Hohenschwangau Mini Album for JOANN

This blog post is sponsored by JOANN.

I made a new mini album using mostly my Pink Paislee Take Me Away collection that I found in my local store and online at JOANN.com!

Here is a walk through of the album so you can see how it looks "in real life": This little leaf-shaped book is all about our adventure at Hohenschwangau castle in southern Bavaria, Germany back in October of 2013. Wow how time flies!

 I started by using a Silhouette Cameo 3 and die cut 11 leaves of different shapes and sizes from smooth White Cardstock. Then I die cut 11 matching inner leaves from the Take Me Away 12x12 Paper Pad as well as the 6x6 Paper Pad. I adhered the inner leaves onto each coordinating cardstock leaf and then pierced holes around the outer edge of every patterned paper leaf. The holes were spaced about 1/8" apart. I spent some time doing a chain link stitch with DMC Floss on every leaf, matching the colors of thread to the patterned papers and using a different color of floss for every page. I arranged the leaves from smallest to biggest, more or less, and then punched a hole through the top of each one to connect them together with a binder ring.

For the cover I die cut another large leaf from a plain sheet of Vellum and then used a Sewing Machine with white thread to stitch around the edges. I used rose gold Ms. Sparkle & Co. Alphabet Stickers to create the title and then adhered two thin strips of patterned papers from the Take Me Away 6x6 Paper Pad underneath. To embellish I added a bunch of Buttons below the title in colors to match the patterned papers.

Every page was decorated with one or two 2" square photos and just a few embellishments along with some typed and printed journaling strips. On this first page I fussy cut flowers and a heart from the Take Me Away 6x6 Paper Pad and layered them underneath a pair of photos. I glued journaling strips on top to introduce what the album is about.

The back of the first page is the only back page I decorated because I wanted to include some information about Hohenschwangau castle - I simply copied and pasted from our blog post recap and then trimmed the journaling into strips. I added another thin strip of patterned paper below and then adhered some tiny leaves punched from the Take Me Away 6x6 Paper Pad.

Here is a closer look at the journaling page.

On this tiny leaf page all I did was add a 2" square photo and a "love ya" and tiny bow fussy cut from the 6x6 paper pad.

Here I had two photos I wanted to include but not a whole lot of room so I stapled them together and then added fussy cut flowers to tuck under the right side. A small caption adorns the top photo.

On this page I added a photo, fussy cut flower and bow, and little caption.

This next page includes two photos, fussy cut embroidery hoop (the "travel far" sentiment was perfect!), heart, and flower, along with two typed captions, one for each photo.

I thought the purples in these photos would be great for this purple floral paper leaf! I matted the photos with more purple papers and added a fussy cut flower and caption on top.

Two more photos adorn this page along with a fussy cut heart and bow, topped with captions.

After I finished printing my pictures I realized I didn't even print my favorite photo from the day! Instead of printing it out in a small square like all the other photos I printed it into a 3x4" rectangle and inserted it between two leaf pages. I punched a hole at the top and glued on a caption.

Here I fussy cut a pink frame, topped it with a photo, and glued it on this intricate leaf page.

On this page I added two photos and a fussy cut flower tucked between. The photo on the left has a caption and is matted with green patterned paper.

This page includes one photo and a bunch of fussy cut elements that I thought fit the picture. I also added two tiny punched leaves on the left side. Again the sentiment ("adventure") on the fussy cut embroidery hoop fits the theme of this album quite well!

On the last page I added two more photos and a few fussy cut flowers along with a torn patterned paper strip. Journaling strips with a farewell conclusion wrap up the album!

Here are all the leaf pages laid out so you can see them individually.

I had so much fun making the mini album and documenting another one of our adventures! I hope this has inspired you to visit your local JOANN store and check out the scrapbook selection!

SUPPLIES: Silhouette Cameo 3, White Cardstock, Take Me Away 12x12 Paper Pad, 6x6 Paper Pad, DMC Floss, Vellum, Sewing Machine, Alphabet Stickers, Buttons