Wednesday, November 10, 2010

my first mini book...


So... you might remember me mentioning a while back (ummm say, 2 months ago) how I was considering signing up for Elise's BIGmini online class. Well, I did. And it was fabulous.

I absolutely adore anything Elise crafts up... but I've always been intrigued by her mini books. Serving somewhat as a mix between a scrapbook and an art journal... I loved the concept. I just didn't know where to start.

Typically when I scrapbook, my OCD tendencies come out in full force... things have to be in chronological order, my color scheme needs to match, all pages need to be the same size, and so on and so forth. But after taking Elise's online workshop, I realized that mini books were about breaking the rules. I could include loads of pictures, or no photos at all. My book could document an event, or could simply be a list of my favorite things. There is freedom in these little books. This was still hard for me to grasp as I started putting my mini book together, but I'm hoping with a little more practice, I can rid myself of my crafty-OCD.

For my first ever mini book, I ended up creating somewhat of a journal/scrapbook for the month of September. I wanted to document my thoughts and adventures as we just recently moved to a new city. I would love to do more of these in the future... maybe a month here and a month there.

The whole book was inspired by a card I found that has a quote by Neale Donald Walsch that reads, "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone." Love it.

I then started selecting some favorite scrapbook papers and trimming them all down to the same size (about 4x5). This definitely helped. Once all the pages were the same size, everything else seemed so much more manageable. I could put all my papers/mess away, and just work with the pages I selected... way less intimidating.

Then I decided to round the corners... I mean, because everything looks better with rounded corners.

I ordered some photos that would best document the month of September... focusing on a visit from my parents, then another visit from my sister. I added some journaling, some mementos gathered along the way, and a few last minute embellishments... and called it done.

Here's the whole thing... My first mini book... start to finish...


12 comments:

molly b. said...

first commenter?! woah! love the book. you did elise proud.

Jamie Kubeczka said...

Love it! Very cute!

Shari said...

Adorable. Love it.

Stacie Jean said...

oh my good gracious. you are a craft genius. This is amazing Julia!!

The Yellow Door said...

looks awesome!!

Kari said...

Very nice!

Shane, LaJuan, Jocelyn and Gabbie said...

you are the neatest person I know. Seriously. I don't just mean neat like clean and neat (which you are:), but neat like SO COOL neat. Everything you do intrigues me....sometimes it stirs up some jealousy inside of me longing for your creative crafting skills...but hey, at least I can "live through you" and pretend that I'm crafty or that I can decorate or etc. etc.!! I think reading about your craftiness and talents at least make me feel like I am! ha! love you!

Falling From Trees said...

Julia, what a great book, it looks amazing. i have two questions about the book. what do you use on your pages? is it on some kind of thick paper or board? and do you special order your photos? i am inspired.

Caroline said...

This is awesome. Looks so cute!

Garretts said...

I will not covet my friend's mini-book, I will not covet...lol! seriously, julia, what a beautiful treasure you created of your first month in l'ville. soooo glad the cupcakes made the cut. please promise me you'll blog about it once you try some other flavors!

Courtney said...

i love....i mean i LOVE this book. i'm still not sure i could pull one off, but would love to try because it looks super fantastic. really great job.

Lindsey Brackett said...

Laura and I will chant together, "we shall not covet Julia's awesome book, but instead shall force her to take a trip to the 'sham and lead a mini-book workshop..."

it's gorgeous, and something I'd like to try one of these days.