Graphic 45 Farmhouse Mini Album

I have been waiting for Graphic 45 to come out with another country collection, and they hit a home run with the NEW Farmhouse Collection! It is just beautiful and so very farm-ish! {smile} 

Granted, I have zero reasons to need a farm themed collection, other than I love farmhouse style and decor! We just repainted our kitchen cabinets so that I can switch from the late 1990's Tuscan/Mediterranean style that came with our house to a more modern farmhouse style! Every time I come into the new space, it is FLOODED with light and seems so much larger and happier!   

The dark cherry stained cabinets were faded and many were damaged. The kitchen is over 18 years old, and after years of wear and tear, they needed an update. The cabinets have been painted a creamy white and farmhouse style knobs and pulls were added. I am getting started on the decor. (One rooster painting...check!) We have plans for new stools and a new kitchen dining set. I will share a full post of the renovation once I have it all decorated, which will probably not happen until after the COVID-19 shut-down! I need to shop in PERSON!

Now, on to the real post...the Farmhouse album! 

This album is a bit of a copy cat from an album I made a few years ago. The 8" x 8" size is so awesome, however you need a TON of paper to make it happen. I only attempt this size when I have loads of matching paper. (To see the original album, click HERE.)
I hate even calling this a mini because it is so large! It is 8" x 8" x 2". The inside has four "stacked" pages! There are lots of pockets and flips and pull-outs!

Such a large mini requires a lot of cardstock and decorative paper! I used one 25-pack of black cardstock and one half of a 25-pack of ivory cardstock (for photo mats)! 

For the decorative paper I used: 12x12 Farmhouse, 12x12 Farmhouse Patterns and Solids, 8x8 Farmhouse, 12x12 Domestic Goddess (a few sheets), 12x12 Home Sweet Home (soon to be available in a Deluxe Collector's Edition!), 8x8 Home Sweet Home, 6x6 Home Sweet Home Patterns and Solids, 12x12 French  Country, 8x8 French Country, 6x6 French Country Patterns and Solids. I added in the extra papers so that the Farmhouse paper would "stretch." You can only get one full 8" x 8" section from each 12" x 12" paper, so you MUST plan well! 

Here is a view of the spine. I constructed this album in the same way I do most of my made-from-scratch albums. For details on how to construct albums of this style, please search my blog or find your favorite designer who has YouTube videos.

Note: The covers are 8" x 8" and the spine is 8" x 2". The inside pages are 7 3/4" x 7 3/4" and there are four hinges.

Cut the decorative paper to fit the front cover and the spine.  Add a chipboard element to the spine.

Choose a Farmhouse ephemera card for the cover art. Decorate with flowers, charms, and other embellishments as desired.

Cut paper for the back cover and attach one of the Farmhouse die cuts to the bottom center of the back cover.

You are now ready to add your pages. I cut the base pages from black cardstock, sized to 7 3/4" x 7 3/4". For each hinge, I cut TWO base pages, gluing them together with the hinge sandwiched between. I only glued around three edges so that each page could have a side pocket. (The video linked below will show how the side pockets work.)

I attached the pages to the hinges, making 4 pages, 8 sides. Each page may have a pocket, flip up, or pull out portion.  (See below.) 

The inside front cover contains a large pocket, 4" x 8". Page 1 also has a pocket, sized 3" x 7 3/4". 

I love having a nice, deep pocket for the inside front cover so I can add a lot of photo mats or memorabilia. 

I created various sized photo mats and also used G45 regular and square tags. I mixed and matched the papers and all the embellishments. To make things easier, I also used the G45 Tag Dies to cut the paper for the tags. 

Page 1 has a side pull-out mat that measures 6 3/4" x 6 3/4". All of the side pull-outs are the same size. The page has a pocket holding photo mats, tags, and photo cards that are perfect for the 4" x 3" ephemera cards. I also added a photo mat above the pocket. (To view the interactive pages, check out the video attached below!)

Here is a view of Pages 2 and 3. I used ivory photo mats throughout the album.

Page 2 has a side flip-out, 4" wide. When creating the flaps, add a 1/2" scored tab to the side that attaches to the base page. Simply cut the cardstock 1/2" longer or wider than your required measurement, score at 1/2" from the edge to create the tab. 

A 4" x 6" photo will fit the photo mat on the base page.

Page 3 has a top flip-up with a large pocket hidden underneath. The top flap measures 6 1/4" x 7 3/4". The pocket is 3" x 7 3/4". There is plenty of room for photo mats and photo cards. I used all different styles of photo mat - circles, squares, and rectangles. This will make it easy to add tons of photos!

Pages 4 and 5. Page 4 has a side side pull-out mat, plus a divided page flip-out. Each of the flip-outs has a pocket. Page 5 has a triple flip-up and a side side pull-out photo mat

The side flip pages are 3 3/4" x 6 1/2" (plus a 1/2" score on the right edges to make the attachment tabs). The little pockets are 3 3/4" x 2 1/2" and hold ATC tags and 4" x 3" photo cards.

The flaps open to revel space for photos.

Page 5 has a side pocket and a pull-out photo mat, plus a triple flip up/down area for more photos. 

Note: I made a mistake with this section by gluing the chipboard chicken sign off center! I had to improvise the center flip area to make the chipboard look centered. 

The flaps fit 4" x 6" photos, ephemera cards, or decorative paper.

You can see that my center panel is cut wider to fix the chicken issue!

Pages 6 and 7. Page 6 has a side flip-out containing a pocket. The little pocket is 2 1/2" x 4". The page has a large pocket (3" x 7 3/4") to hold all sorts of things! Page 7 has a top flip-up and a bottom flip-up!

The pocket for Page 6 holds lots of photo mats and little 4" x 3" photo books.

The flaps for Page 7 are 4 1/2" x 7 3/4", plus you need to add the 1/2" tab to attach them to the base page. Once both flaps are open, you can see the large mat on the base page. 

Page 8  contains a side side pull-out mat and a fun waterfall element, with a hidden pocket! I have created many waterfall pages, here is one example to help you make yours. For the Farmhouse waterfall, I made the pages all different sizes, rather than making them all the same. 

The inside back cover contains a large pocket, the same measurements as the front cover pocket.

More photo mats, tags, and photo cards!

Check out all the interactive elements by watching this video!

I hope you enjoyed the "show-off" video of all the pages!

Thanks for joining me today!

Graphic 45 Supplies:
Farmhouse 12x12 Collection Pack (with stickers)
Farmhouse 8x8 Pad
Farmhouse 12x12 Patterns and Solids Pad
Farmhouse Chipboard
Farmhouse  Ephemera and Journaling Cards
Farmhouse Die Cut Assortment
Selected items from these retired collections:
Home Sweet Home 12x12 Pad (soon to be a DCE)
Home Sweet Home 8x8 Pad
Home Sweet Home 6x6 Patterns and Solids Pad
French Country 12x12 Pad
French Country 8x8 Pad
French Country 6x6 Patterns and Solids Pad
French Country Banners
Domestic Goddess 12x12 Pad

Other Supplies:
Cardstock: WorldWin Midnight, Natural
Flowers: Wild Orchid Crafts, Prima
Mini brads: stash
Mini clothes pins: Canvas Corp
Charm: unknown
Magnets: Basic Grey magnetic discs
Dies: various for photo mats
Tools: Kadomaru Pro corner rounder, Stampin' Up circle punches
Adhesive: ATG double-sided tape, 3M foam tape, Scor-tape, Blick Essentials glue