Featuring Ali Edwards │ July Projects

Hello there! I hope you are all having a nice summer, I can't believe tomorrow is August already. July seemed to fly by while we stayed home for most of it.

I wanted to share my July projects I made using Ali Edwards kits and products with you. First up is a pocket page spread I made using the August Stories by the Month kit. I loved the mix of blues and greens and used the kit to document a really short 24 hour stay in San Francisco last year.

Next up is a full 9x12 layout that I made to slip into my pocket page album and I used the Roam Story Kit for this. I loved all of the embellishments in this kit and it will be perfect to add to my supplies for travel. The colors were gorgeous and I had fun playing with a stack of chipboard and banner strips down the left of my photo.

Lastly is a notebook spread I made using the July Digital Stories by the Month kit. I resized and recolored the journaling card on the right so the colors would match the fade on the left and I love how this turned out. The center image on the right lifts up and has another photo and my story.

I hope August is a great month for you and I'll be back to share some more things in the next few days.

Take care,

Travel Mini Album │ Portland

A few weeks ago I shared a brief glimpse into a travel mini album that I made so today I wanted to share the whole thing with you. Last month my Mom and I took a trip to Portland for a few days. Its a relatively short flight for me being in California and my Mom lives in Oregon so it was the perfect place for us to meet up for a little getaway.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission if you make a purchase using the links below. There is no additional cost to you if you use these links.

This album came together super quickly which is always a bonus for a mini album. The longer they take the less I want to make them so tackling these kinds of small and quick projects is totally my jam these days. Links to all the places I visited will be at the end of this post.

While my Mom and I were out shopping we stopped into one of my favorite Portland stores, Oblation Papers & Press. This store has a working letterpress inside and its always fun to watch them work. While I was there I picked up a super cool folded envelope from the company Envelopments that I thought would be a great page for my upcoming December Daily® album. However, the more I looked at it the more I also thought it would be a great cover for a mini album. I will share a detailed diagram of how I made the cover below but I wanted to make sure I shared where my cover inspiration came from. These envelopes are beautifully made and the shimmery gold envelope I bought is so pretty.

Here's a look at the folded up complete album. I love how contained it is and I can totally see myself replicating this system again for sure.

Inside the front cover and inside the pocket are typed up journaling notes for each day of our trip. This is something I've done for several mini albums in the past and I like to have my notes in one central area of the album so I can look back on them years from now and read all of the detail. I don't typically like to do heavy journaling inside mini albums and this is a way for me to do that without having to do all the journaling on each page.

Here you can also see what the base of the album is. Its super simple. I used 10 sheets of plain white cardstock that I cut down to roughly 10x7 inches. I used my We R Memory Keepers score board to score down the middle of each of the sheets and then used my long arm stapler to staple the pages in the middle. I did trim up the edges so they were all even using a rotary cutter. This part of the process is hard with the cardstock and its typically easier to do when its just paper.

For the cover of the actual album I used stamps from Kelly Purkey Shop, the hexagon stamp is from the Home Sweet Home kit stamp set and the alpha is the Lexington Alpha Stamp. The ink colors I used are Hero Arts Shadow Ink in Lime Green and Studio Calico Color Theory ink in Clear Blue.

In the Kelly Purkey shop latest release she had a stamp set in her Admit One Travelers Notebook kit that you can use to make custom tickets. There was also a companion alpha stamp to give you even more customization options. For the album I made a ticket for each travel day and clipped them to one of the photos. I love how these tickets turned out and I loved how they looked clipped to the photo. I replicated that a few more times in the album because I love interactive elements in my mini albums, even if its just a lift and reveal type item. I find that the more you have to interact with the album the more you will actually slow down and look at all of it.

The carpet at the PDX airport is pretty famous. Sadly the original carpet was all torn out and replaced a few years ago but its always a fun photo op when you pass thru that airport. The element on my photo on the left was added thru the Instagram Stories geo tag feature and I loved it so I made sure to add it to my photo and save it while I was there. On the right I clipped an image of the carpet to an image of the state of Oregon to creating a clipping mask. I printed it out and fussy cut around it and used some pop dots to elevate it off the page. I added in a simple title using Kelly Purkey's 4x6 White Mini Alpha Stickers. I love these stickers!! A must have item in my stash for sure.

