Write. Click. Scrapbook.

Digging Deeper Day 2

Hi there! Did yesterday's post inspire you to look through your own Project Life album and see stories that needs to be recorded a little deeper or just one that needs its own scrapbook page? I hope so!

I will continue to show you a few examples on this theme today.

I turned 34 in February (and by the way I totally claimed to be 33 in March still!) and I had a few of my favorite people with me for the entire weekend.

It made it into the PL spread for that week. In there I told more the story of that weekend, but I usually make layouts each year to capture more of who I am right then. 

On this layout I shared about how I thought this year was going to pretty much suck (I am going through a divorce) and that I didn't have high hopes of a happy birthday, but that life moves quickly and in happy ways sometimes :)

I think it would be awesome to make an extra insert in your PL album whenever you or a loved one celebrates a new year of life and just jot down somethings about them that tells the story of them right now! 

Christine shared a page she did with inspiration from this PL spread in her album.

She says: I went to an Amy Tan class at my local scrapbook store last year on Week 21. I loved learning and scrapbooking with other women. I made a page at the class that was inspired by that love of crafting.

This is a perfect example of how the story doesn't have to be the same both in the PL and in the scrapbook page you do.

My daughter has a best friend that she has known since they were 2 years old. I printed a photo collage she made with photos of a day they spent together and quickly added a few words about that day in my PL spread. That sparked me to make a layout about their friendship.

One thought that has come up while I was writing these posts is that this has been such a good lesson for me. I feel like I have recorded memories, stories and relationships that I hadn't done before.

At one point a few years ago I said to myself, I am done. I am all caught up on scrapbooking. And while I still think that it was true at the time, I feel like I learn something all the time and my scrapbooking has changed through the years. At first I made pages and pages just to be able to have something to show. Next I did it as a kind of therapy and those pages were focused on me and our everyday life. I believe that it was during 2012 it changed for me. Changed is perhaps the wrong word, evolved is a better way of putting it. I lost both my grandparents during last year and while it was hard times, it got me thinking of all the things I would have wanted to know about them and how lucky I was to be able to hold my grandmothers hand while she passed. I went home that night and wrote everything down, the events that led up to her last breath and my feelings. I am so grateful I did. I will forever know that story because it is written down! Perhaps I would either way, but I am sure the details would fade. 

Do you have stories of your childhood friends? Like detailed stories of how you met and hung out? I don´t, but I love the fact that my daughter now will. 

The Project Life way to record our lives has helped me see the small everyday stories, but has also sparked some really interesting thoughts about what I (since it´s me making the spreads) choose to see as valuable to memorykeep. I, of course love both the smaller, shorter stories and the longer ones that come out of them!

 

Stepping down from the soapbox now ;)

Go do some memorykeeping!

 

Lisa O

Digging Deeper Day 1

Hi and welcome! This week I am going to talk about how I have used my Project Life to make scrapbook pages. I hope that you will be inspired and do some yourself!

I have been doing Project Life since January 2012, so I am currently on my second year of recording life this way. I do love it and feel that these albums are so treasured. Every Sunday I sit down with my computer and decide on which photos and stories will be recorded that week. Since space can be an issue when scrapbooking in pockets and limiting your stories to one spread per week can be hard sometimes. Some weeks there is no problem and I feel like I have captured what I want and other weeks there are stories that need a little more attention. Now, I do add inserts to the spread sometimes, but once in a while the story needs its own scrapbook page. 

It was last year that I realized that I needed to make "regular" scrapbook pages even though the stories are recorded in my PL albums. When I first started PL I almost was set on not making "regular" scrapbook pages, but when my grandmother passed I just felt that I needed to make a page that went into my scrapbook album also. This was early in the year and I had done just a couple of weeks of PL and wasn't entirely sure that I would continue that format. 

 

The journaling on this layout is taken straight from this PL page. 

