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Scrapbooking your Teen: Day 3

When your house is full of teenagers, it’s also full of drama. Sometimes it’s a severe sort of conflict (which, I feel seriously blessed and lucky and fortunate to report, has been pretty rare so far for us). Sometimes it's just silliness. But it’s always around. Last night, for example, when I got home from work, Nathan was melting down because the laptop where he’d saved his Nanowrimo novel had crashed and he couldn’t get it back. (I emailed his teacher to explain and then had to talk him out of being too anxious about it to sleep.) Haley needed new notebooks for English and biotech, couldn’t find her cell phone, and was mediating a fight between two of her friends. (After said phone was located in the bathroom drawer, we ran to Target really quickly, talking about the friend thing during the drive.) Jake was suffering from conjunctivitis that he caught from Kaleb (our six year old) and he really wanted to watch TV even though he is banished until his eyes feel better. (I was compassionate but firm and suggested he take a shower.)

Teens have drama. Moms of teens have perpetual exhaustion.

Hopefully the next four scrapbooking layout ideas will rev up your creative energy!

 

1.   Don’t Neglect the Trends

I love those emails/Facebook posts that pop up every once in awhile, the ones about “you know you were a teen in the _____ if” (insert your teenage decade in that space). It always cracks me up to think about the trends I’ve forgotten I used to love. (Jelly shoes and Units outfits and side ponytails, for example. Oh, and Swatches! And Atari. I could totally kick anyone’s butt on Atari Asteroids!)

 In fact, I’m certain that the concept of “trends” was invented just for teens. This goes back to their passionate natures—“passionate” and “obsessive” are sort of synonyms after all! Each of my teens has had his or her own way of defining which trends to obsess over, but they’ve found them and then spent large amounts of time living with them. 

(I’m just really, really grateful that parachute pants are no longer a trend!)

Get some of those trends down in your layouts. You’re certain to already be documenting your teens clothing trends just by taking photos of them. Other trends will take some advanced planning on your part. Start by making a list: which trends have influenced your child? My list includes things like cell phones (an obvious one!), downloaded music (remember CD’s? no, wait—remember cassette tapes?), fancy pants (which is my name for any jeans that have anything more than your basic jean details), v-neck T’s (for the boys; Haley won’t be caught dead in a T shirt), Facebook, colored hair streaks (Haley had a blue one for about a year), and novels about dystopias.

In this layout:

 
I wrote about the Twilight series of books. The vampires, love triangles, and fairy-tale endings in these books (as well as the movies) have created trends in young adult literature and in movies, and while I decidedly don’t love these books, Haley has read them. We’ve talked about them quite a bit, too, and they’ve led us to conversations I am 100% certain we wouldn’t have had otherwise. When you write about your teen’s trendy obsessions, think not just about the trend itself, but what it means and how it has influenced your kids. 

Since I never took any photos of Haley reading any of these books, I had to think about how to portray them in a photo. This snapshot of her bookshelf, with arrows pointing to the titles in question, works. I realized after I finished the layout that it also captures a little snapshot of who she is right now. Hair supplies and lots of jewelry, inspirational quotes  and fingernail polish in—hey!—trendy colors: each of those little visual tidbits say something I’m pretty sure would have gotten lost in the everyday busy-ness of life. (Although…I’m really not sure what is up with that Ken doll!)

Idea Take Away If you want to add textual elements to a photo before you print it (like the arrows I used here), crop your photo first and then add the text. That way, the proportions in your print will be correct. 

 

2.   Use What They’ve Already Written

Sometimes it is hard to know exactly how to journal on teen-focused layouts. Lots of things happen when we parents aren’t around. Or putting your thoughts into words gets complicated. You might just not know what to say.

But sometimes you really don’t have to know—you just have to dig a little bit. Use what your teenager has written in other places as the journaling for some of your layouts to add a not-so-inconsequential layer of meaning. I’ve already mentioned my penchant for sending my kids writing assignments via email, and honestly: those layouts are some of my favorites because I know they are authentic. But asking isn’t the only way to get a hold of your teen’s thoughts. Facebook and Twitter updates are a good source, as are the texts they’ve sent to you or the ones they might share with you. (When my kids got cell phones, it was with the understanding that texts aren’t journals and I, as the person paying for the phone, can read them whenever I want. This didn’t happen because of scrapbooking, of course. But it does make journaling easier!) If your teen has a blog, read it for ideas. You can even use stuff they write for school assignments.

Is this snooping? I don’t think so. For one, my kids know I do this. Two, I would never, ever, ever snoop in secret. Their journals? Completely off limits to me, which they know and (I hope) trust. Everything else? Fair game. 

Here’s a layout that uses something that my daughter Haley wrote on her blog just this week:

 

The words that came from her blog are the ones in the script font (it’s called Sweetly Broken). I love that she is having her own epiphanies and that she is learning about life—and that she isn’t afraid to put it out there for other people to see. 

Idea Take Away This is such a simple layout—so simple it nearly makes me feel guilty. I think, though, that sometimes we make it too complicated. Simple is good. Simple means we are getting more of our supplies out of our boxes and drawers and into our albums. So if you need permission, here it is: it’s OK to be simple!

And, a little bonus Idea Take Away: here’s a PDF with the “never run away” quotation, in case you’d like to use it on one of your layouts: Download Junot diaz quote 

 

3.   Use your past

If you could go back in time and take some photos of your teenage years, what would you document? Now, document that for your teen. Honestly, I learned this the hard way, from my mom’s decisions when I was a teenager. A rebellious and angry and always-wearing-black gothy sort of teenager. (Yes, I know. No one who didn’t know me then believes it now.) There are precious few photos of me during that phase of my life because it bothered her so much. I wish I had more photos of me with my friends, my car, and my hobbies. I wish I had a picture of my stereo and of all my tapes lined up underneath it. Or one of my bedroom. Or my steel-toed boots. Photos of me with boyfriends? Nonexistent.

The real point is this: try to not let how you feel about your teenagers’ choices stop you from documenting them anyway. It will add to their feelings of self worth if you take time to photograph and scrap about their blue hair or too-heavy eyeliner or too-short skirt. In your gut, you know this because you were once a teenager, too. Let yourself remember that time and learn from it.

I took this idea in a slightly different way:

In this layout, I journaled about a few of the things I wish I had known when I was a teenager. It grew out of an experience I had just last weekend, when I  watched her walk up to the door of her Preference date’s house. How did I—socially awkward, utterly shy, and totally angry teenager—create a confident, outgoing, friendly daughter? It hit me, watching her, how much her teenage experiences—my sons’, too, but in a different way—have caused me to revisit my own. And have helped me to put to bed old issues, too. I’m still not certain if this layout is for Haley or if it is for me! (But, hello. Can I just say how much I love this photo of her?) 

