My Mind's Eye Blog

Mini Albums with Monika - 49 lists

To celebrate the last year I'll ever have in my 40's, insert a very long sigh, I decided to share a bit of who I am, How I feel, what I think and what makes me, me, with my future generations. I doubt that my children will find this very interesting right now, but in years to come, I'm hoping that it will help them to understand who their Mommy was during her 49th year of life. I would love to have had a chance to know how my Mom felt at 49. And most certainly my Oma since she lived all the way in Germany.


Hi all, Monika here with the April edition of Mini Albums with Monika. My theme of 49 lists this month works out just perfectly for me. There are 52 weeks in a year which means I'll be reminded to create a list at least once a week. I'm not quite sure what to title my mini album though and once I decide, I'll proceed with decorating my cover. Any ideas?

I've already journaled 5 list topics...want to take a peek? This type page is a lovely way to hide a more private note.

My journaling card already had the numbers and all I had to do was add the places I've called home in my 49 years. It's hard for me to believe that I've lived 15 years in one place...longest streak ever for me. After removing the book pages, use a variety of Decorative Tapes to cover the spine area and add a few more strips to the back cover as well. See how I've utilized my tapes to signify the number 49 below?

And I just had to include a page from the original book I recycled. Using the library card from the  xxx collection, I created a pocket and added a decorative brad.

One list at a time from now until my next birthday, which will be the big Five-Oh!

Rather than just trimming your paper to the exact size, add a variety of page styles to your mini album project. Knowing that I would be more apt to list each week if my album pages were already trimmed and semi-embellished, I created nearly all my pages at one time. I purposely left room in my album to add additional pages using the new collections as they are released.


I created a Pinterest board a while back and added possible listing ideas as I found them. As I was trimming and creating my pages, I was so happy to find that many of the die cut titles and journaling spots were perfect jumping off points for my listing all on their own.


Here's one to show you how I've semi-embellished a page, inserted a note about a possible list topic and it's all ready for me to journal my thoughts.


By repurposing an old book cover and removing the pages inside, I've created a "new" book with colorful pages and embellishments using a variety of collections from My Mind's Eye.

Download your tutorial with tips and suggestions here.

Materials Used | Collectable: 6x6 Paper Pad, Decorative Stamps, Layered Stickers, Decorative Tape, Tiny Word Stickers, Label Stickers, Memorable, Notable "Memo", "Love This", 

Unforgettable: Die Cut Chipboard Stickers, Decorative Brads "Today", "You Are", "Happiness"  

My Girl: Decorative Stamps, Layered Stickers

Decorative Tape: Yellow + Gray, Green + Navy, Red + Turquoise

Miscellaneous: adhesive, Sharpie, Vellum, upcycled book, book binder rings, my Mom's old Singer sewing machine

Until next month,


Note from Stephanie: Monika will be sending me updates here and there on this project and I'll be sharing them here on the blog. This project is too awesome to only share one time!

Tina Shares a Special Mini Album

Hi!  Tina here today with a special post in honor of Earth Day!  As the world continues to grow and being 'green' becomes more & more important, I thought I'd share a really fun (and super easy) way to 'be green'.

We all have those plastic bags around, right?.  Even if you take your own bags to the store you can acquire a plastic grocery bag here and there...despite your best intentions.

Here's a fun way to use those plastic bags and create memories at the same time!  How perfect is that?

Note: I first discovered this idea in a YouTube video. You can see it HERE!

Thanks so much for the idea, Laura!