It made it super simple since words on these kinds of pages can be hard. I have done more of these pages where I have used journaling that I already written it for a PL pocket. 

 

I still do scrapbook pages that feature stories that I have already recorded in a shorter format in my PL albums, even though I know that I will continue to memorykeep with PL. 

 

This next one was inspired my the above insert I made telling the story of how my new love and I keep finding natural heartshapes during our walks. 

I have actually been doing this for years and it is so much fun sharing this with him! That of course sparked me to finally making a page about it. 

See you back here tomorrow for more examples!

 

Lisa O

Welcome, April!

April is here and we're not fooling! We are so very excited that a new month is upon us. This month we are looking forward to Kelly, Lisa, Teacher's Appreciation preparation and Mother's Day preparation. We hope to inspire your spring pages, and help you get ready for the holidays ahead of us.

 

The first also brings us a

This month we are celebrating shapes: circles, triangles, hexagons, squares, stars. Whether the graphic elements be big or small, our pages love them all. Here is a look at our gallery as a whole!

And here are the pages one by one. Please click on over to the gallery to see them bigger, and read the journaling! 

That's it! We hope you have found a layout or two, or twenty, that will appeal to you and your scrapbooks! We look forward to seeing your "inspired by" layouts! And please let us know if you like the new cards.

In Review

Happy Saturday! We hope that you are loving MiniMadness month and that you have been inspired to create your own!

This month we celebrated with 37 mini albums. Its a dream come true! We hope you have had fun!

 

There is so much to love about our gallery this month. And with so much to see and process, we know it is a bit easy to overwhelm. So we put together some recipes for you: here are 4x6 reference cards to remind you of the details of each of the albums in our gallery. Feel free to print them and keep them for your records. We hope that it helps!

Once you have these printed, you could bind them together to make a mini album to celebrate our month of minis!

Thank you for stopping by and please enjoy your weekend!

Mini Madness with Cocoa Daisy

Hi there! I am here to kick of another week of minialbums! This week we will show you different ways that we used the beautiful products that came in the March kit called Sketchbook.  The kit was packed with a nice suble color palette. I knew right away that I wanted to use the newborn photos I had taken of my nephew for a minibook. 

For this mini I used a pocketed page protector with 3 pockets for 6x4" photos and 3 smaller pockets where you could write any data that you´d like to have with your photo had you used the page protector in a regular photo album. 

Trying to take photos of plastics are so hard, but I hope that you can see what I am ttrying to show you ;)

 

Here is a photo of the finished album. As you perhaps can see, I have folded the page protector like an accordion album, so you´d see each page and then you´d turn it to see the backside.

 

Here is a look at one side. It has the title page and two more pages. I loved working with the muted colors in the kit they fitted perfectly with the light photos. I turned all my photos into polaroids using the frame option at Picmonkey.com and I printed them a bit smaller, so that I could have the cardstock matting them. 

 

The woodgrain alpha stickers were so beautiful and I used a V since his name is Viggo. And Elle´s studio always makes the cutes journaling spots. I punched hearts from a few of the patterned papers that came with the kit.

 

I used my scalloped circle punch to use some of the patterned papers easily on each page and the tiny word stickers were one of my favorite in the kit and they were perfect for this project!  

 

Here is the back of the album, so the mini has a total of 6 pages. 

 

I had so much fun doing this mini....so I made another one!

 

As you can see I used the same photo on the cover and actually throughout the mini. But I changed the color palett to blue. 

 

I might like the look of this one even better! The aqua and yellow patterned paper in the kit is yummy! I think that by using pieces of the patterned paper like this is a nice way to add them to a project without having them taking over. And obviously you can cram more pages/projects from a sheet like this ;)

 

This is the back of the mini. 

These minialbums are going to be gifts and I can´t wait to give them away!

Thank you so much to Cocoa Daisy for providing this beautiful kit for me to play with! 

Lisa

scrapbook!

