Hey there! It’s Judy here sharing an accordion mini album project using 5 x 7 Basis Folded Cards. The Basis Cards are the Monthly Specials for October at CutCardStock and are available in several sizes and lots of colors!

Now, mini albums are not the kind of project I often create, but I do enjoy making them. Many types can be created with various materials, themes, shapes, and sizes, They make great gifts!

Materials

Cardstocks in this project are BASIS A-7 5X7 FOLDED DISCOUNT CARD STOCK INVITATIONS Burgundy, BASIS 8.5X11 BURGUNDY 80LB CARDSTOCK, POP TONE PINK LEMONADE 8.5X11 DISCOUNT CARD STOCK, CLASSIC CREST IVORY OR NATURAL 8.5X11 CARDSTOCK, DCS PEARLIZED TEXTURED FRUIT PUNCH PINK 5X7 DISCOUNT CARD STOCK, coordinating patterned card stocks.

Making the Base

I started with 5 5 x 7-inch cards, or you can cut card stock to 10 x 7 inches and fold it in half. To adhere the cards together, apply your favorite adhesive to 3 sides of the right-hand side of your card. I used Score Tape.

Attach the left side of the second card to the right side of the first. Leaving the top open forms a pocket.

Continue in the same manner as stated above with all five cards, alternating between the valley and mountain folds. You can add more cards if you desire an album to hold more photos or memorabilia.

You can see how to create the accordion in the photo below. This gives us the base of the album.

Adding Decoration

I cut 12 4 3/4 x 6 3/4 inch pieces from the Pink Lemonade card stock to dress the album up a bit. Adhere these to each panel of the accordion, both front and back sides. I then punched a half circle at the top of the panels with pockets to give easier access to them.

Next, we’ll create 4 photo mats to fit the pockets. I cut the Shimmery Fruit Punch cards to 3 3/4 x 6 3/4 inches. A decorative border punch was used on the top and bottom edges. I adhered 3 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch pieces of Classic Crest card stock onto both sides of the Fruit Punch cards.

Next, I added 7 pieces of 4 5/8 x 6 5/8 inches of patterned card stock to the album panels. Then I cut 5 pieces of patterned paper to create pockets adhered to the lower edges of alternating pages.

To add some embellishment to the full pages, I cut some panels out of Classic Crest card stock and die-cut the bottom edges. The patterned paper pad I used had some sheets included with cut apart pieces. Some of these I fussy cut and added to the top of the die-cut panels.

Making a Cover

Now that the accordion mini album setup is complete, we need to make a cover.

I cut a piece of the Burgundy Basis card stock to 7 1/2 x 11 inches and scored at 5 1/4, 5 1/2, and 5 3/4 inches. Next, cut 2 pieces of patterned card stock to 5 x 7 1/4 inches for the front and back. A piece of 20-inch ribbon is great for the closure.

Adhere the ribbon to the front and back and cover with the patterned pieces.

Also, I added a piece of patterned card stock to the inside left side of the cover. Once you adhere the accordion to the right side, the album is complete.

Hope you’ve enjoyed taking a look at my project! Be sure and check out all the products available at CutCardStock.

Written by

Judy VanZandt

I am a married mother of 2 adult children and avid crafter. I've indulged in many different types of crafts, but paper crafting is really my passion and has been for more than 20 or so years. I love making cards, scrapbooking, altering frames, bottles, notebooks and just about anything else you can put paper to.