Supplies: Collectable-Memorable:6x6 paper pad, 'Hello' Decorative Pins, 'I'm With' Enamel Dots,'Perfect' Tiny Word Stickers, 'Perfect' Die Cut Chipboard Stickers,'Journey' Decorative Brads, 'Note' Layered Stickers,'Journey' Decorative Buttons,'Note' Label Stickers,'I'm With' Decorative Stickers, Decorative Tape,'I'm With' Title,Note' Journal Card, 'Perfect; Journal Card, 'Journey' Title;Decorative Tapes: Red/Turquoise Pink/Orange;MiscSpray Mist:  Studio Calico Paper Clips:  Midori Clothespins:  American Crafts,Metallic Rub:  Viva Ribbon:  Jo Ann Fabrics, Vintage Binder Rings:  Office Max Adhesive: Scrapbook Adhesives foam tape Gesso:  Liquitex



Let's jump right into the process:

Step One:  Gather up some plastic bags.  Each bag will make one 'page', so keep that in mind.

Step Two:  Straighten and flatten the bag and cut both ends off.  (handles and bottom of bag)

Step Three:  Cut out the store logo section of the bag.

Step Four:  Unfold the bag and cut out the additional words from the bag.  (on the right side of the picture)

Step Five:  Flatten out bag.

Step Six:   Fold bag in half.

Step Seven:  Fold bag in half again.

Step Eight:  Fold bag in opposite direction into 3 equal sections.

Step Nine:  Heat iron to Permanent Press setting.

Step Ten & Eleven:  Place folded bag(s) between 2 pieces of paper (from a store bag, parchment paper, or craft paper).  Continually move the iron until plastic begins to melt together.  It took me approx 1-2 minutes per bag to meld the plastic together.

Step Twelve:  Once the bag is completely melted and all air bubbles are removed, remove the plastic bag from between the 2 pieces of paper.  The plastic bag may 'stick' to the paper, so gently peel the bag from the paper.  Please be careful because it will be VERY HOT!

Step Thirteen:  Continue the process until you have created enough 'pages' for your project.

Step Fourteen:  For my mini album, I wanted the pages to be the same size, so I trimmed each page to 3x5 inches.

Step Fifteen:  You can use the pages in this raw form, or you can paint, spray, stamp, etc. as desired.  I wanted to create a soft, water color look, so I applied a coat of gesso to each page.

Step Sixteen:  Once the gesso was dry, I sprayed 2 colors of spray mist to the page and gently wiped off the spray with a paper towel, leaving a soft hue of color.

Step Seventeen:  This is what all of my pages looked like after I sprayed each with spray mist and gently removed the spray.

Step Eighteen:  I wanted to add more glimmer and shine to each page, so I applied silver metallic rub to each page.  I really love how the metallic rub looks in the nooks and crannies of each page.

I finished my mini by adding layered stickers, chipboard elements, brads, decorative tape, enamel dots, and die cuts to each page.  To add even more fun, I layered glassine envelopes with the above product so you can hide more memorabilia and photos in the little pockets.  Binder rings hold my entire mini together with some pretty ribbon and lace.

Super easy, yes?  I would LOVE to see what projects you create with your plastic bags.  It felt so good to take trash and make it a treasure!

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a Happy Earth Day!

Leah Part Two

Welcome back to the blog, everyone! Yesterday we introduced you to Leah Cameron. Leah is our April guest designer and she rocked the MME this month!

Today we are sharing the rest of her projects. Enjoy...and make sure to stop by her blog to say hi. You are sure to find plenty of inspiration there!

 

 

So Very You layout

Supplies:Collectable-Unforgettable: Happiness Decorative Brads; Happiness Cheerful 12x12 paper;   Today stamps; Story Label Stickers; Story Tale 12x12 Paper; Firsts Fresh 12 x12 paper; Firsts Enamel Dots; You Are Tiny Word Stickers;My Girl: Fancy Free 12x12 paper

Ashley says:This layout is based on the March MME Sketch challenge. Sketches are my favourite way to start a layout, although sometimes by the end I am not so sure you can even see the sketch at all! This one, however, has remained very true to the original design. I love the look that a scattering of the enamel dots give to a layout, I think I have these in every colour available!

