Confetti-Filled Mini Album w/Lilith Eeckels

For me, March symbolizes Spring, with the sweet scent of flowers in the air and soft, subtle colors on display. So, I thought it time to celebrate the season by creating a mini album from Crate Paper's "Paper Heart" Collection. It's fitting considering it's color palette is nearly perfect for this time of year. Inside the album are photos taken in May, 2011, and also, pages dedicated exclusively to one of my favorite ongoing trends, confetti making!

The Must Haves

Paper Heart Collection: Patterned Papers, Chipboard, Border and Phrase Stickers

Farmhouse Collection: Trim ~ Random Collection: Buttons

Others: 4 x 6 Photo sleeves {American Crafts}, Various Punches, and Stamps or Journaling Written via Computer.

In creating the covers, select two patterned papers from the Paper Heart collection {Pebbles & Valentine}. Trim a total of two 8" x 5" sections from both papers (you'll need two 12" x 12" sheets of each).

Grab two of the 8" x 5" sheets (one of each pattern) and cut them in-half so that they measure 4" x 5". Using a scorer, score five lines along both pieces starting at 1.5". Adhere the two pieces together to create binding for the album.

The next step is to join front and back cover using the binding from the previous step. Adhere them to the binding so that they just touch the outer score lines. The score lines help the album to "bend" easily.

After attaching the cover, I decorated the front of the album. I covered the seam line with a border sticker. Then, to create a cluster of embellishments in the lower right corner, I partnered varying stickers, including my favorite, the "love" ticket!

Now lets move to the inside of the album. I have a lot of 4" x 6" photo sleeves lying around and decided they'd be ideal for this project.

Choose a patterned paper to slip into the sleeve, and trim to size.

Using different punches, create confetti to place inside the sleeve. Feel free to add buttons, or other die-cut shapes.

Sew a line along the width of the page so that the confetti doesn't fall out.

I discovered that one of the sewn lines didn't look very pleasing to the eye, so I covered it up with a Paper Heart border sticker. On another sleeve, I used the twine from the Farmhouse Trim Pack.

You can create different types of pockets for your confetti. Why not create a half-circle? I drew one on patterned paper and stitched over the line. It's a little trickier to get the confetti in just the right spot while doing this, but it creates a really cool effect!

Decorate each of the photo sleeves. The photos are to be placed on top the sleeve, not inside it.

The final step is the bind all the pages together. Take your sleeves (I had three of them), line them up carefully, and stitch along the binding. Then adhere the back 1" binding to the back cover of the album (use double stick tape) so that the pages are now inside the album.

Trim a 1" x 4"1/8 sheet of patterned paper {Delicate}, and adhere it on top the plastic binding so that the stitches are covered (again, double stick tape).

To document the memories connected to this little outing with my son, I added some journaling strips. {Mine were made with the computer, but stamps are another option}