Idea Take Away If you want to use a border punch on journaling strips as I did here, pay attention to how thick you cut your strips. Depending on the punch, you’ll need to leave about one-half inch of empty space below (or above, if you want, or even both!) the words. (Pay attention to descenders like y, z, and p.)

 

4. Write What you Feel

I think I have a pretty good relationship with my teenagers. I try to keep our conversations open, to help them trust me, and to avoid judging them. But I’d be foolish if I believed they talk to me about everything. It just simply sometimes is hard work, communicating.

And this is what I love about scrapbook journaling.

It is the perfect space for you to put into words what you have a hard time saying out loud. Or what your teen would, quite simply, not want to listen to. There is always so much emotion involved in the issues we have with our teens, both on their part and on ours. Writing what you feel helps you to figure out what you feel. Strange but true.

So here’s a challenge. The next time  you’re feeling strongly about something related to your teen—and this “something” can be a negative or a positive—take ten minutes or so to write down your thoughts. You might not ever use that exact writing on a layout. But the act of writing will help you process what you know, think, fear, hope, and/or feel. This parenting of teens is a complicated experience. Writing will help you make it a little bit more simple.

Here’s a layout I love from Emily:

 

In her journaling she writes about that moment we each eventually experience. I think of it as the grocery-store moment. It happens when you see someone else’s small child in a grocery store and you realize: my teenager will never be that small again. (Finding yourself weeping in Target, Walmart, or your local grocery store? Totally one of the hazards of being a mom!) This is the bitter sweetness of motherhood, I believe: that they grow up. What other way would you have it? But it still stings. It might be decades before Emily’s daughter truly understands this emotion her mom was feeling. But when she does? This layout will mean even more.

Idea Take Away Embrace the white space! No matter if it’s a single-photo layout or one with 29 pictures on it, every layout needs a little bit of breathing room, some space with nothing in it. The white space Emily incorporated here makes the layout feel expansive and open-hearted.

I’ve made more than  few layouts where I’ve written about how I feel. Here’s one I did about Jake:

where I write about the core emotions that go along with raising him specifically. See, I grew up with three sisters—no brothers—and so every day Jake teaches me something about boys that I never knew before. This teenage boy thing is faintly terrifying to me, and writing down my fears, as well as my hopes and the things I know, helped me to feel more brave.

Idea Take Away You won’t find the word “Teenageboyness” in any dictionary I know. But I am totally OK with that anyway. Titles are a great place to play with language; try to not let The Official Grammar and Spelling Rules overcome your creativity. Stay within the basic guidelines, of course. (There’s a huge difference, for example, between a layout that’s about “My Heroine” (detailing this scrapper’s hero, who happens to be a girl) and one that really means to be about the same thing but is stuck with the title “My Heroin.” And, yes: I am not making that up!) But it’s also OK to let yourself play. More than just OK, in fact. Fun!

 In this layout I did for Haley, I journaled some of my feelings about her entering high school and how it changed her. She had a tough sophomore year, and this layout

 

speaks to how I felt about her challenges and how she handled them.

Idea Take Away Don’t be afraid to mix your old scrapbooking supplies with your new ones. The “bird” letters here are some really old Basic Grey ones—five or six years. The pink background (which I just realized I also used on my Twilight layout!) is less than a year old. Don’t let yourself get caught up in the must-use-new-stuff mania. No one who matters in your life will ever care which products you used. Just that you went to the effort to use them! 

Don’t forget to check back in tomorrow, when we’ll be having some drama of our own, but of the best sort: give away day! Until then!

Scrapping your Teens: Day 2

Hello! And welcome to day two of teen scrapping week. You know what I loved about yesterday? All of your comments! It is so good to know I am not alone in my adolescent-parenting gig. I think all of us are up against the same troubles and joys!

 Since yesterday was Human Rights Day, all of my kids were home, which meant I eventually found myself walking through Costco with the four of them. I nearly always leave Costco with something I didn’t intend to buy, but somehow this trip was even worse. I ended up taking home blueberry muffins, a package of already-diced butternut squash (my Bigs love almost any vegetable ever invented, Brussels sprouts notwithstanding), a box of gum, and a cheesecake.

I (along with my checkbook) am grateful they are back in school today. Hopefully you are in a good, peaceful, quite place so you can read the next four ideas without anyone asking you to drive them to the mall. 

 

1. Focus on Personality Traits

My grandma used to say that adolescence is an illness that doesn’t go away until your twenties. If that’s true (and part of me is convinced it is!) then one of the symptoms? Brilliant, expansive, and noticeable personalities. Since teens are all about trying to figure out who they are, their personality traits seem way more intense—the shy kids are much shyer, the outgoing ones even more outgoing.

Try to get some of that personality down in a layout or two. Sometimes you will manage that with the snap of your camera’s shutter. I’ve gotten a few fortunate photos that have captured personality in an instant. But more often than not, I do this by writing about my kids’ personality. 

An example:

In this layout, I tried to write about that thing my son Nathan has. It’s hard to put into words, though—there isn’t one, in fact, that encapsulates everything that goes into making up his thing. It’s just…Nathan. I’ve tried to write about this thing before, and I’m sure I’ll do it again, especially as his personality changes as he moves deeper into teenagehood.

Idea Take Away Lately I’ve been enamored with creating monochromatic layouts. I like using slightly different shades of the same color to create different layers of embellishments. One thing I love about this is how freeing it is—it lets me eliminate that worry over whether or not the shade of blue I’ve picked is exactly the right one. Instead I just choose a handful and use them all.

Try to think about what traits define your teen right now. I did that in this layout about Jake:

I wanted to document the never-satiated hunger that teenage boys have but do it without seeming to criticize, so I tried to make it lighthearted and a little bit funny. Humor, like honesty, is one of the personality traits you, as a parent to teenagers, can never have too much of! 

Idea Take Away I grunged up my rub-on letters by sanding them. The flexibility of rub on letters is one reason they are a favorite supply in my scrapping room. 

 

2. Focus on Physical Traits

Is there a time in our lives when our bodies change so much (and we’re completely aware of it) than during adolescence? I’m not sure! But it’s a fun thing to document those changes. Well, at least the ones that don’t feel too private, of course. The writer Dave Barry says that “to an adolescent, there’s nothing more embarrassing than a parent.” Even acne! Along that line, I’ve set myself the goal of being the least amount of embarrassing possible. I can’t avoid it altogether, of course, as my very “parent” nature is humiliating. But I do try to keep the humiliation to a minimum. Which means only scrapbooking the non-embarrassing physical things.

And which also brings us to the question I posed yesterday: to Photoshop or not to Photoshop the acne? Here’s how I judge it: the quality of the photo. If the acne in question is going on in a casual snapshot, I generally leave it. If it’s a photo from an important event, or one that captures a lot of emotion, I take it out.

