Write. Click. Scrapbook.

write.

Happy National Scrapbooking Day! To celebrate, today we're focusing on poetry. 

But wait! Was that a groan I heard? A rumble of "how can poetry and scrapbooking and celebrating all be mentioned in one sentence?"

Because I know:  for many, the word "poetry" inspires anxious memories of writing exam essays on confusing poems, trying to explain what the poet is trying to say. (I always hated that "What is the poet trying to say?" question. The poet isn't trying to say anything, she's saying exactly what she meant.) Or a professor droning on about Prufrock or Tintern Abbey or Hiawatha.

But poetry doesn't have to be dry or boring or difficult. Nor do you (now you're a grown up) have to write an essay about it. Instead it's a wellspring of scrapbooking inspiration! (Both for journaling and for embellishments.) It depends on the kinds of poems you're reading, but poetry adds a certain something to your layouts that nothing else can.

Back when I was teaching high school, I shared at least one "delicious poem" with my students every week. By "delicious" I meant the sort of poem that makes you say "mmmmmmm" when you're finished. The goal wasn't to analyze or argue anything, but to experience—to be surrounded by something aurally beautiful, to get caught up in imagining an image, to admire a perfectly exact metaphor. (Yes! A watermelon is like a buddha on the fruit stand!)

Those delicious poems are perfect for using on scrapbook layouts. Of course, you have to find them first! Some sources for poetry:

The Writer's Almanac on NPR.

     Every day, Garrison Keillor reads a poem and then talks about some interesting bits of literary information. (You can have the almanac sent to you by email every day, or you can listen instead.) He is perhaps the master of delicious poems: the ones he shares are usually accessible but vivid all at once. Similarly, try his "Good Poem" books: Good Poems, Good Poems for Hard Times, and Good Poems: American Places. 

Poets.org

     This website has poetry organized by subject. You can also listen to poets reading their work.

the 811 section.

     Go to your library's kids' nonfiction department and wander down the 811 aisle. This is American poetry written for kids and is a perfect source for scrapbookery inspiration! You'll find anthologies about different topics as well as discover new favorite poets. The more lighthearted aspect of (some) children's poetry makes it especially useful for layouts about your kids. (821 is the British poets if you're on that side of the pond.)

Go forth! Find some poems you love, and then use them on your layouts. They're a deep source for all sorts of layout inspiration; here are a few ideas to get you started.

 1.  Use a small part of a poem as your layout's title.

 

For this layout's title, I used one line from Gerard Manley Hopkins's poem "Spring." I confess that I've used different parts from this poem on several different layouts. It's an infintely useful poem!

 

2. Use some of the poem as a subtitle:

I used a very small section of a much longer poem called "Elegy in Joy." Don't feel like you have to use all the poem's text. Sometimes (quite often in fact!) just a stanza or even a few lines will work with your topic. (See item #6 for more about this layout.)

3. Use the entire poem.

You can: type it out without any line breaks and create a text-based patterned paper. Print the poem on a journaling card. Print it in four long strips and make it a page border. Integrate it into your design by repeating an embellishment within the text. Print it in a huge font so that some of the end and beginning words print off the page. Choose a landscape, floral, or other photographic image that relates to the poem and then print the text on top of the image by creating a text layer in Photoshop. Print the poem in light grey text and then print your journaling on top of it. Create a piece of subway art, like this one:

Download May 2013 write saturday emily d:

Or you can always just print it out in a regular font size and stick it somewhere on your page!

4. Journal about a poem your child learned in school, like Celeste did in this layout:

 

5. Include a poem that your child wrote.

 

Journal about how the writing made you feel, like Paula did.

6. Use the poem to inspire your journaling. 

My "Seeds" layout (number 2 above) came about when I read the Rukeyser poem. It made me start thinking about beginnings and endings and how things change, so I wrote a draft of the journaling and then went in search for some photos to go with my first impressions. There's a fairly large difference between the draft and the final journaling, which is OK; the point is that the journaling was inspired by the poem.