A tip I have that I used on this layout is if you feel the layered brads are not quite right on your layout, maybe the size is out or the colours don’t suit exactly – don’t be afraid to alter them slightly to suit. In this layout, the largest of the layered brads seemed too big, and the next size down too small. So I simply removed the largest circle of paper from the layered brad and it was perfect.

I also wanted to include a bit more colour in my brad cluster, so I punched a piece of the hexagon patterned paper from the 6x6 Paper Pad and stuck a brad through the middle to make my own layered brad.

 

The Very Best of Alexa Cameron mini album

Supplies:My Girl: 6x6 Designer Paper Pad; Chipboard Elements; Decorative Tape; Decorative Stamps; Sticker Accessory Sheet; Genuine 12x12 paper;Collectable-Unforgettable:Today Stamps;Collectable-Remarkable:Beautiful Stamps;Decorative Tape: Red and Turquoise

Leah says: The 6x6 Designer Paper Pads are perfect for mini album projects. For this mini album I simply cut some thin chipboard into 6x4 page sizes and adhered patterned paper to each side to make the foundation for my pages. Using this size makes it simple to simply cut 2” off one side of the 6x6 page to fit the 6x4 album.

I printed out some of my favourite photos of my youngest daughter Alexa from 2012 to feature in this album, I have done this in previous years and it is great to be able to go back in years to come and see how much she has changed.

 I used my vast collection of border punches to decorate edges, along with the gorgeous decorative tapes that match in so well with the bright colours in the My Girl collection. The smaller paper pads have the same patterns as the larger 12x12 sheets, but scaled down so they work beautifully for mini albums.

I also made use of the stamp sets from other collections in this project – I love how versatile the stamps are. I have used just the edge of the ruler stamp to border one page, and used the dashed border stamp as a curvy butterfly trail on another.

Leah- Thank you so much for your beautiful and crative work with MME this month. We couldn't be happier with your projects !

Mini Albums with Monika...Ephemera+Scraps=One Perfect Mini

This has been the coldest Spring I can remember in years and years, we even had snow on Monday, but that hasn't stopped me from dreaming about warmer weather and being outdoors with my girls. Hello friends, it's time again for Mini Albums with Monika and today we're going to make our very own mini album together. 

Supplies:Collectable-Notable: "Silly" Cheery paper;Collectable-Unforgettable: "Story" Label Stickers and "Today" Decorative Stamps;Collectable-Memorable: "Perfect" Tiny Word Stickers, My Girl: "Genuine" paper, Decorative Buttons, Decorative Brads, Decorative Tape, Enamel Dots;Other: seam binding, adhesive, Fiskars 3/16" hole punch, Stampin' Up! ink

And what's great about this album is that you can easily recreate the same look with either the My Girl or Boy Crazy collections that we're all in love with. Each of the collections have the same designs, just in different color ways and are interchangeable with one another if you happen to have one spunky little girl that loves blue more than pink, like I do.

let's get started

Hopefully this works!

There's a download with a supply list and cutting tutorial at the end of the post for you, so I'll just share photos with you here. If you have any questions about anything at all, leave them in the comments and I'll answer them for you there.

journaling cards + decorative brads

You've created your pages and tags, so here's where the real fun begins. I'm using the right page for photos and the left side holds the pocket we made with our journaling cards. I trimmed the photo somewhat like an elongated Polaroid and added a label sticker and chipboard element to that wide white strip. 

For the tag, after adhering the pattern paper tab, I popped a decorative brad on top, stamped my sentiment and then my journaling beneath a strip of decorative tape.

Here, you can see how I added the border strip to the pocket.

tiny word stickers

That's right, I used a whole slew of tiny word stickers to jump start my journaling! Then, just so she knows how perfect we know she is, I added more tiny word stickers to the right page. Notice that on this page, I'm showing that you don't have to use journaling cards for the pocket. Use the same concept, outlined in the tutorial download, with pattern paper.

