I often send thank you cards to the people in my life, so I like to make bunches of these cards to keep on hand and personalize when I need them.
Here’s the latest example of a handmade thank you card I created; it’s a mini slimline card featuring lovely retro-style flower and botanical graphics. These images are from the Harvest Market Collection by Simple Stories.
If this card isn’t your style, you might like to check out a bunch of other examples of thank you cards you could make. I’ve posted more thank you card making ideas besides just this one.
Thanks so much for taking a look at this project. I appreciate your interest!
If you found this page helpful, I invite you to return to this site often for more craft tutorials, project ideas and inspiration! You can make sure you keep this site on your radar by signing up for my newsletter and community at Substack. .
Basic subscriptions are free; I send out regular newsletters to let my subscribers know about new craft articles and tutorials as they are posted. I also share details about the craft projects I’m working on, and invite my readers to share their projects, too. So there is no need to feel like it’s just you, crafting all alone at home. I’d love to have you join us! You’re invited!!
Amy Solovay is a real, live, human content creator and educator who holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics from Sweet Briar College; she has also earned a separate Associate of Arts degree in textile design from FIDM LA (The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, Los Angeles). She is NOT a robot and does not use artificial intelligence (AI) to write book reviews or articles for this website.
Amy began paper crafting as a small child, and she still enjoys paper craft techniques all these years later.
As an educator, Amy Solovay used to teach in-person college courses in trend forecasting, marketing and surface design at California Design College in Los Angeles. Nowadays she uses online platforms for sharing her knowledge about textiles, crafts, current color trends and current design trends.
This page was last updated on 11-26-2024.
More Paper Craft Project Ideas Featuring the Simple Stories Harvest Market Collection:
It’s Easy to Make Your Own Mini Albums for Scrapbooking, Art Journaling, Planning, Note Taking or Whatever Other Purpose You Might Need Them for. Read on for Free Mini Album Instructions and Ideas.
Front Cover of the Pumpkin Spice Fall Themed Mini Album Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice: That’s What This Cute Mini Album Is Made Of!
Specifically, it is made of papers and embellishments from the “Harvest Market” and “Good Stuff” Collections by Simple Stories.
We R Makers (Formerly We R Memory Keepers) Book Binding Tool + the First Project I’ve Made With It So Far: A Fall-Themed Mini Album With Saddle Stitch BindingPages from the Pumpkin Spice Fall Themed Mini Album Before They’ve Been EmbellishedA Cute Chipmunk Is the Star of This Scrapbooking Layout Titled “Nuts About You” From the Pumpkin Spice Fall Themed Mini Album Featuring Craft Supplies by Simple Stories. The pages pictured here were made using papers and stickers from the Harvest Market and Good Stuff Collections, plus Happy Planner washi tape by Me & My Big Ideas.Nuts About You Layout From Pumpkin Spice Fall Themed Mini Album Featuring Craft Supplies by Simple Stories. The pages pictured here were made using papers and stickers from the Harvest Market and Good Stuff Collections, plus Happy Planner washi tape by Me & My Big Ideas.Here you can see a close-up picture of the chipmunk in the “Nuts About You” layout from the Pumpkin Spice Fall Themed Mini Album.
Crafting Skill Level: Easy
Craft Supplies You’ll Need for Making a Mini Album With a Saddle-Stitched Spine
The book binding tool is useful for helping you make straight, evenly spaced holes in your paper to stitch through. It is not a strict necessity. I highly recommend it, but if you don’t have it, you can use a ruler to mark your papers with evenly-spaced guides for placing holes in your papers. In place of the waxed thread, you can use pretty much any sewing thread, fine crochet thread, fine yarn or embroidery floss. It’s ideal to use a tapestry needle or darning needle for doing your sewing, although there are other possible needles that could work, too.
Scoring Board or Other Scoring Tool — I’m using a Scor-Pal tool to do the scoring for my mini albums. There are other scoring boards and scoring tools that will also work for this purpose.
