Let's talk MINI ALBUMS

I make mostly mini's and give them away to family.

• hotroding scrapbooker Said:

I love the idea about keeping them in a basket on the table... Mine are sitting on a ledge on a half/wall in my dining room. I guess you can put them on decorative shelves or what not.

I like the idea of mini albums because a visitor to your home is more apt to just grab it and look at it quick-like, rather than sit down with a whole album, which could take hours!

I forgot to mention, I make 98% of my mini books entirely from scratch. I start with basic materials (cardstock, envelopes, paper bags, etc.) and build up from there. I use WordArt in Microsoft Word to build my own word shaped books and I free hand a lot.

There are pictures of a couple of mini projects in my gallery if you are interested.

I LOVE making mini books (more so than scrapping 12x12 pages). I give some as gifts, I keep some. Most of the mini books I make I keep on display on top of my scrap cabinets.

I've read where other people keep them in baskets on a coffee table where people can look at them.

I did an acrylic one of my wedding..its in my gallery... Acrylic Tag Album "Wedding" 1 By TimeScrapper
Acrylic Tag Album "Wedding" 2 By TimeScrapper

It was a lot of fun! I made the cover by cutting a tag out of chipboard that was a bit bigger than my acrylic, and then covering it with pp.

Jennifer, I have the BIA (pink one!) and love it. I use it often but to make journals for others, which I guess is not that far from minis right? LOL! I think they still intimidate me, and this is coming from a girl who ONLY did cards and now almost ONLY does 12X12 (big jump there!) LOL!

I have lots of minis since I teach classes and am on the Bind It All Design Team I store some in a long skinny basket I got at Walmart that sits on the bottom shelf of a table in my hallway. The rest are in two market style baskets on a bookshelf in my front room. I sell alot of them because I make more than I will ever use in my lifetime.

My best advice for you is to take a class or buy a kit--lots of companies offer kits (see ones below from the store here) and they have instructions and ideas. From there you will be inspired and know where to go. You just need that starting point.

Good things to do with minis is to document a trip, make a book for friends and family to look at (easier to hold than a 12x12 album) or use as a gift.

If you like mini books, a binding machine is a must because you can customize your books. I would recommend trying binding systems out at your local store or an expo if you can before you commit to buying. I personally love the Bind It All and yes, I am on their Design Team. But just to be objective as a crafter here, I am telling you to try a few machines to make your decision. If you want to know more about the Bind It All, please feel free to let me know

YAY! Thanks I will book mark it now!

I love making minis!

Actually, we're having a MINI ALBUM blog hop on Saturday if you'd like a lot of inspiration. You can check out my blog for details.

Thank you all for the ideas. I think I may TRY one with random pictures that I have yet to scrap (see my other thread LOL) and maybe that will "kill two birds with one stone".

I made one.

It was a brag book for my MIL. I chose 5 photos of each year of my daughters life, making sure there was one from each birthday. I made them all black and white and my "theme" was purple pansies because those were her favorites. I gave it to her just because I love her so very much and she's such an amazing Nana.

I enjoy making minis and am doing more in the last 6 months.

I've done ones as gifts and many just for me.

Right now, they're stored in boxes -- a photo box for smaller 4x6" or 3.5x5" albums, and a larger box for ones that don't fit in there.

Themes - pregnancy, wedding, baby, top 10, home, trips, pets.

I make them out of paper bags, chipboard, or just cardstock/photos with chipboard covers. My binding is typically just some book rings I can get at WalMart or any office supply store.

In my gallery I have an album for my minis if you want to check it out.

I'm actually getting ready to start a couple. My DSD and my baby sister are both going to be seniors in high school this year and I want to make them each a chipboard album to celebrate this special year.

I think I'm going to make them 8x8 and decorate them in their school colors. Hopefully they will turn out good!!

I love mini albums! It’s hard to contain my excitement when talking about them-lol. I was so excited on my first trip to my LSS to see something familiar to me using pictures and the pretty paper I love so much. I haven’t ventured out of my box to try any 12x12 LOs now that I’m scrapping.

I love that they have a definite end and are quick and satisfying. I’m the sad product of too much instant gratification-lol. I've given away most of my old ones but have hung onto a few and used them as art books.

I recently took 2 classes on them at my LSS but haven't put any picts in them yet. I really need to get one of those binding systems the teacher had. I love to make them for the times when I want to use quite a few pictures but don't have enough to make a whole album.

My favorite size is 6x6. It really stretches the PP that I love so much. I just ordered a bunch of safe chipboard just to make minis with. I have some sheer albums that I got on a daily deal website but haven't used yet. Some are odd sizes that don't seem picture friendly. I’m sticking with chipboard but I’ve seen some gorgeous acrylic albums.

I've done a couple as gifts for friends who had babies (for them to add pictures to later), one for my mom (one of those chipboard "family" albums), but I've also done a couple for myself. I did one about moving in with my bf and moving out of the apt I had shared with the same roommate for more than 10 years, because it was a big deal in my life.

I'm currently working on an acrylic album, just cause I wanted to try out an acrylic album - have no idea what topic it's going to be yet

I've made quite a few and most of them have been for gifts. I made one for myself of our holiday snaps. I did it like a diary - a page for each day with a pic/pics and journalling of what we did that day.

Have you done one? What was the theme? What do you do with them afterwards? How do you store them? Do you only make them as gifts? How do you make your covers?

Yes I want to make one I think but I am practical and cant just make it to make it (I know silly but that is me). It has to serve a purpose. So lets chat please!