7. Write your own poem.
I know, it sounds intimidating, but it's really not. It's not as if your Pulitzer depends upon it; it's just a different way of writing! Poetry is not much more than a set of structures and ideas you can use to shape your thoughts, but within the structure lies the creativity. You can write a free-verse poem, as Lisa did in this layout:

Or try some rhyming verse:

(I shared this layout before, on February's Write Saturday.)

The structure of the little poem in this layout was inspired by a children's book. Since I already had the form, the lines came together quickly---I crafted it in my head while I was shoveling snow!

Don't be intimidated by poetry. It's one of the most useful scrapbooking "supplies" you can use.

Welcome, May!

Hello May! We are so happy to welcome a new month and a new gallery! This month we look forward to our final month of weekly blogging. We were be learning from Francine, Amy, Christine, as well as have help from our team preparing for Father's Day. We can't wait!

A new month brings a new gallery.

May is the month we celebrate the Everyday. Those things that make up our every day lives. The little things that might get lost in our scrapbooks and our memories. Our schedules, our routine. Project Life is a wonderful way to capture the details of our lives. And our scrapbooks are a great place to record some of the details as well. Our team has put together some amazing layouts. We just know you are going to be inspired to create some just like them!

As a reminder, if you would like to see the layouts a bit bigger and with the journaling listed, please hop on over to the gallery album.

Without further ado, may we present... Everydaily III!

The Family that Types Together | Aliza Deutsch

12 x 12 | materials cardstock (American Crafts) + patterned paper (Jenni Bowlin, Pebbles, Elle’s Studio, Simple Stories, Cocoa Daisy, Webster’s Pages) + buttons (Fancy Pants) + thickers (American Crafts) + labels (Chic Tags) + stickers (My Mind’s Eye, Glitz Designs, Simple Stories) + fonts (Linenstroke)

A Note from Aliza
This layout lists a couple of random reflections about technology and our everyday lives.

May Fun Fact
I am currently obsessed with finding inexpensive rock climbing shoes.

 

Love To Run | Christine Newman

12 x 12 | materials cardstock (American Crafts, Wausau, Bazzill) + patterned paper (American Crafts) + mask, mist (Studio Calico) + die cuts (American Crafts) + stickers (American Crafts) + paper clip (Freckled Fawn) + stamp (American Crafts) + wood veneers (Studio Calico, Freckled Fawn) + ink (Prima, Palette) + pen (Sharpie, Sakura) + twine (The Twinery) + digital cutter (Silhouette America)

A Note from Christine
When it comes to everyday type of photos, it doesn't get more everyday than this. I exercise almost daily and feel weird if I don't run or workout for a couple of days. I love to eat so working out is a necessity. It also helps me feel less stressed and sleep better.

May Fun Fact
When I was little, I collected scratch-n-sniff stickers. I think I still have some old ones in a box somewhere. I want them to bring those back!

 

Everyday | Celeste Smith

12 x 12 | materials kits (Life's a Ride by Valorie Wibbens, Dayplanner by One Little Bird at The Lilypad) + washi tape (Tape It! by Pink Reptile Designs at The Lilypad) + journaling cards (Happy Note Cards by Gina Miller at the Lilypad) + word art (Life 365 by Karla Dudley at Pixels & Co.) + template(Simple Scrapper Premium Membership)+ font (Underwood Champion)

A Note from Celeste
When I thought about everyday this year, I just couldn't get past the fact that our daily life includes music. My son, Adam, plays the saxophone almost every day either practicing, attending rehearsals or performing. I added the clock stamp and washi to symbolize the time he spends. The musical staff is just clip art that I clipped some digital paper to.

May Fun Fact
My niece is a Bat Mitzvah this month. I'm looking forward to the family gathering together and hearing her give her Torah portion. It is sure to be a special day.

 

Every Day | Valerie O'Neall

12 x 12 | materials patterned paper (Crate Paper) + tags (Elle's Studio and American Crafts/Dear Lizzy) + stickers (Crate Paper) + alpha stamps (Studio Calico/Hero Arts) + other stamps (Ormolu) + enamel dots (My Mind's Eye) + wood veneer (Studio Calico) + fabric brad (American Crafts) + ink (Memento) + other (Silhouette SD & date stamp) + font (Rockwell)

A Note from Valerie
This layout came together really fast for me this month. I love using my Silhouette for title work (font is Rockwell). These photos are from 2011, but can you believe two years later, this train set is still what my son plays with everyday (best. gift. ever.)!?

