Peek-A-Boo Window Album

This is a wonderful album to show progressive growth. The idea is to show, on each double page spread, one picture through a window on the left (start) and another on the right (where they ended up) both visible through the window as the pages are turned

Ideas For Use:

• School album: Show your child as a kindergartner on the left and a senior on the right. Make a double page spread for each year. You'll also have a title page, a preschool page, an off to college page, or a dedication page.
• Baby album: Newborn picture on left and first birthday on right. Fewer pages may need to be cut depending on how many pictures you have. Leave the first birthday page whole and on the reverse side start with new window to show 1st to 2nd birthday.
• Wedding album: Have Bride on left and Groom on right. You could make a small album to display at a wedding reception with childhood photos of the bride and groom.
• Anniversary album: Wedding photo on the left and on right 10, 20, 30 etc year photos. This would be nice to display at a 25th or 50th anniversary party.

Assembling the Album:

1. Supplies needed: circle (or oval) cutter, circle template, ruler, pencil with eraser, creative memories pages
2. Decide how many pages you would like a window in and remove them from your album. An example would be one double page spread for each year in school. Do you want to include preschool? Make room for title page or dedication page??
3. Pick a photo that would like to see in the window on the right and one for the left side (this may be added at a later date)
4. Decide where you would like your window and mount your photo on the left- hand side to line up with the circle placement
5. Place circle cutter template on your mounted photo and decide what size to cut the circle.
6. Measure with a ruler from the bottom photo, Transfer those measurements to blank page and cut the circle.
7. Double check circle for appropriate placement (adjust picture if you need to)
8. Use first cut as a template for the rest of pages to be cut. Draw circle with pencil and cut the other pages one at a time

