A Special Birthday

Last year when god daughter Gen turned 17 and I made the exploding box card  I did wonder how I was going to top it when she turned 18.  It wasn't easy but I think I just about managed it.

I decided that a mini scrapbook that she could fill with photos of her family and friends to remind her of her life at 18 was the way to go.  With that in mind - I took out every single bit of crafting stuff I own and went crazy!

The pages were cut on my Cricut - from the Elegant Edges cartridge - each one was actually 3 (or 4 for the covers) pieces of heavyweight card (cereal boxes mostly!).  The inside pages were then covered with Core-dinations card. (also cut on the Cricut).

I decorated the covers using the techniques we'd been playing with at Leonie's June workshop. The title 'Gen @ 18' was cut (multiple times and pasted together) using Printing Press (my current favourite font cartridge) on the Cricut.  A beautiful gold ribbon ties the front and back together keeping all her memories safe inside.

I started with a little note to Gen and then gave her lots of pages for photos....

Starting of course with family.  She has a big family so I gave her four little mini books for the photos - two are fold out accordion style, kept close with some lovely ribbon, and the other two mini books fit in the little envelopes on the page.

 These pages were designed with two special people (as it says!) in mind.  I added slide out pages so Gen could add a bit of journalling.

Being a social butterfly Gen has a million friends so along with 3 frames for her best-est mates there are three mini books for friends from school, Orford (where she spends most summers) and more!

 I've had a packet of mini wooden clothes pins for ages and was very excited to be able to use them on this 'hanging out' page.  The photo mats can be removed from the clothes pins easily, so Gen can put a photo on the front and do a bit of journalling on the back.

And finally a big pocket envelope where she can keep tickets and other bits and pieces.....

I had a lot of fun putting the book together and Gen loved it.

However I have warned her that for her 19th it's back to flat cards. Maybe with a flower on it. Maybe.