12″x12″ Papers — You’ll need at least 2 sheets of 12″x12″ patterned paper to use for making the pages of your mini album. I used 2 12″x12″ sheets of patterned paper from the “Good Stuff” collection by Simple Stories. This collection features one paper for each month of the year. I decided to make my project a fall-themed mini album featuring photos I took in the months of September and October — so I chose to use the September and October papers from this collection. You can use these, too, if you want your mini album to look like mine. If you want to scrap a different season, you could choose papers from some of the other months in the year as an alternative to these. Or you could choose any other papers you love.
Paper Cutter or Trimmer
Extra Papers and Embellishments — There are zillions of possible ways you can embellish your mini album. You could use stickers, die cuts, frames, washi tapes, ribbon or whatever other embellishments you like. I used stickers from the Harvest Market cardstock sticker sheet to embellish my mini album pages. I also used pocket cards from the Harvest Market 6″x8″ paper pad and handmade frames I made using papers from the same pad. I used the We R Makers Frame Punch Board to make the frames. I used Happy Planner washi tape on both the book cover and the interior pages.
Photos up to 4″x6″ in Size — If you want your mini album to be a scrapbook, you’ll need some photos to scrap with. This small-sized album works best with small photos; photos measuring 3″ x 4″ are ideal, but you can also use 2″x2″ photos, 2″x3″ photos, 4″x4″ photos or photos that measure 4″x6″ or any size smaller than that. A 4″x6″ photo will take up one entire page in this mini album.
Adhesive — You’ll need a flat, paper-friendly adhesive such as Cherry Tape,Scor Tapeor Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive. It’s optional to also use a three-dimensional adhesive. I like using Scrapbook.com’s Adhesive Foam Strips to make photo frames appear to pop up from the page. I also use them to attach random embellishments to the pages to make them look more interesting. However, please do not overdo it with the foam adhesive so you can be sure of getting your book to close properly.
How to Make the Mini Album: Free Step-by-Step Instructions and Tutorial
Cut each of your 2 sheets of 12″x12″ paper into thirds measuring 4″ tall by 12″ wide.
Score each of these pieces of paper down the middle using a scoring tool.
Put your papers in the order you want them to appear in your mini album and stack them neatly on top of each other with the center fold lines all aligned.
Thread your needle with the waxed thread or whichever thread, floss, yarn or fiber you plan to use.
Use the book binding tool and your awl or paper piercing tool to punch evenly-spaced holes down the center fold line on your stack of papers.
Stitch through the holes using your threaded needle. Saddle stitch simply goes up through one hole, down through the next hole, etc. Then after you’ve stitched the entire spine of the book, you can backtrack and go back through the holes again in the other direction if you want to make the sturdiest possible binding. If you have the We R Makers Book Binding Tool, you can consult the instruction guide to see how to do this type of binding plus some other fancier bindings, too.
Knot your thread at the end to keep the binding from unraveling.
Embellish your book as desired.
So there you have it: That’s how to make a mini album using the We R Makers Book Binding Tool Set. I hope you’ll enjoy making and decorating your own mini albums! Happy crafting!
Over to You:
Have you tried making a mini album with a saddle stitched binding? If so, how did it turn out? How did you embellish it? Did you keep it for yourself or give it as a gift to a loved one? Do you have any questions about making mini albums?
The floor is open for comments — so if you have questions or feedback about this project idea, please feel free to leave a comment and we will do our best to help you if we know the answers to your questions.
Thanks so much for taking a look at this project. I appreciate your interest!
No worries if a fall mini album isn’t the type of craft project you’re interested in working on right now. This website has 800+ pages of craft tutorials, instructions and project inspiration. If you’re hoping to find other sorts of patterns and projects, you’re invited to check out the blog and the main directory of craft project ideas to find other projects that better reflect your current interests!
If you found this post helpful, I invite you to return to this blog often for more craft tutorials, project ideas and inspiration! You can make sure you keep this site on your radar by signing up for my newsletter and community at Substack. .
