Write. Click. Scrapbook.

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!

Welcome, May!

Everyday routines. Everyday schedules. Daily happenings. How we fill our days. Our minutes. Our hours. Our lives. Our people. Our places. Our activities. Our everyday normal. Which mightn't be normal at all.

Today, we celebrate all that makes up our hectic, harried, and happy lives! Enjoy the new gallery!

Welcome, April!

As spring blooms, and nature's green unfolds, the magnificence of earth's splendor often gives us pause, causing us to slow, breathe deeply, and marvel at the beauty of nature. Suddenly inside us awakes a deep sense of gratitude for what we are seeing and what we have. Not since Thanksgiving have we felt so connected to our lives and so thankful for all we have. Please join us in creating a page or two to honor our lives and note those things for which we are feeling thankful!

Welcome, March!

It's up! Our new gallery, Mini Madness, is filled with lovely mini albums. With as much content as a full-size special edition, there is going to be a little something for everyone! Enjoy! and please leave a comment telling our designers how much you appreciate all their hard work!

Welcome, February!

Our new gallery is live! The theme this month is Music. Please enjoy the layouts. And we would love to hear from you if you love them!

 

Sadly, we say goodbye to Clouds. Her clean and simple, yet artistic style will be missed. Thank you for all the technique tips, Clouds! We wish you the best.

Happily, we have two new members of the family! The adoption papers are in and it is official! Please put your hands together and welcome, Diane Payne and Emily Spahn.

We are so very excited to have them in our write. click. scrapbook. family and are thrilled for you to get to know them more. Their pages are happy, colorful, thoughtful, and incredibly well-designed. We feel very lucky to have them!! Please leave them a quick hello and then race off to check out their bio pages and to see their work in our gallery!

Thank you for stopping by! February may only have 29 days but it will be jam-packed with love and inspiration so please stop by each and every day!!

Welcome, January!

Our new gallery is up! Our topic this month is, Today. We hope you enjoy our layouts and are inspired by them to create your own!

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!

Welcome, December! & give.away.day. featuring OCTOBER AFTERNOON

This month we wanted to celebrate the love and effort that we take decorating our homes for the holidays. No matter what the celebration, it seems there is always room for a little festivity!! (Or a lot, hee hee!!) Sit back, relax, and enjoy peering into our Holiday Homes.

 

 

December is here and we are thrilled to announce the return of our daily posting schedule! Much like our summer months, each day will feature a new author and a new topic. Our team is thrilled to inspire your December to be filled with paper crafting, scrapbooking, and photography. So, while the weather outside may be frightful, our site will be delightful...

 

 

But, wait, today is Thursday. And you know what that means...

To celebrate the start of December and the holiday season, we're kicking things off with an exciting give.away.day. We know that many of you are working on winter or holiday projects and would love to add to your stash of winter- and holiday-themed products, so...without further ado...we bring you October Afternoon's Holiday Style collection!

If you haven't already clicked on the link or the images above to get a closer look, the Holiday Style line features twelve double-sided patterned papers and a large variety of embellishments certain to add holiday style (get it? :)) to all of your projects. With the mix of patterns and products in this collection you'll have lots of opportunities to document your favorite memories of winters and holidays past and present and will have lots of bits leftover for cards, gift tags, etc.

Here's a layout Vivian created using die cut embellishments from the Flower Sack (clever Vivian cut them in half to stretch them!) as well as Word Stickers and Little Flyers.

An added bonus today: check out today's post on the October Afternoon blog to see the sketch upon which this layout was based.

October Afternoon is really close to having 10,000 followers on Facebook. If you haven't already headed over there to like them, please do so and let them know that you were sent there by Write. Click. Scrapbook. A little birdie told me that there might be a prize or two or more when the magic number appears.

Interested in a chance to win Holiday Style? I thought so. Go ahead and leave a comment on this post telling us what is your holiday style. Comments will remain open through tonight. One lucky number will be posted tomorrow. Please remember to claim your lucky number before Saturday at midnight.

 

 

 

Before you go, we have some sad news. Beth, Melissa, and Marcy are leaving us. I have worked with Beth since 2006 and I can't imagine my scrapbook life not including her. Not one bit. Beth is not only a fantastic designer but also an amazing woman, friend, and mother. Melissa has been with us since we launched. I first noticed her name attached to a layout with tiny footprints. It was love at first sight!! And I carry her camera strap on my camera so I will have an excuse to think of her everyday! And Marcy, my fellow Canadian, is leaving far too soon. Her pages are top notch. We are sad we won't have a chance to get to know her more. But also know that we will see her often. Happily so! We will miss you all and look forward to stalking your blogs to keep up!

 

 

That's it! Don't forget to pour over the new gallery, to visit October Afternoon, to return to leave your comment, and to include a heartfelt goodbye to Beth, Melissa, and Marcy. What a day! What a month! December is going to be awesome!

