Tutorial: Doublehigh Accordion Album with Tattered Floral Rosettes

Sizzix 658035 Accordion Album

Sizzix 658037 Frame & Label, Bracket

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hurray! The Accordion Album and the Frame & Label dies are back in stock at many local and online retailers!

Scrapbook.com - Accordion Album, Frame & Label Bracket

U Cut at Home - Accordion Album, Frame & Label Bracket

Scrapp'n Savvy (call the store to order)

Assembly instructions can be viewed in this Scrapbook.com video: Accordion Album Assembly Video

Today I'm sharing a fun folding technique to make the Accordion Album double-high.

I fell in love with the new Basic Grey Knee Highs collection for its fun colors and super cute birds! 

A doublehigh album would be great for photos, but I wanted to make a Thank-you card for a friend, so I decorated this one with papers and embellishments.

When the album is closed, it measures 5" wide by 7" tall, which will fit in an A7 sized envelope. Because my Tattered Floral rosettes are so bulky, though, it would need extra postage. If I had stuck with flat embellishments it could be mailed for one stamp.

I love the way my Bigz Fancy Frame die works with the Accordion Album. It overhangs the sides just enough to make it interesting! The "thanks" is a Paper Smooches stamp.

The birds paper was so cute that I fussy cut one of the birds, highlighted the face with some Copic shading, added Glossy Accents to the eyeballs, and layered it along with my Label & Ribbon Movers & Shapers set.

When I saw that Tim Holtz was running a Tattered Florals challenge, I just knew I wanted to play along! I decided to make rosettes from the Tattered Florals die. 

Want to learn how to make a doublehigh album and Tattered Florals rosettes? Here are the steps:

1. Measure 3.5" from the bottom cut blade and mark a pencil line. 2. Align fold of paper on that line and die cut

The first step in creating a double-high album is deciding where to put the fold. I knew I wanted a 7" high album, so I measured 3.5" from the bottom cut blade of the die, marked a pencil line, and then aligned my folded paper with that line to die cut. 

If you arranged the fold somewhere in the outer frame of the die you will end up with two stacked albums, which is also a fun look. Experiment!

3. Unfold after die cutting to reveal a doublehigh page. 4. Use a strong adhesive to attach the pages together using the long side tabs.

Assembling the doublehigh album is just like normal. Use a strong adhesive to attach the pages together with the long side tabs. Cut off the final side tab since there is nothing to connect it to.

 

5. The Frame & Label die can be used the same way. Mark a line 3.5" from the bottom blade. 6. Align the fold of the decorator paper on the line.

Before attaching the inner frames to each other, use the Frame & Label, Bracket die to cut some decorator pieces. Since this die is designed to perfectly fit the Accordion Album, it's easy to do the same process with a pencil line 3.5" from the bottom blade and aligning the fold of the paper on that line.

7. By doubling the Frame & Label Bracket die, all the decorator pieces will fit the tall album perfectly.

There will be a fold in the middle of every decorator piece, but I've noticed that patterned papers tend to mask the line much better than cardstocks. Papers with busy patterns are the best. However, you can always cover the creases with embellishments and photos.

8. After adding decorator papers, use the small tabs to connect the inner panels so they travel right through the center of the accordion-folded outer frames.

See? It's super easy to make a doublehigh Accordion Album! 

Now let's talk about the Tattered Floral rosettes.

 

1. Cut two tattered florals and snip to the center between any two petals.

 

I'm sure there are plenty of ways to make rosettes using this die, but this is the way that I found the easiest. You'll need two of the same size flower for each rosette. Snip into the center between two petals. (Doesnt matter where)

 

2. Pinch mountain folds in the center of every petal. 3. Bring each mountain fold to its neighbor, creating a valley fold between the two petals. Continue around the flower.

 

After cutting the slit to the center, it's actually quite easy to just work your way around the flower, pinching a mountain fold in the center of each petal. There is absolutely no need to score first and perfection is highly overrated. Just pinch in the approximate center.

Now bring each mountain fold over to its neighbor, creating a valley fold between the two petals. Again, no measuring, no scoring, no stressing!

 

4. Repeat the process to make a second half-rosette. 5. Snip off one half of the outermost petal from each half-rosette and use adhesive to attach them to each other.

 

After the really fun carefree pinching you'll have a half-rosette. Repeat the process (Wheee!) to make a second half-rosette. Snip off half the outermost petal (right along the mountain fold) on one side of the half-rosette. Do the same thing with the second half-rosette and then adhere them to each other with tape runner or glue.

I layered a large rosette with a medium one, added a small tattered floral and then a painted metal Foliage flower. I used the brad to attach the finished rosette to the album page so I didn't have to worry about glue.

I used various size Tattered Floral rosettes throughout my album. Fun and easy!

So how about it? Ready to give either or both of these techniques a try? I'd love to see what you can come up with!