New Challenge Blog: Mini Album Mania

I've got news!! There is a brand new challenge called Mini Album Mania (MAM#1 for this first challenge, Anything Goes theme for every challenge) and this is the first month of its existence! This challenge will run September 1- October 15. I am on the new design team and I made a 3.75" x 3.75" mini album with 5 pages, plus the inside and outside of the front and back covers. I will elaborate on rules and guidelines below. 

We are looking for more design team members as well as papercrafters to play along with mini albums that they make. If you are interested in being on the design team, please contact our fearless leader Leslie at ltscb at mail dot com (not gmail).

I started my project using a Lawn Fawn cross stitch die and pattern for the stitched Jack-o-Lantern. It took me an hour and a half or so (with some interruptions) to complete.

I found the pattern for the album by Samantha Ziegenfuss here. It is quite easy to make. The decorating and embellishing are up to you. I had the white album base done in a few minutes.

Next, I had to decide how I wanted to decorate the album. I started with Papertrey Ink Pumpkin House dies for the centerfold. I cut most of my die cuts for the album with white cardstock, then ink blended them to the colors I wanted.

I used Spellbinders Dancin' Ghost dies and he has moving legs! (page 2)

The big mugs are Pretty Pink Posh: Winter Mug.

The smaller cups are Trinity Stamps: Boo Brew dies.

The car die is from My Favorite Things. 

The cat and ghost at the end of my album are from Spellbinders: Gnome Drive Halloween. 

The candy corn is from the same die set that the centerfold pumpkin is from, Papertrey Ink Pumpkin House dies.

It was a labor of love. I had fun and took my time with all of the details. It took me the better part of two days working pretty steadily. This one is a "Halloween decoration" but in coming months I plan to make practical albums such as little recipe albums, Christmas tag holders for the tags we reuse in our family each year, crafting idea notes/lists in albums, etc. 

Now, here are the details about our challenge: 

We'll have six challenges per year, each lasting about six weeks, commencing on the 1st day of odd months. Challenges will go live at 4:00 AM Mountain Time on the 1st and end at 4:00 PM Mountain Time on the 15th of the following month. Themes are always 'any type of mini album goes.' The size should be no more than 6" on any side, must have at least three pages (the more the merrier) and must be embellished and decorated. Photos are optional. Mini albums can have any kind of binding (such as rings, wire, ribbon, staples, glued tabs, etc.) or accordion or flap type with no binding. Just remember they must have at least three pages. No blank undecorated albums.

We hope you will be inspired to join us each challenge. Tell your crafty friends, too! There are lots of uses for mini albums to keep yourself organized or to hold things you love. See you in the gallery!

-Carol