Write. Click. Scrapbook.

Postcard Junkie

 
Erin here. Otherwise known as she-who-still-does-not-have-a-profile-picture, so I'm going with an oldie but goodie. I went through a phase where I posed like this for every picture taken. Which is actually a great idea for a scrapbook page. What phases did you go through? What phases have your children gone through? A particular pose when taking pictures, like me? A toy they carried everywhere? A certain food they had to eat? You could do a whole mini-album on various phases you, or your children, have gone through.

But wait! That's not why I'm here. Nope. That just came to me as I was putting up the picture. I'm actually here to talk about what to do with all the postcards you have.

I love postcards. When I go on vacation I have to pick some out to bring home. But not one or two, I end up with a dozen because I'm so indecisive and can't pick which I like best. Until now, my postcards have sat in various boxes. I've never known quite what to do with them.

So this summer I decided to finally use them. I picked one postcard from each trip and put together a mini-album that can grow with additional vacations.

I've chosen one picture from each vacation that represents that trip. This isn't meant to be a thorough explanation of what went on, rather a quick glance and memory trigger of my vacations. I attached each picture to the back of the corresponding postcard and then put them in chronological order. As I go to more places, I can add in more postcard pages. Also, as I find more postcards in other boxes, I can add those in, too.

I actually cheated a bit with this page. (And that is totally okay to do sometimes!) One of my very best friends from college (Hey Ash!) is from Florida.  But not Destin. She's actually from Niceville. I couldn't find my postcard from there, but I had this one from Destin. Close enough! I'm using it!

 
 

 

I went to Fan Fair in Nashville in 1996. I think it's now called the CMA Music Fest or something like that.  I picked out a general postcard (saving the more specific ones, like the Hall of Fame and Music Row, for a more in-depth album) and a picture of my friend Stephanie and I in the parking lot just before going on on the first day. I have a lot of pictures and postcards from this trip and, as I just mentioned, am planning on making a mini-album about just my Nashville trip. I will use the rest of my postcards as the base, and add in pages as needed to hold the pictures and memorbilia I have.

   

 

 

Here are the rest of my postcards waiting for pictures. Some of these are pre-digital camera, so I have to go through boxes of pictures to find the matching ones.
 

 

How have you used your postcards? If you've made any mini-albums or layouts using them, post them in our Flickr gallery. I'd love to see them!

A Challenge and some Journaling Prompts

 

I love the end of August. I love how, three or four evenings a week, clouds start piling up and enormous, ferocious thunderstorms break the edges off the hot days. I love that these seasonal storms—Utah's monsoon, since I do live in a desert after all—create a preponderance of twilight rainbows. I love the abundance of zinnias, the fresh face of my just-blooming sunflowers, and the friendly, over-the-fence chats with neighbors that nearly always result in tomatoes, zucchini, summer squash, and peaches being passed my way.

I love that it brings back-to-school time for my kids.

Yep, in my part of the country, we start school during the last week of August. So my most recent weeks have been filled with back-to-school shopping, fine-tuning schedules, going to meet-the-teacher nights, and talking kids down from their day-before jitters. And even if you're in the sane part of the country (you know...the part that starts school after Labor Day), I'm guessing your days are currently filled with similar tasks.

So! Here's the challenge:

Whenever your kids go back to school, write your journaling about it on the day they go back. If they've already gone back, then I challenge you to write the journaling about it today. Yep, even before you print the photos or plan the layout. Maybe even before you download the photos! Because here's the thing: once the journaling is written down, and all the pertinent details saved somewhere, you'll rest easy knowing you won't forget anything, even if you don't scrap those photos until today's third grader is graduating from high school.

