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!

Social Media Week - Wrap Up

So Many Projects, So Little Time!

I'm happy to say that we've received a wonderful response to this week of Social Media in Scrapbooking. I want to feature as many projects today as possible--- so let's cut the chit-chat and go straight to the eye candy!

Twitter

WCS member Diane Payne did a layout on the connections made through Twitter and Facebook:

Michelle Bazelay put together this clever layout, using tweets from the day Osama Bin Laden was killed:

Blogging:

WCS Team member Emily Spahn journals about blogging below:

More Facebook

First let me say that I discovered yesterday that the app I used to collect all my statuses is now defunct. I have not been able to find an alternative-- as Facebook keeps changing, a lot of possibilities I found on line no longer function. I guess we're stuck with doing it the old fashioned way for now. So sit back, put on Grey's Anatomy, and copy and paste!

Back to the eye candy....

Reader Mary Jo used a little hidden journaling card with a screenshot of status updates. This layout makes me think of daiquiris and toes in the sand...

Project Lifer, Stephanie Sheperd , added a screenshot of her Facebook status to highlight the birth of a new baby in the family:

Monica did something similar, taking a screen shot of FB conversations and formatting them onto a 4X6 card. So clever!

Reader Lisa P. gathered all of her Facebook statuses for an awesome Year in Review page:

And Lorimay Barba made this adorable mini with status updates. A very impressive copy of the logo, I'd say!

Thanks to everyone who contributed projects to my very social Social Media Week! We love it when you comment on what we're doing, and share your take on our weekly theme. Keep it up! You never know when you might see your project featured on WCS!

Social Media Week - Day Two

Are you on Facebook?

Did you resist joining Facebook at first? I know I did. I wasn't going to follow the crowd. I wasn't going to give in.

Then I did.

Just like most things in life, you can find positives and negatives with Facebook. However, as an actor who meets a new group of fabulous colleagues with every show I start-- it's become a great way to keep up on what everyone is doing. On top of that, it allows me to remember what I was doing in February 2009, or April 2010--- when I would otherwise have no clue what I was up to. (I have a terrible memory. It's why I scrapbook.) I have found Facebook to be so useful in memory keeping-- and here is how some others have used it, too:

WCS member, Celeste Smith, created a grid of profile pictures to document all her Facebook friends:  Celeste says: "You can easily create a grid of all of your facebook friends profile photos by installing the application called Gridview. Unfortunately, the mosaic maker wasn’t working for me so I created a PDF of the screen the mosaic was on and then reworked it in Photoshop. In Photoshop, I lowered the opacity of the layer with the photos on it so that it dulled it a bit and my title, journaling and embellishments would pop more. You could also just lay a piece of vellum over the top. I found a font similar to the facebook font to create my title and use for my journaling as well. I only adhered the top of my journal block so I can lift it up and look at the photos underneath."

 

WCS member, Lisa Ottoson, did a layout about all the Facebook birthday greetings she received. I can relate. My birthday was last week, and I got teary at all the people who came out of the woodwork to wish me a happy birthday. Here is Lisa's take:

I love this colourful Facebook layout that Danielle Flanders created using her status updates. Her use of polaroid frames reminds us of what status updates are-- "snapshots":

 

If you are a Project Lifer then you have to check out Christine Newman's blog! Great tutorials and details of how to stylishly put things together. It makes me want to start a project life album right now! Below is an example of how she worked Facebook statuses into her album:

 

Lastly, I have two gift ideas using Facebook. I made a card for friends of mine who had a new baby. They hadn't sent out photos yet, but I was able to download some from Facebook and turn them into a photostrip for the card:

Similarly, I made a wedding gift for dear friends of mine who didn't yet have their photos back from the photographer. I downloaded photos from Facebook, edited them a bit, then used them for this canvas:

I know that wedding photographers hate having people taking photos on the side-- but in this case it really worked in my favour! Thanks to Facebook, I was able to make this gift a surprise, rather than asking the bride and groom for wedding photos.

I'll be back tomorrow with more social media fun!

Since we are being so SOCIAL, why don't you join in? Link me up to your favourite projects using social media, and I will feature some this friday!

 

Social Media Week - Day One

Welcome to

Social Media Week!

