13 Ways to Personalize your Page Kit. #10: Waterfall Album

We're on number 10 of 13 Ways to Personalize your Page Kits and this method is one of my favorites for its aesthetic appeal and functionality. The Waterfall Album takes a little extra care to make sure the dimensions are right, but the effect is fantastic! And it's interactive, which always gets me excited. 

If you're just hopping into this blog series, we've done 9 page kit revamps using various techniques. You can check them out here: 1. Embellishments, 2. Inking, 3. Pop-Up Dots, 4. Expansion, 5. Sewing, 6. Journaling, 7. Pop-Up Photos, 8. Secret Flip-Up Space, and 9. Color Changes. Some of those techniques have drastically changed the page kit and some have just given them a little punch and personality. Check them out!

For this method, we're using our newest travel kit, And We're Off, and I couldn't think of a better one to add additional photo mats to! After all, we all take way too many photos when we're travelling! And I never want to cut them down. This one has a little bonus - there are 3 versions! We don't all travel the same way, so we've got the plane, the car, and the ship. The waterfall album is the same no matter which one you use, but I've got to show you all of them in their original form - they're just too cute!

And We're Off - Plane

And We're Off - Car

And We're Off - Ship

Aren't they the best!? I love the vibe. On the original layout, there are 6 photo mats, which is pretty great, but like I said, 6 is just never enough for me. A really simple way to add more photos without adding another entire page is to add a waterfall album. They're interactive, they look great, and they do the job well!

Below, you can see the finished product as it flips through.

Let's see how it's done.

Personalization Option #10: Waterfall Album

First, gather your products. You'll need a ruler, a pencil, glue, and your cardstock. I wanted to have 5 photos, so I had (5) 4" x 4" brown squares, (5) 3 3/4" x 3 3/4" cream squares to double mat, and (1) 1 1/2" x 12" strip of squash cardstock. If you don't want to double mat your photos, you do not need the 3 3/4" squares.

Everything you'll need to create the waterfall album

Once you have your supplies, we'll focus on getting the cardstock lined up. You'll need to take one of your 4" x 4" squares and your 1 1/2" x 12" strip and line the square up with the short end of the strip, like below.

Line up the first square with the bottom of the strip

 Mark a line at the top of that square. You'll use this line to measure from in our next step.

 Remove the square and set to the side for now.

Next, you'll use your ruler and pencil to mark out the lines for the rest of the squares. Mark one mark for each photo square 1 mm apart from the original line. I had 4 additional squares (after the original square), so I marked the edge 1 mm apart for each one - 4 additional marks in total.

Use your ruler to mark one 1 mm mark for every additional photo square 

Next, mark 1 mm for each photo on the other side of the strip. Then you'll connect those lines using the ruler and your pencil.

At this point, you can set aside your ruler and pencil. Fold the strip along each penciled line. You will fold away from you. If you have 5 lines, you should have 5 folds bending backwards.

First fold. Fold along each line bending it away from you.

Second fold. Just keep going until they're all bent.

The strip should look like this at the end. Again, you'll have as many folds as you have photo mats.

Next we'll add our photo mats to the strip. If you have not already, now would be the time to adhere your mats together if you're double matting them.

Photo mats all ready to go!

Place your adhesive on the bottom of the strip - stopping before the first folded line. Then take your first photo mat and place it on the strip. It should fit perfectly, since the line was drawn to size. Make sure the strip is placed down the center. 

Do not put adhesive above the first line

Line up the photo mat with the bottom of the strip and the line at the top and press down.

As best you can, line the strip up in the center of the photo mat. I eyeballed this. You can measure if you want to.

After your first mat is adhered, we'll move on to the next. For each additional mat, you'll put adhesive on the strip between the folded lines. Then line the top of the mat with the line and line the sides with the mat below. Repeat this until you've adhered all of the additional mats.

Adhesive placed for the second mat

Second mat adhered 

Adhesive for 3rd mat

All photo mats adhered

All photo mats adhered - back view

After all mats are adhered, take the remaining strip sticking out the top and bend back, creasing at the top of the highest mat, and folding flat to the back of the mats.

Folding the strip back behind

Strip flattened to back

And you're done! This is how it should look when completed.

Completed Waterfall Album

 That tab that sticks out the bottom is your pull tab! You just pull gently on the tab and your photos will begin to flip up. It's like magic! 😉

Gently pull the tab and watch your photos go by!

Taa-Daa!

Pulled completely - bottom photo

Now, you can place your waterfall album on your layout and enjoy!

And We're Off with Waterfall album

And We're Off with Waterfall Album opening

Pro tips: when you adhere your waterfall, there's a couple things to keep in mind. First, make sure you place your adhesive on the bottom photo mat only. You don't want to place your adhesive on the pull tab - or it wont pull! And make sure to only put it on the bottom mat or the top ones will not flip up.

Also, the adhesive you use makes a difference. Make sure you use heavy duty adhesive if you can. This will help the waterfall hold up over time - and over many pull tab pulls. We like Supertape by iCraft, pictured below. You can find it here: Supertape on Amazon, or pick it up from your local craft store. 

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and that you'll give it a try! Stay tuned for our final 3 ways to personalize your page kits through the end of January!