Kaisercraft Tuesday Tutorial – Make a Christmas Mini Album


Kaisercraft Christmas Wishes Mini Album Tutorial by Alicia McNamara

Well, its August! And that means its the start of my new year with Kaisercraft for the 2016-2017 Design Team.  Today I’m sharing my first post for the year: a Photo Tutorial for how to create a Christmas Mini Album using the gorgeous new Kaisercraft “Christmas Wishes” Collection.  If you love Kaisercraft Glitter and Foil Card Stock, Pastels, Gold, Doilies and all things sparkly then this Album is especially for you!  It certainly sparkles! There are lots of yummy Kaisercraft Decorative Dies in this project as well…see if you can spot them all!

My motivation for making this album was to have a little place for a small collection of sweet photographs to be together.  My sister had some photographs of her girls (when they were smaller) taken at Christmas time.  I thought it would be nice to keep these four photos together in a little Christmas Mini Album.  I am sharing photos of the album today followed by a step-by-step Photo Tutorial so you can make one of your own as well!

Kaisercraft Christmas Wishes Mini Album Tutorial by Alicia McNamara

This is the front cover of the album.  It has a “belly band” that can easily slide on and off meaning the album can be opened without having to untie any ribbons.  The belly band is decorated with some Decorative Die Swirls  and some Kaisercraft Paper Blooms.
Kaisercraft Christmas Wishes Mini Album Tutorial by Alicia McNamara

The pages inside the album are all different sizes creating a layered staircase effect with lots of die cuts popping out from each page.  Each page is trimmed with Gold Foil Card stock cut with DD101 Decorative Die Lacey Borders and Kaisercraft Glitter tape in a variety of colours.

Kaisercraft Christmas Wishes Mini Album Tutorial by Alicia McNamara
Inside cover of the album.

Kaisercraft Christmas Wishes Mini Album Tutorial by Alicia McNamaraPage 1

Kaisercraft Christmas Wishes Mini Album Tutorial by Alicia McNamaraPage 2 and 3

Kaisercraft Christmas Wishes Mini Album Tutorial by Alicia McNamaraPage 4 and 5

Kaisercraft Christmas Wishes Mini Album Tutorial by Alicia McNamaraPage 6 and 7

Kaisercraft Christmas Wishes Mini Album Tutorial by Alicia McNamaraPage 8

Kaisercraft Christmas Wishes Mini Album Tutorial by Alicia McNamaraPage 9

Kaisercraft Christmas Wishes Mini Album Tutorial by Alicia McNamaraPage 10

Kaisercraft Christmas Wishes Mini Album Tutorial by Alicia McNamaraPage 11

Kaisercraft Christmas Wishes Mini Album Tutorial by Alicia McNamaraPage 12

Kaisercraft Christmas Wishes Mini Album Tutorial by Alicia McNamaraInside back cover of the Album

So that is how the completed Album turned out.  Now I am going to take you through the Tutorial of how to make this album : )

Photo Tutorial – How to Make this Mini Album

Step One:

Kaisercraft Christmas Wishes Mini Album Tutorial by Alicia McNamara

Cut 2 Pieces of 6×6 inch white card, 1 piece of 6×2 inch white card and 1 piece of other coloured 6×6 inch card (I used green).

Step Two:

Kaisercraft Christmas Wishes Mini Album Tutorial by Alicia McNamara

Measure your coloured card at 2 inches and 4 inches and glue the 2×6 inch strip onto the middle of the card.  This will form the spine of your album.

Step Three:

Kaisercraft Christmas Wishes Mini Album Tutorial by Alicia McNamara

Leaving a small gap on either side of the spine, glue both 6×6 inch white card stock to the green card stock.  Score in the gaps and fold.  This is the base for your Album cover.

Step Four:

Kaisercraft Christmas Wishes Mini Album Tutorial by Alicia McNamara

Choose the papers for your Album Cover.  You will need a back cover measuring 8×8 inches, a front cover measuring 8×8 inches and a spine piece measuring 8×4 inches.  I chose P2145 Pearlescent for the back cover, FC205 Foil Cardstock – Brushed Gold for the spine and PS462 Pretty Doillie – Foil Specialty Paper for the front cover.

Step Five:

Kaisercraft Christmas Wishes Mini Album Tutorial by Alicia McNamara

Measure your Spine Covering at 2 inches and 4 inches and adhere to the outside of your Album template.

Step Six:

Kaisercraft Christmas Wishes Mini Album Tutorial by Alicia McNamara

Glue your front and back cover onto the base of your Album.

Step Seven:

Kaisercraft Christmas Wishes Mini Album Tutorial by Alicia McNamara

Add Glitter Tape and Stickers to cover the joins between the papers.  I used PT227 Gold, PT231 Hot Pink and PT230 Lilac Glitter Tapes and the SS319 Sticker Sheet.

Step Eight:

Kaisercraft Christmas Wishes Mini Album Tutorial by Alicia McNamara

Trim the corners off the outside cover.

Step Nine:

Kaisercraft Christmas Wishes Mini Album Tutorial by Alicia McNamara

Fold the edges up and glue into place.

Step Ten:

Kaisercraft Christmas Wishes Mini Album Tutorial by Alicia McNamara

Cut a piece of paper measuring 12 inches wide and 5 3/4 inches high.  This will become the base for the pages of your album.  Score along this page vertically at 1/2 inch, 1/4 inch,1/2 inch, 1/4 inch, pattern right across until you get to the end.