This is one my favorite times of year. Breaking out of the winter doldrums, and seeing the sunshine would be joy enough.  But it is also a time of peaceful interlude for school, sports, and family. A status quo month with few changes and few hiccups in the schedule. Which is a good equation for getting to scrapbook. And this month I have been so inspired by all the mini albums. I have lists of new journaling thoughts for layouts, and new colors schemes, and new design ideas. Looking through the minis also gave me some ideas for taking photo series. Oooh, I love percolating creativity!!

 

For our scrapbook! Saturday, we have our favorite three offerings: a sketch, a color palette, and a trend watch. Three more ways to inspire you and help move you to scrapbook.

 

THE SKETCH

This month, Diane created a sketch

based upon Amy's beautiful layout from her blogging week last month.

And look what our amazing team did with it.

 

Celeste stuck true to the sketch cleverly making a digital title that mimics a cut file. Celeste always has such nifty ways to incorporate trends whilst sticking true to her style.

 

Lisa made a vertical rectangle layout substituting one of the photos for a journaling card. I like how she striped the washi tape and stamped over the edges of the tags.

 

Monika also put a lovely and spring-y layout together. She added a matte around the sketch, and dropped one of her photos down. A fun twist on the sketch for certain.

If you would like to download a layered template you may do so here! Please leave us a comment if you take a turn with the sketch so that we might see your good works!

 

ROYGBIV

This month the color palette

is based upon Deb's mini album cover.

Doesn't it feel so current and trendy? I couldn't wait to use it on a layout! I have had these pictures waiting for something soft and light and black and this set of five colors was absolutely perfect!

I used the same kit that I used for my mini this past week. Being digital means I can use the color balance to match the colors on the palette. Teehee. So sneaky!

Did you notice that Deb and I used nearly the same arrow? Love that. Great minds, and all that... :)

TRENDING

This month I noticed many cut elements in our mini albums. There are lacy doilies, cut files, and laser cut wooden veneers. They remind me of acrylic chairs: add just what you need without adding visual clutter. I was excited to try my hand with some digitally created cut elements. (I know, I know, I could just use my Cricut, but I'm out of adhesive... :) ) I did the title and then decided it was the perfect thing.

I hope that you have had a fun Saturday! Thank you for stopping by! I hope to see your layouts when you are done!! 

Welcome, March!

March is here! In like a lion? We're not sure how Mother Nature is greeting you, but we here at write. click. scrapbook. are certainly roaring in a new month with a brand new gallery and a promise of an unforgettable month ahead.

This month marks our third annual March Mini Madness! As we turn our sights and talents to the ever delightful, always beloved mini-album. Over the next four weeks, we will show you 16 new albums, and have four amazing giveaways. We can't wait to inspire you with new prompts and designs.

 

But before we get there, we have a new gallery to show you! With 20 mini-albums to choose from, hopefully you will find one that you want to create! Here are the covers. Hop on over to the gallery album so you can see the interior pages and read the journaling! Enjoy!

 

A Home is Built with Love Alone | Diane Payne

house shaped | materials patterned paper (American Crafts) + embellishments (American Crafts) + stickers (American Crafts)

A Note from Diane
This shape of the mini made me think of the quote about homes being about family and my idea took off from there. I used everyday photos of us together as a family at home from multiple years.

March Fun Fact
I started redecorating my home in January and now I have unfinished projects in every room of my house.

 

Picture Day | Aliza Deutsch

5 x 7 | materials patterned paper (Studio Calico, Little Yellow Bicycle, Jillibean Soup, Echo Park, Pink Paislee) + embellishments (Studio Calico, My Mind’s Eye, Fancy Pants, Ormolu) + stickers (October Afternoon, 7Gypsies, American Crafts)

A Note from Aliza
This book has been in my head for years and years. It is written as a children’s story to be read aloud (I’ve never really done that before!). Every year, at my preschool, at least one child cries on picture day; terrified by a complete stranger coming in telling them what to do, how to sit, and to smile, smile, smile. And then I am always reminded about my son’s first picture day, and I think to myself, I should make a book about that so the children know what to expect on picture day. The timing has worked out perfectly, because picture day is this month.

