Hello Friends!

A couple of weeks ago, I shared this fun Coffee Break Mini with you.

So many of you requested a tutorial for this style album that I went to work creating a second album, making sure I photographed the construction steps along the way.  So, here I am today, with my Gypsy Moments Tri-Fold Mini Tutorial.  Grab a cuppa and snack, because this is a content heavy post with loads of pictures, and I don’t want you to pass out from hunger or thirst before we reach the end!

Here’s a photo of the completed project to whet your appetite.

This is one of the newer lines from 7 Gypsies, and I have fallen completely in love with it.  I’ll have a slide show of all the pages and details towards the end of the post, but I wanted to sort of give you a vision of where we are going today.

This is a very compact mini, just 4″ wide by 6″ tall and the base is made with one sheet of 12″ x 12″ cardstock.  For this particular mini, I used a piece of Canvas Corp White and Kraft Lace Cardstock.

This is such a great weight to work with and the pattern is perfect for this project.  There is just something magical about white ink on kraft paper!  Yummy!

Soooo…this next photo might scare you to death…but I wanted you to see the process I go through when I tackle a project of this proportion.  Here’s a photo of (most) all the products I pulled from my 7 Gypsies/Canvas Corp stash.

I like to have options!  Obviously.  I pull out everything that inspires me and pile it up on one side of my desk.  Do you see those itty bitty antique silver coat hangers?  Squeee!  And the sa-weet Flea Market Findings Charms?  Be still my heart!

Cut your 12″ x 12″ paper in half to form 2 12″ x 6″ rectangles.  Place on your scoring tool, and score at 4″ and 8″.  Placing the paper face down on your work surface, fold first the right hand side in toward the center and then the left hand side.  Crease with a bone folder. The patterned side of the paper should be on top with the fold on the left.

Cut the other 12″ x 6″ rectangle into these sizes:

• 2 (two) 3.75″ x 5.5″ rectangles
• 1 (one) 3.75″ x 2″ rectangle
• 1 (one) 2″ x 5.75″ rectangle.  These will become the inner pockets for your mini.

Flip your paper over so that the print side is up.  The second 3.75″ x 5.5″ rectangle will be used in the middle panel, as you see here.  You’ll use the kraft side, not the printed side.

Use a circle punch to cut thumb holes in the top of each of the 3/75″ x 5.75″ panels.  Ink all the edges of all the cut pieces and the base piece for the mini with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

Cut a 3.5″ x 5.5″ piece of Light Pink Burlap . Fray the edges (save the strings!) and attach it to the front panel of the mini album base.  As you can see here, I stitched it on, but you could use fabric glue or scor-tape if you prefer.  Spritz it with some Vintage Pink Glimmer Mist.  (Keep the glimmer mist and burlap handy…we’ll be using it more as we progress.)

Cut a 24″ length of Sheer Iridescent Fuchsia Ribbon and secure it to the right hand and middle panel of the mini album base as you see here.   I used Scor-Tape for this. This will be the closure for the album.

Fussy cut  a floral section from the 12″ x 12″ Board and Room paper and stitch or glue it to the front of the mini album as shown.  Note that I have left the cut side open.  This will become a pocket where we can tuck in tags.  I did use some foam dots along the bottom and top edge to hold it in place, but you want to be careful to leave an open edge.

Here you can see where I’ve inserted a Happy Birthday Tag and a Handcrafted Tag into that pocket we created.  To make these tags, I simple inked them, splattered and spritzed them with a little Vintage Pink Glimmer Mist and matted them on lilac cardstock.  I ran more of the ribbon through the top edge and then used some of the burlap strings to tie little bows that I topped with vintage mother of pearl buttons from my stash.  I created a loopy bow with Pink Burlap String , hot glued it to the album, and then added a button on top.

Now, the temptation here is to finish the cover.  But you don’t want to do that.  Know why?  If you do that now, stuff will get crushed and you’ll have a hard time working on the inside.  We will actually finish the rest of the album, and then do the rest of the cover last.  And yes, I learned this the hard way!

Open up the mini and begin work on the inside.  This is the far left panel.  It looks awful, because you can see the reverse side of the stitching I did on the front.  To cover this up, I used a piece of washi tap on the far left edge, and cut another little piece of burlap to go on the top.

Here is where you will begin to use your own creativity.  You will need 3 (three) 3.75″ x 5.75″ rectangles to cover the left, center and right hand panels on the inside of the mini album. You will need two more to cover the right and the center panel on the printed side of your base. Once you’ve done this, you can add your pockets and flaps.

Here you can see the mini album in progress.  I’ve added a thumb hole panel to the far left side, and I’ve added a Gypsy Moments ATC Mini Folder over that.  A word of caution: when you are gluing these pockets and flaps into place, use either a very thin bead of strong white glue to secure them, or 1/8″ adhesive taken to the absolute edge of each panel, or you will not have room to tuck all the goodies into the pocket.  Ask me how I know this….

Now that you’ve got your base made, you can have let your creativity loose and decorate to your heart’s content.  When everything is finished, add the finishing touches to your cover.

Here’s what I did:

I fussy cut three more flowers from the Gypsy Moments Board and Room 12″ x 12″ paper, and shaped them into dimensional flowers.  Someday soon, I ‘ll do a tutorial on how to do this.

Now, please enjoy this little slideshow of all the details and bits and pieces of this sweet little album.

 

Well, if you made it all the way to the end, you probably need to stand up and stretch!  I know I do!  I hope you are inspired to make one of these fun minis.  If you do, I  hope you’ll share it with me.  Let me know what you think in the comment section below.

Cheerio,

kathy