May Fun Fact
I was completely anti-texting and anti-smartphone for such a long time. I've only had a plan with texting for two years now, which is so unusual for someone of my generation, but I am now the proud owner of an iPhone.

The Reader | Katie Ehmann

12 x 12 | materials cardstock (American Crafts) + patterned paper (Kesi’art) + brads (Crate Paper) + thickers (Amy Tamgerine) + tag (Dear Lizzy) + stickers (Amy Tangerine, Dear Lizzy) + die cut (Silhouette Cameo, Studio Calico + stamp (Amy Tangerine) + ink (Versafine)

A Note from Katie
This layout perfectly captures the everyday of my oldest daughter, who is in Kindergarten and is learning to read! I sewed some leftover letters in a random pattern to mirror the letters on the background paper.

May Fun Fact
Every time I play the lotto (which isn’t very often) I seriously think I am going to win, and am crushed with disappointment when I don’t. Some may think that I’m foolish, but I just think I’m an optimist!

 

The 4 O'Clock Stare Down | Diane Payne

12 x 12 |materials patterned paper (Studio Calico, Echo Park, Basic Grey, Simple Stories) + buttons (A Flair for Buttons) + thickers (Ameican Crafts) + labels (My Mind's Eye, Twine & Ink) + stickers (American Crafts, Pebbles, Basic Grey) + pen (American Crafts)

A Note from Diane
At first I was unsure what to document as a daily activity. When the dogs were anxiously waiting to be fed one evening it dawned on me that I should record their daily ritual.

May Fun Fact
In just a few short weeks school will be out. I'm looking forward to a little less structure and sleeping in on the weekends.

 

InstaLife | Lisa Ottosson

8.5 x 12 | materials patterned paper (Backside of Cocoa Daisy March Kit Ad card, Jenni Bowlin) + brad (Dear Lizzy) + flower (homemade) + stickers (Scrapworks, American Crafts)

A Note from Lisa
When I prepared for this month´s theme I was a bit puzzled about what I would do. As I am doing Project Life every week I record our everyday lives in there. Then it hit me! What is the one thing that I use to catch photos of our everyday? Instagram. Right now we Instagram the heck out of our lives. In my journaling I talk about how we say to each other several times a day: That is going straight up on Instagram!

March Fun Fact
I have to remind myself to use my DSLR these days! I am so happy with my iPhone camera!

Errands with Boys | Jennifer Larson

12 x 12 | materials cardstock (Bazzill) + patterned paper (Cosmo Cricket, Glitz, Basic Grey, Studio Calico) + buttons (Company Name) + thickers (American Crafts) + tape (Glitz) + enamel dots (My Mind’s Eye) + stickers (Basic Grey, Studio Calico, My Mind’s Eye) + ink (Jenni Bowlin) + chipboard (My Mind’s Eye) + photo frame (Basic Grey) + die cuts (Studio Calico) + twine (Martha Stewart) + fonts (Times New Roman)

A Note from Jennifer Larson
Since my husband travels periodically for work, I become a single parent at certain times of the year, shepherding my boys solo to their various activities. This month I examine those various activities and the fact that my schedule circulates are them. Though it’s a time crunch, I love the time in the car with my boys, particularly our conversations. To remember these errands and the accompanying stress and joy, I printed various photos I took of these errands with boys and put them together on one page.

May Fun Fact
Every Mother’s Day, we go out to eat Chinese food.

 

Everyday Moments|Amy Coose

12 x 12 | materials cardstock (Bazzill) + patterned paper (American Crafts, Pebbles, Basic Grey) + flair (Greatest View) + wood veneer (Freckled Fawn) + tags (Chic Tags) + enamel dots (My Mind's Eye) + mist (Heidi Swapp) + pen (American Crafts)

A Note from Amy
This layout really shows my everyday, and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Journaling
No matter how hard it is having a baby again, there is nothing I'd rather be doing each day than this.

