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Welcome! For our photography challenges, we are going to look to this month's gallery to find three different photography subjects.

1. Snapshots

The first tip I want to give when it comes to snapshots is clearly to have your camera out and ready at all times. I don't have small kids, but even if you do just keep your camera on a higher counter or shelf. Just to have it ready when you need it.

The next tip is that it is okay to do properly compose a "snapshot," too. It still is a snapshot, even if you make some adjustments. For example, try to not shot against the sun or a window if you are inside, because you will probably just end up with a shadow as your subject. Just take a few steps in either direction so that you have a better angle.

Lastly, while zooming in close has its benefits, sometimes, the surroundings help tell a bit of the story as well! Look for it for perspective and context.

layout by Christa

 

As you look to take some snapshots, consider following Celeste's lead and take a quick snap of each of your family members. Then don't forget to put the pics on a layout!!

 

2. Celebrations

Parties, and other celebrations are fun to photograph. For me, this mostly happens around birthdays.A new favorite thing to do is to take a photo through someone else's viewfinder like the photo above. I have done this at weddings too. It gives another perspective!

 

When you want to take photos of someone blowing out candles, be ready both before and after the candles are out, something like this can happen :)  My daughter's cousin thought she was too slow so he leaned in and blew out her candle!

Also try to look around the room, there is always something going on while people wait to see the birthday child open presents etc. There can be lots of emotions. Look for them.

 

Go backstage. I mean when at a party sneak into the kitchen to see the preparations and also catch the details from the party. My example above is from my sister's 40th birthday party. We joked about her having so many candles she had to have two cakes! So I made sure I took a picture of those candles.

 

And when you scrapbook those celebration photos and can't decide on which photos to include, just make a mosaic. Just look at how many photos I could use in this layout!

 

I like to have my camera set to take sequences. It's very helpful at parties. As you can see from my layout, I wanted to catch my daughter's expression when she opened her gift and then when she saw what she got!

 

Our new team member Valerie O´Neall shares this fun birthday layout. I love that she cut her photos into circles! 

3. Pets

Pets are much like kids; they move around a lot! I have had some practice photographing pets since we have so many :) I like to follow them around with my camera and take photos of them in the different places they end up playing or resting. While my pets are now used to me having that big camera in front of my face, the first night Dixon (our lab) spent the night at our house, I wanted to take a close up of him while he slept. He woke up with this big lens in his face, got scared and barked at me so loudly I think I might peed my pants :) He is totally used to it now though!

I have so much fun taking photos of them doing what they love to do. Outside it is pretty easy to capture them even when they are moving around because the light is mostly good.

 

Inside I almost never use my flash. I just sit my camera on something, like a table or something so that the image doesn´t get too blurry. If they still get blurry I turn them black and white :)

And having scrapbook pages in your album about your pets is so much fun!

Thanks for stopping by! Here are your challenges. We would love to see your photos and layouts!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Today is a big day!!! A new look, new teammates, an announcement, a new gallery...

But first, please help us blow out the candles because today is our

Three years ago today, Tina, Elizabeth, and Marnie posted the first post at write. click. scrapbook. how time flies. Since then, we have had 1315 posts, nearly 40 000 comments, and more than 150 giveaways. We cannot even begin to add up the number of layouts that our team has done, but the monthly galleries, alone, have showcased 977 layouts and 44 mini albums. All for you!

 

And while three years have seen patterns on the papers change, products come, and trends go, one thing that stands strong is our commitment to you. When we began, we carefully crafted our beliefs:

1. We believe in telling stories.

2. We believe that understanding photography and design make scrapbooking a little more fun.

3. We believe in the power of color. We also believe in the power of kraft, black, and white.

4. We believe that scrapbooking should be fun and guilt-free.

5. We believe that there is no one right way to scrapbook.

and we stand by them as much today as in days' past. We love scrapbooking. And we know you do, too. And we are here to help you make it doable, sustainable, and fun!