Some physical traits you can scrapbook: hair, braces, height, the acquisition of glasses and/or contacts, injuries, scars, or physical talents. You can think of it from different angles as well, like the argument you have with your daughter over the length of that skirt, or maybe the way your son’s football practices leave him sore. Why you don’t want them to get a tattoo. Or a simple comparison—what about a full-body shot from each birthday combined into one layout?

In this layout

Emily documents one of those pesky adolescent characteristics: the squeaky male voice. Oh, my. This makes me laugh! This exact same thing has happened in our house. In fact, most people these days who call me just ask straight out: is this Nathan or is it Amy? (Jake has passed this point.) Emily gets this topic—which holds the potential for embarrassment—down sweetly and succinctly with not even a hint of mockery. Plus, what a great memory to get down on paper. 

Idea Take Away I’m certain you have some alphas similar to the ones on Emily’s layout in your stash, those small rectangle letter stickers. These have become some of my favorite layout staples and honestly, I think the concept will stick around for awhile. So don’t be afraid to use them! Follow Emily’s lead and spell out something long. I think you’ll be surprised at just how much you can say with those tiny little letter stickers.

 

A couple of ways I’ve documented physical traits:

When Haley was about ten, we started the tradition of taking a photo on the day she gets a haircut. On the day I took these photos, I’d taken what felt like a big step to both of us: left her at the salon with just her friend so she could make the decisions on her own. (Oh, how hard it is! Letting them choose! Relinquishing our influence over them!) So the resulting journaling is less about hair than it is about experience and process and emotion—but it also says something about her hair. 

Idea Take Away The next time you feel scrappily stumped, try this exercise. Flip to a random page in your dictionary or thesaurus. Let your eye roam down the page until a word grabs your attention. Now, thinking about the qualities, connotations, and meaning of the word, find some photos that will work with it. Then write your journaling. That is how this layout came to be, and it is one of my favorites because it’s sort of random and associative, but it works anyway.

 

I’ve actually made several layouts about my son Jake’s recent altitude expansion. In this one:

I focused on how I hope he can be metaphorically tall. One of my goals as a parent is to teach my kids that appearance is not as important as actions, but I’m certain it sometimes comes across as nagging. Putting my thoughts onto a layout (one that he’ll see, conveniently, just sitting out on my scrapping table) helps me feel like I’m expressing that ideal without harping on it.

Idea Take Away I have fallen in love with this font, called Emmy 3D. I found it here. I simply filled in the empty spaces using a handful of markers in colors that went with the patterned paper. I imagine it will pop up on quite a few layouts of mine in the near future! What font do you love right now? 

 

3. Work in Some School Details

I think we adults forget how all-encompassing school is for our teenagers. Remember how hard it was to balance all the assignments for seven or eight classes? The locker combinations and student ID numbers and the intricate schedules! That daily complicated experience of lunch! They go through a lot. Try to work in some layouts that focus on their school experiences. What is their daily or A/B schedule? Who is their favorite teacher or subject and why? What school do they go to and what is their mascot? Where is their locker and what do they have in it? What is their favorite lunchroom meal and who do they eat with?

 Like some of the other ideas, this one requires you to mine some details out of your teenager. You can ask them, of course, and sometimes they’ll tell you. But usually it really is like mining: hard work for a few rare and valuable gems. Pay attention to the conversations they have when they forget you’re listening: with their siblings at the dinner table, for example, or with a friend while you’re all in the car together. Even the one-sided conversations you might overhear when they’re talking on their cell phones will give you details to flesh out their stories.

For this layout I asked my son Nathan for a little bit of help:

He told me the details in the long strip of journaling on the bottom, while I wrote some of my own thoughts in the other journaling space. He’s twelve, an age I consider to be just on the very edge of teenagedom. At twelve, they’ve definitely got those adolescent prickles—but they’ve also got quite a bit of kid left in them, too.  He was willing to answer my questions, but only for a few quick minutes! 

Idea Take Away I know that some scrappers don’t like stamping because of its unpredictability. Sometimes a stamped image just doesn’t turn out perfectly. Often, in fact! My perspective is to embrace the messiness. The first time I stamped this image (it’s one of Studio Calico’s and is one of my all-time favorites) I totally smudged it. But I’d already printed the journaling. So I just went with it: I drew imperfect, slightly-shaky squares as outlines around the books and then I purposefully stamped it a little bit sloppily in other spots.

 

4. Use Their Own Words

Remember how, when your kids were small and still learning about words and language, they’d say the cutest, sweetest things? That sort of tapers off in the grade-school years. But it picks right back up about the time they hit junior high. And, yeah, ok: there’s less cute and sweet. But there is a lot of funny. I the preponderance of funny statements happens because teens are learning new things about language—like sarcasm, and slang, and timing. Mix that with their budding independence and confidence and seriously: a house that’s full of teens is one that’s full of words used in unusual ways.

Jake is always making me laugh, but the night he said this?

Oh, my. It’s been two months since he said it and I am still giggling. I kept meaning to take a photo specifically to document this conversation, but Jake? Jake is my kid who hates to have his picture taken. He hates it! I feel guilty about the fact that his face shows up the least in my photos, but honestly: it is not for the lack of trying. Keeping in mind his photography reticence, I warn him beforehand if we’re going somewhere that will require pictures so he knows that he needs to cooperate even if he doesn’t want to. But I still get quite a few photos of him like this one! I decided not to fight it. This is him right now. It’s ok that it’s not perfectly posed and his expression is a little goofy. It’s real and I am OK with real. 

Idea Take Away Keep track of which fonts coordinate well with your alphabet stamps. That way, you don’t have to waste time scrolling through your font list. When I discover a font that works well with a specific stamp (in this layout, the pairing of the Trinity Alphabet from Close to my Heart and the font called Merge), I simply write its name with a Sharpie right on the envelope or box I keep the stamp set in.

 

Emily also has a great idea for using teens’ own words:

In this layout, she includes words that are straight from the horse’s mouth. This is a great reminder: sometimes you just have to ask them to play along. Ethan’s responses tell so much about not just his answers to the questions but his personality. All of which is totally worth the stress of asking in the first place.

Idea Take Away Notice the patterned paper that Emily used for her background? I bought ten sheets of that same paper one day at a clearance sale at my local scrapbooking store. Her layout reminded me that I still have a little bit left! It’s one of my favorite types of patterned paper, something I think of as a neutral patterns. By “neutral” I don’t necessarily only mean beige and off white. You can find neutral patterns in light shades of any color; they have a subtle print to them, but it is light enough not to distract if you print journaling right on top of it. I find neutral patterns incredibly useful because they add a little oomph to the background of your journaling space or title treatment without overpowering the words. Next time you’re shopping for scrapping supplies, watch for neutral patterns. Try looking at the back sides of patterned paper for them.