Basic subscriptions are free; I send out regular newsletters to let my subscribers know about new craft articles and tutorials as they are posted. I also share details about the craft projects I’m working on, and invite my readers to share their projects, too. So there is no need to feel like it’s just you, crafting all alone at home. I’d love to have you join us! You’re invited!!
Amy Solovay is a real, live, human content creator and educator who holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in mathematics from Sweet Briar College; she has also earned a separate Associate of Arts degree in textile design from FIDM LA (The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, Los Angeles). She is NOT a robot and does not use artificial intelligence (AI) to write book reviews or articles for this website.
As an educator, Amy Solovay used to teach in-person college courses in trend forecasting, marketing and surface design at California Design College in Los Angeles. Nowadays she uses online platforms for sharing her knowledge about textiles, crafts, current color trends and current design trends.
September Craft Ideas: Monthly Habit Tracker Planner Page Pictured With Sakura Gelly Roll Pens, a Marvy Uchida Highlighter and Wool of the Andes Worsted Weight Yarn by Knit Picks in the Pink Posy Heather Color
Autumn is upon us! The autumnal equinox determines when the first day of autumn falls; this year, it happens on the morning of September 22, 2024. I hope your fall season is getting off to a fantastic start.
Pink Yarn and Pink Craft Ideas: Fingerless Gloves and a Planner Layout With a Monthly Habit tracker and Pink, Red, Green and White Stickers
What types of craft projects are you interested in working on this fall?
Whether you’re brand new to crafts or you have your established favorite technique(s), either way, this craft website is a fantastic place to find fall-friendly craft project ideas you might be interested in working on this month. You’re invited to browse through our pages on the topics of needlecrafts,paper crafts, and other crafts to find patterns, tutorials, and project ideas that interest you.
If you aren’t sure what, exactly, you want to work on making right now, please keep reading; below, I’ve rounded up a bunch of project ideas and suggestions for September craft ideas you can use this month. If you have other suggestions to add to this list, I invite you to post a comment at the end letting me and the other readers here know about them.
September Planner Dashboard Plus Fall Craft Supplies and Project Ideas — Pictured here: Fall-friendly yarn includes Andean Treasure, High Desert and Bare Hare by Knit Picks; My September Planner Dashboard is by Maggie Holmes / Crate Paper; I’m writing in my planner with Sakura Gelly Roll Metallic Pens; I’m reading Nordic Knits by Birger Berge, published by Trafalgar Square Books; and I’m going to use my Clover Takumi bamboo knitting needles to knit a cabled scarf using one of the patterns in this book.September Craft Ideas: Try Entrelac Knitting! Entrelac knitting is a technique you can use for creating intriguing textured projects that appear to be woven. Pictured here is a book by authors Heidi Eikeland and Mette Hovden that is focused on giving you projects using this technique. Trafalgar Square Books is the publisher.Maja’s Swedish Socks — This is another fantastic book filled with fall-friendly knitting projects. It’s a sock knitting pattern book by Maja Karlsson, -published by Trafalgar Square Books.
September Planner Crafts
September Garden Journal Pages for Discbound Planners Like Happy Planner, Arc or Tul
If you maintain a physical planner, junk journal, scrapbook, or art journal, you might want to decorate your September calendar pages, journal pages or scrapbooking layouts with seasonal stamped images or embellishments. I invite you to check out the following pages for ideas:
Garden Journal Pages: This page has information on how to put together September garden journal pages plus additional pages for the other months besides just September.
Fall Themed Mini Album Titled Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice Featuring Supplies by Simple Stories
You’ll miss out on seeing some of the world’s most inspiring scenery if you sit at home on your couch during the month of September. This is the time of year when the trees are showing off their most splendid color schemes. If you have a park or a hiking trail nearby, you can feast your eyes as you go for a stroll. You’ll want to grab a friend and your phone or camera and take photos of the all the beauty that you encounter along the way.
