Valentine’s Project: Mini Paper Bag Album

Here’s the final project in the Valentine’s series—a mini paper bag album. This one uses up the last bits and pieces of the Topstitch kit of the month.

Remember when paper bag albums were all the rage a few years ago? I used to make them all the time. This was the first paper bag album I’ve made in like four years.

When I was planning this Valentine’s series, I knew I wanted to make a mini mini album (3×3) and I figured I’d take the traditional route—cardstock and paper. When I was in Michael’s a few weeks ago, I noticed these cute small paper bags and thought, “Let’s turn this into an album!”

Materials:

Topstitch Kit of the Month – Best Option
Colonial White cardstock
My Acrylix “Soul Mates Word Puzzle” stamp set
My Acrylix “Hodgepodge Alphabet” stamp set
Exclusive Inks Pad – Baby Pink
Exclusive Inks Pad – Cocoa
Exclusive Inks Pad – Heavenly Blue
Designer Ribbon Rounds – Chocolate Collection
Brad Assortments – Basic
Rub-Ons – Nature’s Ambiance
Craft Buttons – Basic
Embroidery Floss – Neutral Assortment
Small light blue paper bags (Michael’s)
1-1/2-2″ circle punch
2″ oval punch
Photo corners punch
Hole punch
Glue Dots

Instructions (all measurements in inches; horizontal measurement is first):
**Note – The inside page measurements are approximates. You may have to trim pieces to fit the size of your album. You can mix and match the patterned papers to your taste.

Do this first
Take five mini paper bags. Ink the edges in Cocoa. Fold each of them in half. Lay down the first bag on your work area with the bag opening on the left and the closed end on the right. Take the next bag and lay it on top of the first bag. This time the opening should be on the right and the closed end on your left. Layer the rest of the bags by alternating the open and closed ends. Seal the open ends with glue unless you want to use them to insert tags or journaling.

Cover (see photo above)

Trim Chocolate cardstock to 3 x 3. Adhere to cover. Trim patterned paper to 1/2 x 3.5. Adhere to left side of cover on top of Chocolate piece. Trim 2 x 1 piece of Colonial White cardstock. Stamp sentiment from “Love Begins” in Heavenly Blue. Ink edges with Cocoa. Adhere to cover. Stamp large flower in Baby Pink on Colonial White cardstock. Cut out flower and adhere to cover just to the right of the sentiment. Add Clear Sparkle to the center of the flower.

Inside front cover
Trim patterned paper to 3.5 x 3.5. Glue to inside cover.

Page 1
Trim 3.5 x 3.5 of patterned paper. Stamp dotted swirl to bottom right of page. Glue piece to page 1. Trim .75 x 3.5 strip and glue to left side of page, about .25 from the left edge. Cut 2 x 2 piece of Chocolate cardstock to make a photo matte. Glue to page at an angle. Trim 3.5 of dotted ribbon and glue near top of page. Take another small piece of dotted ribbon and tie in a knot. Place on top of ribbon strip using a Glue Dot.

Page 2
Trim chocolate swirl patterned paper to 3.5 x 3.5. Glue to page 2. Trim 1.25 x 3.5 piece of reverse side of large flower patterned paper (blue). Glue piece on on the left side of page. Trim a piece of Chocolate grosgrain ribbon and glue on top of the other papers. Cut a piece of 2 x 1 piece of Colonial White cardstock. Stamp sentiment from “Soul Mates Word Puzzle.” Glue to page as shown. Punch a 1.5-2″ circle. Add rub-on hearts from rub-on sheet. Glue circle to page.

Page 3
Trim 3.5 x 3.5 piece of blue patterned paper. Glue to page 3. Trim 2.5 x 3.25 piece of Baby Pink cardstock to make the photo matte. Tear about a quarter-inch from the bottom to expose white core. Ink edges in Cocoa. Adhere to center of page at a slight angle. Trim .5 x 3.5 piece of Colonial White cardstock. Stamp sentiment from “Soul Mates Word Puzzle” in center of piece. Punch holes on either side of the piece and insert mini chocolate brads. Adhere piece to bottom of photo matte as shown.

Page 4
Trim 3.5 x 3.5 piece of chocolate flower patterned paper (reverse side). Glue to page 4. Trim 1 x 3.5 piece of flower patterned paper. Glue to left side of page, leaving about .25 from left edge. Trim 2 x 2 piece of Heavenly Blue cardstock to make photo matte. Ink edges in Cocoa. Adhere to page. Cut out a flower from the large flower patterned paper. Adhere to corner of photo matte. Stamp sentiment from “Soul Mates Word Puzzle” as shown.

Page 5
Trim 3.5 x 3.5 piece of chocolate patterned paper. Glue to page 5. Trim 3.5 x 1 piece of striped paper. Glue to top of page. Stamp border sentiment on Colonial White cardstock. Trim and glue to bottom of striped paper.

Page 6
Trim 3.5 x 3.5 piece of blue striped patterned paper (reverse side). Glue to page 6. Trim 3.5 x 1.75 piece of chocolate swirl paper. Glue to top of page. Trim .25 x 3.5 piece of striped paper. Adhere underneath chocolate swirl paper. Trim 2.5 x 2.5 piece of Baby Pink cardstock. Ink edges in Cocoa. Stamp sentiment from “Soul Mates Word Puzzle” in top right corner. Glue piece to center of page. Add two tiny Clear Sparkles to top left and bottom right corners of Baby Pink piece. Stamp heart on Colonial White cardstock from “Soul Mates Word Puzzle” in Cocoa. Cut out and adhere to Baby Pink piece.

