Back in January 2004 (uh, yes, that would be almost 11 years ago! ) my son Eric ran in the Houston Marathon. I immediately made this “squash book” photo album as it was called, very popular back in my earlier days of Stampin’ Up! I made the album, put the photos in it, and I see now never did any journaling in it!  There’s not one date in it! Very bad! I also never got a cover made. But for 11 years, “any minute now” I was going to finish that album by making a cover (and presumably doing some journaling inside!). So it laid around here all these years, probably got dusted a few times, and finally landed who knows where. But this Christmas it resurfaced and by golly, I was going to decorate the cover! I didn’t know exactly what I would use, but immediately I spied a new Sale-A-Bration stamp set, coming January 6, called, appropriately, Best Day Ever. I thought that saying was so right for this project and stamped that on the top layer. As I’ve always said, stars are great for so many occasions, so I used the Many Merry Stars Stamp Set, which is still available in the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Supplement on page 8 and is discounted on the Year-End Closeouts Clearance Rack (while supplies last!).  (If you missed out on the Many Merry Stars Simply Created Kit that was so popular, at this moment it is available too at a discount!  You can still make the kit and save the stars for next Christmas – or use them for another occasion with different greetings.)  I also used Glimmer Paper and the Star Framelits Dies to decorate the cover of the squash book.

I don’t have any directions at my fingertips for making the squash book, but I did use 12 x 12 card stock. You can make it as long as you want.  I put photos on both sides. The trick is getting it to fold correctly, but once you do that, you’ve got it made.  I’m sure you can google “Squash book” and find some details if you need them. Here are some photos of the inside so you can get an idea of how it is assembled and folded. I see I should add some dates and journaling before I let him take it home!

Here are some photos of the inside so you can get an idea of how the squash book folds and looks.

Usually I finish all my stamping projects I start, which I consider one of the advantages of the rubber stamping craft, but this project just didn’t quite make it!  I’m glad I finally was able to finish this Houston Marathon Squash Book Photo Album for a Christmas gift, even if it was about eleven years overdue! Try your hand at making a small album for a special occasion!

Don’t forget, the Stampin’ Up! Holiday Catalog is coming to an end January 5th! Even though we are excited about the new Occasions Catalog and Sale-A-Bration event  coming up, don’t miss out on anything you wanted from the Holiday Catalog or Holiday Supplement before they end! Lots of items are on the Year-End Closeouts as well, so you might get a bargain!