DESIGN TIP  |  I printed this "photo strip" on one 4x6 photo and then trimmed the two rows and added them as one strip. I was kinda too lazy to pull out the 8x10 paper, so I cheated.

stamps + buttons

I am wild about bracket-shaped anything and there just happens to be a perfectly delightful stamp in the Collectable Unforgettable "Today" set...perfect for so much, but especially for journaling! Because I used a muted filter on my photo, I felt the right side needed fun pops of color, which was accomplished with more decorative tape, buttons and an enamel dot. 

felt stickers

I always decorate the cover last, just in case I change my focus along the way while I'm creating the inside pages. I create without a plan, a sketch or any preconceived ideas, I just pull stuff out and let 'er rip.

Download your supply list and dimensions,etc.  HERE.

and photo tutorial HERE (part one)

and HERE (part two).

I'm happy to answer any questions you may have, just leave a comment and I'll reply there.

Note to Spring...where are you?

Mini Albums with Monika...Ephemera+Scraps=One Perfect Mini

Monika here for this month's mini album feature and I thought I would show you how to take a handful of ephemera, scraps of paper, patterned cardstock and less than perfect photos and make them into a fun, interactive documentation of a moment in time. 

When my husband asked me to join him for a long weekend in Nashville, he was already there on business, I said "Yes!" Then we went to work coordinating school pick-ups and overnights with Nana and Papa. But, it was all worth it. Totally worth it. Totally.

Supplies:  Collectable Notable "Memo" Documented, "Silly" Cheery Paper, Unforgettable "You Are" Die Cut Chipboard Stickers, "Today" Decorative Stamps and "Firsts" Enamel Dots, Six by Six Designer Paper Pad, "Smile" Layered Stickers, "Remarkable" Authentic Tiny Word Stickers, Unforgettable "Today" Decorative Pins, Memorable "I'm With..." Die Cut, Memorable "Journey Decorative Brads  |  Yellow & Grey Decorative Tape Set  |  Six by Six Paper Pads Life of the Party, Gnome Sweet Gnome, The Sweetest Thing Tangerine, Lime Twist Fly A Kite, On the Sunny Side  |  Miscellaneous: Adhesives, Stampin' Up Inks and Dies, Sizzix Big Shot and Dies, Sharpie Pens, Studio Calico Wood Accents, Chipboard, Tags and Labels from Craft Supply

When making a junk journal like this, as they are often called, I begin by choosing a handful of coordinating patterned papers that share common colors. Next, I choose a variety of patterns that include florals, stripes, bold patterns, subtle patterns that might also include contrasting colors.

Don't let anything go to waste...use your scraps to punch shapes. I just love using journaling cards as pages in my mini albums and almost always use the back sides to journal.

This mini book is full of imperfect photos and on this page, I used my "a good day"stamped sentiment to cover the spot where the lamp light was just a big white blob...now you barely notice it!

Again, an imperfect photo, but my husband finally agreed to let me ask another couple to take our photo because I couldn't find a good spot to prop my camera to do it ourselves. And one word says it all. HAPPY.


I love this page. Love the peekaboo element. Llove the shape of the heart. Love the striped paper and the way the arrow points down to the wood cutouts. Crush!



more TIPS

+  Use chipboard sandwiched between your two pieces of patterned paper for stability, paying special attention to the direction of your patterns when preparing to die cut your shapes.

+  Utilize the negative shapes from the chipboard pieces as page elements. I happen to love a chunky, layered mini album with a variety of shapes and sizes to the pages. Somehow, it makes it all the more interesting for me.

+  Decorative tape, mini staples, twine and pins are all fantastic alternatives to traditional adhesives when attaching ephemera to your pages.

+  Make your journaling cards, word stickers and layered stickers work for you in creating pages that are uniquely yours. Not every page has to include journaling or a photo, a mix of techniques and a little white space are good design elements.

+  It's okay to include everyday items like receipts, tickets, menu's, coffee cup sleeves and room keys in your mini album. That's what makes them so fun!


