What a Mess!

So, you want to see what happens when I am prepping for three Stampin' Scout Classes, working on my Super Special Project AND getting my Brownie Troop ready for their first camping trip...

For those of you who always ask me how I always keep my house so neat and tidy with four kids....here's your answer...I don't!!!  This drives me absolutely crazy, and NEEDS to be picked up and organized SOON.  Clearly, I am a very messy crafter...but I think I heard somewhere that the most creative people are ALWAYS messy....hmmmm. 

 (yes, just trying to make myself feel better and less anxious about this mess!)

While I'm here, I might as well show you one of the projects that lead to this disaster of a craft space!  Thursday I have a special request Stampin Scout Class...what's that? Well, a leader contacted me about creating an album cover "that had pockets" for the girls to make at their next meeting. You see, their leader is a Creative Memories Rep and has been scrapbooking with her girls all year...now they need an inexpensive and fun way to put all their Girl Scout memories together!!

So, after a little playing with the 8x8 page samples that the leader gave me, I came up with this...

The cover is a piece of Stampin' Up! textured cardstock that I cut 9 X 8 1/5...just the perfect size to cover the CM pages without being too big.  I used some chocolate chip cardstock to make the binding as well.  The one request by my GS leader was that the album be able to be added too over time with more pages...done!  Just untie the ribbon, untread the book and add some more pages! 

Some of the cardstock papers I used are retired (typical in my Girl Scout classes) but I was dying to use this new Designer Paper from the current Idea Book & Catalog.  Check out how cute "Playdate" is.  Flowery and fun without being too prissy  or pink!  Of course, it's stamped...and a little "bling" along the way.  My goal was to use that flower paper as a photo border...I envision them adding their Troop Photo there later...how cute will that be!?

So, on to the inside...

This is the inside front cover....and where the "pockets" come into play.  The pocket with the Playdate numbers paper has a little piece of paper in it now...but I'm thinking movie tickets, notes from friends, maybe even some badges they haven't sewn on their uniforms yet!  The smaller pocket, I used for the girls to journal on...cute little tags with some ribbon and stamped with another flower.  It's hard to see, but the stamp on the front of the pocket say "So glad we're friends:.  That's what Girl Scouts is all about...

(Inside Back Cover)

Looks like a lot of scallop white ovals, huh?  Now, follow along with me, this represents the 13 girls (there are 13 ovals) in the troop.  My vision is that this is a cute place for each of them to sign their name, maybe even squeeze in a little note to whose ever album this is.  I punched out some flowers here too to keep with the theme.

Lastly, the outside back cover...

The stamped wording says "friendship" and that striped piece of paper you see is actually INSIDE a clear cello bag that is adhered to the album.. So, that means, this is ANOTHER clear pocket for the girls to add even more "stuff"....and best part...you can actually see what's in there!

To me, this was the PERFECT place for the girls to store those swaps or other special items that they get...they can be displayed and put in a safe spot with all their other cherished pictures.

SO, that is just one of the MANY things I am working on as of late...what do you think?

Even though this album is clearly made to be simple for the girls to complete at a meeting, you can easily alter and embellish this to create a FABULOUS album for YOUR photos as well!  If you need more specific directions on how I put this album together....just shoot me an email and I'll be happy to share!