Graphic 45 Ocean Blue Mini Album Walk Through

As soon as I saw the Ocean Blue scrapbooking papers I just knew it would make a gorgeous mini album for my son’s 50th birthday.  He is an avid fisherman and I felt that this paper represents his great love of the sea and fishing.

I wanted to make an album with lots of photo pages and I so bought a tutorial from NostalgiqueScrap on Etsy. I just love her albums as they are so full of interactive pages.  Unfortunately, she has discontinued this tutorial in her Etsy store. Probably because the  paper can be hard to get.  I was unable to get the patterns and solids 12″ x12″ papers here in Oz, and I even tried to purchase it from overseas. The only place they were available was from Scrap ‘N’ Create in the States, but they don’t ship internationally, so I purchased two packs of the main papers and improvised.

Tools Used in the making of this album

• Graphic 45 Ocean Blue paper 12″ x 12″ (2),
• Graphic 45 Ocean Blue paper 8″ x 8″ (1) with die cuts and ephemera
• Graphic 45 Ocean Blue Stickers
• NostalgiqueScrap – Ocean Blue Mini Album Tutorial – Etsy
• Graphic 45 Tag Die – Large
• Graphic 45 Tags – Black
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink – Black Soot
• We R Memory Keepers Tab Punch Board
• Striped Ribbon
• Twine
• Linen fabric -1/4 metre.

The Cover

I added an anchor using a Couture Creations die, and layered it by gluing together 4 layers of white 65lb cardstock. I also added a chain that I attached using Aleen’s Jewelry and Metal Adhesive. I found some sea charms and attached them to the chain and also glued them down using the metal adhesive. The fish and starfish were fussy cut from the paper as per the instructions in the tutorial.

I used a linen fabric to cover the spine of the album and added a stick-on from the ‘Sticker’ sheet.

I didn’t add any embellishments to the back cover as I simply wanted to showcase the paper.

On the inside of the cover is a pocket with 3 Graphic 45 tags. I used the Graphic 45 tag die to cut the decorative piece and the black tags as the base.

Page 2 is tied with a ribbon and opens to reveal a tuck spot and places for photos. I love the ‘You Me & the Sea’ ephemera card.

There are lots of interactive spots to place photos. This tuck spot uses a tag and some of the die cuts from the collection.

On the facing page is a nice wide pocket that holds a folder which opens to to reveal more photo spots.

There are two nicely sized photo mats.  I made the tabs with the ‘We R Memory Keepers Tab Punch board. It certainly does a nice job of making the tab tops.

Lift up the page and you reveal another page with a tuck spot and a page with a belly band.  The tag and the belly band have been finished with eyelets and twine to add interest to the page.

On to the next page.

Again this page concertina’s out into more page with lots of photo spots. I added an extra page (in error) and I was going to cut it out but the decided to  use it to create even more photo spots. So that’s what I did. After all there are no mistakes in crafting only creative opportunities.

I just love this paper.

I like this idea of adding the top of a Graphic 45 tag to the ephemera card. It makes it easy to slip in and out of the belly band.

Lots more interactive pages to add photos.

And finally the last page.

Watch the video if you would like to see the whole album.

Don’t forget to check out the tutorial for this album at Nostalgic Scrap on Etsy