 

One more way to think about using your teen’s own words is to think about unique ways that they use language. Consider slang, for example. I know that for me, the slang I picked up as a teenager in the 1980’s has stuck with me—I still say “cool” and “totally awesome” and “what’s your damage, Heather?” (props to you if you know the movie I’m quoting!) even though my kids point out that no one says those words anymore. (And, yes, if you’re curious? The song “1985” by Bowling for Soup could, like, totally be one of my theme songs. Except my tastes ran more towards The Cure, not White Snake. But, still.)

 

 Just one more layout today, this one about a little piece of slang that Jake uses a lot:

 
“’Sup” must always be accompanied by a sort of head lift. It’s said casually and is meant to portray are sort of studied casualness and, in extreme cases, even apathy. And it was the perfect title for this layout both because Jake uses it a lot and because in the layout’s journaling I made a stab at writing about what was up during that particular time. 

Idea Take Away When you have more than a little bit of journaling, try putting it into columns. (You’ll find a “columns” option in whatever word processor you write your journaling in.) It’s a visually comfortable way to present a large amount of text within a confined space. That’s why newspapers use columns.

 

And with that, I am off—we have one orthodontist appointment today, a visit with the councilor about next year’s schedule, a stop at Nathan’s school to drop off some science fair materials…life with teens is busy!

 

Scrapping your Teens: Day 1

On nearly any given day, if you were to walk into my house when my kids are home from school, you’d find music blaring. Someone would be playing video games and someone would be doing homework (sometimes the same kid). If it’s morning, you’re certain to hear someone say something about gym clothes, lunch money, the possibility of being checked out during the assembly that afternoon, and where did I put my ______ book? (The name of the book changes depending on if it’s an A day or a B day.) We’ve got MP3 players and laptops and an iPad and cell phones and the house phone and quite likely someone’s best friend’s phone. 

That’s because, dear readers, my name is Amy Sorensen and my house is overrun with teenagers. And honestly, I’m not 100% certain how I got here. I swear: six weeks ago I was overrun with babies and toddlers, and my house was crowded with mega packs of Huggies, sixteen different types of wipes, eight different brands of pacifiers, and at least three different kinds of sippy cups. But somehow it happened: three out of four of my kids have entered adolescence.

Which means my scrapbooking has also entered a new phase.

This week here at Write. Click. Scrapbook., we’ll be exploring scrapbooking for your teens. Each day the WCS team and I will give you some concepts to get you excited about scrapping for your teenagers. What do you scrap about once those sweet baby days are behind you? How do you journal about the things your teen is experiencing that you’re not there for? How do you put a relationship that’s growing more complicated by the day down onto a layout?

Should you Photoshop the acne?

But! If you’ve not quite reached the teen phase of parenthood, you should still read on. Plenty of these ideas can be translated into any topic, and for each layout I’m including a scrapbooking layout idea take away—some design element or clever embellishment or use of a supply that could be used on any layout, whatever its theme.

Plus, trust me on this. Even if you’re drowning in babies, you’ve only got about six weeks left. Eight at most before you, too, are inundated with teens! Ready? Let’s go!

 

1.    Be Honest

The first thing I learned about mothering teenagers is this: honesty really is the best policy. Talking frankly and getting issues out in the open is the best way I’ve found to get things to run smoothly. (Well, as smoothly as possible!)

And as in life, so as in scrapbooking: it’s OK to be honest. More than OK—it’s the thing to be. In fact, all of the suggestions I’m offering hinge on this first one: say what is true. That doesn’t mean you have to wallow in all the hard stuff. It just means you can say what is happening, what you feel about it, how things have changed. What you miss about this teenager’s childhood. And it also means you can say what makes you joyful, too. Teenagers will rarely let you get mushy with them in real life. But on a scrapbook layout? Well. Who’s going to stop you!

Here’s a layout to give you an idea:

 
In this layout, I tried to capture The Look. If you have teenagers, you know exactly which look I mean! The photo captures it perfectly, and in the journaling I wrote about my reaction to The Look—how it makes me miss the Look-free relationship we used to have, but also the fact that I understand The Look and am pretty sure we’ll eventually move past it. 

Idea Take Away See how the pink strip of patterned paper at the bottom of the layout has some of its edges cut away? That’s because it’s a scrap I’d saved after punching some curvy squares. I just trimmed the scrap to the size I needed and left the negative shapes from the punching as they were—sort of random and a little bit messy. (Sort of like teenagers, honestly!)

 

Or you can be honest in a different way:

Here, I wanted to get down some of the topics my son Jake and I are dealing with right now. (If you have a teenage son I’d guess you, too, wish he’d play fewer video games!) I made this as a way of documenting something about him right now. But of course, I included a turn—I included the conflict-free topics, too. I imagine that in, say, five years, I’ll look back on this list with a completely different perspective—because things will either get worse or get better!—and if I wasn’t willing to be honest, I wouldn’t have that future chuckle (or groan of longing for how easy it used to be).

Idea Take Away A quick way to leave a big gap like this in your computer-printed journaling is to insert an empty text box that’s sized exactly the shape of the gap you want. Change the line of the text box to white before you print though! 

 

2. Scrap Stuff as it Happens

Another thing I’ve learned about teenagers: their lives change in an instant. Best friends can become enemies, crushes can become boyfriends can become old flings; classes and schedules and dreams and opinions and hair color all are open to nearly-daily reinterpretation. If you try to stay on top of what’s happening right now, you’ll capture it in its authenticity. This doesn’t mean you should freak out about staying caught up. (We all know “being caught up” with scrapbooks is like Bigfoot and savings accounts: they are all myths, right? Right.) It does mean you should try to set a goal to do some life right now style layouts. My goal is two a quarter per teen. In the grand scheme of scrapbooking, twelve layouts in a year to keep current is not much. (If you want more Life Right Now layouts, check out these posts.)

 Here’s one example

Here, I jotted down some of the things that had happened during the first six weeks of my daughter Haley’s junior year. Since I made this in October, she’s had some fairly significant changes in her life and I’m so glad I got these details down.

Idea Take Away Even if you don’t organize your scrapping supplies by color, you might try organizing your left-over scraps that way. Even though I used a ton of different supplies on this layout, it came together really quickly because I just picked my color scheme and then grabbed the corresponding (color-coordinated) bits and pieces. 

 

Another Haley-centered layout: 
You can also capture the way life currently feels by writing down a lot of stuff. How you feel, how she feels, what is going on in your daily concerns. And, again, the payoff is worth it: she’s since abandoned the hair extensions that seemed so important to her  almost a year ago and is an official fan of the writer Amy Tan.

