Maternity Smash Book Tutorial w/Sophie Crespy

When I was pregnant with my first child, a friend of mine offered a notebook in which I was able to use to jot down the feelings I had about the new endeavor and the things my baby girl had been doing that I'd wanted to record. Now, six years later, my daughter and I are so happy to look through the notebook together and all the memorabilia tucked inside it.

When the new Crate Paper Baby Collections arrived at my home, I immediately thought to create a maternity notebook for a friend of mine who is soon expecting a baby girl. The book should be able to receive all the notes, photos, and memorabilia from day one of pregnancy and up until the baby turns two years old. 

Here are the supplies I used...

{Little Bo Peep Collection}

Patterned Papers (Eleanor, Violet, Clara, Matilda, Adelaide, Sophia & Charlotte), Stand Outs, 6 x 6 Patterned Paper Pad, Phrase Stickers, Border Stickers, Brads, & Accent Cuts.

{Little Boy Blue Collection}

Stand Outs

{Others}

Ribbons, Rings, Doily, Lace, Glue, Sewing Machine, and Silhouette Cameo

 

Here is the process, step-by-step, that you can follow to recreate this type of maternity smash book:

First, in thinking about the structure of the book, I chose to keep it simple: create sections throughout and seperate them via dividers. So, to get started, I designed subject appropriate dividers in Cameo Studio. I kept the overall design set-up, basic so that I could efficiently create as many dividers as needed by moving the tab on the side of the page, cutting and going back to the original sketch to create the next one.

*Each divider includes a title, trimmed using the Cameo. If you don't own a Cameo you can use any type of alpha stickers or alpha stamps to write the title.

Here are some ideas to consider when choosing which sections to include in your book: "Waiting for You", "Welcome Home", "Your First Times", "Look Who's 1!", "Look Who's 2!"

*Tip: Don't forget to save your original sketches in the Cameo Library so that you can make the changes you need, but still have the initial file on hand.

 

For the dividers, I chose strong, happy colors that will stand out from the rest of the book. Cut them at 6" x 8". 

I recommend adding pockets to some of the dividers for storing memorabilia; photos, notes, misc. documents

 

To create the dividers, you'll need vellum, patterned paper and a sewing machine. (adhesive is an option, too). Design a square and triangle combination in Cameo Studio. The square is 6" x 6" and the triangle is simply half the square, cut on the diagonal.

 

Arrange the pieces of the pocket and divider as I've done above. Either sew, or adhere, the pieces together, making sure the long side of the triangle stays open.

 

Here's the end result! This is the back side of the divider.

 

For the new mom, you can add tags and cut-outs to be used for jotting down notes and other tid-bits.

 

Now it's time to focus on the "bulk portion" of the mini album; open pages for notes and journaling. Gather together a variety of ledger patterned papers from Crate's baby collections.

 

Trim 6" x 8" pages from the patterned papers. Create titles for some of them; "Our First Encounter", "Your First Trip Home", "Your First Steps", "You First Real Meal", "Your First Vacation", "Your First Friends"

*Use either a Cameo or stickers to create the titles. Crate's got a great selection of thickers to choose from if using stickers. :)

Embellish the pages sparingly. Too many embellishments may 'cause needless bulk. Less is more. Here a selection of embellishing ideas:

On this particular page, I used the growth chart paper from the 6 x 6 paper pad - it's cute and real!

 

It's absolutely necessary that you reserve space inside the album for photos. Create blank pages for houseing them from light patterned papers.

 

I love to make album covers! Above are the supplies for this album's cover; pieces of ribbon, lace ribbon, Little Bo Peep stickers and brads. 

 

The cover should be strong and sturdy. Do all the stitching before gluing another sheet of patterned paper to the back.

Also, the cover is slightly bigger than the inside pages.

 

First, place the doily on the right hand side, add the lace and pink ribbon, and then machine stitch them to the paper. 

 

Add the "Welcome Baby" sticker and petite flowers assortment on top the doily.

 

After finishing the cover, combine it with the rest of the pages of the album, punch three holes along the left edge, and insert your book rings, making sure to close them tightly. 

*The great thing about rings is that they can be opened whenever, making it super easy for the new mom to add pages to her album!

More album pages to inspire...

I can't wait to offer this to my dear friend. I'm almost a 100% certain that what will be written and kept inside this book will be cherished for a long time!

One last remark - you can make this kind of book for just about any occasion! Why not try creating an "Art Book" with differing sections for movies, plays, music, museum visits, etc. Anything goes as long as you keep writing, recording and creating memories!

 

Comments

[blurooferika]

What a beautiful gift for your expectant friend. She will love it, I'm sure. It's obvious that this was a lot of work, but it is a gift she will cherish. Great job!

[Julie Tucker-Wolek]

What a great idea!! I love love love this!!!

[Court's Crafts]

Love this idea! I would have loved to receive one! :)

[kelsterjean]

This is a gorgeous album and what a great idea. Sometimes I get sick of making the same old "baby albums" time after time.

[Trine]

Love it. So classy and beautiful. Perhaps I should hurry and create one for my 5-month old son!!

[Tamika]

This is darling!

[Monica]

What a wonderful gift! So beautiful!

[KimberlyRae]

So wonderful for any new mommy :)

[trade plumbing supplies]

I love collecting picture's. Even it's family pictures or pictures of my favorite artist.This blog really help me to make my own scrap book to organize my collection.

[liz]

Very cute idea

[Atiqa Ijaz Khan (@AtixJazi)]

How can i order this?