Watercolor Wonder Folding Photo Album Tutorial

 I found a very fun tutorial for making this great "Folding Photo Album."  You can find the tutorial here at Mariana's You Tube Post.  

My album measures 5-1/8" x 5-1/8" x 3/4"  

For the outside piece I cut a piece of Basic Black card stock 10-3/4" x 5-1/8".   I scored it at 4", 4-3/4" and 10".  Then I cut another piece of Basic Black card stock at 5-1/8" x 3-7/8" and I scored that one at 3/4". There should be enough left over from the first piece to cut the second piece.  

For the inside piece I cut a 8-1/2" x 11" piece of card stock to 10-1/4" x 5-1/8" and I scored that piece at 5-1/8".  I cut a second piece at 5-1/8" x 11".  I scored that one at 5-1/8" and at 10". Glue the two pieces together leaving the folded edge on the "third" page.  Cut one more piece at 5-1/8" x 5-1/8". This will be the fourth page. Glue this piece to the 1-1/2" folded edge. Glue it to the top of that edge so it will be hidden behind the last page.

To assemble my album I used liquid glue, Aleen's, School Glue or even a Glue Stick.  I used Aleen's Tacky glue for mine.  When making albums like this I prefer to use glue because it dries VERY firm so my album actually has some substance to it when I hold it.  It has the feeling of a hard "book board" cardboard.  

I cut some Island Indigo for my layers.  You will have to click on a photo to see that since the base of my album is Basic Black.  I chose a "basic" color because I had lots of it and I though it would be easier to build off of it with my layering.

I also chose the Watercolor Wonder decorative paper to decorate my album.  You can layer and decorate as much as you would like.  Personally I thought this was fun but a lot of time invested in it.  More than I cared to spend on it, which means I probably won't be making another one anytime soon!

I added layered "frames" and on many of them I only glued 3 edges so it became a pocket for adding more photos or for journaling.  I added stamped and punched flowers, tags, tabs and of course pockets.  There were no real diagrams on how to do each page so I was on my own.  I just kept adding different layouts for the pages and was REALLY glad when I had finished it.  I had set it aside to dry but still needed to do the front.  You can get some fun ideas using the pages posted on the link.  

For the front I used the En 'Francais background stamp.  I stamped off twice so I could get a softer image so it can be used as a background for a photo or words.    I also added a stamped and punched flower to the front.  

The album stays closed by some button magnets.  I hid them behind a couple of flowers.  You can see one of the flowers on the second photo, on the right inside the album.  See the little flower?  Behind that is a magnet.  And on the bottom photo, on the left side you can see a yellow flower.  The magnet is hidden behind that.  These are very strong magnets and the still "stick" between all that card stock.  

Be patient, these take a lot of time to make!  I made this for a friend and I'm sure she will find a use for it!  

Thank you SO much for visiting today,
Wanda