I hope you had a lovely Christmas, are enjoying Hanukkah, or beginning your Kwanzaa festivities. And if none of those holidays fit, I wish you a happy Winter! Now that Christmas has passed with joyous celebration in my house and we're enjoying the last few days of 2011, I've got a quick project for you to get ready for the new year. This will help you document YOU in 2012, one month at a time. I put this tutorial together for Scrapbook and Cards Today a while back, but thought I'd share it here as well.
The idea comes from my friend, Tina Aszmus, who does something on her blog called, "Currents." She blogs the following things (with a bit of creative license and variation) every week or so:
•enjoying
•thinking
•eating
•drinking
•wearing
•listening to
•wanting
•weather
•feeling
•wondering
I've taken her idea and made a few layouts with these lists over the past couple of years and thought it would be fun to make a mini and capture the year this way. I put together this mini to do just that.
First off, you'll want to score a 12x12 piece of cardstock into thirds (at 4 inches and 8 inches), then you'll cut that 12x12 in half, so you have two 6 inch pieces. Fold them accordion style and glue together by overlapping two of the flaps. A 12-pocket album will use six–6 inch strips glued together.
Once your accordion is glued together, cut twelve 3 " x 4" rectangles and punch a half hole on one of the 4 inch sides. Then glue a rectangle to the right side of each two page spread. To get all twelve, you'll also be using the back of the accordion to house your pockets and photos.
I then printed off the questions and cut them into 3" x 4" rectangles. I also cut up a sheet of calender bingo cards from the Year•o•graphy collection from Simple Stories (all patterned papers and stickers are from this line). I slipped the questions and the calendar in the pocket.
The final step is adding the cover. I cut a 6" x 12" piece of paper, scored it at 4.5" and 8.5" then glued the back page of the album to that scored part. Then I scored at 3.5" and 9.5" so the cover would fold up and around the accordion.
Decorate as desired, you can add a ribbon to hold it all together if you'd like. And there you have it, an accordion mini album, waiting to be filled. So every month in 2012, I'll take a picture of myself, attach it opposite the month pocket, fill out the card, and circle the date on the calendar. By the end of the year, I'll have a snap shot of me!
I hope this has inspired you to create your own snapshot. I promise this mini is fast and easy, I've already made a couple and know I'll be coming back to this style a lot in the next year, it's such a flexible project!
Enjoy the last week of 2011!
