Cinque Terre Mini Album

I started this mini album about our adventure to the Cinque Terre in Italy last May when I was on my first mini album making kick, but then I got overwhelmed by the sheer size of it and put it on the backburner!! Then a few weeks ago I picked it up again and decided, hey, it doesn't need to be AMAZING! I already had the hardest part done which was printing the photos, picking the papers, and arranging everything into the right order. All it really needed was embellishments and journaling - NOTHING FANCY! Not everything has to be FANCY! Sometimes it's just about getting the memories documented and if it turns out pretty, that's a bonus :)

This is actually the second version of the cover, the first had lots of layering of random things but it just didn't feel right. Another reason I struggled... it just wasn't clicking from the get-go! I decided to switch it up and do something I love on the cover which is hand stitching! Much better and much more "me"!:)

The entire mini album is made from Maggie Holmes' collections. I have hoarded every single one of her lines since the first one came out back in January 2013 - I even found the blog post revealing it on Crate Paper! It's all just so pretty :) And the beautiful colors, florals, and vintage patterns match perfectly with the vibes of the Cinque Terre!
I have a short flip through if you want to see this album "live". I didn't talk through the video, just played some music in the background. More about the album - I mixed in a few transparencies here and there, below is a plain one from American Crafts, and I used a special white pen to write the journaling. There are five cities in the Cinque Terre (translated to English it means "five lands") and for each of the five cities I made an intro page with its number on the tourist route. Riomaggiore was city #1 and where we rented our airbnb.

I took sooooooo many photos throughout the day whilst exploring. I mean. THE COLORS!! So this album has 38 spreads so I could include all my favorite photos. My most favorite pictures I printed to 4x6 and a select few are even the full 5x7". The rest are 2x2 and inserted into pocket page protectors. You'll see :)

When I got these photos printed we still lived in Germany and I wanted to get full 5x7s for some for impact, but Europe has a different sizing system than we do so I accidentally ended up with about 20 11x14" pictures hahaha! So eventually I want to frame and hang them. Anyway back to the mini album, I printed an introduction on vellum and stitched three pennants below - super simple. I copied and pasted the text straight from my blog.

Pocket pages to the rescue! I LOVE this format and size and then adding embellishments like sequins to some of the pockets without photos.

I fussy cut a few butterflies from a patterned paper and scattered them directly on this photo for whimsy.

This was the last spread I made before I gave up last year. I wasn't loving anything, it didn't feel like "me", so I put it in a basket and moved on to other things. When I picked up this mini album a few weeks ago after letting it sit for 7 months, I realized it didn't look as bad as I remembered. It might not be as intricate as my layouts, but THAT'S OKAY!!! More than any individual spread, it's about the mini album as a whole and by keeping it pretty simple, the overall thing makes me happy.

Sometimes I didn't know where to add journaling so I made interactive tags.

Pesto was invented just a couple cities over! We had to get some fresh. So yummy.

City #2 - Manarola!

A 4x6 photo with typed/printed/trimmed journaling and a couple pocket pages filled to the brim with photos and goodies.

This right photo is probably my favorite picture from the entire day. How is this place real?!

I really wanted to keep adding #allthethings but even more so I just wanted to finish and to do that I had to keep it simple. Four stickers on this spread (three banners and a sentiment) and DONE.

All I added to the left page was a strip of gold glitter washi and the right page is a 2.5" pocket page with embellishments and journaling.

I got my layering game on a few times. For inspiration I looked through Maggie's minis and saw how she used her own product in pretty ways.

For city #3's opening page I placed the number and title on a gold glittered hearts transparency and added machine stitching to keep everything in place.

More interactive elements: I stapled perforated tickets that you lift to see the journaling underneath.

The right page is a scaplift from Maggie.

A full-page photo of sweet Jane on the left and a coordinating blue plaid paper on the right with a few stickers of things I know she would love = swans and birds.

Flowers galore!

Also lots of banners and pennants throughout the album - it's good to have cohesive elements and they add pops of color to match all the colors of the photos.

This pocket is a perfect place for a tag with journaling.

Seriously, these collections couldn't match any more perfectly with the Cinque Terre! Here is the opening for city #4 - Vernazza.

No photo spread! A flower on the left and stamped journaling lines and hearts with handwritten journaling on the right. Done and done!

I busted out my Cuttlebug for the first time in ages and used embossing folders that I've held onto for years but don't think I've actually used until now! I love the texture!! I cut a piece of embossed paper into 2" squares and added them between photos in the pocket page.

In the white space at the top of the full-page photo on the right I added a floral sticker with the most perfect colors to match the buildings and a sentiment sticker cut in two.

Birds, flowers, leaves, banners... the works!

Here comes four 4x6" photos which I glued back-to-back and stapled folded over tabs at the top to help make turning them easier.

A single sentiment adhered in the middle is all this spread needed!

My cute little boy! I found all the black and white things I could to fit inside these frames.

This page is a little fancier than most - it's the intro for city #5 - Monterosso al Mare and on the left side I adhered sequins to the pattern and stitched through gold foil Thickers on the right.

Since the stitched lines showed through on the other side I added typed/printed/trimmed journaling between. For the past few years I ALWAYS use a font called Remington Noiseless recommended by Ali Edwards. I love how it looks like a typewriter. In the right pocket page I added journaling to tags and tucked them behind a couple of the photos.

We took a few videos throughout the day so I compiled them all into one video, uploaded it to Chris' YouTube, and created a QR code link which with an app takes you directly to the video. Gotta love technology!

Thank goodness for so many flowers in all of Maggie's collections! They're so beautiful and I added them everywhere!

The final spread is of me and my love with some final thoughts and a stacked suitcases sticker - perfect for a mini album about traveling!

Whew! Finished!

I hope you picked up a few ideas and can echo my thoughts of "it's okay to not go over the top with #allthethings and #allthetechniques"! Sometimes less is more and the fact that I got this done instead of just letting it sit is a major accomplishment in my book! Thanks for stopping by!