My Bright Life 3x4 Motivational Mini Album..

Hello Pebbles Friends! Leanne here with a little 3×4 motivational mini album. I absolutely adore creating all types of mini albums, but especially those that have cute and inspirational sayings included in the mix. What better way than to put together a mini from Jen Hadfield’s brand new collection, My Bright Life, starring the gorgeous 3×4 cut apart sheet of the same name.

The My Bright Life 3×4 cut apart sheet of patterned paper is the base inspiration for this entire mini album. Even the title page and front cover uses an expression to help motivate anyone who might be gifted with this project. The rest of the mini album basically falls into place once the 3×4 cards have been trimmed.

Mini Album base..

step 1. Trim the My Bright Life 3×4 cut apart sheet and select your favourite cards. Complement the mini album base with coordinating patterned paper from the same collection. You can choose to add as many or as few pieces of 3×4 patterned paper to make up the foundation pages for the mini album.

step 2. Using a Cinch tool, punch holes in the top of each patterned paper. Be aware of where the top edge of each paper is, when arranging the 3×4 cards into place for the album. Some patterned papers can appear upside down as the pages flip through the book. A good idea is to flip each page over in the mini album, checking for this occurrence, before punching any holes.

step 3. Before binding the book together, use a metal die to create windows through some of the pages. These windows work best if they display a fun quote from the My Bright Life collection.

step 4. Continue to create the mini album with the Cinch and the wire spiral binding.

Embellishing..

Gather your supplies. At this point in the process, the mini album is rather flat. Dimension is created using foam tape, more patterned paper, twine and any other bits and pieces you’d like to include.

Cardstock die cut ephemera and cut apart tags from the Tag You’re It patterned paper help support the motivational messages in the album. Each page follows a similar layout, keeping the entire process of putting this mini album together simple and doable!

Here’s a look at some of the pages inside the mini album.

Some of these pages have patterned paper frames adhered to them. The frames were created using the We R Memory Keepers Frame Punchboard and patterned paper from My Bright Life. As mentioned previously, foam tape has been used to include dimension within the pages of the album. Hand cut banners from various patterned papers have also been layered and left to hang over the edges of the pages.

Also included to further promote motivational messages throughout the mini album, are the cut apart sentiments from Little Thoughts patterned paper.

Stickers from Jen Hadfield’s collections also coordinate beautifully with the My Bright Life collection.

Adding hidden pockets..

Part of the fun with this mini album is the bonus sneaky flip page – complete with Llama drama!

The additional flip page was created using these simple steps.

step 1. Trim the Llama “Hello Friend” 3×4 card to size and score a fold line 1/4″ from the top. Allow the sentiment to remain visible. Trim 0.5cm off the bottom edge so it will fit inside the book.

step 2. Adhere carefully to the top edge of the page it will hide. See image below.

step 3. The fold out page can now include information not necessarily visible at first glance.

This idea will work best if you have placed it opposite a mini album page with a pre-cut window. As you flip the page, the window now frames the Llama’s smiling face!

I’ve keep the rest of the pages in the mini album reasonably simple. Sometimes the messages from the 3×4 cards are all that is needed. Space has also been made available to add any photos..

.. or notes relevant to the gift recipient.

To complete the mini album, add a few extra embellishments to the spiral book binding. A homemade embroidery floss tassel and a cardstock diecut ephemera piece on a jump ring, is all that is needed to add a little interest and polish to the motivational 3×4 mini album flip book.