March Fun Fact
My sister is coming to visit this month! I am so excited!

 

Me & You Mini Album | Katie Ehmann

8 x 8 | materials patterned paper (Crate Paper) + embellishments (Crate Paper) + stickers (Crate Paper)

A Note from Katie
This mini was so fun to make! I used Crate Paper’s Fourteen collection to make a mini focused on the relationship between my husband and me before our girls were born. We did a lot of traveling before we had kids, so many of the photos are from our various trips.

March Fun Fact
For the first time since having children, my husband and I are going on a special trip at the end of this month to celebrate his 40th birthday! I can’t wait to scrapbook it! Oh, and I’m kinda looking forward to the actual vacation, too!

 

Hello World Bucket Mini | Celeste Smith

5.5 x 8.5 | materials kit (Wanderer by Zoe Pearn at Sweet Shoppe Designs) + template (Simple Scrapper Insta Album) + labels (Mega Labels by Amy Wolff at The Lilypad) + font (Underwood Champion)

A Note from Celeste
There are so many places I would love to go and see. I thought I'd document a few in a little mini-album. There are so many travel themed digital kits and since we rarely travel I never get to use them!

March Fun Fact
I'm going on an all out organizing bonanza this month - all drawers, closets and even the basement will be gone through! Wish me luck!

 

Sunshine is My Drug | Lisa Ottosson

3.5 x 3 | materials patterned paper (American Crafts, One Little Bird+Paislee Press) + embellishments (National Ticket Co) + stickers (TGR)

A Note from Lisa Ottosson
This minibook is quite tiny only 3.5 x 3 and holds a few of my Instagram photos that have the hashtag #sunshineismydrug. I made the cover with cardboard scraps I had laying around my room and the pages are hold together with the washitape that you can see on each page.

March Fun Fact
Sunshine is in fact my drug! Last summer we didn't have as much sunshine as usual and I can feel it in my whole body!

 

Early Spring | Jennifer Larson

4 x 4 | materials mini album (Maya Road) + patterned paper (October Afternoon, Pebbles) + embellishments (American Crafts, Crate Paper, Studio Calico, October Afternoon, KaiserCraft) + stickers (October Afternoon, Echo Park, Studio Calico) + pens (Copic, American Crafts) + adhesive (Scotch Dot Adhesive Roller, Glue Dots, Xyron, Tombow MonoGlue)

A Note from Jennifer Larson
I took these pictures last year with the idea of putting them into a mini album celebrating the early spring in Minnesota, which is so late in coming but is so sweet when it arrives. I liked this mini album for its canvas, which I though added some nice, rough texture, sort of like the rough texture of early spring. Now in the coldest parts of winter, I’ve got a mini album I can pull out and page through to sustain me until spring comes for real.

March Fun Fact
I am an avid gardener, something I inherited from my mother, a master gardener. I have five perennial beds in the back yard filled with flowers and more floral borders all around my house.

 

Love Notes | Christine Newman

4 x 6 | materials mini album base (Evalicious) + cardstock (American Crafts, Wausau) + patterned paper (My Mind's Eye) + embellishments (Evalicious, Simple Stories, American Crafts, Freckled Fawn, Studio Calico, Pink Paislee) + stamps (Evalicious, Studio Calico, American Crafts) + ink (Tsukineko, Prima, Ranger) + twine (The Twinery) + digital graphics (One Little Bird Designs) + die-cut machine (Silhouette America)

A Note from Christine
This mini album came together in spurts. I created some pages in January and some in February. Working in spurts here and there for a couple of hours helps me feel like I'm making progress. I really love 4x6 mini albums because I can include some 4x6 photos printed out as is.