Idea Take Away When you want your alphabet-stickered titles to stand out, try outlining the letters after you stick them down, using your thinnest black or grey pen and a steady hand. It really makes them pop!

 

3.   Document their Favorites

Teenagers are passionate people. They find things they love and then they love them without restraint. Some of these favorites are lasting, some fade with time. Document them so the memories themselves don’t fade, too.

 Emily shares a teen favorites layout here:

That IS a cute favorite outfit, don’t you think? Getting the details of favorite outfits is both good memory keeping and incredibly fun. If you work it right, even a teenage boy will let you snap a few photos of their clothes—you might have to bribe him with cookies, but it’ll be worth it. You’ll have photos and cookies, and what more do you need?

Idea Take Away Notice the placement of Emily’s title right on top of the photos. I love this technique! I am of the opinion that vellum is one of the scrapbooking world’s least-utilized products. Once you use it a few times, though, you’ll start loving it too for how it adds an extra semi-opaque layer of space to your layouts. Stitch it on like Emily did here, or stick it down with washi tape, or snap it into place with a brad.

 

Clothes aren’t the only favorites that stand in need of documenting. Think about the things that give meaning to your teen’s life: music, books, teachers, classes, friends, TV shows, movies. Whatever they are passionate about is worth documenting. Some layouts I’m planning on making during the next few months include one about Jake’s favorite video games (and his favorite place to hang out while he plays), Nathan’s favorite hat (and why he sleeps in it), and Haley’s favorite pop star (Justin Bieber).

In this layout:

I combined ideas #2 and #3: I documented some stuff-right-now by asking Haley what her favorite things about December were. I do this quite often, in fact. I’ll send a quick email to one (or all) of my teenagers, asking them a question. This is one way you can get their thoughts and perspectives onto their albums. Asking via email (or text, I’ve done that too) lets you eliminate that pesky need for them to actually talk, which let’s face it: sometimes they don’t want to do!

Idea Take Away The 6x6 photo has become one of my favorite sizes recently. Most professional photo printers do this size. There’s something so useful about a 6x6. It’s big enough to carry the entire layout but not so large that you don’t have room for some words, too.

 

4.   Think about Connections

When you’re in the throes of raising teens, it’s easy to feel like you don’t have anything in common. But, those connections are there, I promise. Actually, if you set yourself the goal of looking for them, even just for a scrapbooking layout, you’ll find them everywhere. Connections remind you of what you love about your teenager. They help you see relationships in new light.

Lisa O. created a layout with journaling (in the pocket) that talks about things she has in common with her daughter. (Isn’t that photo gorgeous?) 
 

Idea Take Away Get in the photos with your teenagers. I know. This is hard! You feel self conscious and you wish you weighed less or your hair looked better or your teeth were whiter. But, trust me. It doesn’t matter. Even if you feel silly—ask someone else to take the photos. (If you have more than one teen? Hand over your camera. Their perspective on you will surprise you!) Think about it: do you have any photos of yourself as a teen with your mom? I have precious few, and I wish I had more, and if you don’t do this, your teen will one day be an adult with the same impossible wish.

 

Of course, you are not the only person your teenager has connections with. Siblings, friends, co-workers, romantic entanglements: anyone they have relationships with they have connections to. What about your son’s best friend’s mom? Or the neighbor down the block your daughter babysits for? Those connections are good to document, too.

Emily got the siblings involved in this layout:

I listened to an NPR interview a few months ago about how, if we manage to stay close to our siblings, that relationship is the one that affects our lives the longest. Friends change, parents die, people get divorced, but your brother is your brother forever. Emily captures that here brilliantly!

Idea Take Away Take a deep breath. Gather up your courage. Talk yourself into it. Write on your layout using your very own handwriting. Love it or hate it, your handwriting is personal, a little piece of you left right there for generations. You can do it!

 

In this layout:

I used this random, not-super-good snapshot of Jake and Haley to capture their sibling relationship. I made a venn diagram—remember those from your high school English class? The tidbits in the yellow journaling space are about Haley’s quirks, those in the blue are Jake’s, and in the green are the quirks they share (get it? yellow + blue = green?).

Idea Take Away Every once in awhile, spend some time with your fonts. I’m pretty sure there’s a rule somewhere about good typesetting not using more than two fonts, and keeping the sizes similar, and the line spacing uniform. I broke all those rules here, but I think it works, simply by the adolescent nature of the topic. Teens aren’t always very good at keeping the rules, either.

 

One more layout to show you connections:

I wrote the journaling for this layout on a day I was feeling particularly ground down and a little bit discouraged by unrelenting teenage attitude. It made me feel so much more hopeful to remind myself: this too shall pass! I used the idea that we have this one thing we both love to do (running, and really, despite my malaise during the writing of this journaling, we do have much more in common than just that) and mixed it in with the things we don’t see eye-to-eye about.

Idea Take Away Mixing your title media is one of the most playful title treatments you can make. Use alphabet stamps and stickers, like I did here, or chipboard letters and printed words, or handwritten alphas mixed with die cut ones. Unify them with font, size, color, or emotional “feel” and you’ll make a title you love!

Okay, then. Until tomorrow, when I’ll be back with four more ideas, I’ll leave you to your teenage documenting processes!

write.

Hello, and welcome to January's write. Saturday!

One thing I love about creativity prompts is how they can take people in such different directions. This month's gallery theme was "today" and when I browsed through it, I was seriously amazed at how we each put our own unique spin on it. From Karen's writing about a small moment with her son to Christa's journaling about her upcoming grand adventures—and everything in between!—it's inspiring to see all the places a little word like "today" can take us.

Another useful thing about using one idea to create more is how the original idea helps you do something you might not otherwise have done. Today's journaling prompts hopefully will help you do exactly that: journal about something you've been meaning to write down but haven't yet. They're each inspired by a layout from the January gallery.

 

One Vacation Moment

I don't know about you, but when I write the journaling for vacation photos, I tend to take a long time. There is so much to tell! Rather than trying to cram all the stories into just one layout, get specific.  Write about one small moment within the scope of an entire vacation. It might be the magical moment, the experience you knew while it was happening would be the one that made all the pre-vacation stress worth it. Or maybe it's something you remember, looking back. You might not even have a photo of the moment—and that's okay! Write the journaling, then find a photo that fits well enough.

Ann did this in her Today She is a Princess layout. Think about all the experiences you have at Disneyland—yet this moment with her daughter had to be better than anything else. (Even, I'll bet, Space Mountain!) In a decade or two, Kira might not remember anything else from the trip—but this is unforgettable!

Marnie and I both used this "one moment" idea to create our layouts.