May Fun Fact
I love these pictures of me getting some good snuggle time. It makes me so happy that I had the chance to experience baby snuggles again. 

 

Rise and Shine | Celeste Smith

12 x 12 | materials kit (Rise & Shine by One Little Bird at the Lilypad) + template ( Plant Your Story: Journaled {volume two} by Sara Gleason at the Lilypad) + font (Century Gothic)

A Note from Celeste
My morning routine just wouldn't be the same without a cup of tea or coffee. Even though I get up in the dark, I make sure that I have an extra ten or fifteen minutes to sit and enjoy it. Notice the floral elements, as a mom to boys, I get my flower fix whenever I can!

 

Everyday | Jennie McGarvey

12 x 12 | materials patterned paper (Lily Bee Design, Studio Calico) + stickers (Studio Calico) + alphabet stickers (American Crafts) + labels, tags (Chic Tags) + pen (American Crafts) + fonts

A Note from Jennie
My layout has been a while in the making. My son has been wearing exclusively Angels (his favorite baseball team and baseball is his favorite sport) shirts for a while now (two years or so?) and I wanted to make sure I captured that before he moved onto something else or varied his wardrobe.

May Fun Fact
I rarely use the computer for journaling. I prefer to handwrite my journaling, but will occasionally use a typewriter if the project calls for it.

 

Have a Good Day | Deb Duty

12 x 12 | materials) patterned paper (Simple Stories, Teresa Collins, Cosmo Cricket, Fancy Pants, Webster's Pages, American Crafts) + flair (Hello Forever) + chipboard star (Pink Paislee) + alpha (Heidi Swapp, Little Yellow Bicycle, Glitz Design) + labels (Studio Calico) + ink (Hero Arts) + stickers (Studio Calico, Basic Grey) + stamps (Studio Calico) + sequins (Studio Calico) + resin stars (Freckled Fawn) + metal clip (Prima) + cork arrow (Studio Calico) + inventory tag (vintage) + pen (Micron)

A Note from Deb
I took this photo as my boys walked out the door for school while I held on to our dog so she couldn't escape just like I do every morning. I love capturing these simple moments that seem so ordinary at the time, but will one day be just a memory.

May Fun Fact
I generally don't like any scary or intense TV shows, but after my boys introduced me to The Walking Dead, it has become my new favorite. I still can't believe I actually enjoy a show about zombies, but it's just so good!

 

A-Okay | Kelly Jeppson

12 x 12 | materials patterned paper (Elle’s Studio) + paper elements (BasicGrey) + alpha stickers (Doodlebug Designs) + burlap + washi tape (7Gypsies) + big brad (Studio G)

A Note from Kelly
Life for a mom can be pretty mundane, but at the end of the day, I’m always happy to see the smiling faces of my three kids. It makes it all worth it!

Journaling
Today I might…make breakfast, pack lunches, find homework, socks, shoes, lost toys. Drive to school, to scouts, to soccer, to the store. Eat standing up. Do laundry. Check email. Vacuum. Answer phone calls. Bandage scrapes. Walk the dog. Clean up messes. Make dinner. Stay up late reading. But it’s all a-okay with me, because I get to be your mom.

May Fun Fact
Before we had children, I convinced my husband to get me a Mother’s Day gift because I would be the mother of his future children! Pretty smart, I must say.

 

The Best Part | Sarah Pendergrast

12 x 12 | materials patterned paper (October Afternoon, Crate Paper, American Crafts) + epoxy dots (My Minds Eye) + stickers (American Crafts) + letter stickers (October Afternoon, Basic Grey, Heidi Swapp) + labels (Basic Grey) + washi (Freckled Fawn) + pen (American Crafts)

A Note from Sarah
I snapped this shot one day after school, when the two of them were particularly happy to see each other. This photo reminded me that that no matter how glad I am that they are in school during the day, the best part of my day is the after school pickup.

