A Holiday Album Project

I had the good fortune to go on a Mediterranean Cruise in August with my husband, 2 children and parents. It was a wonderful experience, we visited 5 different countries and enjoyed fabulous food, wonderful sights and unforgettable experiences. I must have taken over 200 photographs so of course the first think I wanted to do when I got back was preserve at least some of them in a holiday album. I took some time trying to figure out the concept, but once I knew what I wanted to do, I wasted no time doing it. 

First of all, I wanted it to be large enough to accommodate pictures/ tokens and keepsakes I had preserved. So I decided to go with the standard 12" by 12" scrapbook size. Second, I wanted the papers I used to be somewhat nautical and imagine my delight when Itsy Bitsy introduced the DCWV Tradewinds Stack. It was like designed for my trip! Full of maritime themes and maps, it was just perfect for this project. The picture above is the cover of the album for which I used chipboard as the base and a fabulous ocean map pattern paper from the Tradewinds stack as the overlay. The text has been put together with chipboard alphas from Itsy Bitsy, all of which have been heat embossed using the WOW embossing powders. Here are some closeups of the heat embossing.

I was quite happy with the quality of the WOW embossing powders at Itsy Bitsy. There are so so many colours and finishes, it's so easy to find the colours that suit your project. To see them in action, check out my video tutorial below:

The next feature I wanted to incorporate in my album was a binding approach that didn't involve rings or spirals. I also wanted to avoid too many pages. Since we visited five countries, I wanted the album to have just five pages and all the pictures from each country to be viewed together. So I included a flap for every second page ensuring that each double page had in fact 5 sides for photographs. The pictures below will give you an idea of what I mean.

Here's a look at the double page when the flap is closed:

Here's a look at the double page when the flap is lifted resulting in 5 sides all of which can be viewed together. 

To see how I created this flap idea and the alternate binding approach, check out my video tutorial which provides step by step instructions.

Finally I wanted to share one particular embellishment I was thrilled to incorporate in my project. The Embossed Tags from Itsy Bitsy have always been a favourite of mine. There are so many different themes and designs, you will most likely find something that suits your project - just as I did. I found a 'Europe' tag, perfectly complimenting my Mediterranean holiday! How cool is that!! Perfect for my album and fortunately it was the right colour too!!

How do you like my project? Would love to hear your views! Leave a comment and let me know!

Supplies Used