Some Odd Girl - Mini Memory Tutorial

Greetings Oddies!!  So glad that you are here with me today for a fun and super easy tutorial.  As the Mum of two little ones I am ALWAYS taking photos.  I love the digital age that we live in as it allows for such a huge catalog of memories.  However, I find that I get overwhelmed with the immense amount of photos that I take and keep on my computer (backed up on an external hard drive AND disk of course!).  I have some albums started but I find it hard to catch up.  So what I like to do when my family and I have an event, an outing, a trip, etc. is create a quick mini album to pull together just a few simple photos to have an instant tangible memory.  My husband and I love it but more importantly, my children love it.  They love to see themselves in photos, along with fun colors and images.  So today, I am showing you how to make a quick mini 4"x4" accordion album. 
Here are the supplies you will need:

• two pieces of cardstock that measure 4" x 8"
• two pieces of chipboard or thin cardboard measuring 4" x 4"
• cardstock
• designer paper
• embellishments
  
• Some Odd Girl Stamps
• "red liner" style tape

 

First step is to take the two pieces of cardstock that measure 4" x 8" and score each piece at 4". 

 

After scoring, you will notice that I've positioned my kraft cardstock with one score line facing up (mountain style) and the other with the score line facing down (valley style).  

Add "red-liner" style tape to one side of the scored pieces of cardstock as you are going to overlap the two 4" x 8" pieces to create one continuous accordion folded mini-album.  

You will have three panels on each side of the album.  Because this is made with cardstock it will be a little "light" so the addition of the chipboard or thin cardboard cover and back really help to sturdy up the album.   In order to hold the album together I have decided to use thick, grosgrain ribbon that is adhered between the back 'cover' and the back of the album.  The ribbon then wraps equally around both sides of the album and ties on the front cover.

Once everything was secure and folding nicely, I set to decorating.  I pulled out all of my Some Odd Girl stamps using bits and pieces of many sets pairing them with some fabulous 6x6 Authentique papers - Celebrate.  I chose this paper pack specifically as this is a mini album for my 6 year old son.
On the cover I've used the bubbly, oval frame from the Sweet Thinkin' Mae set and the sentiment from the Lovey Tobie set. 
For the second and third pages I've used Crushin' Gwen and Lovey Tobey sets to compliment the pages.  I did end up keeping the pages simple and crisp as I will be adding photos.  I didn't want to add 3-D embellishments as I wanted the book to fold nice and flush when it's closed. 

 I kept the back page, where the ribbon tie is secured, blank as I will be writing a note to my son in this space.  In the other two spaces I've used the Nouveau Girls set - Grow and the adorable and sweet digital image Fluffy Love.

This entire project took me about an hour or so to pull together which affords the luxury of being able to make multiples rather quickly to have for so many different occasions, teacher gifts, hostess gifts, etc.  It can be a mini-album - with or without photos, an elaborate card if you didn't want to add photos, a mini journal or an inspirational book.  It's extremely malleable and adaptable for so many wonderful things!

I hope you have enjoyed my tutorial today!  If you have any questions please don't hesitate to pop it into the comments section and I will be sure to write you back!

Crafty Hugs!
Meredith