Journaling
No question, one of the best parts of my day is picking you guys up after school. It’s a huge perk of being a stay-at-home parent. I get to hear about recess, see test scores you’re proud of, and watch you hang out with your friends.

May Fun Fact
I’m super excited to start a new volunteer job this month as an urban nature monitor. I will get to count turtles, dragonflies, butterflies etc. that reside right in the middle of our city.

Little Moments | Francine Clouden

12 x 12 | materials patterned paper (Tim & Beck, American Crafts, Crate Paper, Studio Calico) + chipboard letter stickers (American Crafts) + candy buttons (Studio Calico, BasicGrey) + spray ink (Studio Calico) + clear stamps (Studio Calico, Hero Arts) + rub-ons (American Crafts) + baker's twine + stamping ink

A Note from Francine
Baking with Kieran has become an every day activity because he really loves to bake. We now bake his snacks together most weeks. 
A technique tip: that pink garland under the title was made using letter Vs from my sheet of chipboard letter stickers.

May Fun Fact
After six months in the new house I think it's time to reorganise my scrapbook room!

 

Almost Everyday | Paula Gilarde

12 x 12 | materials LayerWorks No. 175 (Studio DD) + Stay Here kit (Katie Pertiet) + I Heart Stories Wordart Brushes (Ali Edwards) + Wooden Stickers Alpha No 1 (Katie Pertiet) + Painted Text No. 1 (Katie Pertiet) + Instamatic Frames No 3 (Katie Pertiet)

A Note from Paula
Or at least everyday we can, we try to walk the 30 minutes to school. Molly loves it!

 

Everyday He: | Amy Sorensen

12 x 12 | materials patterned paper (My Mind's Eye) + alpha stickers (American Crafts, Jillibean Soup, Echo Park, Teresa Collins, Bella Blvd, My Mind's Eye) + die cuts (Silhouette) + circle punch + quilt star punch (Fiskars) + fonts (Satellite, The Only Exception)

A Note from Amy
The real story about this layout is something on the back. To get all of the daily details, I wrote a list of questions for my son Nathan, and asked him to answer them. When I found the paper (he left it under my keyboard and went to bed), I discovered that he'd written his answers AND a sweet note to me. The combination of his handwriting and his note was just so...NATHAN to me. I made a little pocket for the back and stuck the note in it with my response. I do a lot of hidden things on the backs of my layouts. Who knows if anyone will ever see them? But I like knowing they are there.
To make the little banners that back the words "goes" and "to," I punched with the quilt star punch, and then trimmed off the two vertical strips. Voila: instant banner!

May Fun Fact
My oldest kid is graduating from high school this month. HOW did I get to this phase of my life?!?!

 

Hanging Out | Marnie Flores

8.5 x 8.5 | materials patterned paper (Crystal Wilkerson) + fonts (AmerType, Mathlete, CK Jot)

A Note from Marnie
Santa brought a bar and a beam to my house this past December. The bar sits in our front room and welcomes everyone who visits. And my monkeys love it. (One of them averages 3 hours a day on her bar!) I can't even begin to explain how breathtaking it is to watch them do their tricks. They amaze me!!

May Fun Fact
My kids get out of school in May for the first time ever. I grew up going to school until the final Friday in June. (I like to joke that I went to school for an extra year: 1 month x 12 years...) I can't believe that in less than a month we will be on vay-cay-tion!!

 

That's it! We hope you enjoy the gallery! Please leave us word and tell us what caught your eye!

In Review

This has been such a fun month. After mini month, it is always refreshing to be back to layouts and projects. And such amazing layouts we have had.

Kelly started us out with a burst of spring. Then Jenny helped us with our two page layouts, and Lisa sparked our imaginations for digging deeper into our project life albums. Then this week we got ready to say thank you to our teachers. 

 

With just 3 days until our new gallery, it is time to look back at our April gallery, Shapes.

This month's theme lends itself nicely to evaluating the layouts for design magnificence and skill. Let's go one by one and and pull out some design elements that work and which can help you create stronger layouts.

That's it! Please enjoy your weekend and your scrapbooking and we will see you Monday with a new theme week!

Write.

