The Start of a Portrait Album

A couple of weeks ago, I started putting together an album of our daughter's 8x10 portraits. I thought about including them in my regular family albums, but there are so many (when you consider school portraits -- sometimes two per year -- dance, show choir, and professional sittings) that they seemed to warrant an album of their own. I thought long and hard and came up with a VERY simple format that can be repeated (with a kraft cardstock base and different accent colors) on each page.

I've put together several pages so far, with many more to go. It will be nice to have all of these portraits in one place. And it's fun to look through them and see how she's grown over the years. :-)

Feline Friday: Lily asks...

Getting Control

There is a MASSIVE project underway at our house. It involves boxes of photos, old negatives, years of unprinted digital images, and a looming deadline (high school graduation in May, 2010). Can anyone relate? Many scrapbookers find themselves in this kind of predicament. It is, quite frankly, overwhelming.

I recently decided that if I am ever going to get on top of this mountain of scrapbooking, I needed a plan. I knew the scope was "big" but that is too vague a term for me. So when I saw Becky Higgins' chart of layouts to make (see it here), I decided that some sort of chart would be one component of my plan. More on that in a bit.

The first thing I tackled was the boxes of old photos tucked away in a closet. I thought they were in fairly decent order, but when I dug into them, I realized that wasn't the case. In fact, there was an entire box of undated photos that had been pulled out and never returned to their correct spot. After years of digging through the boxes for school projects, photos were in quite a disarray. I could not possibly tell which layouts needed to be created with this kind of mess.



So I created my own version of Becky's chart and dug into the boxes. I put photos back in their correct spots, identified layouts I might want to make, and started creating lists.

As I wrote down the various events and topics represented in the photos, I could easily see which ones would be the most important to scrapbook, combine with other photos, leave in the box, or make into mini-albums. I now have a good idea of what I need to complete for each year.

I had already started a binder for old negatives, and as I went through the boxes, I added more negatives to the sleeves. I use Cropper Hopper Negative Sleeves, labeled with the month and year so I can retrieve a negative if needed. Once I'm done with this binder, I'll store it at my husband's office. It's a good idea to store negatives at another place in the event of a fire.

Of course, we're digital now, so I no longer have to deal with negatives. But I have another issue with current photos: I'm a good two years behind in printing. Now THAT is a daunting problem.

So I purchased a pre-paid 10 cent/print package on Shutterfly and started editing, uploading, and placing orders, beginning with January 2009 photos.

And as soon as I received my first order of photos, I started scrapbooking them. I've made several layouts already with just a couple more to go before I receive my next batch of photos.

I hope that this process will enable me to get on top of what was previously a looming, but undefined, challenge. I now understand how many and what kinds of layouts I need to make. Looking at the fun topics to be scrapbooked (pre-school, zoo, first steps, vacations...) actually makes me look forward to jumping into those boxes. For me, defining the problem is a critical first step in solving it.

In addition, I now have a process which will enable me to print my backlog of digital images and keep up with more current scrapbooking. I'm feeling confident now that with ongoing planning and persistence, I CAN meet this challenge ahead of the big deadline!

Another layout to share

Here's another layout I finished up recently using photos of our daughter's show choir at their open dress rehearsal back in January, just before the competitive season started. They've attended several big events this winter, so I have NUMEROUS show choir layouts to make!

This design is actually based on a sketch from Cathy Zielske's Big Picture Scrapbooking online class, Design Your Life, which ended back in December. The paper is hoarded Ki Memories from my extensive Ki stash. Notice that I used just a tiny bit. Yep, still hoarding. :-)

Layout Share

Here's one of a few layouts I made over the weekend. If you've been reading my blog, you probably recognize these pictures of our Lily playing on the step ladder.



Believe it or not, I have made very few pages for Lily, as I'm trying to focus my scrapbooking efforts on Daughter's activities. But as soon as I printed these photos, I knew that I had to do something with them. I'll admit that Lily makes a very fun subject!

Puff Ball Mania

Lily and Tinsel live in a somewhat "crafty" household. This works to their benefit, because we have lots of leftover supplies which make fun toys.

Of all the leftovers, they like puff balls best of all. Around here, it's practically a puff ball bonanza! We have puff balls in a variety of sizes and colors. On any given day you can find them being pushed...

or carried from one hiding place to another.

Sometimes at night, Tinsel takes a puff ball to the foot of the stairs and "calls" upstairs to Lily with her rare, but very distinctive motherly meow. On those special occasions, a puff ball can even be a peace offering.

Feline Friday: Tinsel sez...

Quick & Easy Travel Mini-Album

In the spring, the store where I teach will celebrate National Scrapbooking Day with a series of short classes. I'll be doing a one-hour travel mini-album class. I was inspired by this sheet of Around the Block travel quotes and journaling blocks to put together this little project.

In addition to the quotes and journaling blocks, I used a combination of cardstock "pages" and die-cut shapes to create surface area for photos. This little album will hold as many photos as you'd like. I used lots of 4x6 and wallet-sized pictures from our trip to Seattle and Vancouver a few years ago to complete my sample.

This promises to be a fun and lively class!

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

Lily relaxing with back legs extended, like a dog
(Starbucks straw close at hand...er...paw)

Scalloped Box of Cards

Here's another class project I recently finished up: A scalloped box of cards. I made the box completely from scratch using cardstock and a scalloped square dieboard. Making a box isn't nearly as hard as you may think! I filled the box with six simple cards, but it could also be used to hold jewelry or keepsakes.

I decided to use this older 7 Gypsies paper for my project, since I've always loved it and the color palette worked well for the for the "look" I was trying to achieve with this project.

Can't wait to teach this class! :-)

Love You Forever project

Here's another class project I finished up this past week, and I have to say, I think it's one of my favorite projects ever. I was inspired by the children's book, Love You Forever, to create a mini-album for a mom to give an adult child or a child who is headed off to college. I adapted the text of the book so that it describes how the mom's love stays constant over five stages of a child's life. Suffice it to say that many tears were shed as I worked on this project! (Sometimes I wonder why I put myself through these things! lol)

The color inspiration for this project was the Sassafras Lass scalloped paper on the front cover. I used shades of teal, green, and ivory throughout the album.

I'm looking forward to teaching this class in the spring. Note to self: Bring box of Kleenex. :-)

Feline Friday

There's nothing like a pile of warm towels on a chilly winter day!