The photos I am working with today are not spectacular at all. Yet they hold great value to the people involved as this is the home-coming of the baby in the pictures from hospital. Coincidentally, this happened to be Christmas day! When working with photos like these, it is important to use them all, but we can do it in a more subtle way. To do this, I put the smaller photos in a mini album which is added to the page layout.
I use two home-made papers as background for my photos. This paper was wrapped around some of the gifts for the baby shower. I retrieved it and glued it to plain white 12" x 12" sheets. It was slightly shorter than I needed to cover two full pages. I then simply added coordinating paper and covered the join with ribbon. This gives me an embellishment in the form of a border before I even start.
I crop the photos quite liberally to get rid of 'dead' space where nothing is happening in the photos. The bigger photos now measure 10 cm x 10 cm. The smaller photos all measure 6 cm x 8 cm and I will use them in this size. Only one of these is printed in portrait and I crop that one to measure 2 cm x 6 cm so it is the same height as the others, even if the width differs. I still find that the combination of a metal ruler, craft knife and cutting mat gives the most accurate results.
I cut triple frames for each of the bigger photos. The smallest of these frames measure 11 cm x 11 cm, the middle sized frame is 12 cm x 12 cm, and the largest 13 cm x 13 cm.
The frames are attached to the photos with double-sided tape.
The four main photos are done and I put them aside for the moment to work on the smaller photos.
My smaller photos measure 6 cm x 8 cm.
I cut matting for these photos to measure 8 cm x 12 cm. This will leave enough space for embellishments and a 'spine'. I need 5 of these, since I have four photos plus a front cover to go into the mini album.
I plan the order of the page layout and stick the photos down with double-sided tape.
I now collect the pages in the correct order.
Keeping the booklet neatly stacked, I punch holes for the ribbon that will eventually tie them together.
You can add more holes if you think 2 holes inadequate, but I suspect two will be all I need.
I add a few embellishments to the photos in line with this being a mini album. I find Tombow glue to be brilliant for sticking down embellishments.
I now cut 4 journaling blocks to go onto the left-hand pages in the mini album. These measure 6 cm x 8 cm, just like the photos.
The first journaling block is stuck to the back of the front cover. I add journaling with a Pigma Pen. Add the writing before you stick the paper in the album, or the writing might be very bumpy and hard to manage. Add embellishments to this side of the album as well.
Each of the little photos get its own journaling added to tell the little girl how much she was loved from the first moment.
The last page gets stuck down to the album with double-sided tape. You want to make sure that this is properly secured since the mini album can expect to be handled a lot.
I make a fold line on each of the four top pages of the mini album, 2 cm in from the sides with the holes in them.
Bind the mini album together with a ribbon.
I find a length of green cardboard left over from a previous project. This will form a great background for the pretty border sticker I want to use. I don't want to put it directly on the paper as the background and the border are both 'busy'. Adding a plain background will soothe the eye and calm the layout down. I add some detail to the cardboard by simply ruling double lines on it with a marker.
I put the border and photos in place on my left-hand page.
The right-hand page gets only one photo and the mini album.
I have an ultra cute sticker sheet that is in plain silver. This will work on the background paper that already has silver in its design. I use these stickers as embellishments on the page.
There are some odd journaling die-cuts and stickers that works marvelously with my layout and I add these.
These cute feet and hand gel stickers are unobtrusive enough so as to not overwhelm the layout, yet they add to the theme and color scheme and fill the single space that was still left open.
This is what the double spread layout looks like side by side. The whole layout is geared towards making the mini album the focus point.
I slide the pages into the plastic sleeves in the album. I use a ruler and non-permanent marker to mark very feint lines along the mini album.
Slide a smaller cutting mat between the plastic sleeve and the mini album. Cut along the markings to create an opening in the plastic sleeve that will give viewers access to page through the mini album.
Your layout remains protected behind plastic sleeves, aside from the mini album which can easily be accessed for paging through.
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Remember to keep nurturing your TALENT for making PRETTY things.
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