I hope you are all learning to love mini albums as much as I do as I just adore sharing here with you each month. Now go be crafty!

Mini Albums with Monika..."Our Story"

Do you have a story? Do you have an "our" story? 

Supplies:Lost & Found 3-Ruby:Honeycomb patterned paper,Red Fan patterned paper,Medallion patterned paper,Doily patterned paper,6x6 paper pad,adornments,enamel dots,sticker accessory sheet,chipboard elements;Misc:paper doily, satin ribbon, adhesive

I'm lucky to share a story with my Mr. wRight and for this month's Mini Albums with  Monika feature I'll show you a way for you to share your story in a not-to-sweet/more masculine version of a mini album. I'm highlighting one of my favorite collections, Lost & Found 3 Ruby, on which I have a serious crush...especially this Honeycomb paper. I only have one sheet left, boo hoo!

|  pocket page tutorial download found at end of the post  |

Using the chipboard elements and sticker accessory sheet, I was able to create and tell my story in a way that had me smiling all the way through this project. Did you see the enamel dots I used to check off the memory checklist?

You'll see that my first page serves as not only a pocket but also as my "cover." I decided to add a white paper doily under the pink doily sticker and two chipboard elements so that the word forever just pops out. The white just drew my eye to the forever arrow.

The two lower photos show more options on using the sticker doilies from the Lost & Found 3 Ruby sticker accessory sheet by using layered stickers and chipboard on the pink doily on the left and a metal frame from the Adornments pack. Yes, I did use more enamel dots, instead of brads, on the metal frame...how could I resist?

DESIGN TIP  |  Layer, layer, layer. Forget about hoarding your goodies, just use them. I find that layering my stickers and papers and chipboard elements help them to not get lost on my patterned paper. If I had just placed the 'Our Story' metal adornment on my pocket page, it would have been lost in a see of stripes. But now, going from the larger pink doily sticker to the medium butterfly sticker and then to the Our Story metal adornment lets one see that the focus of this page is meant to be, drawing the eye in.

The strips of paper behind the 'One Fine Day' chipboard element are scraps I trimmed when making the pocket pages. Just trim them into a banner shape, curl up the ends a bit and adhere. Nothing wasted here, that's for sure!

Wondering how I adhered the pocket pages together?

Line up your pages bottom to top and add a length of decorative tape and trim. Voila...you've bound your mini album.

TUTORIAL  |  We'll create each of our mini album pockets with one sheet of 12x12 paper. Here are the score lines to get you started. I tend to score on the side of the paper that will not be showing on my project.

Here's how you'll construct and create your pocket pages. Just click on the image to enlarge or drag it to your desktop and save for future use.

JOURNALING CARDS |  After trimming the 6x6 paper from your mini pad to 5x6, choose your favorite stickers to embellish the paper and add your journaling before slipping it inside the pocket. Here's what I chose and you'll see that I've placed stickers so that I can journal around them and incorporate them into "our" story.

DESIGN TIP |  To keep my pockets and journaling pages under control, I wrapped the whole project with some satin ribbon to which I adhered a chipboard element. Love how the MME chipboard elements and stickers help to jump start my creativity and help me tell my story.

Here's how I created the fancy ribbon tie I used for my mini album. I first removed the adhesive back from the chipboard and adhered it to a scrap of the Honeycomb paper that I created my first pocket with. You'll then add adhesive to your ribbon and adhere it to the paper. You can now   wrap it around your mini album which is ready to gift to your very special Valentine!

Find more Mini Albums with Monika features to get you in the crafty mood!

And here are the downloads of the pages above for your reference!

POCKET PAGES TUTORIAL

TRIM AND SCORE SHEET

If you have time, stop by my blog today, I'll have a little bonus project to share with you!

Mini Albums with Monika..."Right Now"

We're just days away from a brand new year, can you believe it?

Greetings...I'm so excited to share another Mini Albums with Monika project today.

