Baseball Mini Album. Done. {& Blog Giveaway}

 There are so many things that I love about mini-albums.
First, the greatest thing about creating a mini-album is it is finished. DONE. Finito. Like so much other creating {scrapbooking}, you are always taking photos and life continues being an amazing adventure so the scrapbooks are never 'caught up'. But a mini-album you can gather pictures from one event or theme, gather a few supplies, embellishments, & tools; then create for a few hours and cross the finish line. Yay!

 Second, I love the SIZE of a mini-album.  They are small and easily accessible & they welcome people to look through them. Have you ever really dragged out your 12x12 albums for anyone to look at? Lugging those books out only happens once in awhile with the family or friends, except if you are my dad, bless his heart, he always looks through them when he comes to my home.  My kids always go to mini-books because they are the perfect size for little hands and I keep them all accessible throughout my house in baskets, at the coffee table, in bookshelves, or on display in their rooms.

 Third, they make the perfect handmade gift. I have never seen a mini-book or photo album gift opened without a big smile of excitement and usually a few tears {especially from the adults}. This is a gift that doesn't have to take much time, but can pull off some great results in the gift department.

 I have just a few suggestions for completing a mini-album. Keep supplies & photos to a minimum. First gather the pictures for the subject of your album. {Instagram + mini-album = priceless, but that is a whole different post} If it is a trip, then take the highlights. Don't get overwhelmed with too many photos. Pick the best ones, where you want to tell the story of the trip. If it is one person or family, the pictures can span many years or a certain timeline. Gather supplies that fit the theme of your album. Again, pick papers & embellishments that give you choices, but not a large amount that then you can't decide and finishing is still the end goal. Also gather the tools you will need.

 Don't feel like when you create a mini-album that every page has to be exciting and new. A mini-album, like a children's book with rhymes and pictures, helps the book flow to follow a pattern which makes it enjoyable to read.  You should have a pattern that makes the album flow. Find one technique that you love and use it throughout the book. This will also help with getting the album completed because you are not taking the time to decide on each page what new technique you want to try. In this book, I used the sticker sheets & journaling sheets to make a word collage on each page. The words highlight the pictures and create the 'flow' I want throughout the book.

So that is my Ode to Mini-Albums! I love to create them and feel that they are some of the highlights of my crafty life.
Have you created a mini-album before? What is your favorite mini-book you have created and what did you love about it?

I haven't done a giveaway in a long, long time. To celebrate my move to Texas and all thing mini {albums}, leave me a comment & I am going to DRAW A PRIZE WINNER for a box of craft goodies that I will send to the lucky winner. If you have never created a mini-album, leave a comment or question and I will answer it the best I can. A winner will drawn from the comments on Sunday, April 22nd at 7 pm CST.  {This is not in affiliation with any company, etc. This is just from little ol' me who has lots of fun crafting supplies! The album pictured was a gift, so this is NOT the prize. But the prize IS a box of crafty supplies!}