors or a corner rounding punch.  I used the EK Success 'Small' corner rounding punch.  Then adhere the piece to the pocket ...

Then adhere the front and back pieces using your favorite adhesive.  Decorate the front and back as you like.  I used leftover chipboard stickers and cardstock photo mats.  Some of the photo mats I made as 'flip' mats, which gives you room for three photos ...

Simply decide on the size of mat you want, then double it in length.  For example, the pink one above is 2 1/4" x 2 1/4", so I cut the piece of paper to 2 1/4" x 4 1/2", then scored it in center to make the flip.  This is a great way to add spaces for photos in a small mini!

Cut and adhere all of your papers, and ink the edges if you choose.  Once the decorating is done, you can make your covers ...

For this cover I simply used a thick chipboard, cut to slightly larger than the library pockets.  In this case, 3 3/4" x 4 3/4".  Ink the edges of the chipboard and adhere pieces of patterned paper, then ink the edges of the paper.  Decorate the front as desired.  Using binder rings, bring the covers and pocket pages together and fasten them, then add some ribbons, trims and laces tied onto the rings ...

Now you can add the Grungy Prim Tags into the pockets ...

Did you know that Kraft Outlet sells sampler packs of several of their items, including their Designers Special Prim Tag Assortment?  These are a great way to try several of their products without buying a large quantity of either item in the assortment.  Then once you know which ones you really like, you can decide which of them you need to order more of!

Thank you for joining me today!  You can find more pictures of this mini and more details on my blog at Becky Garrison Paper Crafts.  Have a great day!  Becky