Hi all! I'm Lisa Kisch, and I'm so excited to be hosting this week on the topic that has truly changed the way I keep memories-- Social Media. Have you found a shift in your scrapping since Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram have taken over the planet? I know that I document more and scrap faster because these tools are instantly at hand in my day to day life. (My camera would probably not agree that this is a good thing. She's been rather neglected since Instagram came to town!)

Today I'm going to show you some of the ways I use these tools in my scrapping-- and then over the next few days I will feature some of your favourite social media sites, and how we are scrapping with them. Not only that, how we are scrapping ABOUT them! Social media has become such a part of our lives that they themselves have become the topic of many layouts and minis in galleries all over the web. (Don't forget about our Thursday giveaway! I won't ruin the surprise, but suffice to say that there will be a whole lotta scrap inspiration up for grabs!)

 

First There Was Facebook

For me, it all began with Facebook. I don't twitter...tweet...whatever...but I do update my status all the time! I quickly began to think of this as a form of "slice of life" journaling. Whereas we often get caught up in scrapping the big events in our lives, Facebook statuses allowed me to quickly journal the minutiae of the day to day. What is important to me right this second? That's what I write on my status. Collect all of these together, and you have an amazing overview of your week, or month, or year. The first time I collected all of my status updates on one page was 2008:

(Remember to click on any of these to make them a bit bigger and clearer!)

A favourite photo from every month, paired with all of my status updates:

What makes me laugh here is that all of my status updates fit on one page! The next year, 2009, It took two pages, plus the back of the layout to fit them all:

Although it took some time to go back and assemble all of my status updates-- it really was worth it! There are even some Facebook apps that will do it for you.

 

Last summer, you may remember that I did a summer version of this as a mini book for our "Summertime Dailies." I paired favourite photos with my June/July/August status updates:

...and then this past winter I put a similar book together on-line at blurb.com, this time featuring status updates that were specifically kid related. I printed off 5 of these and -- voila-- Christmas presents done!

You may notice in this last example that the photos are square, slightly fuzzy with an ever-so-cool texture-- which brings me to my next topic...

 

Then Came Instagram...

When Instagram came along, I was able to document the teeny little moments visually-- just like status updates did it in written form. I always have my phone on me, and it's (almost) always charged. Although the quality isn't spectacular, there is an immediacy that is so intoxicating. I'm not saying this is a good thing-- but probably more than half of my layouts these days are using Instagram photos. There is less pressure on being a good photographer. They are bonus photos! I say use 'em!

Here are a few examples:

Print them big or small, in groups or alone, those little squares of goodness are a pleasure to scrap!

I think that's a good start for today! There are so many more ways to use social media in memory keeping, though. Come back tomorrow for more some pinning/tweeting/updating fun!

In Review

One of my favorite movements recently has been the push to keep gratitude journals. I was raised with the idea that one should count their blessings, especially when one is feeling a little discouraged or down. And I have to admit it helps shake the blues, and the greens. And the yellows. Helping to bring me back to happy. This month, I loved having the chance to not just count some blessings, but also to take time to write them down in a layout. 

How about you? Does it help you to note the good things? Does your perspective impact your happiness? If so, have you taken time to make a layout about the concept or about a particular gratitude? Perhaps one last look back through our gallery will provide you with the inspiration you need to do just that!

 

Francine - I love how Francine's photos look as if they are hanging on a clothesline, except the line is below them. (So resting upon?) I think the design adds to the hominess of her layout.

Karen - Did you notice that Karen's layout is filled with elements that are a tiny bit askew, tipped to the left, tipped to the right, a little up, a little down... and then there is the photo grid. With its even borders and symmetrical placements. Such a stabilizing element. Perfect.

Celeste - The digital magic of Celeste belongs to her use of shadows. Look closely at the grid squares and how the shadows make them so slightly raised. Even the stiches have a teensy bit of shadow. It is this that changes the layout from  digiboring to digireal. So small, but so impactful.

EmilyS - Do you sometimes make a list and want to use numerical embellishments but can't get them all on a page? How do you decide which to use and which to let go? Follow Emily's idea. She just picked a few, then placed the selected flair in appropriate places that make sense from a design perspective. Next, add the journaling around it. Easy peasy. Or so Emily makes it look.

Donna - The use of this quote card is genius. It adds a title, a decorative element, and a nice balance stylistically to the photo. Donna has a remarkable sense of balance in her layouts, without resorting to symmetry. This layout is one of many that shows this off.

Aly - Hands down, my favorite part of Aly's layout is that she is in her birthday photo. Hooray to Derek for taking hold of that camera and helping preserve Aly on her birthday!