Fall Themed 6×8 Pocket Page Scrapbooking Layout With Photo of Utah’s Dixie National Forest
If any of these fall scrapbooking projects look interesting to you, you can click the photos to find more information about each one. If those ideas aren’t quite what you had in mind, you can check out this page of scrapbooking ideas to find a wider variety of projects.
September Holiday Crafts
Snowflakes Crochet Pattern From the Classic Christmas Crochet Book by Heidi B Johannesen and Pia H. H. Johannesen, With Photography by David Bering / Montgomery
Christmas will be here before you know it. If you celebrate this holiday, and you plan to give handmade gifts to your inner circle, you’ll want to consider devoting some time this month to making Christmas crafts. I’ve posted bunches of free Christmas craft patterns here at this website, and I’ve also reviewed bunches of amazing Christmas craft books you might like to know about.
September Art Projects
Reinterpreting Autumn — An Original Collage Painting by Amy Solovay
If mixed media art is your jam, why not make an abstract collage featuring fall colors? Pictured here is one possible idea you could use for inspiration, but there are zillions of possibilities beyond this one.
September Crochet Projects
Pictured above, you can see work-in-progress shots of the fingerless gloves I’ve been crocheting this month.
I am enthralled by this design and am planning to release a pattern for it soon. However, I’ve had a major setback with that, because my computer died earlier this month. Beyond that, my own personal projects are somewhat on hold while I help my husband with copywriting for his tech startup.
So this pattern release has come to a temporary standstill while I navigate those real-life issues.
The fingerless glove pattern is stuck in testing phase; I’m working my way through testing the design myself and fixing minor oddities in the pattern before sharing it with a broader group of pattern testers. If you’re interested in helping me test this pattern, please drop me a comment or contact me, and I will get you the details of the test as soon as they are available. In the meanwhile, please be patient with me. Thank you for your understanding.
Find More September Crafts and Other Fall Craft Ideas to Carry You Through Autumn
The projects posted above are just a small sampling of the ideas posted on this website. I’ve put together a list of fall crafts that are seasonally appropriate for September, October and November crafting in many regions of the Western hemisphere.
Of course, if you are in Australia, you’re likelier to need spring project ideas right now, so I offer you this list of spring ideas instead.
For even more ideas, you’re invited to check out our main index of craft project ideas. Happy crafting!!
FREE Video Tutorial on Making an Easy Pocket Page Scrapbooking Layout for Beginners to Paper Crafting
Update 11-2-2023: When I originally made the video for this project and shared this blog post, I was waiting for some of my photos to put in the photo pockets for the left-hand side of the spread. I didn’t have the entire two-page layout ready to show you at that time. However, I just finished the left-hand side of the page, so I’m updating this post to show you how both pages look together. The video only covers the right-hand side of the page, but as you can see, the left-hand side is easy; it’s mostly photos in the photo pockets with just a little bit of extra embellishing.
6×8 Sailing Themed Pocket Page Scrapbooking Layout Featuring Supplies by Graphic 45, Altenew, Pinkfresh Studio, Simple Stories and Tim Holtz for Ranger Industries
Free Video Tutorial for How to Create This Sailing Themed 6”x8” Pocket Page Scrapbooking Layout
My husband, Mike, and I sailed from Colonial Beach, Virginia all the way to the Mediterranean region in a 10 meter / 34’ sailboat called Viva. I’m making a series of mini scrapbook albums to document the experiences from our journey.
This is a pocket page scrapbooking layout that I created to fit in a 6”x8” page protector made by Scrapbook.com. This configuration features two 3”x4”pockets stacked on top of each other on the right-hand side of the page and one taller 3”x8” pocket on the left-hand side of the page.
On the facing page is another pocket page; the page is mostly made up of photos in pockets, and I didn’t do much embellishing to them. So on this page, I’m going to devote most of the space to journaling blocks so I have space to write about all the photos from both pages.