Maybe writing a post that starts with running on a scrapbooking site is a strange thing. Stick with me, though, because I’ll bring them together! I came across something in my new copy of Runner’s World magazine that struck me about scrapbooking. The editor was writing about George Sheehan, who was a doctor, a runner, and a writer. "To me," David Willey (the current RW editor) writes, Sheehan "personified the idea that running and writing have something in common. Something approaching soul."

This idea stayed with me for several reasons, not the least of which is the fact that I (although famous neither for my running nor my writing) totally get what he means: partly I run because I like writing about running, and they each make the other better.

The same thing goes for scrapbooking. It is the space where art (photography and embellishments) and writing have something in common, and they each make the other better. If we just had words, we’d only have a journal; if we just had art we’d only have something pretty. But when we put them together: well. Now we have soul.

I kept this idea in mind when I was working on my layout for the gallery this month (you can see it here). It’s about how one of the things that makes it feel like spring to me is our tradition of watching for the little crocuses in my front flowerbeds to bloom. We watch & wait & anticipate, and on the day they finally bloom it’s like a sigh of relief: spring’s coming!

The idea for the photos came from Lisa’s Click. post in March. I mean—part of the tradition is taking pictures when they bloom, but I realized I hadn’t taken any pictures of them yet this year. So I got some, and then I wrote what I felt, and then a few weeks later I made the layout. That process—that, to me, is where the soul part comes in.  I’d taken some photos before. I’d not ever written down the story. When I did both I made something that has a stronger impact than the two would separately.

Which is why, in my mind, scrapbooking wouldn’t be as cool without the words.

After I made my gallery layout, I started paying attention. What spring traditions had I not told the story of? I made a list of the small and simple ways I celebrate spring:

1. A strawberry themed dessert or two. Or five.
2. New sandals. (This stems from my mom’s tradition of putting sandals in our Easter baskets.)
3. Making sure I wear something pastel on the first day of spring.
4. Sitting on my front porch steps when both sides are surrounded by blooming hyacinths. Is there anything sweeter than that smell? Maybe only lilacs!
5. Watching the kids in our neighborhood gather again at our old apple tree.

I have pictures for some of those stories—but I’ve never written them down. So I picked one, wrote the story, found some photos, and made a layout:

 

Paula did, too:

And that’s my challenge to you on this gorgeous April morning! Make a list of the small, simple things you do to celebrate spring (or fall if you’re on the other side of the world). Pick one and write the story. Look for some pictures that go along with the story, or watch for the chance to take some this spring. Find your soul in the process!

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!

Cocoa Daisy Week - day 2

Greetings friends! I'm back again with another mini - this time using the Cocoa Daisy March kit - Sketchbook. I was so excited to play with this kit since the colors were so pretty -it's definitely out the my box, but that's often the most fun!

I knew I wanted to create a mini that was more of a book rather than a traditional photo mini-album. This mini doesn't have any photos at all! I just used the supplies to create a book full of affirmations and reminders. It's called "How to be Happy" and many of the ideas are taken from a book I read called "The Happieness Advantage" by Shawn Achor. I really enjoyed the book and wanted to have something that would give me little happy boosts every now and again.

Here's my cover:

I created the album by cutting some of the cardstock sheets down to 4x6, adding some patterned papers and binding with a Bind-it-All. I used thin chipboard for the cover, adhering patterned papers to the front and back before adding my title.

The inside pages are all cardstock, with strips of patterned paper:

The little journal cards were perfect for adding all my text/journaling. I embellished with the wordstrips and various tabs and stickers.

I had a lot of fun making this mini and will enjoy looking at it when I need some happy :) Thanks to Cocoa Daisy for providing the wonderful Sketchbook kit for us to play with!

AC Digitals Mini Madness Week - Day 2

Hey everyone! It's day 2 of our AC Digitals Mini Madness week. Like Celeste, I was very excited to play with the Storyteller kit from Crate Paper. It was one of my picks from CHA a while back and I'm loving it in digital form. The colors are glorious and there's a fabulous variety of elements to work with. I was very inspired by Celeste's mini for this month's gallery and decided to create my own vacation bucket-list mini-album. I've actually had this in my head for quite some time so this was a good opportunity to get it done!