LisaO - Have you seen those maps with pushpins that show where people have been? Lisa's layout reminds me of those. I love the visual story told by the hearts. Such a useful design element.

Amy - Did you read through Amy's journaling? It was so delightful. And sincere. And didn't have much at all to do with the days the leaves were thrown about. Photos can really be a jumping off point for stories, good stories, important stories. If you let them.

Paula - Oooh, I love a good list of things that are important. I love a good list that doesn't look like a boring old list. And I love the idea of keeping track of one thing per day. Such a lovely idea.

Diane - I have one word. Buttons. I love them. And I don't see them much anymore. But Diane used them. Beautifully, might I add. Thank you, Diane!

Marnie - Do you see the title? Do you see how the line of the r lines up with the left edge of the photo? Which lets the swoop of the g rest nicely in the swoop of the parentheses. Oh, I love fonts.

LisaK - Even though Lisa's photo is busy and contains many colors and details, you still notice her husband and children first. She wisely pulled the colors of her daughters' dresses into the layout. And by putting one little frame with a white center (the one to the right of the frame which says, "these girls") next to the photo, the white of the girls' sweaters pulls right out of the picture and the girls take center stage on the layout. As they should.

Erin - This layout has a fantastic collection of patterned papers. Small dots, chevron zigzags, stripes and big dots. In varying shades and colors. So delightful! Erin is so good with her papers.

Keshet - Ever notice how Keshet uses the tiniest elements to draw things together? For instance, did you notice the teensy yellow sequence that dots the "i" in her title is the same one strung across the collage in the top left corner? We often speak of repetition as a means of tying elements together. This is a perfect example.

Marie - Do you love these photos? Aren't they yummy? I also love how there is a second story going on on the left hand side with the bitty little journaling strips. Clever.

Kelly - Lining up her elements down the center of the page, Kelly's little Gabe gets front and center billing. With the journaling paper running the entire height of the page, the top photo becomes the focal point of the layout. A helpful design strategy.

Vivian - Using images and ephemera rather than photos, Vivian captures the story of her day even though she had no photos. Do not be deterred by photoless days when there are still stories to be told!

Monika - I love the idea of putting the journaling snippets on flags. It is so much more interesting than bullet points! Have you thought of other ways to journal lists without using a list?

 

Did you enjoy the Saturday workshops this month? I hope that you were able to find something inspiring? One of my favorite projects is putting the challenges together in a fun way to create a layout that stretches my creativity. This week I used Amy's challenge to make use of demonstrative adjectives, Lisa's challenge to look past the normal for a fun photo, Celeste's sketch, and the typography of Monika's printable, and put them together to make my newest layout. This one took me awhile to get it right, but I think it will grow on me. (It took me four hours (yes four hours! yikes!) so I am calling it done. Not every layout has to be my favorite, right?)

I hope you were able to be inspired, too! Please, oh please, if you make a layout, will you load it to our Flickr gallery and leave me a link so that I might oogle your creations? I would love that!

Until next time,

 

Baby Layouts Galore!

Hi!  Welcome to our final day of Baby Week!  Whether you are mother, a mom-to-be, a grandmother, or a friend of someone with a baby, I hope you have been inspired by some of the baby-themed projects and ideas you have seen here this week.  To conclude our Baby Week we will be featuring my favorite baby-related scrapbooking project: baby layouts!  Before I had children, I swore I'd never be one of those people who only scrapped photo after photo of her kids.  Then...I had kids!  I bet you can guess who the subjects of the vast majority of my layout are now!!  I just can't resist sweet little baby faces, and neither can a lot of the scrappers here at write.click.scrapbook!  Here are some great baby layouts from myself and other members of the W.C.S team!

 

Baby's First Days

There is nothing more precious than a newborn baby. If you are like me, you are busy snapping away with the camera, knowing that this stage of life flies by way too quickly!! Team member Celeste Smith created this beautiful digital layout of baby's first photo. I love all the lovely light pastels to showcase this beautiful newborn!

 

I created this layout with photos of my daughter's first hour and included her name. We were so sure she was going to be a boy, that after she was born, I kept repeating, "You're a girl?!" 

 

I absolutely love this two-page layout by team member Lisa Kisch.  She scrapped both her daughter's birthdays on the same layout, even though they are two years apart.  What a wonderful idea!