This layout is a super easy paper crafts project that is reasonably quick to put together. If you want to try making a scrapbooking layout similar to this one, you’ll need a photo, a 6”x8” page protector, a 6”x8” album to put your page in, some adhesive, and whichever pretty papers and embellishments you’d like to use for telling your story.
I used stamps, inks, a die cutter, and dies to use for decorating my pages, but these are not necessities. You might prefer to use stickers, washi tapes or actual memorabilia from your life; I think it’s better to use embellishments from your actual adventures, in cases where you have them, than purchasing ready-made embellishments. You can embellish your pages from meaningful things in your life; use items like concert tickets or theater tickets from an event you attended, bits of confetti from a wedding or party you went to, or bits of dried botanicals saved from a bouquet your sweetheart gave you.
Below, I’ve provided a complete list of supplies I used in case you want to duplicate any of the elements shown on this page; however, there are many other options that would probably be better suited to complement your photos when you document your own life experiences. So please use the supplies that would work best for you.
Craft Supplies You’ll Need for Duplicating This Scrapbooking Layout:
Craft Supplies for Making a 6×8-inch Pocket Page Scrapbooking Layout Featuring a Sailing Photo and Ocean-Themed Scrapbooking Supplies Stamps Needed for Making the Sailing Themed Pocket Page Scrapbooking Layout Ink Pads for Making This 6×8-Inch Pocket Page Scrapbooking Layout
Full Disclosure: Some (but not all!!) of the products I used to make this layout were provided to me for free by Graphic 45, Pinkfresh Studio and Scrapbook.com. I love all 3 of these companies’ products and typically pay the usual asking price for them; I am not recommending them because I got them for free, but because they are absolutely perfect for my projects and because I really, truly, wholeheartedly love them!!
Also, please be aware that the links I’ve used in this post are affiliate links. What that means: I will make a small commission, at no additional cost to you, if you click through these links and make a purchase. My heartfelt thanks to the many readers who support this blog with your purchases! I am truly grateful!
Ordinary Lined Paper: I grabbed an unused piece of lined note paper from an old planner; you can use any paper with grids or lines that would work for the journaling you have in mind for your page.
Put a Photo in the Upper Right-Hand Page Protector:
This pocket page layout features a picture of me that Mike took of me standing on the deck of our boat with the sails down. I put this picture in the upper right-hand pocket of the page. Easy peasy! But you can embellish your photo if you like; sometimes if I have a photo with lots of “dead space” in it, I’ll adhere a stamped embellishment, a sticker or a group of enamel dots onto it to dress it up a bit. In this case, I just put the plain picture into the pocket protector and called it good.
How to Make the 3″x4″ Journaling Block to Put in the Lower 3″x4″ Pocket:
In the lower right-hand pocket, I made a layered journaling block. Follow these steps to make a similar journaling block for your own layout:
Make the Lower Layer: Cut a piece of patterned paper to 3″x4″ and ink around the edges with a coordinating ink color. I used the “Sail Away” paper from Graphic 45’s 8″x8″ “Sun Kissed” Collector Edition pad, but you can use any patterned paper you like.
Make the Middle Layer: Cut a piece of solid-colored cardstock to 2.5″ x 3.5″ and ink around the edges with a coordinating color. I used a piece of cardstock from the “Warms” collection by Scrapbook.com and “Carved Pumpkin” Distress Oxide ink by Tim Holtz for Ranger Industries.
Make the Upper Layer: Stamp a journaling block image and a sentiment together onto the same piece of white cardstock using a dark color of ink. I used Altenew’s Sapphire ink for this (not pictured). The stamps I used are Altenew’s Journal Card Builder stamp set (now discontinued) and Altenew’s Magical Memories Outlines Stamp Set. Die cut the stamped cardstock into an interesting shaped journaling block. I used one of the label dies from Echo Park’s Happy Day Labels Die Set, but there are many other dies that could work for this.