Welcome, November!

The haunting is over, now let the gratitude begin!! In honor of Thanksgiving, we wanted to take a look backwards and remember. This month's gallery is entitled, Remember When. We hope you love it.

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

This month's theme can include photos taken a few weeks ago, or many many years ago, or no photo at all.

Chances are your journaling is going to be heartfelt, and perhaps a bit lengthy, but don't make it so, if a few words is all you feel inclined to write. This is a great time to be authentic in retelling your memories.

 

Did you notice a design element that appears consistently on this month's pages? We saw several of our designers grouping smaller embellishments together. What a terrific and subtle way to help further the story in continuing the theme of collected memories. What do you think?

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

Please don't hesitate to leave a comment telling our teammates how much you appreciated their layouts this month! We can't thank you enough for adding us to your very busy schedules. We hope you know how grateful we are that you take the time to come visit.

Once last thing, please take a minute and click over to visit Ali, Renee, and the Magpie Club. They are terrific sponsors and we couldn't keep this place alive without them!!

Welcome, October!

 
This month's theme is shadows. We thought it might be a fun twist on a spooky theme. Funny thing happened--it didn't turn out to be so spooky at all!!

[Except for our resident Halloween lovers. Who came through with some awesome Halloween home decor! (Just like we were expecting hoping!!)]

 

One of the greatest parts about a one word theme is all the different places it can take you.This might be one of our most diverse galleries in a long time. We hope you love it!

 

Is there a song lyric that will inspire your thoughts?

Or an amazing quote that inspires some thoughtful journaling?

We hope we can inspire you to document your little shadow. You know, the one that follows you everywhere. We know how easy it can be to forget to document our everyday things. And taking a picture of ourselves with our littles can be tricky. But made easier with a shadow picture.

The idea of having/being a shadow can extend to children, too. Do you have one that shadows another? Do you still walk in your sibling's shadow? Maybe this is the month to document it!

Can you use the idea of shadows as a springboard for an advice page?

Or as an opportunity to recognize your bounty?

And shadows can be an excellent starter to help you document your past.

 

Shadows present unique photo ops. You can create shapes with your shadows.

Additionally, consider the potential of using shadows as a new perspective on a family photo?

And the graphic nature of shadows makes them interesting for action photos.

 

Follow Vivian's lead and substitute a photo for a silhouette. This allows lots of space so you can journal up a storm!

Have you tried Cloud's splatter technique that she taught us a few weeks ago? Her layout this month shows off the splatter. It's not too late to try it! Be forewarned, it's addicting. And may delight your children as well.

And lastly, we know you have other hobbies. (Guess what? we do, too!) Don't forget to include them in your scrapbooks!

 

 

While you are here, we have a couple of changes to tell you about.

 

WRITE. CLICK. SCRAPBOOK. EVERYWHERE!

Write. Click. Scrapbook. is taking over the world!! Okay, not exactly, but we are thrilled to have increased our social media presence.

Pinterest

We are now on Pinterest! We are so very excited to have a new place to post things that inspire us. If you have a Pinterest account, and like to pin us, please add our name to your comment so others can see us, too!

Facebook

Have you stopped by the Write. Click. Scrapbook. Facebook page recently?  Please join us each day as we highlight and link the daily post from our website, feature our awesome sponsors and let you know where else you can find our talented collective! It's also a great place for questions you may want answered!  Come on over and "like" us!"

Twitter

Did you know that we are up to 628 followers? Are you one of them? We'd love to have you! Our twitter name is writeclickscrap. If you follow us, we'll follow you and together we will have so very much fun!

Subscribe

This week we got all of our media outlets connected! Which means we had to switch our feed from a full feed to a partial. We realize that this means those of you who subscribe are going to have click over to read the full post. We are sorry for the inconvenience but are certain that having us active on Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter will be worth it!! We do value our subscribed readers and appreciate your loyalty. If you would like to receive our daily updates in your reader, please subscribe to us here.

 

SUNDAY PHOTO+QUOTE

We would like you to contribute! Yes, if you'd like to submit a photo and quote for our Sunday Photo+Word posts you are more than welcome! Just send an email to writeclickscrapbook at gmail dot com with SUNDAY in the subject line. Please include your name and blog address (if you have one) so that we can credit you properly. We will notify you if you your photo and quote are going to be posted.

 

FAREWELLS

Lastly, the time has come to bid three friends farewell. We are devastated to lose three of our originals, Angie, Autumn, and Jody. We have pleaded with them to stay, we really did. But alas, our pleas weren't enough. We will miss them all and can't imagine our team without them. Witty, wise, and so good at what they do. We are glad to have been together for babies, moves, and cancer free announcements.  We really do wish all three of you the best. Please stop by often. Pretty please. And thank you for all you have done for us! xoxoxoxoxo