 

Lisa also created this sweet newborn boy layout. The pacifier in the bottom photo may have originally been a tiny distraction, but instead Lisa incorporated it's teal color into the color scheme of the layout.

 

I made sure to take a photo of my husband and my son exactly 24 hours after he was born. I included the clock to show the time. I showcased the photo in this mist-filled layout!

 

Milestones, Memories, and Firsts

It seems like every day a newborn baby has changed or is doing something new! Keeping track with a baby book, a blog, or some other system is an excellent idea so that when you go back to scrap the photos later you will have all the dates handy.  On Wednesday Keshet shared some ideas about taking monthly photos of your child. Think about how you could incorporate those kinds of photos into a single layout.  

In my layout, I included a photo from each of the first nine weeks of my daughter's life.  They don't all match, but I tied it all together by using both black and white and color photos and also using colorful patterned paper that would include the variety of colors in the photos.

 

First events are also perfect to scrapbook! My next two layouts document my daughter's first bath and first smile!

 

Finally, be sure to document those moments that you maybe wanted to forget at the time!  Life is not perfect, so don't be afraid to embrace it!! I have layouts of temper tantrums, injuriles, and ones just like this one of Celeste's, which includes four photos of messy dinnertime, something all parents have had to endure!

 

Motherhood

Looking through my baby layouts, I realized that many of them were not about the babies, but actually about me and my thoughts on Motherhood and the incredible sense of love and awe I am constantly feeling for my children.  Here are four of my layouts featuring my innermost thoughts on motherhood!

 

Lisa Kisch created this layout about why she is a "baby person." The journaling is so incredibly sweet!

 

W.C.S team member Lisa Ottosson's daughter is far from a baby, but that doesn't stop Lisa from fondly remembering those baby times. She created two layouts that look back to the past when her daughter was much younger.

 

Baby Boys

To conclude our baby week we simply have some cute baby layouts that will hopefully inspire you!  First, we have Amy Sorenson's layout, which is such a perfect boy layout! I love the little blue banner!

 

Finally, I have three more layouts of my son to share!

Baby Girls

Our digital extraordinaire Celeste has three more perfect girl layouts to share, as well. I especially love the non-traditional "girl" colors she often uses!

 

I also created a girl layout with some non-traditional girl colors. Blues and greens are not just for boys!!

 

The embroidery on this next layout by Lisa Kisch is divine!  It adds so much to this already beautiful baby girl layout!

 

My final girl layout is super simple! Not surprisingly, I found myself scrappping with a much simpler style once my life was suddenly taken up with feedings and diaper changes and, of course, snuggles!  

 

Thanks again for stopping by Baby Week at write.click.scrapbook!  We would love to see some of your favorite layouts that you have created about your favorite babies!  Have a wonderful Friday and a great weekend!

Oh, baby...let's celebrate!

Hello everyone, welcome to the second day of baby week! Today is all about helping the mom-to-be prepare for the arrival of her sweet baby. I don't know about you, but attending a baby showers. As friends and family of the expectant mother we do our very best to shower them with gifts and love in preparation for their new bundle of joy.

As scrapbookers, I think it is safe to say that in general, we are crafty people, and planning a baby showers definitely falls into the crafty category. Let's pull out our supplies and put them to use for a baby shower and baby gift.

Themed Showers 

It is easy to create a beautiful shower by carrying a common theme through the invitations, decor, food, party favors and gifts. Lisa Kish, created an elegant shower by using a pastel green and yellow color scheme and banner design element through the decor.

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You could take the words "baby shower" quite literally and use pastel colors, soft clouds and rain drops throughout the party theme, like this example from Le Frufru blog.

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If the mom-to-be is expecting a little cowboy, throw a shindig that she and her guests will never forget, as shown on the Thoughtfully Simple blog.

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Baby Gifts

I don't know about you, but I love giving gifts that have special meaning for the recipient and presenting them in unique ways. Of course, the baby essentials are always needed and appreciated but you can make the ordinary gift extraordinary with creative packaging and displays.

You can begin with a unique gift table like this one from the anna with love blog. I love how she hung clothes, bibs and stuffed toys from a clothes line behind the gift table. Absolutely adorable!

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Another cute idea for giving essentials, like onesies and receiving blankets, is to roll them into cupcakes and package them in a bakery box. Little Birdie Secrets has a great tutorial on how to do this.