And here are some journaling prompts to get you started. Try writing:

about the preparations. Where did you buy the school supplies?  The new clothes?  What was back-to-school night like? What were your first impressions of your child's teacher?

a test. This could be a multiple choice, a true/false, or even an essay question. Make the questions relate to different experiences your student had during the day, and make sure to provide an answer key!

the bag contents. What is in your child's backpack? How about in his P.E. bag or her lunch box? Those little details tell some otherwise-forgotten stories.

about the outfit. Why did this particular outfit get chosen over the rest? Why are those the most-perfect-ever shoes? What color of socks are being worn? Is there one small accessory (a belt, a watch, a pair of flip-flops) that made everything just right?

the morning details. What did you do before the kids left to make the morning special? Or, did it all go poorly, full of stress and missing locker combinations and forgotten gym clothes? What kind of breakfast did the kids eat? Who was hard to wake up, and who woke up even before your alarm went off?

a comparison. Write about your first day of whatever grade your child is starting and how it compares to your child's first day. What's different? What hasn't changed?

a chronicle of the before-school jitters. What makes your child anxious or nervous about the first day? How do you try to sooth the anxiety away?

a list of differences from last year. What big (and small!) changes can you see in your child from last year to this? These can be physical differences, but emotional or intellectual ones are good, too.

about your reaction. How do you feel about the upcoming year? How will the kids being at school influence you? Does it make you weepy to see those little back-pack clad bodies getting on the bus, or does it make you excited for them?

your hopes for your student. What do you hope your student will learn? These hopes can be more than just about the scholarly things. What emotional learning do you hope happens? How do these hopes connect to the year at large? What will you do to help the hopes become reality?

your advice. What wise words do you have for your children as they start the year?

a summary of the first week.Who said the journaling only gets to be about the first day? Take a few notes every day after school for the first week, then work them into a cohesive story about the first five days.

with your kids. When they get home from their first day, ask them to write an answer to the question "What did I learn today?" Or, have them take one of the following post-first-day-of-school surveys:

Download First day of school elementary survey (a list of questions for your elementary-school-aged child to answer after the first day)

Download First day of school jr high and high school survey (a list of questions for your junior-high or high-school aged child to answer after the first day)

Happy writing!

  

 

The 5X7 Succinct Summer Mini

Do you remember last September when Marnie did a whole week on making Photobooks? (You can refresh your memory here.) Well, I bookmarked that week fully intending to create a photobook or two...but that has yet to happen. It seems that when I want to get lots of photos into a book, I still do it the old fashioned way-- in a mini:

 

The Inspiration

Well, first off, I was inspired by last year's American Crafts catalogue that I had always fully intended to cut up the moment it became outdated:

Hello? Perfect cover, right there!

Next, I was inspired by the web special at my local photo developer-- fifty 5X7's for 5 bucks! Yup, five-zero! This was excellent motivation to get my photos selected and uploaded quickly.

Finally, I was inspired by all of last summer's photos that I had yet to scrap, resting safe and sound on my removable hard drive. (That little gizmo became all the more precious two weeks ago when my laptop crashed and had to be wiped clean. BACK UP YOUR PHOTOS, PEOPLE!)

 

The Method

I fit 66 photos into this sucker by creating a template in PSE7 to create photo and photo/text collages that I uploaded with my regular 5X7 blow ups. (I intended to offer you said template here, until my computer crashed and had to be wiped clean. Reminder #2 to back up your photos! Here is a free alternative from the CoffeeShop Blog,though.) 

I went through my files from June/July/August and picked a bunch that I loved. I made sure to mix portraits with candids, and to make sure everyone in the family was well represented. I created collages with some, and left others full-size. I also took all of my Facebook status updates from those months and worked them into some of the collages, too. (I love Facebook as a journaling tool. Every status update is a perfect slice of life.) When I had 50 photos and templates I made sure to rename each one so that the page order would be clear once the prints arrived. i.e. page2.jpg, page3.jpg, etc. This saved so much time when I went to put the book together. I didn't worry too much about chronology of photos, or trying to match the status updates to the photos-- three months isn't long enough to worry about all that.

 

The Pay Off

Once I had my photos printed, I just glued them together back-to-back, punched holes for my binder rings, and lightly embellished with stickers and labels to add little details about what was happening in the photos. I wasn't looking for a lot of "stuff" in this book-- really it was just the photos, and the Facebook statuses with minimal decoration-- quite like a clean and simple photobook:

 

 

 

The Bonus

To add even more journaling, I printed off my blog posts from those months and tucked them in an envelope inside the back cover:

Now that September is almost here, you could even do one of these for Summer 2011! (Now I just need to hunt down the right American Crafts catalog...)