March Fun Fact
March is my birthday month! It just so happens that my annual bonus at work is paid out every March on my birthday week. It's almost as if they did this just for me as a birthday gift! :)

 

Family Love | Amy Coose

4 x 6 | materials patterned paper (Studio Calico, Dear Lizzy, American Crafts) + embellishments (Chic Tags, Freckled Fawn) + stickers (Jenni Bowlin) + Silhouette Cameo

A Note from Amy
When I came up with the idea of a mini about our love, I didn't realize how mushy it would get. I love how it turned out, mush and all.

March Fun Fact
I usually don't like doing mini albums, but creating this album was so much fun that I can't wait to make another one! 

 

Utah Vacation | Deb Duty

6 x 6 | materials patterned paper (Studio Calico, American Crafts) + embellishments (Studio Calico, Heidi Swapp, A Flair for Buttons, My Mind’s Eye, Freckled Fawn) + stickers (Studio Calico) + alpha stickers (Studio Calico, American Crafts, Cosmo Cricket, October Afternoon, Basic Grey) + cardstock (American Crafts)

A Note from Deb Duty
I made a mini book with my favorite photos from our 2012 vacation to Utah. The mini is 6”x6” and all photos were printed at 3.75”x3” except for the full page photos which were printed at 5.75”x5.75” so that I could cut them out with a border.

March Fun Fact
Our favorite kind of vacation is one where there’s lots of beautiful scenery and hiking! Every U.S. National Park I’ve been to has been amazing! This mini is about visiting Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park.

 

Wednesday 16.01.13 | Francine Clouden

4 x 4 | materials patterned paper (Making Memories, BasciGrey) + letter stickers (BasicGrey) + chipboard stickers (Studio Calico) + stamps (American Crafts) +chipboard + graph paper tape + vellum + binder rings

A Note from Francine
I made this mini from scratch to highlight the Instagram photos I took of a day at home with Kieran back in January. I printed my photos out at 4x4, and cut chipboard pieces in the same size for the covers and pages. Then I "wallpapered" the patterned papers and photos to the chipboard. To add my journaling, I copied my captions directly from Instagram, printed them out onto vellum, which I then cut into strips and stuck on top the washi tape. I then added additional phrases with the stamp. To complete the book, I punched holes and used binder rings to hold them together. This is a great project for using up scraps and other items in your stash.

Since it is also a sturdy little book with mostly flat embellishments, it's very child friendly! :)

March Fun Fact
I don't much like my handwriting but I use it on 95% of my scrapbooking projects anyway!

 

Tommy Q&A | Paula Gilarde

6 x 6 | materials board book (Unknonw) + patterned paper (Jillibean) + stickers (Jillibean Soup ) + diecuts (Jillibean Soup) + stencils (Crafters Workshop) + digital labels (Katie Pertiet) + digital frames (Katie Pertiet)

A Note from Paula
I've had this blank board book in my stash for ever and decided to finally use it. I asked my son a series of random questions like: 
What would you eat every day if mom let you?
What is the first thing you show your friends when they come to your house? 

It will be fun to look back in a few years to see how his answers will have changed.

March Fun Fact
I grew up in Ireland so I like to celebrate St. Patrick's day with authentic Irish food - lots of potatoes. I've never had corned beef - it's not something we eat in Ireland.

 

Treehouse Mini | Valerie O'Neall

6 x 6 | materials cardstock (GMund Savanna (white), Wausau Royal Fiber (kraft)) + patterned paper (American Crafts, Elle's Studio & BasicGrey) + border stickers (Sassafras) + fabric brads (Basic Grey) + enamel dots (My Mind's Eye) + alpha stickers (October Afternoon) mist (Studio Calico) + Silhouette SD (font: Danger) + other (washi, shipping tags, tiny attacher, baker's twine)

A Note from Valerie
Just a fun, simple little album about the treehouse my husband built for our son this past summer. The white cardstock has a wood grain texture and I love it for this album.

