Masculine Mini Album

I'm so far behind at posting...ugh.  This was the mini album I made for my son, Shannon for Father's Day.  He loves to read, loves all types of music, and is so busy.  Besides working full time in a college library, having three children and a wife that works full time, he is going to school. I still don't know when he sleeps.

I wanted to make a mini that would bring out his sense of humor (twisted I might add), some of the people he admires or just plain likes, and basically just make him laugh.  I left plenty of room for him to jot down notes, quotes and thoughts.  In fact, that's the title of his mini - THOUGHTS.

All the pages were cut (Including the ring holes) from the Cricut using DCWV Eco and Safari papers .  I used scrabble embellishment tiles ( I bought them at Hobby Lobby), the flowers are generally Prima.

The cover:

I didn't want a bow to hold the covers closed, so I went with a ribbon belt.

 Binding side view:

 Back cover view:

 From the top:

 Close up of the belt loops.

 I filled the book with quotes and sayings by people Shannon has admired or enjoyed throughout his life.  You'll see that it is quite an eclectic mix.

 I used some flowers, but tried to keep more masculine touches like feathers and different ribbons along side them.

 There are a couple of frames made out of ribbons.

 The pockets are pages cut down and taped on three sides.  I used small metallic clips to hold some of the tags together.  I colored the tags and quotes with distress inks from Ranger.

 I tried to include metal brads and charms to add depth and masculinity.

 I did say he has a twisted sense of humor :)

Another ribbon frame.

Here is the basic cover set up.  I cut three of the same shapes on my Baby Bug using my Gypsy.    Chipboard is sandwiched between two pieces of card stock (note "from experience" :  remember to flip the one page cover so  the holes align - they don't if it's not flipped.)

 The two pieces here are from the second mini I started and haven't completed yet.  The bird layers on the  front cover and the brown layers on the inside of the cover.

 The basic page is set up the same way except a piece of white card stock sandwiched between two of the DCWV designer card stock papers.  On the bottom left is a pocket and the bottom right is a mat.

 Page assembly: I used Scor Tape throughout the mini for everything.  It held all the pages, ribbons, and embellishments nicely; and was easy to use.  All the papers were inked with brown color box chalk ink.