 

To help us celebrate today's birthday festivities, we have put together a team bloghop! We wanted to make it easy, so we are going in alphabetical order. As you click from blog to blog, you can collect letters that you will need to know if you are selected as the lucky number for a giveaway! Our crew is also excited to share with you their thoughts about being a part of write. click. scrapbook. and to give you a sneak peek into their layout for this month's gallery!!

Here is the list, in order:

Alexandra Sirugue-MacLeod
Amy Sorensen
Celeste Smith
Christa Paustenbaugh
Deb Duty
Diane Payne
Donna Jannuzzi
Emily Pitts
Emily Spahn
Erin Sweeney
Francine Clouden
Kathy Martin
Katrina Simeck
Kelly Jeppson (this link will be to an extra place as Kelly is without a public blog!)
Keshet Starr
Lisa Kisch
Lisa Ottosson
Marie Taylor
Marnie Flores
Monika Wright
Paula Gilarde
Sarah Pendergrast
Teka Jo Cochonneau
Valerie O'Neall
Vivian Masket

Look for this graphic

and find the letter that is associated with each team member. Then return here and leave a comment telling us what you love most about write. click. scrapbook. Your comment will be considered for our first year four giveaway, an entire box filled with scrapbooking goodies. AND there are giveaways to be found all along the path...

 

Before you hop away...

Did you notice some new names up there? We thought you might have. We are thrilled beyond measure to announce the addition of 5 new team members. (We actually have 6 new ones, but you are going to have to wait for one whole month to meet the other! heehee!!)

Please give a warm welcome to...

 

 

We are excited for all of you to fall in love with them as we have. Not only are they talented scrapbookers, but they are kind, lovely women with a point of view, a story to tell, and some amazing creativity oozing out of them! If you click on their photo, it will take you to their bio pages so you can read a little more about them. And as you visit their blogs on the bloghop, please take a minute to say hello and introduce yourself to them. Be forewarned that you might get lost in their talented creations!

 

You may also have noticed a few names missing from the list. Aly, Karen, Stacy, Wendy, and Cheryl are all turning in their keys, so to speak. Stacy, Aly, and Cheryl have all been with us from the beginning. We cannot thank them enough for their kindness and hard work. And while Karen and Wendy added later, they, too, left an indelible impression on our site. We will miss them; not just their talent, but also their hearts. We look forward to seeing them in other places and wish them tremendous success and happiness.

 

And while you have filled some of the spaces on our team. We still have one more! And wondered if you might like it? Announcing our first ever

If you have longed to be a part of the write. click. scrapbook. team, now is your chance! We are excited to open up a team spot to one of you! We want to fill it with someone who knows us and loves us. Someone who will help make us great and will shout from the rooftops that write. click. scrapbook. is one awesome scrapbooking site.

As a write. click. scrapbook. teammate you will be responsible to provide a minimum of one layout per month for our monthly galleries, and you will host the blog for one week, and a handful of single days. Team members also help one another by providing pertinent layouts to support the other blog authors.

We love pages that are well-designed, and tell good stories. Our teammates not only scrapbook well, but also write well, as they must share their love and knowledge of scrapbooking through a week of blogging. Good photography is an asset as well.

If you would like to be considered, please put together a sample blog post, on your topic of choice. Additionally, please create a layout or project that will fit under the topic, Summer Fun. We will accept applications through June 23rd. Please know we will also browse through your blog to get a feel for your writing style and personality. The new team member will be notified prior to July 1st. Please send your application materials to marnie@writeclickscrapbook.com.

To review we need:

1. a sample blog post on a topic of your choosing,
2. a layout that fits the theme Summer Fun,
3. a link to your blog,
4. a link to your sample blog post, and
5. a bit about why you want to be on our team.

Please don't forget that we are real people with real lives and are looking for real pages. Please try to be yourself. We will be impressed without you even trying. Promise.

 

Lastly, on this very busy day, let's not forget that today is the first of the month, which means it's

This month, our teammates were paired up and asked to create a layout inspired by their partner. Here are the pairings. What great pairs!