Sunday Photo & Words

Courtesies of a small and trivial character
are the ones which strike deepest
in the grateful and appreciating heart.
~Henry Clay

Ask a Silly Question

 

Good morning! I am so happy to be here with you today! Have you had a great summer? Mine flew by so quickly!! With football practices that ran all summer and gymnastics that goes year round, combined with erratic and unpredictable weather patterns, summer seemed to slip away, nearly before it began.

Needless to say, my scrapbookingtook a very back seat to my childrens' needs. It's part of why I love back-to-school--it means back-to-scrapbooking for me! Superhooray!!

One thing that I love to do each new school year is to quiz my kids. I grew up with one of those school scrapbooks that housed my school photo, my teacher, my height & weight, what I wanted to be when I grew up and a few other questions to answer for the year. When I look back at this falling apart book, I love to see my answers to things when I was small.

So last Sunday we lined up against the wall and got everyone's new heights. And then I sat everyone down to ask the usual suspects, favorite friends, foods, books, movies, songs. (I also try to do this on their birthdays and at the end of the year. I email myself the answers so that they don't get lost in a drawer before I can add them to a page. Years of bits of yellow legal pads are starting to get a bit crazy.)

This year, I am adding something new. Last week I was flipping through, and drooling over, the new Mini Boden catalogue. (Knowing I can't afford anything inside doesn't stop me from dog earring corners and picking out favorites.) Somewhere along the line I realized that the kids modeling the goods had their names and ages listed, along with random tidbits--funny little responses to odd little questions. Things like, cure for sadness, my favorite word. Just some silly questions that seemed to give you a little insight into their character.

Lightbulb!  (said with my best Despicable Me imitation!!)

I grabbed a pen and flipped back and forth until I had a completed list of all their questions. Then I raced home and tortured, I mean, peppered my children with the questions. Nigel wasn't too hip to answer them, but I didn't let that stop me. I just waited and waited and told him he couldn't leave the house until he had answered them. (Would I have done that???!!) His layout didn't have room for a picture which suited him just fine.

8.5 x 8.5 | materialsAdobe Photoshop + digital papers (Color Combo 3, Crystal Wilkerson) + fonts (Century Gothic, Cooper)

 

For Poppy's layout, I began with the exact same layout. Until I realized that there was no room for a photo. And that just won't do as I have about 64 539 of them. And this year we have a delightful snaggle tooth refusing to come out, making it even more impossible to not want to add a photo. It shouldn't have been that hard, but somehow it turned into one of those 3.5 hour exercises in frustration as I moved the pieces around trying to make them fit. (Please tell me this has happened to you, too. Truly, one of the times when finishing a page becomes a chore and not a delight.) In the end, I did it. And am so glad I stuck it out.

8.5 x 8.5 | materialsAdobe Photoshop + digital papers (Color Combo 3, Crystal Wilkerson) + fonts (Century Gothic, Playground, Doodle Basic)

Oh the difference in the tone of the answers. (Though one of their answers was exactly the same. Can you spot it?) And goodness sakes did their personalities shine through. What a pleasant surprise!! I am so glad I took the time to ask these questions and record their answers. I hope they enjoy these pages years down the road.

 

It was already the wee morning hours, so I got to thinking, why not one more? Why not me? I could hardly ask you to make a page about yourselves without doing mine, too! There is no picture for me, as my snaggle teeth are not endearing!! Kidding. Really, I realized that it has been too long since my last just me shot, so I made my layout without one, and will use my new found knowledge as an excuse to get my hair done. :)

8.5 x 8.5 | materialsAdobe Photoshop + digital banner (Color Combo 3, Crystal Wilkerson) + fonts (Century Gothic, Lobster 2, Pea Comfy Cozy)

So that's it! Ask a silly question (or 13) and you might be surprised how much of your children or you comes radiating through the silly or heartfelt answers. Don't forget you can make your own page. I bet in ten years you will be curious to know what your answers would have been today...

Before I go, two things. Studio Calico is launching its new kit this weekend. We would love for you to purchase it by clicking here! Then they will know we sent you!

And lastly, all the papers on my pages are from Crystal Wilkerson's newest line: ColorCombo #3. It's a good one. Just sayin'... (And nope, I am not a paid spokesperson, just a die hard fan!!)

 

and the giveaway goes to . . .

Congrats, Rachel! Please email us at writeclickscrapbook at gmail dot com so that we might get you your new book! Thank you, Tracey and the Shutter Sisters!!