March Fun Fact
Currently slightly obsessed with dipping sweet potato fries in maple syrup. Yum!

 

Play Ball | Jennie McGarvey

8.5 x 6 | materials patterned paper (Echo Park Paper, October Afternoon, American Crafts) + washi tape (Glitz, Freckled Fawn) + wood veneer (Studio Calico, Sodalicious) + mask (Studio Calico) + mist (Studio Calico) + enamel dots (My Mind's Eye) + chipboard (Jenni Bowlin) + tag (Ormolu) + flair (A Flair For Buttons) + alphas (Basic Grey, Echo Park Paper)

A Note from Jennie
This mini album is about my son's All Star baseball season from Summer 2012. I had been wanting to put something together with these instagrams but I hadn't gotten around to it until now. I'm actually pretty glad I didn't because I love how this came together!

March Fun Fact
I am constantly cold for 5-6 months of the year. My ideal temperature is around 83 degrees!

 

Run | Erin Sweeney

8 x 8 | materials patterned paper (Amy Tangerine/American Crafts, Studio Calico) + alphabet stickers (American Crafts)

A Note From Erin
I’m sharing the cover and the two most recent spreads from my race mini album. I’m keeping this album very simple, mainly because I have to – there’s no room for embellishments! I’ve attached the race bibs so that I can slip a tag behind them that includes race time, place, and other information about the race. I’ve kept the backgrounds all neutral since the race photo collages contain so many colors. I’m planning on giving the spreads a pop of color with the title (under the photo) and the race info (under the race bibs). I did the photo collages in PSE and they are 6x6 on 8x8 pages. Since I’m putting the album together in chronological order and the order will never change, all spreads use both sides of the paper except the title page since that one will always be moved as I add a new race. This saves paper as well allows me to use both sides of patterned paper I like. 
I’m also including any extras in the album. My sister and I were in the local paper and I’ve included that. I also have other memorabilia I’ll include in page protectors and pockets. 

March Fun Face
A local diner is open on Friday nights for Fish Fry only during Lent…which means my family will be eating out each Friday until Easter! It’s that good!

 

What Dads Do Best | Kelly Jeppson

5 x 7 | materials patterned paper (My Mind’s Eye) + border stickers, alpha stickers (Doodlebug Design, Inc.) + alphabet stencils + twine (The Twinery)

A Note from Kelly
As I was looking through my photos, I found a bunch of great shots of my husband with the kids. I thought I would put them all together in a little album inspired by a bedtime story we read that is titled, “What Dads Do Best/What Moms Do Best.” After I got finished, I realized that this is also an album all about my husband wearing sunglasses! He has them on in almost every shot.

March Fun Fact
I have spring fever! I want to clean my house and paint a bunch of rooms!

 

Documented | Monika Wright

3.5 x 5 | materials cardstock (Hobby Lobby) + patterned paper, cardstock stickers, decorative tape (My Mind's Eye) + die cut (Sizzix) + ink (Stampin' Up) + stamps (creativityprompt.com) + journaling cards (Becky Higgins, Project Life) + sewing machine, thread

A Note from Monika
As a girl who adores mini albums, I kinda sorta took the low road on this assignment. So many times, I sit in the car and over hear conversations from my girls in the back seat. I THINK that I'm going to remember them, but I don't. And that's where this little pocket | purse mini notebook came in to play. I utilize Project Life cards that can be added to a layout or an album in an instant. Now, when I come to a traffic light, I can quickly jot down the conversation before it's forgotten forever. I just trimmed some kraft cardstock so that the PL cards fit snugly inside and scored some half pockets before stitching it all together on my Mom's vintage Singer sewing machine!

March Fun Fact
The older I get, the less I like winter. Although, I do love wearing cute boots, scarves and turtlenecks... go figure! Oh, and I'm entering my last year in my 40's on the 28th of this month.