I chose a 5x7 format for my mini - it's a size that is commonly available for photobooks (Shutterfly, Winkflash among others have that size). I used two different basic layouts for my pages: both had one photo, a banner strip, a tag/label for my journaling and then a few embellishments. Apart from the kit, he only additional product I used was a polaroid-style frame from Katie Pertiet. Polaroids have the added advantage of having a nice spot to hold my page titles!

The cover featuring my favorite Liz Lemon quote:

A few pages:

and

Not forgetting:

And would you believe:

and a few more:

Last one:

This is one mini that could go on and on.

Thanks to AC digitals for the kit!

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!

In Review

Have you had a delightful month? We hope that you have learned much and giggled oft as you have spent your time with us each day. Have we mentioned lately how much we love our readers? Yes, you! We do love having you stop by. 

 

It's that time where we link arms and walk back through our gallery. We hope that you have your comfy shoes on! Let's begin...

 

1. record a trend. Lisa's One Direction layout could fit many of our children's albums right now. Have you taken a moment to record their current media crushes?
2. record something goofy. and then don't add lengthy journaling if it isn't needed. Jennie's layout is perfect with nothing but her title. High-lair-ee-us.
3. make a list of oft heard phrases. Sometimes we hear things so often that we can't imagine that they will one day fade from our memories. Feel free to ask your spouse for help like Diane did.
4. record a conversation line by line. Valerie smartly recorded the conversation and used stamps to help convey the speaker. Darling.
5. write from the heart. Go there. No matter how it hurts. You will be glad later. Christine's layout is proof enough.
6. make a list of the words your baby knows. And then write them out. And one day, scrapbook them, like Paula did!
7. record your tactics. Sarah's layout is a humorous retelling of her persuasion techniques. Too funny.
8. eavesdrop. and then write down what you hear. especially if you have two little people chatting together. You will giggle. Just like Erin did.

 

1. honest photos. Aliza's layout shows us just how fun in-the-moment photographs can be.
2. take a headshot. then pair it with something that you hear. Katie's layout shows us that the photo that you use doesn't need to have been taken at the moment of the conversation that you are recording.
3. hilarious moment recorded. Don't forget to take pictures of the crazy antics of your housemates. Chances are this photo will haunt Christa's daughter for years to come. Perfection!
4. conversation baby photos. You might need two of you for this one. While one engages the baby in a conversation, the other records it. These photos, like Keshet's will become treasures.
5. action shots. They are easy to take and fun to scrapbook. Just pick a few and get going like Jennie did.
6. take a screenshot of your texting convo. Amy's idea is fantastic! As is her layout!
7. take a photo at the beginning or end of an event that you cannot attend. Kelly's photo of her son coming home from camp helps tell the story even though she didn't get to be there the whole time.
8. let your conversation be your photo. Sometimes you don't need a photo. Sometimes you can find one. But don't let the lack of one stand in your way. Marnie didn't.

 

1. use an element unexpectedly. Look at how Aliza uses the polaroid frame with the attached sentiment. It sits empty in the lower right hand corner. Without framing a photo. Interesting...
2. find a small element that helps to tell your story. Like Celeste's car. Helps us to catch that this conversation took place in the car. In case you forget to read the title.
3. embellish with color. Jennifer does a great job with black and white photos, a grey background, and then all sorts of color pops in her embellishments. Perfect!
4. stamp a date with tiny little date stamps. Francine's round little bitty yellow numbers with the red dots in between are the perfect additions for both color and style. Lovely.
5. Christmas photos. Let Amy's layout be some inspiration for you to scrapbook your holiday photos.
6. Let conversation bubbles be your text boxes. Then you can add lots of journaling that is unrelated to each other. Just like Emily did.
7. use enamel dots to support your color story. Deb is a master. Learn from her.
8. edit your photos in an artistic manner to help with your story telling. Christine's layout is so much more fun with her oversized affected photos.

 

Thank you, again, for stopping by! We hope that these prompts will help you make better use of the gallery and all that it has to inspire!