Need a gift for a grandparent who doesn’t need much but also does not see your child all that often? Or maybe he/she does see your child often. Either way, any grandparent would be delighted with a little photo book full of pictures and memories from the past year.

For this gift I started with a 6x4 in. photo album that I picked up at a local bookstore. I chose this size so that I could use standard 4x6 prints without any trimming or altering. I then made some pages with patterned paper, embellishments and journaling to be inserted into the sleeves opposite the photos. The standard album size and a simple plan for my pages made assembling this album quick and easy.

You can leave the cover of your journal as is or decorate it. I chose to add a big “W” for William, some letter stickers for his name and the year in Doodlebug rub-ons on a KI Memories Ice Candy embellishment. To create the large monogram, I first covered a Gin-X Raw white rings coaster with patterned paper. I backed the ring with a light colored paper and adhered it to the album cover. The “W” from the KI Extreme collection Hip Chip Alpha fit just inside the ring. Then I squeezed KI Gloo around the “W” and filled the space in with beads. After it dried for a little while I added a bit more glue to really hold things secure.

To assemble the album:

1. Choose a set of favorite photos from the past year.
2. Gather your papers and cut enough 4x6 pieces to serve as background for your non-photo pages. For this step I chose a variety of papers from KI Memories and added some KI Ice Candy embellishments. Sticking with one product line also makes it easy to create a unified look. Taking my cue from the graphic nature of this paper, I decided to cut circles of contrasting paper and white cardstock for my journaling.
3. Lay your pages out. This is an optional step but it made putting the entire album together very easy and fast. I took all of my pieces and laid them on my dining room table with my photos. I coordinated the colors for my pages with the photographs I chose.
4. Stick everything down and trim.
5. Pull out your pencil and pen and journal, journal, journal. I chose to hand write my journaling on each page after things were stuck down but you could do your journaling on the computer, trim and stick just as easily.
6. Slip your photos and pages into the sleeves and you have a great little completed album.

Supplies used:

• KI Memories patterned paper
• KI Memories extreme hip chip chipboard
• KI Memories ice candy embellishments
• KI Gloo
• Gin-X raw white rings coasters
• American Crafts Sarah Script alphabet stickers

If you received this email from a friend, click here to sign up for LM Style.  

© 2006 Lifetime Moments, 29445 Beck Road, Ste A104, Wixom, MI 48393
phone 248-449-8044 fax 248-493-5921