A few years ago, I recorded answers to the same questions every month for a year...similar to the "currently" journaling prompts we've all seen around.

Fun project to do and even more fun to look back to read what was on my mind back then. I thought it was time to do this project again, so let me share with you my process and the mini album page download, which you'll find at the end of the post.

Supplies The Sweetest Thing-Honey:Love patterned paper, 'One of a Kind' layered stickers, Lost and Found 3-Ruby:chipboard elements;Indie Chic:'Hanging Out ' decorative tape,Misc: sewing machine and thread, glue stick, spiral binding machine and o-wires, raw chipboard

When I create a mini album project, I nearly always design the cover last. Once I began my search for goodies to embellish the front cover, the chipboard piece "Tell Me All About It" seemed just the perfect title for this collection of "right now" thoughts.

You might notice that I added a chipboard arrow to cover the title that was already on the layered sticker. A little machine stitching (in red) highlights the red spiral binding and the red in the chipboard arrow that points to the title.

I'm still crushing on the decorative tape trend and I chose the gold polka dot tape to enhance the gold from the layered sticker embellishment on the front cover. For the back cover, a little more decorative tape to add a bit of interest. If you don't have a binding machine, use binder rings instead.

Supplies:The Sweetest Thing-Honey:Love patterned paper,'One of a Kind' layered stickers,Lost and Found 3-Ruby:chipboard elements

See those blank blocks at the top and bottom of the mini album page? Here's how I decided to kick it up a notch...add more MME paper to the project!

I printed enough pages to record my thoughts for two years, but left some pages unembellished so that I can add other MME collections to my mini album as new collections are released.

 

DESIGN TIP | When adding paper that needs to fit within a block, my go-to adhesive is a glue stick, which gives me just a bit of time to wiggle the paper around until it's in just the position it needs to be in.

Supplies Lost & Found 3-Ruby:Floral patterned paper,Lost & Found 3-Oliver:Mixed Floral patterned paper;The Sweetest Thing -Honey: 'Perfect' Flawless patterned paper;The Sweetest Thing-Tangerine: 'Happy' Sunny patterned paper, 'Hello' Wishes patterned paper;The Sweetest Thing-Lavender:'Reasons Why' Swatch patterned paper,'Fabulous' Berries patterned paper;Lucky in Love:Multi Stripe patterned paper

Here's another peek at the Right Now mini book and the link to the mini album page template for you to download. Just print the file on your favorite 8.50 x 11 piece of cardstock and trim to size. 

I would adore seeing how you used the download for your own mini album project posted to our Facebook page, so please share!

For some reason we can not get the download to work today. Just CLICK HERE if it isn't working for you below!

Mini Albums with Monika...Perpetual Calendar

Good morning, everyone! This is Monika here with my monthly mini album feature.Let's jump start our organization and get ready for 2013 with this month's mini album post.

Today I'm here with a fun and easy mini album, which has so many possibilities.

It could be a perpetual calendar - you'll finally have one place to jot down all your birthdays and anniversaries.

It could be a gift guide - write down your awesome ideas while you think of them so you won't forget all of the great ideas you have!

It could even be a brag book for the  grandparents with photos of their precious grandchildren - separated out by month so they have a time capsule of how they've grown.

I've used a planner similar to this one in the past, with just 3 pockets, and I used it for my Christmas lists. I added my grocery lists and recipe cards in one pocket and receipts went inside an envelope in the 3rd pocket. See, such a versatile little planner.

The pocket pages can be designed to be as large or small as you wish. Play around with some scraps to decide if you'd like a shorter page, a deeper pocket, a narrower mini book. The graph papers are held together with decorative brads and are a stylish way to write a few notes and reminders.

If you decide to use the planner as a brag book, make your pages a bit smaller and it will hold your 4x6 snapshots and fit into Grandma's purse!

And here's a short tutorial for you...