I typically like to be fairly consistent with my mini albums so if I do something for one day, I will do the same thing again for the next day. I decided to type up on a simple sheet of note pad paper all of the things we did that day so I didn't have to do a lot of individual journaling and I love how they turned out. I added in more stamping using the Lexington Alpha stamp set and added in some washi tape in coordinating colors. I didn't worry too much about my typing being perfect. That's not typically how I roll but for this I just let it happen, mistakes and all. On the right side I dressed up my photo with a stamp from Kelly's Home Sweet Home kit. I loved how the sentiments on that stamp set could be used for travel photos too.

The best thing about the Ace Hotel in Portland is the way the rooms are decorated. They are so unique and cool and provided lots of photo opportunities. I layered a bit of paper from the notepad they leave in the room and added more stamping from the Home Sweet Home kit directly on my photo. I wanted to share several photos from the hotel but I didn't want to dedicate a lot of pages to the mini album so I stacked several and stuck them down with washi tape so you could flip thru the photos.

Here's a super cute pic of my super cute Mom at lunch at Deschutes. The coaster is just stuck down to the page and the stamp I used is an older stamp from Kelly Purkey, its all about beer so that one gets used a lot. The Mom stamp is also Kelly's but it has also been discontinued. And yes I wrote the wrong date, ugh.

Powell's Books is always worthy of a stop and the shelves and shelves of books are so fun to look thru. The bookmark I added to my page is old it was from a trip I took a few years ago but I used it because it was orange and it matched that rubber piece from an old Studio Calico kit.

We went to the movies at a super cool theatre by the hotel and I didn't really take any pictures but I saved the tickets and printed a photo from online of the movie poster. The stamps are older Kelly Purkey stamps.

The start of Wednesday's adventures with a repeat of the page above. That mural by the artist Faith47 is always a must to walk by and snap a picture of. Stunning.

I saved all of the bags I got if I made a purchase and cut down all that I could to use as bases for either photos to be clipped or in this case a business card. Alder & Co. is such a beautiful store. The flowers are always amazing. I added in a simple chipboard element and puffy sticker to my photo. Nice and simple.

Another interactive photo flip for a stop at Schoolhouse Electric. Serious home inspo at this place, my Mom loved it.

We couldn't visit The Collage store location that I wanted to because it was being renovated but we met the owner and she directed us to another location. It was a super fun store to walk thru. A simple little flip element added because I wanted to save the screen shot from my facetime session with the family. I was soaking wet which you cant really see in the photo but I will always remember getting caught in the rain when I see that photo years from now.

Added in a simple image of something I bought while I was at Collage and a postcard of a rainy Portland.

You have to eat at Cheese and Crack if you go to Portland. Especially if your an hors d'oeuvre lover, its finger food at its finest. Adding some simple stamping to the photo and a little puffy heart to keep it simple.

I saved a few of the lobby photos to add to other pages and here is one I took from the loft landing looking down on the common space. 

Blue Star Donuts is better than Voodoo if you are looking for something a bit more gourmet. I still love Voodoo for the offbeat and fun take on traditional donuts but my Mom wanted to try something new so Blue Star won this trip. More photo stamping with word strips and a puffy star for embellishment.

Clipped business cards is my new jam. 

There's a really cool app called This. and I love how you can label photos with it. I mimiced that look on my own in Photoshop so I could label the donut flavors on my pic. The Lemon Poppyseed is the BEST if you are curious. The Stumptown Coffee is pretty damn good too.

Oblation Paper is the place I mentioned above where I bought the inspo envelope. Please visit this place if you ever end up in Portland. They have really lovely cards and paper goods.

They also have a collection of really cool typewriters and you get to watch them Letterpress while you shop.

Porch Light is a place I had never been and it ended up being one of my favorite stops. They gave out super cute printed cards that you can see peeking out that listed all the near by local stores, restaurants and coffee shops, etc. I love how they wanted to share the love to other places, good on them. On a side note I've never bought a bottle of perfume on vacation before but from now on this scent will always remind me of Portland.

On the last day I hardly took any photos but I did get a photo of me and Mom to add in to the book.

For the very last page I added in an image I took when I got home of some of the treasures I brought home. Flat lay images are super fun and I think I'll do this on every trip going forward. Its a fun way to include those mementos.

That's it for the album contents. I really love how this one turned out, and I know I always say that but I really do love it.

Since I had already put together my album I recreated it for you so I could share how it came together. Its a lot easier than it may seem. The first thing you need to decide is what size you want the inside album to be. I wanted the pages of my album to be 5x7 so I knew that the outside cover need to be larger than that to fold over the finished album.

