my favorite memories of us | oh my crafts giveaway

My first thought when I was approached by the kind folks at Oh My Crafts! was "Yippee, I've had my eye on those Smash albums for a while!" But once I started looking around, the particular Smash album I wanted was out of stock. 

Was I going to let that stop me? Absolutely not. I decided to make my own Smash style mini book! I started with a sheet of textured cardstock for my cover and from there I just started trimming and layering page after page. For the title of my mini book, I used one of the journaling spots in this set  and slipped it through a slit I cut in my die cut shape and added letter stickers, spelling our last name.

Each of my mini book pages is folded so that I essentially get two pages out of the cardstock, like this one: one page on the left side of my stitch line and one page on the right side of my stitch line. And this is why it's nice to choose double-sided patterned cardstock.

Using this piece of cardstock, I trimmed several elements from the sheet to get several fun pages for my mini.

And here is a close up of how I used another element from that same cardstock sheet, machine-stitched onto the edge of the page.

...and here's the back of that stitched element. I slipped in another journaling spot as well.

Just a simple cardstock sticker here.

Attached to this page, I used a clip from the Smash clips set of goodies.

Another piece of this cardstock trimmed and stitched to the edge.

Can't wait to fill this page on the left. I do adore him.

More cuteness. I'll be adding photos or a private story inside the pocket I stitched on the right.

The cardstock stickers you see {1, 2} are leftovers from the inside front cover I forgot to photograph. The page to the right has a stitched pocket with a round punched shape in the middle so that I can pull out even more journaling spots I tucked inside.

This journaling spot is part of the Smash Captions set. When you flip open the border punched page...

...you see this. I think that if I'm going to journal about something that drives me crazy about my Sweetie, perhaps I should not have it out front and center. Don't you?

The back cover has a fussy cut cardstock strip and a sticker over the stitching. I left the top open so that I might be able to tuck something inside and behind the paper strip. I used this handy glue stick throughout the mini book and it is one of my favorite adhesives. It sticks so well and its fine tip is a definite plus in my book. 

I'll be using this mini book as a 14th Wedding Anniversary gift to Gordon in June, so I have a bit of time to collect what I'll put in it. Just as one would fill a true Smash Journal with memories, photos, special handwritten messages and fun recollection...I'll do the same thing with my handmade Smash-style mini book as well.

Here's the blog post with detailed photos of how the mini turned out!

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This giveaway is now closed.

For your chance to win a $25 credit to Oh My Crafts!, hop over to the Oh My Crafts! Facebook page, LIKE them and tell them I Love It All sent you. Then, be sure to come back and leave a comment here before Friday at 8pm EST when I'll be choosing a winner from the commenters.