True North: A family magazine for Bend and Central Oregon.

Mini Album Fun: Document your family's summer
by Davinie Fiero

Want a cool way to document your family fun this summer? This mini album acts as a record keeper of dates and locations as well as a notebook to jot down important events, conversations, and photographs from all the fun adventures after the work week is done.

Mini albums come in all shapes and sizes. You can also use a small photo album with page protectors. For my mini album I trimmed a piece of chipboard in half, creating a book that is 6" x 12".

To keep your album's theme cohesive, stick to using a couple of the same products to embellish your pages. Not only will it make it easier to put together, it will also have better presentation and be easier to close. The more embellishments you use on each page the thicker your book will be.

I kept my book simple with just a small journaling block, stickers to note the date and location, and hand written bullet points to document things I don't want to forget. I also chose to include just 4 photos from each event. I can scrapbook each event later in a detailed scrapbook layout or even individual mini albums if I want to.

I plan to make a page for each camping trip, weekend at the coast, trip to the zoo or lake, and anything special that happens outside of the day to day fun at home this summer.

This is a simple album you can start at the beginning of the summer so that each page can be completed as the days go by. It will be a great travel journal and is simple enough to take with you so that you can document important memories as you are experiencing them away from home.

Bonus project: A Gift for Dad
Father's Day is just around the corner. Use this as an opportunity to have your kids help in making personalized Father's Day cards. Simply trim a piece of white cardstock in the desired size, I chose 3x5, and have your child draw a picture on it. Afterwards mat it and make it the focal point to your card. You can add a simple sentiment, or even leave it blank to frame on the wall later. It will be a treasured keepsake for years to come, and it will give your children a sense of pride having created the card themselves.

Davinie Fiero is a published paper crafter. She teaches classes at Scrapbooking Outside the Box in Bend. You can learn more about her and see her work on her blog http://davinie.blogspot.com.