Christa Paustenbaugh & Celeste Smith
Diane Payne & Francine Clouden
Donna Jannuzzi & Lisa Ottosson
Emily Pitts & Alexandra Sirugue-MacLeod
Erin Sweeney & Amy Sorensen
Katrina Simeck & Emily Spahn
Keshet Starr & Vivian Masket
Lisa Kisch & Sarah Pendergrast
Marie Taylor & Teka Cochonneau
Kelly Jeppson & Valerie O'Neall
Marnie Flores & Karen Grünberg
Monika Wright & Kathy Martin
Paula Gilarde & Deb Duty

If you follow the links found in the designer's notes, you will see the inspiration and learn how one layout or project inspired another. Be sure to look at both--some are so similar, while others are worlds apart. Isn't inspiration an amazing thing?

 

Thank you for stopping! We appreciate your comments, in ways you can't imagine, so please leave one telling us why you love write. click. scrapbook. Comments for the giveaway will remain open though Sunday evening. One lucky number will be selected at random and posted on Monday. Please remember it is your responsibility to check back and claim your lucky number before Wednesday.

Have fun in the gallery, on the blog hop, and we look forward to receiving your applications!

edited to add: the giveaway is now closed. thank you!

Happy Birthday to you!

And Happy Anniversary too! That's right, today we're scrapbooking birthdays and anniversaries.  With these being annual events and all, it can be hard to come up with new ideas for scrapbooking them. I hope the pages we're sharing today can spark some inspiration!

 

Focus on one great picture, like this of the birthday boy and his cake, and then add in a other smaller pictures to support it.

[By Diane Payne]

 

You can never go wrong with a photo strip!

[By Donna Jannuzzi]

 

Record what made the party special.

[By Marnie Flores]

 

Any memorable events around a birthday?

 

[By Monika Wright]

 

Is there a special story behind the cake?

[By Marnie Flores]

 

What were the birthday highlights? You can stick to just the highlights, or record their entire day.

[By Amy Sorensen]

 

Nothing like a baby eating their first cake! It can be hard to narrow it down to one photo though, at least it was for me, so you can always use a photo strip of additional photos if needed.

[By Celeste Smith]

 

Spending a birthday in an unusual or non-traditional way? 

[By Celeste Smith]

 

And from birthdays to anniversaries...

How did you celebrate your anniversary? Travel somewhere new or visit someplace meaningful to the two of you?

 

When your anniversary rolls around, document your feelings at that time. It doesn't have to be specifically about your actual anniversary, but can be your thoughts on your marriage or on your spouse. 

 

Document how many years you've been married and what you've learned during that time. Or where you've traveled. Or where you've lived. Or things you've accomplished. Or things that have changed. Or things that have stayed the same.

[By Emily Spahn]

 

Hope these ideas will help you scrapbook the birthdays and anniversaries you celebrate!

Mother's Day Week Begins!

Let's start off our week with a disclaimer: We are not caught in a time warp; we know that Mother's Day is next month (May 13, if you want to get technical), but we are getting ahead of the game to provide you with ideas and inspiration with plenty of time to digest them all before it's actually time to make things for Mother's Day.Thoughtful of us, no? :)

That having been said, I, Vivian, want to officially welcome you to Mother's Day Week here at write. click. scrapbook! When I was a kid, Mother's Day was all about celebrating all the moms in my life. That included my mom, my aunt (yes, I have only one aunt), and my grandmothers. We would usually all gather together for a lunch at someone's house and celebrate together as an extended family. Today we do smaller celebrations, as the extended family is now spread out across the United States. In those early years I don't think I truly understood what we were celebrating. It wasn't until I was a mom myself that I really got it, really understood how hard (and rewarding!) it is to be a mom, really understood the need to celebrate these important women in our lives. I remember writing some pretty heartfelt thoughts in the card I gave my mother on Mother's Day back in 2002, four months into my own motherhood.

So, to all you moms out there, thank you for everything you do on a daily basis to love and nurture your children. Thank you for doing those things on both the good days and the bad. Thank you for raising our future.

