Babycakes Binder style Mini Album

I want to share with you a super cute baby album today!  Which is kind of odd, considering my kids are 21 and 19 years old.  I do have a baby album for my daughter, but never got around to making one for my son.  About time, wouldn't you say?  There's no photos in it for this post, because he made me swear I wouldn't splash baby pics of him all over the net.  :)

I decided to use the Close To My Heart Kraft three-ring binder as the base for the album.  I love the 9" x 9" size and the sturdiness of it.  It holds a lot of pages and can be completely customized.   I wanted double-thickness pocket style pages, with a large pocket for photo mats as my base, so I chose to make these from CTMH's Kraft cardstock.  If you prefer you can cut your pages from single sheets of cardstock using the Cricut and the CTMH Artbooking cartridge.  That way you can choose to cut pages in fun shapes or with decorative edges. 

I love the bright colors in the "Babycakes" paper collection, and the stamp set and accessories that match the paper are too cute to resist.  It works well for either a boy or a girl. 

 

The cover has a couple of Babycakes Picture My Life (PML) cards.  They coordinate perfectly with the 12" x 12" paper collection and add fun graphics and journaling spots.  I cut the "M" on my Cricut from sunset cardstock.  It's my son's initial.  I like the simple, graphic appeal of the cover images together.

 

 

 

Each base page is made from two pieces of Kraft cardstock, cut and scored then joined together to make the page.  The inside cover of the book has a small pocket with more PML cards where I can journal special memories. 

 

 

 

 

The first page is a base page with two flip-ups, magnetized to hold them in place.  PML cards provide accents and journaling spots, and there's still room for several photos.

 

I hole-punched each page as I made it, using a template I created from Kraft cardstock.  This ensures each page lines up well with the next. 

 

 

 

The Babycakes complements are perfect for accent pieces.  Here I've popped them off the page using dimensional adhesive, and done the same with a small PML card.  This gives a place to tuck a large card where I can mat a photograph.  This way I get to use both sides of the large card and can even mount another photo on the page itself if I choose too.  The pocket page is created by a process of folding and cutting, then decorated with the paper collection.  It gives me lots of room to put matted photos, journaling cards and memorabilia.

 

 

 

This page on the right is an accordion page, just for funzies.  I like the interactive nature of these pages and it's a little surprise when you open it.  Again, lots of room for photos and words.

 

Simple and cute die-cuts from the complements collection. 

 

 

 

The back of the accordion page is as fun as the front.  Another PML card for memory-keeping lives there. 

 

 

 

 

Two pocket pages here for me to stuff full of photos and memorabilia.  The giraffe and hippo are stamped on Colonial white cardstock and added to the pocket.  The hearts are part of the complements collection. 

 

 

 

I decorated these pages using the diagonal on the left side, to give your eye more to play with.  There is room for two 4" x 4" photos on each of those pages.

 

This page features a simple foldout with a so-cute lion cut with the Artbooking Cricut cartridge and stamped in Sunset ink.

 

The pages with their mix of patterns, colors and sizes makes this little album fun and perfect to showcase baby pictures. 

 

 

 

The last page and the inside back cover have double pockets.  They easily hold several PML cards.  I'm looking forward to recording milestones and memories on them. 

 

 

 

These big mats each fit into one of the large size pages and are double-sided.  Lots of real estate for displaying pictures.  I tabbed them to make it easy to slip them in and out of the pockets.  The album has eight pages in total, with six of them measuring 8" x 8".  There's plenty of room for another half dozen pages if I decide I need more.

 

I had a lot of fun with this album and paper collection and I've chosen most of the photos that will go into it.  I'm also already thinking about what to make with another "naked" binder album waiting in my stash...  Keep checking back with me here.  You never know what's next! 

 

Thanks for stopping by.  Leave me a comment or contact me if you have any questions.  I have an additional post this week showing how I built the base pages for this album and other ones like it.  Cheers!