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Are you a good with your sewing machine. Make a baby quilt, like this one by Amy Sorensen, for a gift that will be treasured for years to come. Visit Amy's blog for a tutorial for creating this baby quilt.

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Subway art is so popular right now. Using your computer, type baby phrases in various fonts and print in your color of choice, and frame it, like Marnie Flores did with this beautiful subway art she made.

 

Customize a wooden display, like this one by Francine Clouden for a keepsake in baby's room. You can personalize the display with the baby's birth date, photo and name once he/she is born. Francine has completed a tutorial giving step-by-step instructions for making this gift.

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Do you have an abundance of ribbon in your stash? Use an assortment of ribbon in varying colors and patterns to create a plush toy, like this one from mmmcrafts.

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Gifts for the mom-to-be

In the excitement of a new baby, don't overlook the mom-to-be. Now, more than ever, she'll need some things to help keep her organized and some pampering too.

The busy mom on-the-go will love this gift basket filled with individual bags that hold a diaper and wipes or baby food and a bib like these on the Procrastination Station blog.

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For the scrapbooking mom, put together a collection of monthly index cards and put them in a tin that can be placed in the kitchen or other easily accessible location for recording special dates or memories during baby's first year. Follow the lead from the Northern Cottage blog, but substitute the embellishments with a baby theme.

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Don't forget to shower the mom-to-be with something just for her. An ensemble of special spa and bath products will be appreciated after a long tiring day.

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Parting Gifts for the Guests

At the end of the party send each guest home with a small gift to show your appreciation for their gift and attendance.

A simple treat in a paper crafted bootie, baby carriage or cleverly wrapped bag of popcorn is a great parting gift.

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Give the mom-to-be enough thank you cards for all the attendees. During the party, have each guest address an envelope to themself. After the party the mom-to-be can simply sign the card, insert it into the envelope and place in the mail. Create customized cards, like this one made by Jenny Chesnick, in the shape of a onesie.

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Are you still with me? I know this post is long, but I tried to keep it easy to read with little text and lots of pictures. I hope you have found something that will inspire you the next time you plan or attend a baby shower. For more ideas, visit my Oh, Baby! Pinterest board.

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!

In Review

First, thank you, dear readers, for your kind excitement and comments for our month of mini albums. We appreciate your patience with our trying new things and hope that you have enjoyed the monthly theme.

Second, we could not have made this month work without our kit sponsors. Thank you Cocoa Daisy, JBS Mercantile, and Studio Calico for your generosity in not only providing kits for our giveaways, but also for our designers. Please stop by and visit them and leave them a big thank you!!

Did you know that this month you have had the pleasure of 37 mini albums? Did you have a favorite theme? topic? design? As our last hurrah, let's take our monthly stroll through our gallery. A last lingering look before we move on to another weekly and monthly topic.

 

I enlisted Amy's help and together we have compiled a summary of the gallery and some prompts for your creativity.

Aly’s mini focuses on some of her beliefs and values. Try journaling about a belief you are passionate about, a value you hope your child implements throughout his life, or a concept that you think will help your child become a stronger person. Or try journaling about a time when your child showed she’d really learned one of your values or beliefs.

Amy's album is a collection of photos that tell their own story. Have you begun a pattern of taking a particular photo? If so, go back and find them, and put them together as Amy has in a book that highlights them and allows them to shine.

Celeste’s mini is a vacation album. On one page, she wrote about her son seeing whales and how that was one of his bucket-list items. Try journaling about one of your children’s or your own experiences with crossing an item off of your bucket list.

In her Summer 2011 album, Christa journals about her family’s affection for Myrtle Beach. Try writing some journaling about why you go to a specific place for your vacations.

In Diane’s year-in-review album, there is a page about making pizza. Try journaling about your family’s pizza traditions. Do you make yours or buy them? Which brand is everyone’s favorite and how do you conquer the great topping debate?

Donna’s album documents her favorite season, fall. Try journaling about your favorite season. What do you love about it? And why? What is your favorite seasonal tradition? What do you remember about this season from your childhood? How does your affection for the season influence your family?

EmilyS made a mini with space for writing the funny and cute things her daughter says. Try journaling about your child’s own funny conversations or way with words. If you can’t think of any, spend a day or two just listening for the funny things; jot them down and you’ve made a great start on your journaling!