1. Gather 14 of your favorite My Mind's Eye patterned papers {I'll have a month-by-month supply list in a download at the end of the post} - 2 will be for front and back covers and 12 will be for the monthly pocket pages.
2. Trim your 12 monthly papers to 12x12 - by removing the border strip on each page. 
3. Score all 12 monthly pocket pages at 6", flip the paper and then score again at 9". Fold the narrow side up first, then flip and fold over the wider side next. NOTE | You'll want to fold up your favorite side of the paper,which forms your pocket, as the inside pattern will not be as visible.
4. Trim your graph paper, if you decide to include those inside your and attach with a coordinating My Mind's Eye brad. Mine are sized to 5" wide x 8" tall.
5. I punched my holes at 1.50" from the top edge and 1.50" from the bottom edge. Punching your holes before embellishing the pages is a good idea, especially if you like to add layers. If it's too chunky, you won't be able to punch your holes to bind your mini album.
6. Embellish your front  and back covers.
7. Embellish monthly pocket pages.
8. Pat yourself on the back for being one organized, crafty Mama!

I've included a few scoring and folding notes in the PDF this month...I'm a visual person and pictures are always helpful to me. 

Happy Holidays! I hope you'll be inspired to jumpstart your 2013 organization plan.

Click below to download the PDF!

Mini Albums with Monika...Gratitude Journal (and a Giveaway!!!)

Hey everyone! This is Monika and I'm here with the November edition of my series Mini Albums With Monika.

 For the past several years, I have been keeping a Gratitude Journal. Several of my journals have been making the rounds on Pinterest, but if you're unfamiliar with what a Gratitude Journal is, it's very simple. I construct a mini book made from my pretty paper scraps adding in journaling spots and other interesting bits of paper items.

Then, each day, I record a short sentence about something in my day that made me smile or reminded me of the blessings in my life. Granted, there are also days when it is difficult to see goodness because I am frustrated, so I have also recorded those thoughts as well. And if I skip a day or two, that's okay. 

Know this, you will be doubly blessed when you read over your grateful thoughts at a later date. I have looked back over my journal from this year and I recorded thoughts that I had forgotten about until I reread them.

That alone is worth the few moments I take to slow down and think about what made me smile that day.

Supplies:Lost & Found 3-Ruby: Doily patterned paper,chipboard elements,sticker accessory sheet,stamps, decorative tape,6x6 pad;Lost & Found 3-Oliver: Yellow Honey patterned paper, Mixed Floral patterned paper,Collage patterned paper,6x6 pad,stamps,adornments,decorative tape,chipboard elements; Lucky in Love:patterned papers,6x6 pad;4x6 Accessories Pad;All is Bright-6x6 paper pad;Winter Wonderland:6x6 paper pad;Six by Six 2: My Favorite Things, Quilting Bee, Come Away with Me, A Mother's Love, School Daze

Now let the fun begin! I began by going through my paper collection and searching out scraps, then quickly moved on to my larger sheets of paper that had interesting design elements already incorporated into the design or that had a fun pattern on one side and a rather subdued pattern on the other side allowing my journaling to be seen.

You'll also want to grab several handfuls of journaling cards, tags and other items that can be adhered to those pages that have an overall design that complicate journaling directly on your patterned paper. 

Low on journaling cards? Let's make your own!

You could use almost any notebook to record your grateful thoughts, sure, but my reasoning is that with a journal as cute and inspiring as this one, who wouldn't want to sit down and flip through all that gorgeous paper to write?

Make plans to raid your paper stash and begin creating your journal today!

Here are some photos to inspire you to create. :)
And now the part you have all been waiting for...I'm thrilled to share with you that My Mind's Eye is giving away this very Gratitude Journal to one lucky commenter. All you have to do is share a simple thought with us of one thing you're grateful for in your life.

I'll start...How lovely it is to have a husband that prepares breakfast each and every Sunday for our family...his biscuits are WAY better than mine ever hoped to be!