Supplies
3 - 12x12 sheets of cardstock
Clear Velcro dots
Adhesive
Ruler

Because my album cover was going to be wider than 12" when open I needed to create the cover in two parts. I did the measurements based off of my 5x7 album and here is what I used. The front left flap of the album is 10 1/2" wide by 7 5/16" tall. I scored two lines from 5" in to the left edge leaving a 1/2" gap between. The original cover I made that you see in the images above only had 1/4" scored lines and it ended up being too tight when the album was done so I replaced it with this one that I'm showing here. You need to account for the thickness of the completed book which I didn't realize would be as thick as it was when I was done.

For the front right side of the cover you need to cut a piece of cardstock 9" wide by 7 5/16" tall and score two more lines from 5" in that are spaced 1/2" apart. I also cut an angle into the front flap like the envelope sample I was using. You can also leave it straight, its up to you.

For the pocket you need to cut a piece that is roughly the same size as the inside front but add in about 1/2" around the edge that you can cut and score so you have something to adhere down.

When its time to assemble you place Cover Part B on top of Cover Part A lining up the left edge of Cover Part B with the right hand scored line of Cover Part A. Fold the edges of your pocket down, add adhesive to the under side and line up the edges.

One the album is complete add in the velco dots and close up the album. I added in a piece of flare on top of the outer cover just to create a closure. I removed the pin portion of the flare and used three layers of foam tape to stick it down. Its holding up beautifully so I don't think it will pop off.

I've been asked to also share some of my favorite Portland Places so I wanted to list them here for you too.

Places to Stay
The Ace Hotel Portland

Places to Eat
Cheryl's on 12th, great for a quick breakfast
Jake's Seafood, Super old school with great Bar service
Piazza Italia, make a reservation
Blue Star Donuts
Stumptown Coffee, sip a cup in Ace Lobby and people watch, so fun.
Clyde Common, in the Ace Hotel for drinks
Cheese and Crack
Salt & Straw 
Deschutes Brewery

Places to Shop
Oblation Paper and Press
Porch Light
Powell's Books
Alder & Co.
Made Here PDX
Schoolhouse Electric Company
Collage 
Lark Press
Ecru Modern Stationer

If you made it this far, you get a GOLD MEDAL! Thanks for being here. I appreciate you.

Micro Mini Travel Album │ Evergreen Lodge Yosemite

My families love of Evergreen Lodge has been well documented over the years here on this blog. We go there year round and its just as good in the winter as it is in the summer but summer has a special place in my heart because we get to hang out at the pool. If you ever have a chance to visit Yosemite National Park and need a place to stay, we highly recommend it.

My husband and I went this past March just the two of us and I made a mini album of that trip for a special class over at Elle's Studio. I spoke about that project in this post here. That album ended up being a favorite of mine so I knew it would be fun to do another one that I could share completely here on the blog. About a week before we left I got an email from Field Notes Brand sharing the new Campfire notebook set. The notebooks are 3.5" x 5.5" tall and have 48 grid pages in each notebook. I immediately thought of this trip and decided to order them to use as my album base. It ended up being the perfect size to document a quick trip. I decided to use the middle album called Night. Each album has a different color inside and the grid matches that color. The color inside Night is orange and since I'm on an orange kick lately it ended up being the perfect match.

My supplies for this project were pretty minimal. I built a lot of the pages around a set of digital printable cards from an older Studio Calico collection called Adventure. And I also added in some cards from In A Creative Bubble, gold dot washi tape, assorted puffy stickers, some rubber elements, some gold glittery stars, a few clips and that's about it. I'll link up to anything that I can as I go page by page.

Here is a look at the inside of the notebook. I love the attention to detail Field Notes Brand has. Their humor is pretty spot on too. For the first page I printed one of the cards from the Studio Calico set onto vellum and traced over one of the inset lines with a Heidi Swapp Minc pen and ran it thru the Minc machine to add in a little bit of gold foiling.

Here's a better look at the gold foiling.

For the first spread I used a journaling card from the Spring Break set from In A Creative Bubble. I used another card from this set later in the album too. I added in the washi tape, an old rubber element that I think was from Studio Calico and a large photo.

As you will see I printed a lot of my photos large size, some span two pages and then I printed some small, just to vary up the sizes so it doesn't get boring. I set up a template in Photoshop Elements with the exact size measurement making it just a bit smaller so it didn't go all the way to the edge. This helps in two ways, 1) it kept me from agonizing if my edges were straight and perfect and 2) it allowed the pages to turn easier since they didn't fit tight into the binding of the notebook. I used a really old Teresa Collins Zutter Round It All to trim my corners. I love that cutter. I'm not sure if its still available but that thing cuts corners like a dream and I use it a lot. Plus it was a pretty good match to the rounded corners of the notebook.

