A Jack-o'-Latern Mini Album w/Michiko Kato

Hi there CP Followers! Michiko here and today, I've a quick-to-assemble "Halloween" pumpkin mini album to share with you...like in the US, Halloween has been gaining momentum in Japan and it seems that lately, people have taken to enjoying the event more and more. Of course, I'm one of many in Japan that loves to have fun during the spooky, surprised-filled holiday. The last Halloween celebration I attended was at Universal Studios in Japan - while there, I saw an assortment of people masquerading around in various costumes and make-up - it was an immense amount of fun to be a part of it all! I had a great day while there, so much so, that I made an album w/photos to commemorate the moment!

The Supply List: Farmhouse & Random Collections {Pattern Paper, 6" x 6" Pattern Paper Pad, Stickers, Trims, Chipboard, and brads}

Additionals: Vellum, Corrugated Board {Optional}, Distress Ink {Brown}, Bind it All {Antique Brass 3/4"}, Circle Cutter, Scissors, Glossy Accents, Sewing Machine, and Paper Piercer

The first step is to create the front and back covers. Draw a Jack-o'-lantern about 6" in size. I downloaded mine online at no expense - there are ample online clipart resources available online. I recommend finding a similar style Jack-o'-latern to complete this project.

Using the clipart image as your guide and with your preferred pattern paper just beneath, punch a series of tiny holes with a paper piercer to mark and trim the shape of your pumpkin. The first pumpkin is the orange layer of the cover. Repeat the same trace/pierce technique to create the yellow layer, and also, the vellum pumpkin shape for behind the cover.

Adhere the orange & yellow pumpkins together as shown - the yellow should show through the front via the eyes, nose and mouth.

Of course, the flower is pretty all on it's own, but an overlay of Glossy Accents gives the flower a beautiful clear coating that brings out the flower's overall coloring. Add an even coat of Glossy Accents to on top the flower and allow it to dry without interruption.

To give the pumpkin further depth and to accentuate it's shape, I applied Chalk to parts of it. I then added Distress Ink to it's edges and moved forward in decorating it with embellishments. After you've completed the cover, you'll want to make the back cover from something with "weight" - I used corrugated cardboard.

Moving to the interior of the album, make "6" 4.5" circles from a varying degree of pattern papers. They'll eventually be used as the primary pages for the album.

If you've a sewing machine on hand, sew along the edges of all six of the circles. Then, set them aside and work on getting together an assortment of 3" x 2" photos - embellish the pages to your heart's content - layers are a plus!

I'll skip from explaining the creation process for each page and instead, will simply show them to you for easy reference. It's fairly straight forward. Here is a final look at the album in it's entirety: