Scrappin' Saturday #1: Custom Shaped Mini-Albums

Welcome to the first Scrappin' Saturday here at FCCB!  Each week I'll be featuring a project, a techniuqe or topic about scrapbooking...all related to using your Cricut and/or Cuttlebug, of course!  If you would like to request a topic or have a suggestion for me, please email me at TheHouseholdCEO@live.com. 

For the first Scrappin' Saturday, I'd like to share some tips on making your very own shaped mini-album!  Mini-albums are a GREAT way to focus on a single event or subject, and can be whipped up in a fraction of the time it takes to complete an entire album!  And your Cricut can be your best friend when you want to really customize your mini-album...

 You can buy pre-made shaped chipboard albums, but you typically won't be able to find a wide assortment of shapes or a variety of die-cut papers to match.  Here's a better option:  make one of these shaped mini-albums using materials that you would normally just throw out in the garbage/recylce bin and save money (and the planet!) while doing so!

 Go dig out those cereal boxes, cardboard liners from that package you got in the mail yesterday or even the backs of notepads.  These are all FREE and just waiting to be transformed into something beautiful!  For this flower mini-album, I used the front and back of two cereal boxes. 

 Depending on the weight/thickness of your cardboard/chipboard, you'll need to follow a few tips:

 1.  Use a deep cut blade/housing (the blue one) and you'll need to adjust your blade settings to accomodate the thicker material2.  Use a new/very sticky mat to hold chipboard3.  Use the "multi-cut" feature to ensure smoothly-cut edges  The best part about making custom shaped mini-albums is the fact that you can choose from ANY patterened paper assortment and cut them so that each page fits perfectly on top without having to use your craft knife to trim it out or sanding block to finish the edges!!!  I like easy, don't you?  :)

By using your Cricut to make your custom shaped mini-album, you can combine any variety of shapes you want!  I hope you'll try one of these fun albums for yourself and let us know how it turned out.  I can't wait to see your creations...be sure to leave a link to your project in the comments section below!!!

Happy Scrappin',