This week we aim to inspire with ideas for the moms in your life. So...sit back, enjoy, take away some inspiration, and whatever else you do, don't forget the chocolate and the flowers on May 13th! (Hmmm...I think maybe I should send my husband here. :))

 

Project

First up today is a fun project idea from Aly. Last year, for Mother's Day, Aly made birthday calendars for both her mom and her mother-in-law using her Cinch machine and recycled cardboard covers. Aly got the free calendar printables from Infarrantly Creative.

Here's what Aly had to say about the response to her gifts:

The Grandmas loved getting these -- it helps them keep track of all their kids' and grandkids' birthdays.

 

Card 

Today we also have a quick and easy card idea (under five minutes, which means you will have more time to write a meaningful note inside) from yours truly:

With all of the fun floral patterns and embellishments and washi tape out there you could make a zillion variations on this. Here are the basic instructions:

1. Attach a 4.25" X 5.5" piece of floral patterned paper to a card base of the same size.

2. Adhere a 3.25" X 4.5" piece of white cardstock to the center of the card.

3. Create flower stems from washi tape (I cut a wider piece of tape in half lengthwise here).

4. Attach chipboard flowers (or die cut flowers or punched flowers or crocheted flowers or...you get the idea) to the top of the stems.

5. If desired, add leaf embellishments.

6. Add a pre-printed sticker greeting.

 

Here's hoping that we've gotten you started on your way to making something for Mother's Day! Be sure to check back all week for more ideas and inspiration for the special moms in your life!

Showing Off: Invitations & Announcements

Thank you for stopping by yesterday! Did you have a good day of lurve? I may or may not have received the new Twilight movie. Girls night at my house?

I hope you saw potential in the projects! I love scrapbooking and all the ways it has infiltrated my life. Do you feel the same? (I thought so. That's why we're such good friends. Because you get that part of me. (Which happens to be a big part of my life...))

Thank you for celebrating our craft with me this week! Today we are going to focus on invitations & announcements.

 

The Backstory

When Nigel was born, I hadn't yet begun to scrapbook, but I knew that I wanted some cool baby announcements. I looked in the yellow pages under "Paper" so that I could find a store that sold something that didn't look like it was supposed to contain a resume. And I found Paper Creations. I went in, got what I needed, and went home to create. (I would be lying if I failed to acknowledge that yes, I did notice the scrapbook stuff, and yes, I did exactly and certainly accept that I would soon be back to try out this growing hobby...)

The birth announcement wasn't anything pretty, but I was very proud of it.

A few months later, I returned to that same store to buy some scrapbook paper to begin my new life as a scrapbooker. And for several years, I made hundreds of layouts. Many layouts. But just layouts.

And then I realized that now I had the supplies, the tools, and a much better understanding of how to make cooler invites than I could buy in the store, and some pretty rockin' announcements.

 

Invitations

As you are putting your invites together, don't forget the basics: name, address phone number, RSVP info; but then, go wild! have fun! I love how an invite can set the mood and the theme of the party.

Might I share a funny story with you? We once had a neighbor girl (let's call her Sally) who invited every girl in her school class for her 7th birthday party. Her mom had sent invitations with Barbie on them. For no reason other than they were on sale. Lo and behold, come party day, Sally got 13 Barbies for her birthday. Every single gift was a Barbie. For those moms who didn't know Sally, the invitation was a clue as to what she liked. (And gratefully she did. Not sure about 13 dolls' worth, but did like them!)

It's true that invitations can tell much more of a story than just the pertinent details. When we don't much about an event, we truly look to the invitation for guidance. I tell you so that as you design an invitation, you are careful about what you put on.

I am a big sucker for theme parties and invites. As I was hunting for cute examples for you, I found these that I thought were awesome! This one was for a messy party. How fun is that?

I found this one on Pinterest. Oooh, love this one.

And here is a fun one! Prepare to giggle if you go look through the party pics!

Here are the last two invitations to leave our house. This year the parties had neither subject nor color theme (we often have color parties for birthdays!), so instead the invitations just became about representing the girls. Oh, and sharing the deets. Because the boundaries were so wide, the girls helped me with the colors and vetoed a couple of fonts on the way to the final product. Gotta love a four year with font preferences!!

Are you up for creating an invitation for your next shower or birthday party? I hope you will. You have the skills. I know you do!

