Summer Mini Book

It's officially Summer time!

I love this time of year because between the long days and abundance of fun summer activities, there are just so many things to do and memories to make. This also means plenty of opportunities to take photos!

Now, personally I think one of the best ways to showcase a whole bunch of photos that span a longer period of time (like say, Summer) or that have a common theme (Summer!) is to make a mini-book.

I really love making mini-books. Mini-books are awesome because they:

- are a great way to use up a lot of photos in one project

- are often finished quicker than a full sized album project

- are super easy to coordinate

- make you really feel like you have accomplished something when you get it done.

So where to begin?

May I suggest something from here to get you started? ;)

Once you have supplies, just grab some of your favorite photos, stamps and tools and get ready to play.

Here is a little mini I made using our June kit Sugar Shoppe.

So what did you notice about the book?

Hopefully you noticed that even though the photos really didn't look like they were all that related, it still looked like it all went together. For the story I wanted to tell, these photos are important, but really aren't all that "matchy." But there is an easy way to get around that little problem.

Here is the most valuable piece of information I ever learned about how to quickly and easily make mini-books: Use a formula.

That's it. Decide on a formula or design pattern and repeat, repeat, repeat.

In this book, my formula was:

- photo on top

- stamp words "on this day" tucked in the middle

- inked journaling strips on bottom.

- scalloped paper on bottom

- rounded corners

- painted border

A lot of minis use the photo on one side, journaling on opposite side formula. You could also pick a favorite page sketch and use it over and over. Or use the same stamp over and over. It's not boring. It's a mini, it's supposed to look like it goes together!

Now, that's not to say that all minis should look this way, I'm just offering it as a suggestion to get you started. Let your creativity take you where you want to go. Go crazy and customize if you want to.

For example, with this mini, I customized my covers by covering them with a cream colored felt and then sewed up the edges with red embroidery thread. I painted the sheer scalloped edges of the other pages a matching red shade of paint, again to tie it all together.
I hope this inspires you to go and try to make your own fun little sumer book.

Have a great day!