 

Hong Kong 2012 I Christa Paustenbaugh

5 x 7 | materials cardstock (American Crafts) + patterned papers (Elle’s Studio) + stickers (Jillibean Soup, American Crafts, Studio Calico, Crate Paper) + die cuts (Elle’s Studio) + epoxy dots (My Mind’s Eye) + wood veneer (Studio Calico) + tape (Target, MK) + stamps (Elle’s Studio) + ink (Jenni Bowlin Studios, Versamark) + embossing powder (American Crafts) + punches (Fiskars) + tags (Elle’s Studio) 

A Note from Christa
We took our first off island trip in November to beautiful Hong Kong. Of course I took hundreds of photos, but wanted to highlight our trip with a few of my favorite photos. I used mostly wallet sized so I could fit as many as possible in the small album. I did not use an album base, but rather papers, die cuts and tabs as inserts for journaling and photos.

March Fun Fact
March in Okinawa, Japan means that the warm, humid weather will start to return and although I’m saying this now, I’ll soon regret it when we are knee deep in July and August – I’m ready for it! Ready for bathing suits, beach time and fun in the water!

 

25 Years of Giving Thanks | Amy Sorensen

6 x 8.5 | materials various patterned paper scraps (mostly Authentique) + stickers (Authentique) + font (Melanie Lane) + tabs (Silhouette)

A Note from Amy
When I took my mini book into the copy store to have the cover laminated and the binding done, the copy-store clerk looked at me a little strangely. "Wait," she said. "This is cute, but why Thanksgiving in February?"
Because I tend to procrastinate, that's why! I wanted to make this mini book back in November, but I got busy doing other stuff and never got around to putting it together. So yep, here I am, making a Thanksgiving mini for the March gallery. This is okay because it means when November rolls around again, I will be completely ready.

March Fun Fact
In the past two weeks I have made five batches of lemon bread. My family can't get enough!

 

When There's Love at Home | Marnie Flores

4 x 3 | materials patterned paper (Authentique) + washi tape (Recollections) + alphabet stickers (Chatterbox) + printables (write. click. scrapbook.) + eyelets, binder rings, plastic bags

A Note from Marnie
Last month, I put together a family Valentine's activity. You can read the details on our Valentine's week, if you missed the original post. I could never have imagined how successful it was going to be. The kids were so excited to leave each other notes. Especially my 14 year old son. He didn't miss a day. We filled the mailboxes and then read them one at a time on Valentine's day. Some of them were high-lair-ee-us. Some were sweet. And some made me cry. And it brought a lovely spirit of kindness to our home that is still there. I really really really feel grateful for the inspiration to create this little project. I hope you might consider doing it, too. Even without Valentine's day.

To put the notes together, I decided to put them in little plastic bags to help make them more readable. I found little snack bags that were 4x6 and then cut down the tops. I punched them with my crop-a-dile and strung them together. I added washi tape to the bottom of the four dividers to help make it a bit prettier and to help separate all the pages.

The journaling cards are for sale in the new wcs etsy shop in all sorts of colors if you would like them!

March Fun Fact
That groundhog told me there are only two more weeks of winter. I hope he wasn't lying. I am done. with. winter. Done. ☺

 

Family Fun | Marnie Flores

8 x 8 | materials patterned paper (Pebbles, Fancy Pants, My Mind's Eye) + journaling pad (Pebbles) + thickers (American Crafts) + page protectors (Doodlebug) + pens (Tombow)

A Note from Marnie
I found this journaling pad and thought it would make for a great mini album. I pulled out all the cards and put them into a general order. Then we all sat round the table and filled them out. I love the little girls printing these days, and am so glad to have their ideas captured in their own writing.
After the cards were filled out, a few were rearranged to better suit what was written. (ie. hadn't counted on three zombie responses, but they so represent things around here right now.) I used three styles of page protectors from Doodlebug which gave me lots of options. You might notice I still need to add in some photos. Now that I know what photos I need, we can do a photoshoot and fill in the blanks.

