Hello Simple Stories fans!
I couldn't wait to dig into the new We Are...Family collection!! I love mini albums, and it had been awhile since I'd whipped one together. This one came together in about an hour thanks to the handy pre-cut 4x6 booklet that comes in the Interactive Elements. Pages already stapled together with die cut edges were calling out to me...so I gave in. ;)

I love that all you have to do is add photos and embellishments in this little pocket album...that's the fun part, right?! My family and I had taken a last minute day trip to Niagara Falls (without checking the weather forecast) so I knew this would be perfect to house just a few photos + the story. The woodgrain alphabet in the collection didn't stand out against the woodgrain cover so I grabbed my gold Sharpie marker and switched them up a bit.

It dries almost instantly and looks great! :)

Inside the first page I added a 3x4 card from the Sn@p! set to the right side and heat embossed one of the smaller 'girl' wood veneer pieces with gold metallic powder...we are a family of three, after all. ;) On the left side I used half of one of the chipboard frames to kind of foretell the theme of the album...the weather we had was unfortunate, but we had a great time together regardless.

Each page comes with an image or phrase, so I just added a few details here and there. We spent the afternoon at the outlet mall (trying to convince ourselves that the torrential rain would wear itself out), and found some awesome deals to save for back to school time. Our daughter scored an insane steal on this purse and it was fun to document her first 'real' purchase from her summer job. A washi tape strip here and there paired with a few enamel dots + the flat backed brad were all that was needed to wrap this page up. 

The next page sums up the ridiculousness of the entire day, lol. It was STILL pouring with sideways rain after we had dinner, but we barreled through the bad weather and stopped by Niagara Falls despite the grey day. We stopped at a gift shop to grab a few ponchos, and sported the Canadian maple leaf all over town. We were on the U.S. side of the Falls, and so many folks told us we were troopers to brave the weather since we were 'visitors'...rather than correct them, we just went with the flow. :) 

I'm glad I stuffed the wrapper for one of our ponchos in my pocket during the downpour...I adhered it to the back of one of the 4x6 transparency pieces that comes with the collection kit, and made an extra page out of it. I used a washi tape strip and one of the foldover tabs on the back side to hold it in the album. 

The last page tells the story about the ponchos...I love the graph design that is throughout the album. It unifies everything and makes journaling SIMPLE. After layering a few stickers together, this album was complete!

There are several neat items in the Interactive Elements from each collection...make sure to check them out for simple projects like this one. :)