Take a Different Angle

As I'm sure you can imagine I take a ridiculous number of photos of my 2 year old Kieran. Because I love photography and new approaches, lately I have been trying to mix it up by taking photos from different angles instead of the usual face on portrait. If you'd like to get some new looking photos of your kids (and renewed inspiration for scrapping said photos) then maybe you can use some of these tips!

 

Capture Details

I took lots of photos of Kieran splashing in the stream this summer, but my absolute favourite was this one capturing just his lower body.

I really wanted to a good shot of him in his rubber boots and this one was it!

 

Go High

These two photos were actually taken by my husband, since with the 50mm lens on my camera I wasn't tall enough to acheive this!

To acheive the nice blurry background (bokeh) the camera was used in aperture priority with a f/1.8 setting.

 

Go Low

For a fun effect that makes your kid look like a giant, go low!

I stood at the foot of the stairs as he walked down and shot upwards to get these two.

 

Family Fun

Finally, here's a fun shot including the entire family. As we headed off to a road trip I took this "family portrait" in the side view mirror of the car.

Thanks to my friend Karen Walrond of Chookooloonks for the idea.

 

I hope these tips have sparked some ideas of cool photo angles you can use next time you pick up the camera. There's still a bit of summer left for experimenting!

give.away.day. featuring TRACEY CLARK

When a photograph captivates you and stirs your soul, you know it instinctively. You not only see the image, you feel it. But how do you capture shots like that with your own camera? How do you make your photographs worth the proverbial thousand words?

From portraits to landscapes, still-lifes to documentary shots, Expressive Photography will not only show you why certain images sing, it will also teach you how to create your own compelling photographic images--one click at a time. 

Visually stunning and unique in its collaborative approach, this book brings the spirit of the immensely popular Shutter Sisters' blog to the printed page through the voice and photography of its founding members.

Here is what Cool Mom Picks had to say:

It's such a relaxing, enjoyable book, I find that I keep going back to the book and leafing through it. Bring it to a cafe on a rainy day while you're sipping a hot beverage, or wrap it up for the holidays and give it to your favorite photographer. If you end up with photos even half as good as what's in here, you won't regret it.

And with Tracey's new Big Picture Class, The Art of Composition, starting soon, this book will be a terrific way to help prepare your photographer's eye for what is to come.

If you would like a chance to take this book home for our

please leave us a comment telling us the first time you saw a picture that made you realize the power of the camera. Was it Ansel Adams, or a snapshot on your mother's dresser? Or was it one you took yourself? Oh, the power of the image. What a thrill to realize that we can become better at capturing the magic.

Comments will remain open until Friday and one lucky number will be chosen at random and posted Saturday. Please remember it is your responsibility to check back and claim your lucky number before midnight Monday. Thanks for stopping by!

I {heart} Punches

In the series of posts I've written so far this summer I've shared with you my love for two of my favorite products.  First, my favorite basic supply, patterned paper, and then my favorite embellishment, buttons.  This month I'm back to share with you my love for my favorite scrapbooking tool, the punch.  I am slightly partial to border punches (I confess to having a rather large collection), but I love regular punches too and today I thought I'd share my favorite ways to use punches.

 

Use punches to add a decorative touch to your projects

This is the most obvious example, simply use the tool as it was intended.  On this simple layout about my favorite summer love, iced coffee, I used a border punch to add detail to my layout and to add a little more color too:

On this card I did the same thing using one of my favorite butterfly punches:

I tend to keep my cards very simple.  I find that punches are an easy way to add an embellishment or pop of color to a card.  And when it comes to me and cards, easy is best.

 

Use punches to create custom embellishments

There are countless ways that you can use your punches to create custom embellishments.  These are just a small sampling of my favorites. 

The first example comes from our own Monika Wright:

On her blog she shares a tutorial on how to make these layered paper flowers.  She made hers from old book pages, but of course you could make them from any paper of your choosing.

Next is an example that has been shared here at WCS before, but I think it is so adorable and creative that it deserves a second look.  Brenda Johnston used a combination of punches to paper piece together this cute little owl:

Here are the punches she used:

In another example from Monika, she used punches to create a custom embellished tag for this layout:

 

Use punches to embellish gifts

You can use your punches for more than just scrapbooking.  I used a border punch, patterned paper and some thick twine to wrap this small gift box:

In the following examples, Monika used punches to embellish a variety of packages and envelopes:

So many great ideas - thank you for sharing them, Monika!