Page 7
Trim 3.5 x 3.5 piece of blue patterned paper. Glue to page 7. Trim 2.5 x 3 photo matte from Baby Pink cardstock. Ink edges in Cocoa and adhere to page. Trim 1 x 3.5 piece from chocolate small flowers patterned paper sheet (reverse side). Adhere to lower third of page. Trim .75 x 3.5 piece of Colonial White cardstock. Stamp sentiment from “Soul Mates Word Puzzle” in center of piece. Stamp tiny flowers from “Love Begins” on either side of the sentiment in Heavenly Blue. Ink edges of piece in Cocoa. Glue to the brown patterned piece.

Page 8
Trim 3.5 x 3.5 piece of large flower patterned paper. Glue to page 8. Trim two 1 x 1 squares from two different patterned papers. Trim 1 x 1.5 piece from a third patterned paper. Glue these three pieces to the left edge of the page. Trim a piece of striped Chocolate ribbon and glue to left side of page. Punch a 2″ oval from Colonial White cardstock. Ink edges in Cocoa. Stamp sentiment from “Soul Mates Word Puzzle” in the center of the oval. Punch a hole in left side of the oval and insert medium-sized chocolate brad. Glue oval to bottom of the page.

Page 9
Trim 3.5 x 3.5 piece of striped patterned paper. Glue to page 9. Trim 2 x 2 piece of Heavenly Blue cardstock. Ink edges in Cocoa. Adhere to center of page. Trim piece of Chocolate twill ribbon. Glue to right side of page, about .25 from the edge.

Page 10
Trim 3.5 x 3.5 piece of Chocolate swirled patterned paper. Glue to page 10. Trim 1 x 3.5 piece of blue flower patterned paper. Adhere to center of page. Trim 1.5 x 1.5 photo matte from Baby Pink cardstock. Ink edges in Cocoa. Adhere to top left of page. Stamp sentiment using “Hodgepodge Alphabet.” Cut out and ink edges with Cocoa. Adhere to bottom right of page.

Page 11
Trim 3.5 x 3.5 piece of Chocolate swirled patterned paper. Glue to page 11. Punch photo corners from Chocolate patterned paper. Adhere to each corner of the page. Trim 2.25 x 2.5 photo matte from Colonial White cardstock. Ink edges in Cocoa. Glue to center of page. Stamp medium-sized flower on Colonial White cardstock in Cocoa. Stamp a tiny flower in Heavenly Blue. Cut out flowers. Glue blue flower on top of cocoa flower. Add a tiny Clear Sparkle to center of blue flower. Adhere flower embellishment to bottom right corner of page.

Page 12
Trim 3.5 x 3.5 piece of Chocolate flower patterned paper (reverse side). Glue to page 12. Trim 3.5 x 2.25 piece of blue striped paper (reverse side) to bottom of page. Trim 3.5 x .75 piece of striped paper to center of page. Stamp solid swirl to bottom right of page in Cocoa. Stamp large flower on Colonial White cardstock in Cocoa. Cut out flower. Take a button and fill its holes with embroidery floss. Adhere to center of cocoa flower with Glue Dot. Glue flower to left side of the page.

Page 13
Trim 3.5 x 3.5 piece of small flower patterned paper. Glue to page 13. Trim 2.25 x 2.25 piece of chocolate cardstock and glue to center of page. Trim 2 x 2 piece of Colonial White cardstock and ink edges in Cocoa. Glue to chocolate square. Trim two 3.5 pieces of dotted ribbon and glue one piece at the top of the chocolate square and the other one at the bottom of the square. Take two small pieces of dotted ribbon and tie each in a knot. Place one top of each ribbon strip using a Glue Dot.

Page 14
Trim 3.5 x 3.5 piece of Heavenly Blue swirl patterned paper (reverse side). Glue to page 14. Trim two 2 x 1.5 pieces of striped patterned paper. Glue a piece to the top left and bottom right of the page. Trim 2 x 2 of Colonial White cardstock. Ink edges in Cocoa and ahdere to top center of page. Stamp sentiment from “Soul Mates Word Puzzle” on Baby Pink cardstock. Cut out and ink edges with Cocoa. Adhere to page underneath photo matte.

Page 15
Trim 3.5 x 3.5 piece of chocolate flower patterned paper (reverse side). Glue to page 15. Stamp sentiment from “Soul Mates Word Puzzle” in Cocoa to bottom right corner of page. Trim 1.75 x 3.5 piece of pink flower patterned paper. Create a torn edge on both sides of piece. Ink edges in Cocoa ink. Glue to page. Trim 2.75 x 1 piece of Colonial Cardstock. Ink edges in Cocoa. Glue to top center of page.

Page 16
Trim 3.5 x 3.5 piece of Heavenly Blue patterned paper. Glue to page 16. Trim 3.5 x 1.25 piece of striped paper. Create torn edges on both sides and ink the edges in Cocoa. Glue to bottom of page. Trim 2.5 x 1.75 piece of Colonial White cardstock. Ink the edges in Cocoa. Stamp large flower from “Love Begins” in Cocoa on Baby Pink cardstock. Cut out and adhere to page.

Inside back cover
Trim 3.5 x 3.5 piece of chocolate patterned paper. Glue to inside back cover.

Assembly
Lay open all the bags evenly on top of each other. You should see the center seam of the album. From the top edge of the album, mark the .75 and 3.25 spots in the center seam. Punch a hole at these marks. Trim about a 15″ piece of chocolate grosgrain ribbon. Pull ribbon through the holes to create the album binding. Tie a bow and you’re done!