Peek-a-boo Page Ideas

• Most Peek-a-Boo pages are just pages that have a cut out so something on the next page shows through. Most of them are not difficult but do take planning because they involve 4 or more pages. You will need to use them on an event that you have a lot of pictures for - or where you can combine photos (such as Easter/spring, fall/Thanksgiving, etc.)
  It can be difficult to understand written instructions for making these pages. The best thing to do is get 3 scrapbook pages and follow along as you read the instructions. You will end up with two double-page spreads but can add as many pages as you want in the middle. Most of these instructions use this method for describing the pages: Page 1 is the first page of the layout - which is at the left and is actually the back side of a scrapbook page with the staples at the right. Page 2 is the right side of the first double-page-spread and has the staples at its left. The back side of page 2 is Page 3. The right side of the second 2-page-spread is Page 4 and the staples are to the left. You cut the holes in the middle page (page 2/3) so that things on Page 1 and Page 4 show through. Any other pages you add with be done the same as the first middle page and the first and last pages will stay the same. Most people use the reverse sides of pages 1 and 4 for non-related stuff so they are not counted as pages when making a Peek-a-Boo layout.
• Use the oval cutter to make a hole on the bottom or middle of the page. I put mine half way between the middle and the right side.
  You cut the oval from page 2/3 so what is on page 1 shows through when you look at page 3 and what is on page 4 shows through when you look at page 2.
  If you want to put stickers on so they overlap the edges of the cut-out you need to use ones that are reversible. Many stickers have each module the reverse of the previous module.
  Place the first sticker on the edge of the oval hole so some of the sticker is on the page, some in the opening.
  Turn over and put the reversible stickers exactly on the back of the front stickers. Leftover stickers go elsewhere on the page.
  Make sure to leave room for your photo to show thru.
• Page Idea - Use school stickers and put a pre-school photo on page 1 and a graduation photo on page 4. Fill the rest of the pages with activities thru the year.
• Page idea - Make a house with windows. Through the windows you see inside. If it's an Christmas theme, put decorations on the outside of the house, etc.
• Title Idea: I put this poem on the inside of the front cover of my heritage album:
  Our family is a circle of Love and strength.
  With every birth and every union, the circle grows.
  Every joy shared adds more love.
  Every crisis faced together makes the circle stronger.
  I put an 8 x 10 photo of my husband and me on the second page with a peek-a-boo page as the first page. It said Family on top of the oval window and Heritage under the window with our picture showing in the window. When you turn the page, the window frames the quotation (I drew "lace" around the window on the back side so the verse was framed with the lace). Our names and birth dates were on the page with the photo. (Averie in Michigan)
• Another Peek-a-Boo Variation
  First you need a perfectly symmetrical shape of something that goes with your page theme. It should not a fairly simple shape without a lot of turns.
  Don't make it too large or the page will be too flimsy - about 6 inches high and 3 wide would be the maximum. The page I saw had a sun shape but a birthday cake or pumpkin would work.
  I did one with a Christmas Tree. Cut a Christmas tree shape (for half a tree) out of evergreen paper - cutting both pieces at the same time so they will be exactly alike. Put one or two pieces of tape runner on the back of each to keep it in place while you line up the pages. Lay two pages out as if for a two-page-spread and put the two tree halves right up next to the jeeping on the inside edges of the pages so it looks like a tree spanning the two pages. Later you can write the page title or date or whatever on it with the gold pen or decorate it with stickers.
  Don't adhere the shapes firmly to the page until after you cut the shape out of the center page.
  Next cut a pattern about 1/8" smaller than the tree shapes you put on the pages (this will make lining up the pages much easier than if you make the opening the same size as the shapes). Put that pattern against the jeeping of a page (which will be the middle page of your layout). Cut out the shape with an Exacto knife - do NOT cut the jeeping!
  To line up the pages put all three in an album with the cut out page between the other two. Turn the page back and forth until the shapes are lined up with the opening - then you can tape the shapes down securely. You could do cutouts on several pages if you had lots of stuff from one event.
• I saw one that would be interesting for either a school album or a grandparent's album. First you draw a large tree on both page 2 and page 3. You cut small circles here and there in the tree (half as many circles as there were children in the class or as there are grandchildren). Then you mount half the class or grandchildren on apple die-cuts (or red circles) on page 1 and the other half on page 4. Place all the photos so they show through the circles cut in the tree. Around the photos put the children's names and other journaling. You can use titles like "The Apple of My Eye", "My Family Tree", etc. You could use leaf shapes instead of apples.
• Some people like to use the peek-a-boo page as the first one in the album so they do not have to plan so much or don't need so many photos. In a Christmas album you could have the title page with 2 ornament shapes cut out (one in each lower corner) and have a couple of photos show through. On the back of that page you could outline the cutouts with stickers of some kind and put a couple of stickers on the inside cover of the album to show through the openings.
• One of the cutest peek-a-boo layouts I saw was Easter. Page 2/3 had a large oval cut out of the center. Page 2 had flower stickers all around the opening and page 3 had Easter eggs stickers around the opening. The flowers framed a photo of a little girl in her Easter dress. The other side framed a photo of a child looking for Easter eggs.
• Another idea is for a Christmas/winter layout. Make the cutout look like a window (4 rectangles cut out like window panes). On one side put the inside Christmas pictures (hanging stockings, opening presents, etc.). On the other 2 pages put snow pictures and outside things. When you look at the pages of the inside it will appear that you are looking out the window and from the other side it will appear that you are looking in the window.
• A Similar idea: Cut an oval out of the center page (page 2/3). On the left hand page (page one)- under where the oval is - you have an inside Christmas photo. On the right hand page (page 3) - under where the oval is - you have an outside Christmas photo. Then you put the page protector on the center page with the cut out. Take a tree die-cut and slide it under the page protector and position it inside the cut out. Attach it on ONE side to the page protector with a few small pieces of tape runner. You only tape it on one side for 2 reasons. First, because you can still remove the page protector that way. Second because you will cover up the tape by putting ornament stickers on the outside of the page protector on top of the places where the tape is. Just be sure that you have it taped so that the side with the ornaments will be in the photo of the inside Christmas scene.)
• I made a peek a boo page with the whole page - used a portrait sleeve with no paper in it. I put little punched fishes and some seaweed die-cuts that I made from paper in it (adhered with the clear photo tape). The page on either side of it (the portrait sleeve is in between a two page spread) had underwater photos of my son snorkeling and I added some of the punched fish to those pages also. So if you put the see through page over either of the pages you could see his photo but it looked like he was swimming in with lots of fishies. I had to be careful about the placement so that none of the pictures on either page were obscured. The clear shiny of the portrait sleeve makes it really look like water. (Cindy C.)
•  Floating Page:
  Cut a shape like you want near the center of a page (if you cut out more than about 1/3 of the total area of the page it will not be stable). Then cut one or two similar shapes just slightly larger out of a photo mounting sleeve (how many you cut depends on how many layers you want and if you want the page to look good from both sides).
  Next you use stickers, die-cuts, photos, etc. Place them on the photo mounting sleeve (front and back if you are making a two sided view - many stickers have mirror images so that makes it easy). After you get things the way you want, attach the photo mounting sleeve to the opening on the page. Use photo tape or tape runner around the edges. Cover the edges with small strips of paper.
  After you mount what ever you want on the front and back of the page around the floating area you can add a page protector. If you really want a 3-dimensional look you can add stickers on the outside of the page protector.