You can add emphasis around the edges of the die-cut shape by drawing around the edge with a marker; however, I recommend doing this with a marker that is getting dried out and close to the end of its life, because this technique can wreak havoc on your markers. You don’t want to wreck a brand new, expensive marker by doing this.
Tape the 3 layers together, complete your journaling, and add the journaling block to your page protector.
How to Make the 3″x8″ Journaling Block:
To fill the pocket that extends down the entire left-hand side of the page, I made a separate layered journaling block using the “Turtle Time” patterned paper from Graphic 45’s Sun Kissed 8”x8” Collector’s Edition Pack, plus a die-cut frame, die cut ephemera, stamped images and stickers.
Follow these steps to make a similar journaling block:
Cut your background paper to 3″x8″.
Ink around the edges of your background paper and set it aside until the ink is thoroughly dry.
Attach a border sticker close to the upper edge of the background paper. I used a cardstock sticker from Graphic 45’s “Make a Splash” collection, but there are many outstanding border stickers or similar embellishments like washi tape that you could use for this.
Make two die cut pieces using Pinkfresh Studio’s Mini Slimline Stitched Scalloped Rectangles: You’ll make the inner piece using ordinary lined paper and the frame piece using the Graphic 45 “Make a Splash” navy blue paper, or the papers of your choice. Attach them at an angle to the background paper using paper-friendly adhesive.
Stick a sticker at the lower edge of the framed journaling block. I used a sticker that says “Sail Away” from the Simple Vintage Seas sticker book by Simple Stories.
Stamp a sentiment, cut it out and attach it near the top of your journaling block. I stamped “Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway” on white cardstock using Weathered Wood Distress Ink.
Stamp an oval label using “Carved Pumpkin” Distress Oxide. Allow it to dry.
Stamp a sentiment using “Pearlescent Sky Blue” Brilliance ink onto the stamped oval label image. Allow it to dry.
Cut out the stamped oval label image using your decorative scissors or the die that corresponds to your oval label stamp.
Attach your stamped sentiments and die-cut embellishments to your background paper, layering them over each other and over the other elements on the paper.
Complete your journaling and put the finished journaling block in its pocket.
Finishing Touches for This Pocket Page Scrapbooking Layout
I have a love/hate relationship with pocket page scrapbooking. I really love the ease and simplicity of this approach to scrapbooking, but there are a couple of things about it that drive me bonkers. First, I hate it that you can see the page beneath the one you’re looking at through the seams of the pockets. And second, I sometimes get annoyed at the rigidity of the grid-style layouts.
There’s a simple solution for both of these annoyances: Don’t feel limited to sticking your page elements inside the pockets. You can embellish outside the pockets, too. Once I figured this out, I started to enjoy pocket page scrapbooking a LOT more.
On this page, after all three of my pockets were filled, I stuck a sticker strip in between the two 3″x4″ pockets.
I didn’t stick any stickers overtop of that other gap between page elements because I still have to make a layout for the other side of this page protector, and I will need to use the opening to add stuff to the other side. The jury is out on whether I will stick more stickers overtop of this opening or leave well enough alone. We’ll see how it goes!
So go ahead and stick some extra stickers on the outsides of your pockets if you want to (or not). Just don’t block the opening to the other side if you want to have a layout on the back of your page.
Voila! Your pocket page scrapbooking layout is now complete. I hope you’ll enjoy adding it to your scrapbook and reliving your memories as you look at it.
Thanks so much for taking a look at my project. I hope you enjoyed it, and I appreciate your interest!
Find More Sailing and Travel Themed Scrapbooking Projects:
Seas the Day 6×8 Pocket Page Scrapbooking Layout Featuring Beach, Sailboats, and Seagulls
Enjoy the Journey Sailing Themed Scrapbooking Layout by Amy Solovay
Road Trip to Colonial Beach — A Travel-Themed 6×8 Scrapbooking Album Featuring Nautical and Road Trip Themed Layouts
