All-Day Craftathon: Calendar Card Album

Photo: Victoria Wilcox

This was voted the favourite project at my All-Day Craftathon. But it was quite fiddly to make, especially with so many people and so many different coloured ink pads. 

The project is a calendar card album. Inside the chipboard covers there are 12 paper bags, with a blank calendar on the front of each one, for each month of the year. Fill in the calendar with people’s birthdays, then pop a card into the bag so that you have one ready when the time comes. 

It closes with a piece of baker’s twine wrapped around a circle on the back, so that the cards don’t fall out of the pockets. 

The trees represent the four seasons of the year, which is why they use so many different inks. I used the new Chalk ink for the spring blossom, as this ink sits on top of the cardstock without soaking in and muddying the colours. I couldn’t stamp on white because the snow wouldn’t show up!

137163	126978	101731	138091	126959
126950	126953	126974	126981	126946
119868	133784	122941	121685	133683
106550	116203	137909	135503	135636

Links by TheseAreMyStamps.com

Cottage Wall Mini Album

Here’s a really fun and easy-to-make mini album, which starts with a single sheet of 12x12. I’ve used the rather fabulous Cottage Wall papers, which are only available while stocks last – they won’t be in the new catalogue in October because they feature Orchid Opulence, which is one of the retiring colours.

For the flowers on the front and back, I used the Rock and Roll technique, which is very simple. You ink your stamp and then, using a darker ink pad, roll the edges of the rubber stamp on the ink pad. It is described in your techniques booklet, and also here on the Stampin' Up!® website. 

I’ve also used Rich Razzleberry cardstock, which – and I cannot stress this enough – is gorgeous. In fact, there are lots of lovely new products featured here but you can see that from the recipe at the bottom of this post. Meanwhile, here is how to make this rather exciting album.

1. Take a sheet of 12x12 cardstock and score vertically, down the centre, at 6”.
2. Score horizontally at 4” intervals, ie at 4” and 8” from the top.
3. You will now have six panels. With the sheet laid out so that the six panels are landscape, cut along the top right scoreline, to the centre. Repeat with the bottom left scoreline.
4. Now to fold the album: take the bottom left panel and fold it over to the right.
5. The bottom panel is now double-thickness. Fold this up.
6. The bottom right panel is now triple-thickness. Fold this over to the left.
7. Fold this quadruple thickness panel up.
8. Now close.

It really is much, much easier to do than to read about it, so take a sheet of 12x12 and have a go! You could also make a smaller one from A4 – just score down the middle as before, and make your horizontal scorelines/cuts at thirds.

Tip: Before you start decorating your album, number the pages and mark which way is up with a pencil. This will make life a lot easier.

I've put arrows on the pictures to show you how to open the album – basically the same process but in reverse. The faces have been blurred to protect the innocent (and the not so innocent!). They are just some very informal shots from the wedding – how fortuitous that the men and boys were wearing Orchid Opulence ties!

Stamps: Vintage Vogue, Tiny Tags, Totally Tabs

Cardstock: Old Olive, Rich Razzleberry, Orchid Opulence, Whisper White

Paper: Cottage Wall

Ink: Old Olive, Orchid Opulence, Rich Razzleberry

Accessories: Eyelet Border Punch, Word Window Punch, Round Tab Punch, Silver brad, Polka Dot ribbon – Rich Razzleberry

All products by Stampin' Up!®

Contain Yourself

This was the main project at my Contain Yourself workshop; a covered Altoid tin with a tiny concertina album inside. This can be decorated further with small photos ... or anything else which takes your fancy.

We used an all-new colour combination (for me) ... So Saffron, More Mustard and Very Vanilla.

There’s a tutorial about covering the tin here.

The mini album to go inside was very simple – just a 3.5” strip of cardstock, scored at 2” intervals. I just used one strip from a sheet of A4 cardstock but you could add another strip if you wanted more “pages” I kept mine very simple – just stamped a bit of foliage on each “page”. The bottom piece is stuck inside the tin with Sticky Strip, so that won’t be going anywhere any time soon.

Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes
Cardstock: More Mustard, So Saffron, Very Vanilla
Paper: Patterns Designer Series Paper – So Saffron
Ink: More Mustard, So Saffron
Accessories: 1 ¼” circle punch, 1 3/8” circle punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Scallop Edge Punch, ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon - More Mustard and Very Vanilla, Sticky Strip.

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the link on the right to view it online.

Mini accordion album

This is an accordion album which could also double up as an elaborate card – it’s ideal for sending to family with pictures of the children inside, or for sending from a group of people, as there are lots of places to add messages.

To make it you start with a single sheet of 12x12 cardstock. 

Score it and cut it as shown. That’s scored horizontally at the halfway point, then three vertical scores at 3”, 6” and 9”. Slice off the corners – I didn’t measure these, just cut one corner off on one side, then a longer cut, angling two sections on the other side.

Next, tape it as shown. You really do need Sticky Strip for this because it’s narrow and very, very strong. But you don’t want to go overboard on the tape or you won’t be able to get your tabs in!

Now fold up the lower half – this gives you the basic shape of the album. But don’t stick anything down just yet, especially if you’re going to stamp on the inside. It’s a good idea to stamp the outside before sticking, too, as you can open out the album again to get it nice and flat. Something else which I forgot to do before taking this picture is punch out a semi-circle from the third front panel, so that you can get your fingers in to pull out the tab. You can use any circle punch for this.