Peek-A-Boo Pages (handout)

Peek-a-boo pages will give your albums some added character with little effort. They are great for title pages, but can also be used anywhere throughout your album. When you are finished with your Peek-a-Boo page it will seem as though the photos seen through the holes are a part of the page. When the page is turned, the same photo will be on the following page. This effect is very appealing and original.
Tools required:

• At least two Creative Memories pages of the same size
• Templates or Circle/Oval Cutter
• Lead pencil
• Eraser
• Personal Trimmer, corner rounder, scissors to crop photos
• Photo labeling pencil
• Pens, stickers, die-cuts, paper to decorate pages
• Page protectors

Directions:

• First choose 15-20 photo's all relating to the same theme or person. You need enough to finish two or three pages.
• Decide on which photo you want to highlight.
• Crop your photos and plan your page layout on one of two pages using the photo you've chosen to highlight. At this point you do NOT adhere the photos or decorations to this page.
• Once your layout is planned and the photos are where you want them to be, trace around the photo you've chosen to highlight with a lead pencil. The placement of the highlighted photo can be anywhere on the page; it does not have to be in the center.
• Remove all photos from this page. The spot where you traced around your photo is where you will be cutting out a shape from the page. This will be your Peek-a-Boo page.
• Choose a shape to cut out of your page. This shape should NOT be larger than the traced photo. If you cut your shape out of your page and it is larger than your photo, you can mat the photo and let some of the mat show through the opening.
• Trace your shape over the shape of the photo. The Creative Memories Circle Cutter is an excellent tool for easily cutting out a circle from your page.
• Cut the shape with the Circle/Oval cutter.
• Now that you have your shape cut out of one page, you can use your second page to help you finish the layout on the first page.
• When you have page one totally finished, place the page with the hole in it over the finished page to make sure the hole shows the highlighted photo correctly. You now finish the Peek-a-Boo page by adding more photos, stickers, die-cuts, and journaling to both sides of it.
• Obviously you will be able to see through the page from the other side so you will want whatever you put on the next page to coordinate with your theme.

Peek-a-Boo pages being used as title pages may not require photos on the front side. If you choose to use them somewhere else in your album you will need enough photos to complete four pages. There will be a page to the left of the Peek-a-Boo page, two sides of the Peek-a-Boo page, and another page following the cut-out page. So, you will need to highlight two photos, one on page one and one on the page four. Poems and memorabilia are also very nice when trying to place something through the Peek-a-Boo page.

Here are a few ideas that will add to the impact of your Peek-a-Boo pages:

• Place paper or stickers around the hole in your Peek-a-Boo pages as a border
• Trim die-cuts to fit snuggly around the hole
• Give the effect of a window by adhering strips of paper over the hole
• Mount an embossed frame around the Peek-a-Boo hole
• Use pens to make a decorative border
• Creative journaling around the hole in your Peek-a-Boo page adds a border and allows the story to be told