Hello Ella readers! Abbie here, I’m writing from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the great Brew City. Oh, but that’s an entirely different post. Today, in honor of Mini Book Month at Ella, I’m here to tell you about a mini book of my own creation.
 

Honestly, I’m not usually one to make many minis - but sometimes they just need to be made. Maybe you want to chronicle a vacation, a week, a routine, an event or - in my case - a repetitive activity. It’s nice to have these little books to tell the story from beginning to end and not be interrupted by “Baby’s First Bath!” or “What I Bought at Costco!” pages. (Please, like you haven’t done the Costco page. Ha.)
 

This particular mini book contains all my 5K race numbers and times. I wanted a place to keep them all together that looked cuter than a post-it note. I think I succeeded with this quick and easy, ready-to-fill book.
 

Before I go on, I need to make a small, yet rather important disclaimer: I am not a great (aka fast) runner and the truth is, I like the t-shirts more than the actual race. But. Crossing the finish line - there is nothing better than that.

Once I completed the cover, I was smitten. American Craft foam Thickers, a few banners from the Echo Park kit, and some twine. I adhered the twine with Tombow liquid adhesive and unless I tug at it, it’s, echem, stuck like glue.

Ingredients:

SEI 8x8 book and refills
Echo Park Metropolitan Dots and Stripes Collection
Bella Blvd. Mr. Boy “Heroes” patterned paper*
Red and white twine**
Red and teal coordinating cardstock

*I don’t think this paper is available anymore but Bella Blvd. has some of THE CUTEST scrapbooking products around. Go check her out. And in a total coincidence, she happens to be based out of the town where I live. So Stephanie, if you’re reading this and you need a new friend, my phone number is…. (The rest of you can go ahead and hum “It’s a Small World” in the background.)

**I made the happy mistake of buying one of those giant, industrial-sized spools of red and white baker’s twine. It will last so long that I plan on passing it down to my grandchildren someday. (My kids are currently 6 and 8, FYI.)
 

An 8x8 album is the PERFECT size for all those race numbers I have collected. This green version is in my future for a book of quilts that I’ve made. These particular albums are great because while they can be expanded, they feel nice and compact.

I love this kit. I used all the paper except for some scraps that I use on cards or as layout embellishments. The labels, borders and letters I still use all the time.

I wanted to keep the design simple, simple, simple. It needed to be something I could continue to add to, but not be overwhelmed by the effort and time of adding a page. I set up this book so that I could potentially add a page while blindfolded with one arm tied behind my back (please let it be my right arm, I’m a lefty).

Recipe:

1. Cut the Echo Park kit patterned paper into 8” x 8” pieces.
2. Cut the Bella Blvd. patterned paper into 2” x 8” strips.
3. Cut the cardstock into 1.5” x 8” strips.
4. Type the journaling and print it out on the strips. If you haven’t tried this trick, it’s really easy. Here’s how I do it: Pick a sheet of paper from y bin of scratch paper and print out the journaling. Then I gently tape the cardstock strip on top of the printing. I re-run it through the printer. Ta-dah! (I do this ALL the time with labels, diecuts, and anything else I want to print on.)
5. Wrap the twine around the strips and then adhere all parts together.
6. On some pages I added flag stickers from the Echo Park kit.
7. Done. Eat a cookie. Oh, wait. This is a book about running... um... go stretch!
    

The race numbers are not adhered, adding to the casual, laid-back feel of the book. Plus, it seemed more fun to me: I can take them out and wear them for my early morning runs around the neighborhood whenever I want. (LOL. Seriously.)
 

The fonts I use on scrapbook pages are very important to me. I may not have a drug problem, but I do have a font problem. These beauties are My Own Topher  and Seeing Stars.
 

If I didn’t have a picture for a particular race, I took one later...or didn’t use one at all.
 

I felt like a total dork taking this picture by myself but I KNEW I’d want it for the scrapbook.
 

For this page, I adhered the (lovely!) pre-race picture of my friend and I right onto my race number. It was rebellious moment for me.
 

The last page contains a stack of strips and the remaining stickers. Pret-a-porter a la scrapbooking!
 

I also filled all the remaining pages with all the 8x8 papers.

So now that I’ve got this awesome little book of running, all I need to do is, uh, fill the pages. Anyone wanna join me? Anyone? Bueller?
Stop by my blog sometime and  say hi!