Erin dedicated an entire page in her mini to journaling about one month in her son’s life. Try journaling about a single month in your children's lives. What kinds of activities and learning are they focused on? What were the highlights? What were the hard parts? What changes were made in those 30-odd days?

Francine's sweet mini shows how we can celebrate the mini in a literal way. Maybe set a two hour window for yourself and create a mini mini that can be at the ready for adding in photos as they are ready.

Karen’s album gives an overview of her current goals. Try journaling about one of your children’s goals. How is she going about accomplishing it? What setbacks has she had? How has she pushed forward? How does seeing your children achieve their goals make you feel?

Katrina’s mini gave an overview of her affection for her iPhone. Try journaling about how a specific piece of technology affects you, your children, or your entire family. Or, write a contrast piece: how has technology changed since you were a kid?

Do you ever take photos with a particular purpose in mind? Kelly's album has this potential. Knowing you wanted to collect your photos in a vertical album, you could concentrate your efforts on snapping vertical photos at a particular event or occasion. We are scrapbookers. We do plan these things!!

Keshet’s mini focuses on her daughter’s first week of life. One of the little layouts has a photo of her daughter and her husband together. Try journaling about your children’s relationship with their father. What sort of relationship do they have? How are they similar and what do they butt heads over? Is there a specific moment that encapsulates their relationship?

LisaK put together a mini with all of her favorite photos. Try journaling about one of your favorite pictures. Why do you love it? What are the details behind the pic—who took it, where was it taken? What does the photo capture that no other pictures do?

LisaO's album is a collection of her favorite photos. Try assembling an album such as this little by little as the year goes by so that it is less intimidating. Perhaps keep your ever growing album nearby so that it is easy to add pages.

Marie's happily ever after album is a quick summary of her 12 on the 12th project. Have you a scrapbook page that would also make a fun album that could sit out for easy reference, and show? Sometimes having others see our albums can be just the push we need to finish our projects.

Marnie’s entire mini focuses on her reading choices. Trying journaling about your reading habits. (Your kids’ book opinions aren’t the only ones that count!) What kind of books do you like to read and why? How do you fit reading into your busy life? What’s your opinion on eBooks? Or get even more specific and write about the book you are reading right now.

Monika's Easter album shows how you can use a mini to house event photos. Have you considered making a mini to display photos that deserve more than just a page in a photo album?

Paula’s Q&A album asks the big question: what are your favorites? One of the questions asks about favorite books. Try journaling about what your children are reading right now. Do they love it or are they just sort of “ehh” about it? What is their relationship with the book? (Is it part of a series, or by a favorite author, or one a good friend couldn’t stop raving about?)

And lastly, Vivian's honesty about not loving mini's is sweet. And we love the page she made using up minialbum materials. Clever.

 

This month, there was so much that moved me. I have made a file of some great ideas and hope you have, too! I wondered if you could let us know if you enjoyed the month and would like to see it again next year. If you could please leave us a comment and let us know if you liked it, we would appreciate it! Thank you!

A Weekend in NYC Mini

I am a huge fan of Studio Calico. Their eponymous line and exclusive collaborations means kits that are exquisitely unique! I had never worked with kits until a year or so ago-- but now I buy them every once in a while and keep them in plastic folders for times when I want to scrap quickly, or scrap on the go-- without dragging out every supply I own!

The Daydream Believer kit is a gem, and it perfectly suited my minibook topic-- a spring weekend in NYC!

Now, this was a working weekend, and so I didn't bring my camera with me. The weather was so beautiful, though, that I couldn't help but take out my phone and capture the city by Instagram. I almost always print my photos at home, and in this case I just used regular 4X6 photo paper, printing edge to edge.

For the design I used the 4x6 postcards that many businesses use to advertise as my inspiration. (For ease of photographing the book, I shot it before adding my binder rings as binding.) I used the exclusive Norwich alpha in the naked chipboard state, as I loved how it blended in with the scenery. I'm also a tad obsessed with mini alphas-- so I used the Dear Lizzy set to the max! (Click any of these photos to make them larger.)

Dinner at Mario Batali and Lidia Bastianich's "Eataly" market. Oh. So. Good.

The little yellow envelope contains extra bits of ephemera...

I spent most of my time in Harlem, where my friend lives, and I was amazed by the beautiful architecture and wide boulevards. It's a vibrant neighbourhood, and I understand why my friends love living there.

This sunset over Harlem was a view I will never forget!

Thanks, Studio Calico, for the perfect kit to document my trip!