Contest is open internationally...comments remain open until Monday,November 5. One winner will be chosen and posted on Tuesday,November 6.

I'm so grateful that you stopped by to read today. Hope you are staying safe and warm in this crazy weather.

P.S. I've created a PDF for all of you with some Gratitude Journal tips and ideas. Just save and print or drag and drop....enjoy!

Mini Albums with Monika...All Hallow's Eve

Hello spooky friends, Monika here with you today.

Beware...searching for Halloween photos of your little munchkins, who are not so little anymore, may result in a lot of happy memories and perhaps even a few tears shed causing your project to take  just a bit longer than anticipated. Don't say I didn't warn you.:)

My goal in creating this mini book was to have some of my favorite Halloween photos all in one place, especially since we try to make costumes last for more than one year and then do the hand-me-down routine. Fun to see the same costume year after year, sometimes on the same child, sometimes on a different one!

Supplies: Lost & Found Halloween: all papers, accessory sheet, chipboard elements, layered stickers;The Sweetest Thing-Tangerine:decorative tapes;All is Bright:twine;Misc:kraft bags,kraft paper,adhesive,pop dots,binder rings,Crop-o-Dile,hole punch,manila shipping tags,sewing machine and thread,chipboard,die cutting machine

The opening spread has the Fairy Godmother greeting her precious babies on Halloween afternoon. Cute right? I added the journaling, "cuteness lurks within" to the spooky skeleton head layered sticker.

You'll notice that the Costume Crazy page above has a foldover. After adhering the paper to my chipboard, I noticed that the leftover would make a perfect little flap.

I scored it, folded it over, rounded the corners and punched a shape into the flap so that I could add a chipboard element in that negative space and added the date banner, which is adhered to the flap.

This next page shows my now almost 21-year old son as a 5 year old on the left side and as a high school Junior on the right.

I actually snapped a photo of the original photo of my little buckaroo {taken before the digital age} with my iPhone and printed it instead of scanning. And, because I printed it as a small photo, it's not a bad alternative.

As memory keepers, we all know how important it is to include the perspective of people other than ourselves.

I embellished some 4x6 index cards with decorative tape and goodies from the layered stickers, which will serve as pull tabs, so that the girls can draw or write their impressions in their own handwriting and there's still room to add more goodies inside the bag if we want to.

I have a photo of my husband applying make-up to my son's {Dracula} face that I'll be adding to the back of the kraft bag.

Here, I mitered the edges of the decorative tape to serve as a frame for the patterned paper. The right side waits for photos of future Halloween memories.

By adding twine to the BOO layered stickers, I created a pennant banner {left side} and using my Mom's old Singer, I sewed a pocket page and added some shipping tags with more twine and die cuts from the accessory sheet so the girls could write or draw here as well.

To form the pocket page, just fold over your cardstock and stitch around the three sides. If you don't own a machine, you can either hand stitch by punching holes first and then hand sewing... or merely use your favorite adhesive to form the pocket.

Here we have scary Uncle Chad and our cute little superheroes.

Yes, we recycle costumes and keep our fingers crossed that they fit for more than one year. Bonus of having two girls? One costume gets triple usage!

Good Witch | Bad Witch

Eldest Cinderella daughter was so not wanting her photo taken with her baby Cinderella sister, so I added the witch chipboard element. When she gets older, I'll explain why...you should just see the photos I haven't included here. And the right side has more space for me to add another Halloween memory.

If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them in the comments! So, have you ever made a Halloween mini book?

DESIGN NOTE | When creating a mini book, I don't discard scraps until the absolute end. It's with scraps that I created the cover of my mini book, adhering the strips to chipboard and then die cutting the scallop shaped page before adding my chipboard elements. Most of the pages in this mini book have cardstock adhered to chipboard because I knew that the weight of the chipboard and photos might be a bit bulky, especially when the kids start flipping the pages.