Mixed Media Monday: Surprise!

For this week’s Mixed Media Monday project, I would like to share a bit more about my newest album, the Surprise! Birthday album. I will be teaching a class on how to build and decorate this album at Paper Pals on Saturday, July 13th starting at 9a. The cost of the class is only $75, which is a great deal considering you make this entire book – just chipboard and paper, a little ribbon, buttons, and brads – and go home with a completed album ready for photos!

These pictures aren’t the greatest (it’s not easy to photograph a book standing up!) but I’d like to tell you about some of the great elements inside. The pattern was designed by and purchased from Kathy Orta Files of Paper Phenomenon. I recommend checking her out, she has some brilliant projects!



On the left is a shot of the spine (the back is just the red paper with the fun dots); this book is just over two inches thick and has eight pages. Each page measures 9 in wide and 10 in high, with a large pocket on the right side that can easily hold an 7.75 in x 9.75 in photo mat, journal page, or other ephemera.

In the middle is the first layout, the inside front cover (there’s a cute ribbon on the bottom of that 5x7 mat now) and the first page. It has two 4x5 pockets on the top half, and one long 4x9 pocket on the bottom half, with a large 4x6 mat (the balloons lift up so the photo can be under them, and two smaller mats (about 3x4).



This is the second layout, first two-page. The left side of the page has a 4x6 mat under the “Hip Hip horray!” cutout (as you can see, it folds out), and a smaller mat on the bottom. The right side has a 6x5 pocket opening on the top, and a 5x6 pocket opening to the right, as well as two 2x5 pockets on the left side. You can put a small photo on the “Happy Birthday” cutout, and there’s room for journaling on the three little houses and the red banner.



The third layout has two classic birthday party icons:  a large cake on the left, a wrapped present on the right. The cake has two small mats on the bottom layer; the next layer up (Surprise!) is actually a pocket, with a white 3x4 mat in it. On the opposite page are four 4x5 pockets with mats as well as a gift tag for journaling.



Layout four, with the fourth and final pocket style; on the left are a few fun tags for journaling as well as a four part waterfall to hold photos and more journaling (fun element!). Plus a cute little pile of gifts at the bottom. On the right side are two photo mats (the 3x4 is under “wish big”, which is only adhered at the bottom so you can slip a photo behind it), and the larger one is 4x6. This page has two 4x5 pockets on the top half, and one 5x8 pocket that opens to the right.

The page styles repeat one more time as far as pocket size and placement, so I’ll just briefly describe how I decorated each layout.



This is the fifth layout (using page style one on the right). On the left is a large 6x6 mat with a few journaling spots. The left has three 3x4 mats as well as a circle to journal on (green with a red button to pull it out from under the cutout). Sorry for the not so great photography, it was getting dark outside and I was losing my light!



Layout six repeats page style two. On the left are two 4x6 mats under cutouts(each opening up) ; on the right is a 3x4 mat under a cutout (opens to the left). The little cupcake is popped up on dimensional foam squares, the other three squares are glued down just for funsies [smile].



Layout seven repeating page style three. On the left side a 4x6 mat and a 3x4 mat. Keep it simple; after all, this book is for photos. On the right are some fun banners for journaling as well as a 4x6 cutout that can be covered with a photo, or a you can use the cake for a journal spot.



The last two-page spread repeating page style four. On the left is a 3x4 mat and another 6x6 mat with some more cute balloons (had to hand cut all of those out by the way!). On the right just some fun decorations and a fussy cut photo spot cut out of a 4x6 cutout on the bottom. Again, keep it simple!

                           

This is the back of the eighth page and the inside of the back cover. The last page has two mats 3x4 and one 4x6; the 5x7 mat on the right now has a cute ribbon along the bottom of it. So that’s the album! It was a lot of fun to design the layouts, and if you can’t attend the class I can make you a kit! Or even a whole album if you’d like one. These books are very durable and have 36 pockets (not including all the elements I added) – a great investment!