 

Announcements

Babies. I love them. The smell, the touch, the sleepy scrunched-up faces. Everything. But when I had mine, I found that as much as I wanted to shout the news of their births from the rooftops, the minute they were born, I was too tired to do them right away. Remembering that, I have begun to offer to create the birth announcements as a baby present. Not everyone takes me up on it. (To be clear, ALL the second plus time moms take me up on it right away. Some first-timers don't understand at first, but most eventually call!)

Here are a couple I made recently.

A quick tip on multi-photo announcements: if you include body part shots (ie. heads, toes, fingers, etc) be careful how you place them. Toes and feet are better on the bottom row, and heads on the top. And try not to gather these shots all together without a full body shot. It starts to look a little creepy. Likewise look for things like hands coming out of an adjacent head photo, etc. It can easily turn all Toy Story on you. (Remember when the boy combined parts of dolls together? I couldn't watch that movie for years--too creepy!)

I thought perhaps you might want to spread the announcement-making love, so I put together a printable for you that you can tuck into a card and to help you get all the pertinent information that you will need. You can download it here.

You have the skills, baby! Now show them off! You, my dear scrapbooker, are not just a scrapbooker. You are also a graphic designer and a master crafter. Yes, yes, you are! If you have any invitations, or announcements, please leave a comment and link to your project! I would love to see what you have made!

Tomorrow will be give.away.day. I look forward to your comments! And then I will see you back here on Friday!

until then,

Birthdays

Welcome again Summer Readers! Today is a special day of sorts, it is the day I turn 29. For the sixth time. Ha. But we aren't here to talk about my birthday, but some other more fun birthdays. Like my Mom's birthday which is coming up on August 13. Here is where I have to say if you are my mother, stop reading. Trust me.

Ok, I think she's gone ;) For my mom's birthday this year, I ordered her a lovely print on Etsy (which I won't link to just in case she hasn't listened. I would like to have one surprise for her!) But I wanted to give her one more little thing. A dual purpose brag book. There are now eight grandchildren in our family with the addition of my younger sister's daughter, Genevieve. That is a lot of birthdays, and with the exception of Jack's birthday of January 1, it can get ever so slightly confusing who is on the 23, who is on the 24, the 26, the 21...you get the idea. So I created a very simple brag book/birthday book, using a $1 book I got from Michaels. The cover
Do you see that? Have you noticed we are all ever so slightly Crystal Wilkerson obsessed around here? Why yes, the banner and "tape" are both from her kits. Ob.sessed. :)

As you can see, VERY simple. Made all the photos b&w, and just swapped out the photos, keeping everything else the same. But as a devoting and doting Grandma/Nonnie, she will have photos ready to go, and an easy way to keep track of all of those birthdays. I really hope I kept track properly and all the dates are correct. I'm sure my sister's will let me know if I didn't :)

I must also update you on my 50 First Dates! Although I haven't had a chance to scrap it yet, my hubs and I got to go on our first date for our 11th anniversary last weekend. We had a bland dinner, went to Home Depot afterwards and bought a weed wacker, rented a movie that turned out to be HORRIBLE, and burnt our popcorn. It was one of the best dates ever. HA. One down, 49 to go!

Planning a Grown-up Summer Birthday Bash

 

Hi everyone! Kelly here again, on a beautiful summer day. Hope your summer has been as busy and warm and super fun as mine so far! I can't believe it is mid-July already.

For today's post I chose to use a photo of me with my pop, Daryl, because this post is very much about him. My little sister reminded me a few weeks ago that Pop is going to celebrate a milestone birthday next week: the big 6-0. We wanted to celebrate in a big way, and we couldn't think of anything as classic as a summer evening out in the yard, with kids running around and cool drinks in hand. There are five of us Tucker siblings, three spouses, and six grandkids, so we settled on a big block party with family, friends, and neighbors. But when I went to look for inspiration for invitations, decorations, and party favors, I came up a bit short. It seems that we all want to celebrate kid birthdays, but there aren't a lot of resources for grown-up birthdays. Especially birthdays for men. So I wanted to share my plans with you, in hopes that they might help you plan a future party.

