Malta Mini Album

Another mini album in the "books"!

Like my Cinque Terre mini album a couple weeks ago, this turned into a much bigger project than I was anticipating because I decided to make it about the entire country of Malta with lots and lots and lots of photos from stops all over the islands instead of a single city! Minimalism to the rescue once again! Next time I just need to make it smaller so I can add lots of the details that I love :)

I used the Hazelwood collection by 1canoe2 to make the entire album, paired with a few of my cut files. There are about 42 spreads give or take because of interactive flaps and pockets and tag inserts. The album is 6x4" and I wrapped two thick pieces of chipboard with patterned paper for the covers.
Here is a flip through with music in the background so you can see how this album looks in "real life": On this opening spread I backed my Branch cut file with colorful Hazelwood papers and let the leaves bend up.

On the left side I cut flowers out and glued them back onto another piece of the same paper with dimensional adhesive. A simple "hello" cork word adorns the right page.

A close up of the fussy cut dimensional flowers. I took text from my blog post about Valletta, Malta to write this introduction on a 6x4" journaling card.

I had so many photos I wanted to include!! To do so I created an accordion style feature connecting the pictures together with washi tape and then chipboard stickers stitched in place to embellish the white spaces. I attached an arrow epoxy sticker on the edge to help open and close it.

Here is the back side of the accordion photos.

Typed, printed, and trimmed journaling. Once again I used the Remington Noiseless font, my favorite of all time. I trimmed a floral puffy sticker in half to frame the journaling.

I made these 2" square pocket pages from regular page protectors and a WeR Memory Keepers Fuse tool and filled them with photos and cute Hazelwood paper clips. The left side is a flap page which opens up to reveal...

...some journaling!

Here is the back side of the pocket page and a tag.

Kept it simple with a few layered stickers on this pretty floral paper.

I added a piece of washi tape to the left edge and an arrow sticker on the photo. To make the right side paper I ran white cardstock through my Cuttlebug and embossed it with a gorgeous floral design.

Oooh the texture!

I made a pocket from a folded over cut-apart paper and made a tag from ledger paper. I numbered the 12 photos in the pocket page and wrote numbered journaling captions on the tag.

On the left is the back side of the photo pocket page and on the right side I used a craft knife to trim around the butterfly wings and bent up the edges.

A closer look at the dimensional butterfly wings. A simple "hello" sticker decorates the left page and then I die cut my Butterfly Background and trimmed it down to only full butterflies. I added machine stitching along the rows to create texture.

Another pocket page with floral puffy stickers between the photos. I like how you can see through to the other pages.

I repeated the same design on the back side and on the right is a pair of photos adhered back-to-back with another arrow sticker to help turn it easier.

A white cardstock page with journaling and an ampersand chipboard sticker. I used my We R Memory Keepers Typecast typewriter to type "Fox" and "Jane". Sometimes it's easier to actually use a typewriter than type, print, and trim it out!

Full family photo next to a coordinating blue patterned paper with a large sentiment chipboard banner sticker and journaling written above using a white Sharpie paint pen.

After Valletta we visited Mdina, Malta so this is the opening pages about that city.

After rounding the corners and stitching around the edges for texture of these back-to-back photos I slipped on a leaf paper clip which also helps make turning it easier.

One of the first "pages" I made was this flower half design - it's a cut file I designed for Studio Calico many years ago. I die cut two, backed them both with Hazelwood papers, and then adhered them back-to-back so they're pretty from both sides.

The colorful triangles paper matched well with the backed flower so I added it here along with a few embellishments on top.

A cluster of stickers and journaling on the left side and another pocket photo page on the right - I applied pretty butterfly rub-ons to the empty pockets which are visible from both sides.

Another embossed page - heart eyes! On the other side I machine stitched through chipboard words so I highlighted those lines by adding washi tape between and writing journaling.

Here are those stitched-through chipboard words and then two back-to-back photo spreads with cork triangles stapled in place for page turners.

Typed, printed, trimmed, and adhered journaling strips and then I added fussy cut butterflies alongside a scalloped border punched right edge.

On the left side I journaled inside one of the honeycomb patterns and the right page is a plain piece of transparency that I embossed and then stitched "Remember This" onto for a fun photo overlay.

So super simple! I think I need to go back and add paint splatters or somethin' haha!! I simply stitched around the photo for a border, added a cork "love" sticker, and stitched a little piece of a flower cut file to the right edge.

I fussy cut a rose gold foiled floral design (it's not from Hazelwood and I'm not sure who makes it...) and adhered it to the top of the left side along with a label sticker at the top introducing our next adventure around Southeast Malta.

I had lots to say but didn't know where to put it to fit the design aesthetically so I created a pocket between a pair of photos (only adding adhesive on the left, bottom, and right edges), notched the top with a circle punch, then create a little flip book of ledger pages stapled at the top with all the journaling written on them. It tucks nicely into the photo pocket! I was there too haha! I'm always the one taking the photos and rarely get in the pictures... need to work on that! And another photo pocket page with cork embellishments between.

Here I used vellum paper and a super pretty floral embossed design. It's the intro page for our next visit to Ghar Dalam. I added a piece of pink floral washi below and then used my sewing machine to stitch an embroidered scalloped border.

Me'n'my love. The colors of the photo were... not the best to put it lightly haha (browny yellowish orange), so I converted it to black and white and now it matches everything! I added a heart paper clip to the edge with a heart sticker inside and typed, printed, trimmed, and adhered journaling below.

Sometimes a pretty paper does all the work! I didn't have anything else to add to this gorgeous paper so I left it as is. In between the papers is a back-to-back photo.

Another 6x4 journaling card that I cut out from one of the papers on the right was the perfect spot to write everything I had to say about our boat ride around the coast.

Blue houndstooth paper with lots of stickers in clusters and a full pocket photo page because I couldn't narrow down the photos anymore.

I know this sentiment paper is oriented the wrong way, but it's just so pretty I had to include it!

Double photo spread! "Remember This" for sure!

I ran this white cardstock through my Cuttlebug with a woodgrain embossing folder and then adhered flower die cuts across the middle. I die cut my Daisies Background from white cardstock, trimmed it down, and then added another flower die cut on top.

Almost done :) This was our last stop in Malta - St. Peter's Pool!

Back-to-back photos with stitching (repeating elements throughout a mini album is important!) and then I made another flap page on the right.

Inside the flap is a pair of photos and I added a chipboard heart on the edge to make it easier to open the flap.

I typed some journaling about St. Peter's Pool on the left (copied and pasted from my blog) and then added a favorite photo on the right with a trio of chipboard stickers stapled in place on the edge.

The last page is one of my favorite papers from Hazelwood and I added my closing thoughts with a white pen to finish.

I am so glad to have this wonderful vacation documented in physical form rather than just on the computer! Adding stickers and chipboard & stitching and embellishments makes the memories come to life!

I can't wait to start my next mini album!