Our love of road trip snacks had to be documented. This card is from an older free set from Digital Design Essentials and I don't think its available anymore but she is selling cards in an Etsy Store and her designs are some of my favorite. I added in some text before I printed it and then a puffy sticker from an old Amy Tangerine set. The gold clip is old from Studio Calico.

Here is another card from the In A Creative Bubble set that I linked to above. The puffy sticker is old from Studio Calico. I used two large wood veneer stickers in this album. They came from the gift shop at the Evergreen Lodge and they were made for them by a company called Dust City Wood Stickers. These things are so cool. They have super strong adhesive and you can even stick them to the outside of water bottles. These were custom made for the Lodge so you can only get them there but they have some other really awesome designs on their website.

I didn't want to dedicate a whole page to the sticker so I opted to make a little page of vellum that I cut to match the size of the photo underneath. I made sure to leave a little edge that I could fold behind my photo and then stick down. This way it flips open to expose the photo underneath as you can see in the next image.

Here is my first photo that spans two pages, I did this for a few images that I really wanted to call importance too. I added in some digital text before printing using a brush script digital alpha from Studio Calico. I added in a few gold glitter stars and it was done.

Another old journaling card that I modified a bit leaving room for a washi strip and a black puffy star and I used another one of the gold clips used like a flag to fill in some space.

I decided not to add text to every photo in the album so in a few cases I would type up my journaling on one card that referenced the photos that would come behind it and left it at that. It ended up being a perfect way to let the photos tell the story and keep it more simple.

Here is the other wood veneer sticker with the same folded vellum treatment. I really love this one because the nightly s'mores is such fun part of staying at this place.

Probably my favorite photo in the whole album. I added in a simple phrase sticker that is from an old A Beautiful Mess box and a gold star.

This is a journal card from the Studio Calico Adventure set that I linked above. More washi and a simple die cut. I wasn't sure how to work these four photos into this page so I printed one large, made a photo strip of the other three sized to fit inside the book and just clipped it in with a paper clip. I like the varying sizes here.

Simple spread with a tiny bit of journaling. I cut up the park map to add in a small section to the album.

I made this journaling card using a digital element from Paislee Press from the new Scenic Route collection and another old A Beautiful Mess word strip.

Here I added in a bit of text on the photo before printing and used more washi and an old Studio Calico die cut.

This is a really old Studio Calico journaling card cut in half and an old die cut. The word art I added to the photo is from the Studio Calico Fun in the Sun set.

Not all photos turn out the way you want them too so sometimes you have to just roll with it or find another way to tell the story. In this case my photos of the bear we saw were just a brown blob in a field of green so I decided to use a digital element to tell the story. This bear is from Studio Calico and I love him. And that poor dear looks hangry!

A really old Studio Calico card and some washi.

Another old rubber element from Studio Calico, I really love rubber banners.

A collage of pictures that I made, more washi and another old Studio Calico die cut.

Our cabin had the best sunset views and this photo has no filters on it at all. Its exactly what I saw with my eyes and I love it. It lost a bit of detail of the trees when I had to crop it to fit but it will get printed and framed for sure. The silhouette of the charred burned trees is just so cool. Just a little back story but the lodge was almost destroyed by a major forest fire a few years ago and the fire reached all the way to the very edge but was stopped, thankfully.

Another journaling card from the Adventure set, a gold glitter star and another old Studio Calico die cut. I trimmed this card slimmer that 3" wide just to mix it up.

This mountain card from the Adventure set is so cool. I added in some gold triangles from an old Heidi Swapp Project Life kit to play up the triangle trees.

I always sign and date my mini albums on the day I finish them and I used the new Art Stamp set from Life Love Paper for Studio Calico. I bought this stamp set just to use for signing and dating my projects.

And that it it! This little little album is chunky! Here is a look at how full it is.

I ended up filling all but 2 of the 48 pages of the notebook and it was a bit of a happy accident. I did pre plan the album a bit, mainly just listing out what photos I wanted to go it what order, leaving room for journaling or elements that I knew I wanted to include. It wasn't super strict or rigid but it helps give me a guide lines as I'm working. My process is to print as I go, nothing get's printed in advance. It just how my brain works. I like to decided as I go what size things will be. Here is a look at what that planning looked like.

To store the album, since it won't stay closed on its own I'm using a thick rubber band that I found in my stash. Its not super tight so it won't break the spine of the album but its tight enough to keep it closed. I can't wait to add this to my mini album collection.

Thanks for sticking around for this super photo heavy post.

See you soon.