Step Eleven:

Kaisercraft Christmas Wishes Mini Album Tutorial by Alicia McNamara

Fold along the score lines and add tape to the 1/2 inch sections and glue together.  The bits sticking up will be the foundation your pages will adhere to.

Step Twelve:

Kaisercraft Christmas Wishes Mini Album Tutorial by Alicia McNamara

I cut mine down so I only had six raised bits because I felt it was the perfect fit for the width of the spine and I didn’t want too many pages.  Add glue to each section of the base and adhere to the centre of your Album spine.

Step Thirteen:

Kaisercraft Christmas Wishes Mini Album Tutorial by Alicia McNamara

Choose two papers for the inside of your Cover and cut to 5 3/4 x 5 3/4 inches.  I chose pages from the PP1003 Paper Pad.  Then I inked the edges with IP732 Orchid Ink.

Step Fourteen:

Kaisercraft Christmas Wishes Mini Album Tutorial by Alicia McNamara

Choose papers for your pages.  I made six pages in total and you will need duplicates for the front and back of each page.  I used papers from the PP1003 Paper Pad.  Cut your pages to the following sizes:
Page 1: 5 3/4 x 1 inches (Cut 2)
Page 2: 5 3/4 x 2 inches (Cut 2)
Page 3: 5 3/4 x 3 inches (Cut 2)
Page 4: 5 3/4 x 4 inches (Cut 2)
Page 5: 5 3/4 x 5 inches (Cut 2)
Page 6: 5 3/4 x 5 3/4 inches (Cut 2)
Put adhesive tape around three edges of each page and glue matching papers together so you have a front and back of each page.  Leave the side open where you will adhere it to the foundation bits in the inside spine of your album.

Step Fifteen:

Kaisercraft Christmas Wishes Mini Album Tutorial by Alicia McNamara

Now you can start to assemble your pages into your Album.  For each of my pages I added a Gold Foil die cut and glitter tape to the edge to give it a fancy finish.  I used DD101 Lacey Borders with FC205 Foiled Card Stock – Brushed Gold.  I began with adding Page 1 in first.

Kaisercraft Christmas Wishes Mini Album Tutorial by Alicia McNamara

In this photo, you can see I have added the first three pages into the Album.  I started to decorate a little bit as I added the pages in.  You can see Christmas Collectables from CT862 on Pages 1 and 2.

Kaisercraft Christmas Wishes Mini Album Tutorial by Alicia McNamara

In this photo you can see 5 pages glued into the album.  I added tags on page 4 and 5 to decorate.

Kaisercraft Christmas Wishes Mini Album Tutorial by Alicia McNamara

This photo shows all six pages now attached to the album.

Step Sixteen:

Now you can add your photos in and decorate your album.  You can make your album as simple or as decorated as you choose!

Kaisercraft Christmas Wishes Mini Album Tutorial by Alicia McNamara

Step Seventeen:

To make the Belly Band Cut two strips of paper 2 x12 inches and join together at one end.  Add glitter tape to both edges of the strip and fold around the Mini Album to determine a good length and fit.  You don’t want it too loose so that it falls off too easily and you don’t want it too tight so that it is difficult to take on and off the album.  Once you are happy with the desired length, cut off the excess and join together.  Slide the Bally Band onto the album to decorate it.  Add a Kaisercraft Organza pink ribbon around the Belly Band.  Then decorate with your choice of die cuts, decorative dies and paper blooms.

Kaisercraft Christmas Wishes Mini Album Tutorial by Alicia McNamara

Kaisercraft Products: P2145 Pearlescent | P2148 Christmas Carol | PS462 Pretty Doilie – Foil | SS319 Sticker Sheet | PP1003 Paper Pad | CT862 Collectables | KM115 Kaiser Mist – Candy | KM102 Kaiser Mist – Antique Gold | PT227 Glitter Tape – Gold | PT230 Glitter Tape – Lilac | PT231 Glitter Tape – Hot Pink | FL582 Flourish Pack – Doilies | FC205 Foil Card Stock – Brushed Gold | GC105 Glitter Card Stock – Champagne | GC116 Glitter Card Stock – Blossom | GC117 Glitter Card Stock – Blush | DD327 Decorative Die – Holly | DD535 Decorative Die – Wreath | DD522 Decorative Die – Berry Vine | DD757 Decorative Die – Large Flourishes | DD728 Decorative Dies – Christmas Trees | DD720 Decorative Dies – Layered Poinsettia | DD101 Decorative Dies – Lacey Borders | DD767 Decorative Dies – Nesting Pendants | EM405 paper Doily | RS415 Sparklets – Princess | BRB606 Organza Ribbon – Pink | FL575 Flourish Pack – Wedding | F656 Mini Paper Blooms – Fushia | F660 Mini Paper Blooms – Amethyst | F643 Paper Blooms – Amethyst | F640 Paper Blooms – Fairy Floss | RS404 Rhinestone – Champagne | ST908 Epoxy Stickers – Sea Breeze | 

I would love to see if you make an album, or if this project has inspired you to make a Christmas layout or a Christmas Card.  The Christmas Wishes collection is truely beautiful and you will love creating with it.  Leave me a comment below to share your thoughts.
Have a happy crafty day,