Like most of you, I'm sure, scrapbooking for me is both a way to be creative (Because really, I've got no other creative skills in me. Can't knit. Can't draw. Can't paint. Can't crochet. Can't sing. Am learning to sew.) and a way to get all those memories down that I know I'll forget. I really do have a terrible memory.
Examples: I was walking out to our second fridge in the garage to get milk and my husband asked me to get him orange juice. No problem. I walk down the short hallway, out to the garage grab the milk and walk back in. Without the orange juice. The total trip was only about 15 seconds. And I still forgot. Or, the time in college when I went tanning one evening and was told I couldn't tan because someone had already used my package that day. So I argued with them. I was so mad - how could they let someone else use my package? Then I remembered that I actually had gone tanning first thing that morning. That was embarrassing. How in the world do you forget lying in a super hot sweaty tanning bed for 30 minutes? More embarrassing? Sharing that here.
Short term or long term, my memory just stinks. Therefore, I'd like to avoid forgetting as many of my daughters' childhood milestones, as well as their cute little personality traits, as possible. Hence, my love of journaling and multi-photo pages.
Examples: I was walking out to our second fridge in the garage to get milk and my husband asked me to get him orange juice. No problem. I walk down the short hallway, out to the garage grab the milk and walk back in. Without the orange juice. The total trip was only about 15 seconds. And I still forgot. Or, the time in college when I went tanning one evening and was told I couldn't tan because someone had already used my package that day. So I argued with them. I was so mad - how could they let someone else use my package? Then I remembered that I actually had gone tanning first thing that morning. That was embarrassing. How in the world do you forget lying in a super hot sweaty tanning bed for 30 minutes? More embarrassing? Sharing that here.
Short term or long term, my memory just stinks. Therefore, I'd like to avoid forgetting as many of my daughters' childhood milestones, as well as their cute little personality traits, as possible. Hence, my love of journaling and multi-photo pages.
I'm pretty sure my mom never once thought about scrapbooking when I was a kid. Heck, half the time there aren't even names and dates on the back of her pictures! Often when I'm looking through my childhood photos I have a ton of questions. Take this picture of me on vacation at the Outer Banks, summer of 1979. (This info was not on the back, of course, I had to call my mom. She laughed, then told me when and where we were.)
There are a lot of things going on in the photo, but I instantly focus on my Underoos. Did you have Underoos? I loved mine. But other than that, I don't know much: were these my only Underoos? My favorite? Were they new for the trip or had I had them for a while? Did I wear them all week on vacation? Sleep, swim, eat in them? Did I pretend to be Wonder Woman or was I clueless as to who she was and just think they were cool? I know, those are little things, but they're little things that to me would be pretty interesting to know.
My need for Emma and Mackenzie to not have questions like these is what drives me to scrapbook like I do. To get down all the details of our lives. What they like and dislike. Their favorite toys, shows, clothes. Who they play with, the games they play, how they play pretend. The funny things they say. How they grow. All their personality quirks. You know, everything.
This week I'll be sharing my favorite ways to journal, some shortcuts and my most turned-to ways of using multiple photos on a page. Daily challenges, too.
Before I go, here's a layout 22 months in the making. I wanted to make sure I captured the struggle Mackenzie's sleeping routine has been. Because one of these days, probably when she's a teenager, or better yet a mother herself, I'm going to say, "Do you know just how many nights I was up with you????"
My need for Emma and Mackenzie to not have questions like these is what drives me to scrapbook like I do. To get down all the details of our lives. What they like and dislike. Their favorite toys, shows, clothes. Who they play with, the games they play, how they play pretend. The funny things they say. How they grow. All their personality quirks. You know, everything.
This week I'll be sharing my favorite ways to journal, some shortcuts and my most turned-to ways of using multiple photos on a page. Daily challenges, too.
Before I go, here's a layout 22 months in the making. I wanted to make sure I captured the struggle Mackenzie's sleeping routine has been. Because one of these days, probably when she's a teenager, or better yet a mother herself, I'm going to say, "Do you know just how many nights I was up with you????"
Today's challenge: Grab a childhood photo - either of you or of your children - and capture every detail you can about the focus of that picture. Is it a favorite shirt you wore every day? The toy your son can't leave home without? The book that has to be read three times every night before bed? Any question you can possibly ask about it, answer. I'll be doing this challenge with you this week, and I'll post my layout on Saturday. Be sure to post your layouts in our Flickr group, I can't wait to see what you come up with. See you tomorrow!