Finally, decorate your album. I made four pull-out tabs to insert in each panel, each with a ribbon at the top to pull out. These are blank in my photo – you could use these blank spaces to add photos. Alternatively, if you’re sending this as a card, you can use these spaces for messages – or a combination or photos and messages.

Avid readers (I flatter myself!) may recognise the front of this album. I used the same design on a small Christmas card, which you can see here.

And that’s it. If you’re really keen, you could decorate the back, too! If you want the album to stay closed, to keep in a handbag, you could add ribbon to tie it together – but don’t forget to wrap one piece all the way round the album, or the back will pop open like a hospital gown!

Stamps: Season of Joy
Cardstock: Old Olive, Real Red, Very Vanilla
Ink: Old Olive, Real Red
Accessories: 1 ¼” circle punch, Round Tab Punch, Scallop Edge Punch, Stampin’ Write markers, red gingham ribbon, 5/8” grosgrain ribbon – Very Vanilla, ¼” grosgrain ribbon – Real Red; jumbo eyelets – pewter, rhinestone brads, Crop-A-Dile™, staple, sticky strip

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Recycle those old CDs

This mini album is made from old CDs. In fact, I’ve only just noticed it on the photo but you can just see the centre of the CD on the front cover. Oops.

I covered two CDs with PVA glue, very thinly, using a foam brush from Wilko. Then I covered them with Designer Series Paper and trimmed with scissors. Yes, scissors. To get the edges nice and neat, I lightly sanded them with sandpaper.

I repeated the process with textured 12x12 cardstock, to make the inside (not shown).

The same technique was used to cover the chipboard circle. I inked the chipboard letters with Tempting Turquoise and attached them with Glue Dots®.

The Crop-A-Dile™ made short work of the holes. However, they weren’t quite big enough to take the jumbo eyelets (they’re okay on paper and cardstock but CDs are notoriously inflexible). To solve this problem, I just punched again and again, round the edges of the hole, to make it slightly larger. The resulting hole wasn’t very neat but it didn’t matter as the jumbo eyelet covered the imperfections.

I haven’t made the inside pages yet – still sourcing old CDs! – but won’t bother to eyelet them, just cover the pages and punch the holes.

Cardstock: Old Olive textured 12x12
Paper: Petals and Paisley
Ink: Tempting Turquoise
Accessories: On Board Lots of Letters, ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon - Tempting Turquoise, jumbo eyelets, book rings (Staples)

All products by Stampin' Up! unless otherwise stated. Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Easiest album in the world!

This is the easiest album in the world. All you do is take a sheet of 12x12 cardstock and cut it into three strips, each one four inches wide. Score them down the centre and tie them together with linen thread. The edges won’t sit neatly so you can either trim them, or ignore them.

For this one I added some tabs using the Round Tab Punch and decorated the pages with Lovely as a Tree and Really Rust ink. I added some Fall Flowers Designer Series Paper on one spread. I will put proper pictures in this one when I’ve taken some!

For the front cover, I used the masking technique to create the moon against the night sky, as I did on this card, inspired by one of my downlines, Tracey.

Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, Daily Flexible Phrases
Cardstock: Really Rust, Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Whisper White
Paper: Fall Flowers
Ink: Really Rust, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Linen Thread, Round Tab Punch, Stampin’ Pastels

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Another mini album

This is a tiny mini album, made from a single sheet of 12x12 cardstock. Slice the sheet into four 3” strips, then score at 3” intervals to make an accordion. Attach the whole of one of the end flaps to the end flap of the second piece and then do the same again until you have a really long strip. Either use an odd number of strips or cut off one flap from the end, then attach to your cover pieces. 

To bind it, you can make a spine, as I did (trust me, this was only an emergency measure) or do what you should do; make one piece of ribbon REALLY long and wrap it around the whole album to hold it together and tie at the front.

Have a go – all will become clear when you do it!

Stamps: A Tree For All Seasons
Cardstock: Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Scallop Edge Punch, ¼” Grosgrain Ribbon – Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip marker, blender pen

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.

Pop-up album

A mini album with a difference: it folds flat for storage or carrying around, or opens out for display. How cool is that?

This one took me ages to make as I was struggling with the instructions but I will make another and photograph each step to show you how it’s done. I might even organise a class to make one as I think it could be popular with the scrapbookers out there.

It’s made of four pieces of cardstock, each individually decorated before assembling. I won’t even try to explain further… you’ll just have to be patient I’m afraid. I’m very aware that I still haven’t produced that cracked glass tutorial I promised you!

This album is made using the Home Again Simply Scrappin’® Kit which, sadly, is no longer available. However, you could use any cardstock and stamps, or a different scrappin’ kit instead.

To get small photos, I printed them from the computer myself, “antiquing” them first. They looked really 70s and slightly yellowy on screen but I thought they worked well in the album as the original colours would have been too garish for the mellow colours of the cardstock and Designer Series Paper.

Stamps: Daily Flexible Phrases
Cardstock: Bordering Blue, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Home Again Simply Scrappin’® kit (no longer available), Grosgrain Ribbon – Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White; Taffeta ribbon - Chocolate Chip

All products by Stampin' Up! Please email me to order a catalogue, or click the picture of the catalogue on the right to view it online.