When my family was last in California, we took our kids on a whale-sighting cruise. I didn't get the fabulous photos I was hoping for, and my camera battery actually died, but the words help me tell the story anyway!

 

Marnie also took one moment from a recent vacation and let it be the reason for this layout.

Everyday Messes

Documenting the everyday details of our lives is one of the best thing about scrapbooking. Your perspective on those little details changes when you make a layout about them. Write about one of the little piles or messes you usually find around your house. Think about both where the mess comes from and how you feel about it.

Donna's These Days captures the pile of shoes, helmets, and jackets that are the evidence of happy childhood hours. A house with such a pile is an exuberant, child-filled home! What do your home's messes reveal about you?

Celeste played along with this prompt. She focused on one little mess: shoes. I love this layout because it reminds me that the shoe mess is universal!

In my messy layout, I focused on my three hot spots—the places in my house that always accumulate clutter. (I hope I'm not the only one who has those!) But I also pushed a little bit to think about what those hot spots say about me and how I really feel about clutter in the first place.

 

Dramatic Weather

The goings-on of the great outdoors is something that's easily overlooked in our layouts—until the weather grabs your attention. It's when a storms surprise us, derail our plans, or cause unexpected damage, great stories are made.

Celeste's Today layout documents the aftermath of Storm Alfred this fall. All those fallen branches! Can you think of a weather-related story (it doesn't have to be as dramatic) you've never told before?

Last year, we were hit with five inches of wet, heavy snow—on May 24! It was incredible. I'd already blogged about the damage, but I realized I'd never told the story for my son Kaleb, who was with me when the damaged branches came crashing down. It's his story, too, and I'm glad to get it told!

 

......................................................................

Isn't it fun to see how one little word, "today," generated such a variety of topics! I hope one (or all!) of these prompts will get you thinking in new directions. To recap, here are our journaling challenges:

As you ease back into your everyday, January routines, I hope you'll find some time to write a few stories you haven't before. We'd love to see the results!

December Dailies - an update

Hello dear Friends! Alexandra here to share with you a look at the three December Dailies I undertook this month of December.

With a daughter studying abroad, I really got to feel the warmth and magic the Holidays can bring. Nothing felt sweeter than having her home again and celebrating the Advent and Christmas with our three children.

 

Two years ago I kept one DD, last year I had two and this year three and eventhough I'm nuts about the concept of the December Daily, no I will not have four DDs in 2012!

DD#1 is a fabric covered 6inch post album. Its concept is very simple: one page is devoted to the journaling while the opposite page is composed of a 6" photo collage made under Picasa.

I made exactly the same album last December and found it both easy to keep and fun to go back to. As of today, I'm almost finished with this DD. All my mosaics are printed, I just have to type 5 journalings and it'll be finished.

***

DD#2 is a binder I made using a very soft red fabric and Tim Holtz fancy metal corners:

For this December Daily, I have used Hipstamatic pictures taken with my iPhone. I had prepared the pages ahead of time and used the beautiful Lost&Found collection.

This DD was by far the easiest and fastest album to finish. I also enjoyed the "creative" aspect of that one!

***

DD#3 is a series of folded card tucked into an empty cigar box.

I used "old" papers and Avital marvelous journaling cards for this December Daily. I have enjoyed keeping it but must admit it was too time consuming.

Here is a look at all 25 cards:

and what a card looks like when opened:

I still have to finish arranging quite a few instant pictures and journalings inside these cards.

How about you? Have you been journaling your December? Have you finished your album(s)? Do share!

 

Journal your Holidays

December 27 is a good day at my house. By now I’ve managed to recycle the wrapping paper, sort and put away the boxes, and organize the new stuff, so the house is a little tidier and the kids are happily playing with their recent acquisitions. My December 27^th tradition is to find a quiet moment (as quiet as I can find in a house with three teenagers and a six-year-old) to write down our Christmas-day details.

I always feel better once I’ve journaled about a big event like Christmas. That way, it doesn’t matter when I get around to scrapping the photos. The stories and the little moments I might forget are all saved—and it also gives me an idea of how much space I need for journaling when I do get the layouts made.

Sometimes, though, it’s tricky to write about Christmas. Some things are repetitive—how many times do you need to write "we opened pajamas on Christmas Eve," for example? And there are often just so many details to get down—it can get a little bit overwhelming. Then there are all those heightened emotions caused by the expectation and the sentiments. Writing about the holidays can be overwhelming.

So!

If you’d like to get your holiday memories down but aren’t quite sure where to start, here’s a handful of ideas to help you give structure to your stories. Use them as a start and see where they take you.

What’s Unique?

Even though our holiday traditions mean that every year we do the same things, every year always brings something unique. For example, since this Christmas fell on a Sunday, at our house we decided to just open our stockings before we went to church, and then we finished the rest of the presents after. This added a completely different feel to our holiday! What was unique about this holiday season at your house?

One Moment

Rather than writing about the day in its entirety, focus on just one special moment. One of my favorite experiences this year, for example, was watching my daughter Haley open a pair of jeans she’d been coveting since October. I’d orchestrated it so she was completely surprised—and her response (that scream of joy that only 16-year-old girls know how to make) made all my efforts worth it!

the Preparations Behind It All

Speaking of orchestrating! Women do so much to prepare for Christmas, and in those preparations is an abundance of stories that often go untold. Maybe you had an incredibly lucky Black-Friday find? Or an epiphany about the exactly right gift right in the middle of Target? The story could be where you bought the gift or the lengths you went to in making it.

Honestly

Sometimes (surprise!) not everything goes as planned. You could, of course, sort of gloss over the disappointing and/or difficult bits—or you could be honest and write about it. This year, for example, I could tell that my nearly-14-year-old son was deflated even though he got quite a bit of what he’d hoped for. I finally realized it’s because of his age, and that’s what I journaled about. Even at Christmastime, authentic life is always more interesting to read about than the glossy bits.

Draw Connections Between Generations
Family is such an inherent part of the holidays. Try journaling about connections between, say, your son and a great aunt, or your daughter and her grandfather. Or, try a different angle by writing about a deceased relative you used to see during the holidays and what you wished your child knew about him or her.

Undocumented traditions

Every year, my kids receive a Christmas tree ornament. I started this tradition so that when they move out and have their own tree, they’ll already have some beloved ornaments to start with. But this year while I was shopping for ornaments, I realized that I’ve never written about the tradition. Are there any traditions you have that you haven’t written about?

Perspectives
How have things changed since last Christmas? What tradition from your childhood holidays do you miss? What conversations did you have that made you look at this year’s celebration from a different light?

The Impact of an Object

The objects we surround ourselves with during the holidays become more important each year. Write about what a favorite holiday object adds to your festivities. One example: I give my kids their Christmas-eve pajamas in the same gift bag every year. The bags themselves (one is fragile and held together only by clear packing tape and hope) each tell their own stories!