 

Use punches to create a custom background

On this following example, Karen Grunberg used the Heart Confetti Punch from Martha Stewart Crafts to make this amazing sun shape for a layout's background:

Isn't it incredible?  I love the colors in this layout too, this is certainly a very happy page.

One of my favorite scrapbookers, Davinie Fiero, made a custom background by punching out various shapes in the same color as her background cardstock in this layout to create a tone-on-tone effect:

I love how the punched shapes mimic the look of the macaroni necklace.  Such a sweet layout!

Finally, an example using a Punch All Over the Page.  These punches let you punch anywhere on your page.  They are great for both punching into paper to create a negative space, and because they come in a great variety of shapes you can use them as you would use a traditional punch too.  I used a combination of a punch and a stamp to create a custom background for this layout:

    

 

Use punches with reckless abandon because you love punches

Does that sound familiar?  When you really love something you don't need a specific reason to use it.  I didn't realize how many I had used on this layout: 

I just kept pulling out punch after punch and before I knew it I had used several, 8 in total.  Notice all the patterned paper and buttons too?  This layout basically covers all of my favorites in one example!

Here is another beautiful layout from Karen:

She used a variety of border punches in different patterns and colors to create this layout (I think I counted 11 punches in total).  I love how it looks simple and then you look a little closer and notice all the details.  This is definitely an idea I plan on using in the future.

The projects and layouts I shared today cover just a few the ways that you can use both traditional and border punches.  How about you, do you love punches too?  Share your creative ideas, and link to any visuals, in the comments.  I'd love to hear your ideas and see what you've created!

Since this is my last post for the summer I'll say goodbye, for now.  Don't forget to stop by tomorrow for give.away.day!

Lots of Photos

My focus on my blog contributions this summer have been photo focused so as I was brainstorming for today I thought I might as well stick with that "theme" again for my last summer post!

My July Post focused on looking through all of those vacation and summer photos and picking out a few that really speak to you then scrapbooking those thoughts and feelings.  This is definitely my preferred method to scrapbooking, but as I sit here in late August going through all of our photos I can say that I'm starting to get the shakes and hives from the magnitude of photos and memories I want to scrap! 

So today we are going to take a different approach since it's a different month.  Let's look at putting LOTS of photos on a layout and scrapping the memory of one event/vacation or several at once.

 

I love a grid design so that's what I did on this one.  I had wallet sized photos printed at  scrapbookpictures.com then used a circle punch to punch them out and nest inside a circle journal spot and/or patterned paper also punched with a circle cutter.

This was a day trip we took locally this past spring up to the DC Zoo.  I wanted to fit as many pictures as possible on here, but still have the space to tell the story and this worked out pretty well for the layout. 

 

 

For this layout it is a very similar concept as the last one, however, the grid design was already there for me, making it even easier to document a trip down to Charleston, SC.  This paper is from SEI and I simply (again) circle punched my photos and embellished the other circles with journaling and/or embellishments.  I was able to get our entire weekend down into these little circles and still highlight the memories.

 

 

Notice a trend with  me?  I'm telling you if I could marry grid design I would!  This one however is just slightly different because I used squares instead of the circles.  I simply printed my photos on my own printer this time and used the wallet setting on the printer.  I really love keeping a small white border on my photos and left that as well.  I get a bit OCD about them all being the same size, so that probably took the longest-trimming and re-trimming the photos!

This one I left a bit bigger square for journaling so I had a little more space to share why we went and more about our day at Mt. Vernon Estates.

 

And finally, while this isn't a trip, it is an event/holiday and I wanted to share it because, well, although it's linear, it isn't a grid design!  I do have some other tricks up my sleeve!  Not many, but a few!

Again, still linear, but using wallet sized photos again I was able to tell the story in 3 rows of photos and still have plenty of space to journal about the holiday and the photos.

 

So there you have it.  Just a few ways to get lots of those summer photos down onto a 12 x 12 canvas.  What are some tricks you have to getting lots of photos on a page?  Mine is obviously the very secret society of wallet photos, but I'm always looking for other insider tips too!