March Fun Fact
American Idol is in full swing. Can't decide if I think it will be a good one or not. Jury is still out... I do know that I prefer JLo to Mariah...

 

Two more things before we go...

First, are you ready for your brand new cut file! Christine has done it again, making us something so perfect for our theme.

You may download it here.

And lastly, this month we say goodbye to Katrina Simeck and Emily Spahn. They are lovely ladies with radiant spirits. We will miss them terribly. It is so very hard to say goodbye to friends who bring a kind light to our days and who inspire us with their artwork. Thank you, both, for the time you have given us. You will be missed.

Please join us in thanking them for their time here! And we would love to hear from you concerning our mini albums and how much you love them!! Happy March!

Inspiration

Hello! Tomorrow is March 1st (March!), and that means a new gallery! I believe you shan't be disappointed. So today I am back for my final day this week of exploring the joys (and occasional hardships) of creativity. I thought I'd wrap things up this week with some thoughts and projects about inspiration.  

 

Collecting Your Ideas

Inspiration can come from everywhere and anywhere, and while I have notebooks set aside for jotting down ideas as they come, just as often, I quickly write things down on scraps of paper, or type a note on my phone.I just feel that the sooner I get an idea written down and out of my head, the more likely it will be that I will go back to it at some point.  I like to keep my notes, or photos that I'd like to use, out and about on my desk, so that I usually have some project to turn to when I am ready to sit down and scrap.

Both Lisa and Christine made layouts to record some of the things inspiring then right now.

Christine created an inspiration board within her layout (genius!).

 Lisa printed photos of some of her favorite pins on Pinterest, and then used the inspiration from those pins in her layout. (Again-genius!)

 

Reminders

To stay inspired to keep creating, I like to surround myself with little reminders, in the form of home decor. 

I created this project as a message directed to my kids, but now that it is framed and hung up in the kitchen, it gives me a little (inspirational and nutritional) boost too.

Here is a more specific reminder to keep taking pictures, that I keep near my desk.


And this one, doesn't use any words. Just some wood veneer and patterned paper, to remind me of the joy that cutting paper can bring.

Put Something In

Once again I will close with some inspiration from the world of children's literature. Here is a poem by Shel Silverstein, that I have loved since discovering it in college. The closing line forever inspires me to keep on making things. 

Put Something In

Draw a crazy picture,
Write a nutty poem,
Sing a mumble-grumble song,
Whistle through your comb.
Do a loony-goony dance
'Cross the kitchen floor,
Put something silly in the world
That ain't been there before.

What About You?

Hi again! I am here for day two of my musings about creativity. Yesterday I talked about capturing the creativity of others. Today, let's talk about ourselves.

Chances are, if you are here, then you have a drive to create in some form or another. It's a powerful feeling; one to be celebrated, and even, recorded.

Right now, it seems, that my kids just think I am nutty and a little obsessed with taking pictures and scrapbooking. But one day, I like to think that they will look back fondly, and say, "Oh, my darling mother, (who was always so lovely and nice and beautiful), was so passionate about capturing beauty and making things. What an inspiration she is to me..."

In case they don't come to that conclusion themselves, I've captured that part of me in some pages. Since I am nutty and a little obsessed with taking pictures and scrapbooking, I feel like my heart is laid bare on these layouts.

I even get to be creative in my non-scrapbooking life, and it feels exatrordinarily powerful to me:

Christine  created this page to record all the reasons she loves to scrapbook.

And this one records her love of crafting in general:

Francine shares her creative passion here:

Lisa needs to do something creative every day. It's like a drug.

What are the reasons you create?

What do you feel as you are creating?

Do you feel your creative juices flowing in other areas of your life, as well? At work? In the kitchen? In the garden?

If so, by all means, record it! What a gift to yourself and your loved ones, to share this bit of yourself.

Sunday Photo + Words