Your Own Experiences/Thoughts/Realizations

It’s easy, in all the preparation we do for others on the holidays, to overlook our own experiences. Take some time to write down what you thought or felt this year. What gifts did you receive that you loved? What did you experience?

Involve Someone Else

Sometimes the most authentic way to write about someone else is to get that person to do the writing! Ask your kids, significant other, family members, or friends to write down what they loved about Christmas. You could have them write about:

favorites:

• carol
•  food we ate
• December-break activity
• gift you received
• gift you gave
• item in stocking
• decoration
• moment

activities:

• ate
• opened
• gave
• went
• listened to
• saw
• smelled
• laughed over
• made
• were surprised by
• hoped for


little holiday details:

• weather
• decorations
• candles
• goodies
• friends
• family
• comfort
• beverage
• candy
• tradition

Happy holiday writing!

 

Non Traditional

Oh my, can you believe that in less than a week all the holiday madness will be over?!  Me either.  Much to do and prep in the next 6 days for me and probably all of you too!

Bring in holiday and Christmas scrapbooking, and I'm basically of no use! For some reason when I sit down with holiday papers and photos I normally find 1 million other things to do instead. Since I'm more of an everyday scrapper, scrapping events puts me in a deadlock on ideas.  Go figure!

What I have found myself doing more often to get those holiday photos scrapped is to go a more non traditional route, whether with subject or with paper.

Use Non Themed Papers/Embellishments

Sure, there is some red and a bit of green in here, but I predominantly chose papers and embellishments from lines/manufacturers that have no holiday theme whatsoever.  I seem to work better that way and ideas come to me a bit quicker.

Aside from the Santa tag/circle, not a holiday paper or color in sight and I rather prefer it that way!  I tried to use holiday papers for this, but I simply pushed paper around for a while.  I bagged it and went a completely different route and was done within minutes with this card.

Scrap Holiday Photos on Non Holiday Layouts

 Because I still take tons of photos during the holidays and want to scrap most of them, I try to find different ways to incorporate them into my books.  My daughter took a big part in making the Christmas dessert one year and I wanted to document her love of cooking rather than that specific dessert on that specific day.

A Different Take on a Big Idea

It's no secret that Ali's December Daily is a huge hit with scrappers.  I love the idea, love the concept and would love it if I could in my life complete one!  I'm horrible, especially when it comes to a time limited, time intensive project.  I tried last year, but stamped a giant FAIL on the front because it still sits in a heap in a drawer.

This year I still wanted to document our holiday because we have a lot going on and there is no way I can sit a make 10 layouts about the holidays when it pains me to do even 1!  I went a different route this year and am making a December Journal instead of a December Daily.

I'm still documenting our celebrations, traditions and excitement of the season, but more in a journaling format than a daily format.  This way there is no pressure to get something done each and every day!

I still won't be done until January, but I feel like with this route I am more inclined to get it done because I won't be behind "x" amount of days, but behind by a few ideas.  Much more doable for me!

So those are my non traditional ways of dealing with traditional photos and holidays.  I know I'm probably not the norm on this and many others really enjoy scrapping these holiday memories, but this is my take on how to still get those precious photos and memories scrapped for the wee ones to look back on.

What are some ways you scrap non traditionally for these traditional holidays and photos?

scrapbook!

Gallery Walk

I have the pleasure of loading the gallery each month, which means I get sneak peeks of all the layouts as they come in. And then I get to spend some time with each project as I post it and edit the materials' lists. But even still, when I pull open the gallery as a whole, my knees swoon, just a bit.

Like every month, there is something in each project that catches my eye. Let's go in order of appearance.

Lisa's canvas: First, I love red polkadots. And tiny ones remind me of my favorite swiss dot dress when I was little. But my favorite part is Lisa's ingenuity in decorating a stamped doily. I would have been tempted to buy an actual doily, which would not have had the same simple glory that Lisa's stamped doily attains.

Aly's layout: Such a brilliant use of cards. I love how some of the circles are names, others photos, other designs. I think the mixture provides such good balance. And helps us to see how eclectic gatherings help tell stories.

Christa's layout: My favorite part of Christa's layout is how she used border punched paper to create shelves for her pictures. This subtle tie in to her subject unifies her story and photos and design. So clever.

Aly's layout: First, the pictures are perfect. I have had three small children and this very same situation, but never thought to bend down and snap a picture of the ornaments on the floor, or the giant grin of the culprit. Times like this I remember how important it is to visit our site often for reminders of all those photos we don't want to miss!! (Such a shameless plug!! teehee!!) Second, did you notice Aly's use of the photo corners? A quiet means of defining the photos as a whole.

Celeste's layout: One of Celeste's greatest strengths is her design strength. She flexed her muscles for us again this month. Notice how everything about her layout is linear: the squares, the even spaces, the white space. And then, there's the photo. Tilted just so. Thereby drawing our eye in. And with tilt, the ninja's eyes become horizontally even with the squares, thereby providing one more bit of balance and symmetry.

Aly's layout: Did you read the journaling? It talks about a moment of quiet. I find most of my quiet holiday moments are spent staring at the lights on my tree. I feel a layout coming on!

Lisa's layout: Aside from the scrapbooking side of things, I might need some of those cookies!! hee hee. Lisa has such a way with her photos. (My favorite might be the kitty next to the elf!!) It's not just the photos she takes, but her angles, her lighting, and the details. Oh, the details.

Christa's layout: First, do you see how unseasonal the colors in this layout are? Not very Christmas-y,but really lovely all the same. And can you spot the triangle? The bottom of visual triangle is the left hand side of the layout (top to bottom). The apex of the triangle is the photo of Jed. This triangle wouldn't work without the tape at the bottom of the page in the lower left hand corner. Cover it up, for just a moment, and evaluate the difference. See? I told you Christa was clever!!

Kelly's book: I love the idea of a page or two representing each year of celebrations. I have made similar birthday books, but never thought to do it for Christmas. This is so very smart. And how fun to look at each year as it grows. Thank you, Kelly, for such a terrific idea!

Keshet's layout: Oh, food shots! What's not to love? I have taken photos of the neighbors' and teachers' treats in the past, but rarely seem to get them on a layout. I love how Keshet's layout show a close-up photo and then one in full packaging. Perfect.

Paula's layout: Paula's photo grouping is just perfect. And did you know that you can have this too? She used a digital photo cluster to put it together. These can be used for paper layouts, too by adding your photos, printing it out, and then trimming the edges. Adding the notation on the bottom of the photos makes it even more purposeful. And the layers on the title? Lovely.

Cheryl's ornament: Only Cheryl could transform a dollar store ugly plaque into this darling little creation.

