Romantic Parisian Inspired Envelope Mini Album

Morning Friends,

Today I'm sharing this pretty vintage style envelope mini album I created for my dear friend Susie (aka Scrap Smart) in a swap being hosted by Ilovepapillons at sb.com.  Susie loves all things vintage and feminine so I decided to use a mix of two of my favorite paper collections (Prima's Romance Novel and Marion Smith's Garment District) to make her this romantic vintage style, Parisian inspired envelope mini album.  

Side view of envelopes and cards assembled

The album cover measures 8x6 with a 3 inch spine.  The envelope pages were created using 6 each standard A7 black envelopes.   And the photo wallets with photo waterfalls were created from the A7 cards.  Once assembled there is enough room for 54 matted photos, and 23 journaling tags.  That's plenty of room for Susie to document whatever her heart desires!  

Finished Envelope Pages with File Folder Photo Wallet Cards

To create the envelope pages, the envelope flaps were sealed closed first.  Then all four sides were trimmed down by 1/8." The front and back of the envelopes were covered with distressed paper leaving a 1/4" frame.  Then I closed up the top and bottom of each envelope by scoring a 3" wide strip cardstock in half, punching it with a Martha Stewart daisy edge punch.  I burnished the fold then sandwiched the open envelope ends back together by gluing the daisy strips to the outside of the envelopes to close them back up.  This allowed the photo wallets to fit snugly into their envelopes without any slop.  The punched  bottom boarders double as stops for the journaling tags and the decorated burlap belly bands hold the tags safely in place.   Finely, the remaining open envelope bottoms were secured with score tape over the spines hidden hinge binding system.    The only opening left is the outside for holding the photo card wallets in place. 

  Envelope Pages Sandwiched Back Together with Daisy Punch Strips

The photo wallets were created from the A7 cards.  I used the We Are Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board tool to create two sets of three staggered file folder tabs for words.  I left the left side of the cards straight so they fit flat and evenly inside their envelopes against the hidden hinge. 

Outside File Folders with Word Tabs

Inside File Folders with 3 Tier Photo Waterfalls

Photo Card Wallet out of its Envelope

I covered the left inside of the cards, front and back outsides with distressed paper leaving a 1/4" frame (see above).  The right inside of the photo card wallet features the 3 tier photo waterfall (also, see above). 

File Folder Tabs Facing Spine

When the cards are in their envelopes, the tabs face towards the spine (see above) to prevent the tabs from getting tattered by the elastic loop closure or by repeated use (see below).  

Elastic Loop Closure

Now that you have a good idea of how the album was created, lets look through its lovely pages:

Page 1 Folded Out

Page 2 Folded Out

Page 3 Folded Out

Page 4 Folded Out

Page 5 Folded Out

Page 6 Folded Out

Inside of the Back Cover

The inside back cover has a large deep pocket which has been popped up with foam tape to create enough depth to hide the metal tip of the elastic closure loop.  The outside of the back cover is sweet and simple:

Back Cover

Now lets have a closer look at the front cover:

Front Cover

The front cover features a sweet picture of Susie and her dear husband in the foreground of the Eiffel Tower.  The wooden frame and chipboard corners were embossed with gold to go with the gold lace covering the album spine.  A pretty crystal knob and elastic loop act as a closure to keep everything nice and neat,    The cover was embellished by layering a vintage Prima flower, with Prima's filigree leaves, a few black Prima bumper flowers, a gold tulle bow, gold ribbon, and a handmade stickpin.    

Finished Spine

The spine is decorated by layering it with burlap, black ribbon and has a back to back layer of gold Venice lace.  As a final touch, a chunky brass charm adorns the spine with Parisian and vintage inspired tassels, chains and trinkets.  

Chunky Charm Close Up

Well friends that's it for me today.  Wishing you all a wonderful Good Friday!  Until next time, create something beautiful from your heart and choose to live your  life inspired!  Big Hugs ~ Dawna