The theme: a bit of carnival/steampunk/day-in-the-country. Pop isn't into surprise parties or dress-up parties (no disco-dancing here), so I thought I would just keep things classic and not too fancy or frilly. I found some great basic plates, napkins, etc. at Target in red, yellow and blue, and went from there. I love to use up supplies I have on hand, so I went shopping in my stash and found some American Crafts papers in those colors to use. I'm in the middle of making a birthday pennant banner to hang somewhere. I used the scraps to make those fan-folded scallops to use in-between letters.

I'm planning to use photos of Pop as decorations in the center of each letter. Too much?

 
The invites: Pop is known for using Photoshop to make birthday cards that feature family and friends in famous settings or poses (I've appeared on vintage Vogue Magazine covers and in John Singer Sargent paintings). My older sister told me I should do something similar for the invites, but the truth is that my Photoshop skills are a bit too basic (lessons, please!). So instead, I found some very cool clipart here and used Microsoft Publisher to make a simpler postcard to send out.

 
Printing them on kraft cardstock lends them a bit more antique feel I think. Postcards are cheap, easy to address, and simple to mail (postcard stamps are only 29 cents!). I'm all for the e-vite, but this party called for old-fashioned mailed invitations. I like the thought of this image on people's fridges!

The party: We are holding our shindig at a park by my parents' house so the neighbors can wander over when they like. There's a playground for the kids, a pavilion with tables for treats, and lots of grass for frisbees, kickball and badminton. We putting together a special music playlist that highlights some of the best tunes of the past 60 years. There might even be a special appearance by my brother's and sister's band! We're keeping things simple by ordering cakes from a bakery and having lots of homemade rootbeer, bottled water, and soda on hand. We'll put out big tubs of ice with popsicles and ice cream in them. Did I mention we're going to have a candy bar? Lots of glass jars with old-fashioned candy in them (taffy, licorice, mints, cinnamon bears, gumballs). And I found a great deal on glow-sticks for the kids.

 
I made those stickers with some clipart from the same site as the invites. I printed them on big round mailing labels, and made some others that we can stick on water bottles, people, and anything else.

 
A few bunches of balloons, and the decorations are set! As a final touch, we are compiling a photo project to fill all the openings in a frame that I found on clearance awhile ago and have been waiting to use. My little sister says she has already started a collection of photos of Pop wearing funny things on his head. Can't wait to see that!

 
My last task before the party is to put together a photo album and cards for the guests at the party to use to leave birthday wishes for Pop. I think I will use a standard-size photo album and design some 4x6 cards so I can slide them in alongside the photos after the party. The cards will have journaling prompts on them, like, "Remember when we..." or "My birthday wish for you is..." or "Here's to another 60!"

If you're in the neighborhood next week, stop by and wish Pop a happy birthday!

 

birthday cards and stuff.

Hi everyone. Moon here. Hope you're having a great Saturday. I am scrambling like a mad person to get some last minute birthday things together for my soon to be eight year old. Summer seems to be the time of year when babies like to be born in my family.

I wanted to share some quick cards I've made and maybe I can save you a trip to the drug store and the $4.00 you'll save from having to buy a card. :)

Babelfish card:

I love babelfish but FYI, the translation from Korean to English doesn't work so well.

:)

 

Candle(s) card:

I used one stamp and embossing powder to create this layout.

 

Indecent Proposal card:

I used die cuts and and punches to create this one...

 

Little Birdie card:

I used stamps and embossing powder to create this card. Pretty simple and so easy to do.

 

Let's Party invitations, bags and place cards:

 

And before I show you the last one, let me preface it with this video from one of my favorite shows, Modern Family:

 

I got the inspiration from this clip. Here's the front of the card which was printed directly on the white card.

and inside:

 

I get a lot of inspiration from TV and movies. Let's face it, the writers are funnier than I am in real life (and my imaginary one). Since we're talking about cards and we just celebrated Father's Day last weekend, let me end my post with this card I made for my husband last year:

Can anyone tell me which movie I got my inspiration from for this card?

Happy Saturday everyone!