Cheryl's plate: Or a plate into this? And if you try this at home, be sure to add shadows to the layers so that you can tell who is in front. It's the same as if you were using stickers. One on top, one below.

Francine's layout: The title is terrific and tell so much of the story. Good titles are so effective. I have been keeping track of the books we have checked out of the library on Pinterest and I know that a layout like this will be a perfect capture of our visual list! Something I love about Francine's layout is how the title is big and bold, and the flourish is big and bold, and the photos are just so tiny.

Lisa's layout: I love this one for its content. Have you a similar book? A place where you keep all your ideas together? Have you thought to photograph it and add it to your scrapbook? These items that make up our world are so fleeting. And yet, so basic for us. Perhaps you could look around your life and see if there's something you do often that hasn't yet made your scrapbooks!

Lisa's layout: Did you notice the texture of the blue ribbon beneath the photo? and how the ribbon isn't completely adhered, thus providing even more texture? The velvety softness adds to the warm glow of the lights. And again, Lisa's photos are well-composed so that the twinkle lights glow softly.

Marie's layout: The visual triangle on this layout is more like a pyramid, coming up and out of the paper. The stacked layers make the photo rise up and out of the page, catching your eye before anything else. And Marie was right on target in getting down level with the baby to shoot the photo at the appropriate perspective.

Monika's layout: Monika's design is one of my go-to designs. It works seamlessly for horizontal 4x6 photos. I probably have more than 20 layouts with nearly the same design. And, no, that's not lazy, just practical!! Further, did you notice the woodgrain tape? So hip!

Emily's layout: For a layout about a santa collection, Emily's layout is remarkably and delightfully void of santas. Rather, the title is the story and the photo is the evidence. The trees prove the season and the colors lend a cheer. Especially helpful with a black and white photo. And have I mentioned how real Emily's pages seem? And always have a twist of wry humor.

Donna's layout: Donna chose to use two patterned papers as her backdrop, though not in equal proportion. When she added her photographs, she put the narrow photo on the wider pattern, and the wider photo on the narrower strip. This slight adjustment creates flow from the vertical base of the visual triangle (the left hand side of the layout) up and through the triangle to the middle of the page on the right side. With the edge of the landscape photo crossing over onto the patterned paper on the left, the layout becomes cohesive and level.

Amy's layout: This is a wonderful reminder to get our memories on paper even if it means we must wait for the photo. And if you know what size it will be, you can create an whole layout and even place it in the proper album. Who said layouts need photos?

Amy's layout: Being a fontophile and a stickerphile, I have always wanted to create a layout like this, but have never been able to determine how to do it. Now I know who I can ask! I love the boxes and how she hand drew them. And I wish we lived close enough to visit my mom and help her decorate!!

Alexandra's tags: Such a clever way of documenting our homes. Tags relieve the pressure of having a particular number of items and are fun little canvases to decorate. And once we get some snow or put up some lights, I am totally taking Alex's suggestion to document our outside homes.

Thank you for going gallery walking with me. I hope it was helpful to evaluate the little things that make the layouts work so well.

 

Saturday Sketch

This week you have a chance to recreate Donna's layout. She put together a sketch for you that is also downloadable as a layered template. Enjoy!

Thank you, Donna! From all of us!

 

Printable

School ended for us yesterday. Which means Thursday was spent elbow deep in white chocolate popcorn. Having 16 teacher gifts to put together, I thought it might be easiest to print tags. So I made tags.

In case you need them ...

... you may download them here.

 

Thank you for stopping by and spending some time with us! We appreciate you and hope you are doing well on your holiday preparations. Next week will be filled with more December Dailies. Can't wait to see you here!

things that stress me out about the holidays

Before I start my december daily post, I need to just clarify that I LOVE Christmas! Just so you know :) 

But, we all know that there are at least two sides of every story, right. I wanted to share a layout that was inspired by one of the great lists in the Ella Publishing book List it! Christmas edition. I bought it and am using the lists as my base for my December minibook; there are so many cool ways you can include them in your projects. 

Anyway, the list that inspired this post and layout was: things that stress me out about the holidays. I think we all can feel a bit overwhelmed with everything December brings: crafts, school events, family things, presents and all the other things we do to prepare for one of the biggest holidays of the year. As you might know, I am all about keeping it real in my scrapbooking albums, so I wanted to make a page to remember what actually freaks me out a bit about the holiday season. 

Here is the journaling if it´s hard to read: The feeling of not enough stresses me out. That I don´t enjoy enough, that I miss stuff that are important. It stresses me out that I make/have so high expectations and that I might not have that special feeling in my gut on Christmas Day. That stresses me way out! 

I included this list in my December mini and here is how it looks in there.

Keep it real people! More often than not our December dailies and layouts are filled with the magic of the holidays (which I love!), but why not give the future generations a bit of real insight in how our lives were lived! 

I also wanted to share a idea that Becky Higgins started on Thanksgiving one year. She simply put out a sheet of paper where she had wrote something like: I am thankful for... and had everyone write something they were thankful for. I borrowed the idea for our Christmas celebration last year. 

I wrote: The best thing about Christmas is... I love that the paper has become a bit bumped and scratched while it was being written on :) I have this in my album alongside my favorite photo from that day.

I wish you all a lovely holiday!

Five Years of Santa Photos

Ever wonder what to do with those Santa photos? Ever since the first year Audrey sat on Santa's knee, I knew I wanted to do a mini book with 5 years worth of Santa photos. (Why five? I have no idea. It seemed a good odd number.) This past weekend we went to a local rep cinema where Santa had come to visit for the afternoon. Once the photo was taken and in my hot little hands, I was already dreaming of scanning it and putting it into a mini. (Forget sugar plums, scrapbookers dream of perfect photos and minibooks!)

Here is my super mini that could easily be added to a Christmas card:

A 4X6 Doodlebug journaling card folded in half provided the covers for my mini, and a metal snowflake paper clip left over from last Christmas provided the closure.

When you open it up, you find an accordion of the five photos on the right, and a few lines about each year on the left:

To make the accordion, I created a 3"x11" document in PSE7. I added scanned photos from each year, having cropped them to 2X3. I left a little space between for the folds, and used the text tool to add the date. After printing, I cropped down the photo strip, folded it accordion-style, then glued it into place on the right side of the mini:

For the journaling, I created another 2X3 file, used the eyedropper to sample a red from one of the Santa photos, and then used the fill tool (the paint bucket) to fill my whole document. Then I typed in white, emphasizing each year by putting the number in bold and making the font one size larger:

By having both the journaling and photo strip completely computer generated, I can easily print off mulitple copies and quickly put these together for all the grandparents and great-grandparents. I can also print one off for another someone who might just like a copy all her own:

Happy holidays! Thanks for stopping by!

♥ Lisa