Here it is Friday and we’re nearing the end of our week together. I hope you all have enjoyed our week of easy summer scrapbooking so far. I certainly enjoyed reading all of your comments on yesterday’s giveaway post on what you do to save time and make your creative process easier. As it happens, yesterday I was talking to my sister on the telephone and she commented that she doesn’t have much time for scrapbooking anymore. I think she is still caught-up in thinking that scrapbooking has to take a lot of time. She had a baby girl this past February and she is still contending with sleepless nights and making the transition from being a mommy of one, to being a mommy to two little girls. How funny that she should bring that up this week of all weeks? I told her she should visit the WCS blog this week and see if she could learn any new ideas for how she could fit scrapbooking into her schedule. And now, I’ll add that she should read yesterday’s comment thread as well!
As I was preparing for this week there were certain topics that I knew I had to cover – sketches and the idea of scraplifting yourself came quickly to my mind. These are things I do all the time and they both come so naturally to me; I don’t give them a second thought. But I also knew that I wanted to push myself a little, and you as well, to see if there were areas in my storytelling where perhaps I’ve been holding myself back. I don’t have any preconceived notions about what scrapbooking should be – I am happy to tell my story and my family’s stories my way. But I have to say that I do fall into a certain trap regarding mini-albums. Even though I know better for some reason I've always been caught up in the thinking that mini-albums had to be these altered, out-of-this world masterpieces, with strange-sized photos and tons of embellishments. And while I have a huge appreciation for the creativity and artistry behind those types of mini-albums, I could never make them myself. Are you caught up in this type of thinking too? Today, on the topic of mini-albums, I'd like to remind you (as I have to sometimes remind myself) that it doesn't have to be that way. You too can make a fun, creative and lasting record of your memories using mini-albums. They don’t have to be complicated and in fact they can be easy and fun.
I want to start today with the mini-album helped to inspire this post in the first place. I’m sure that you all will remember the delightfully fun mini-album kit that Monika Wright contributed for the anniversary week giveaway. Monika's project reminded me that mini-albums do not have to be difficult. You can make an album with very simple materials and you can make it quickly! Monika originally made one album for the giveaway. Then she made one for a friend. Then she realized that she needed to make one for herself. She also submitted her album to Ali Edwards’ Stories of Summer Series and it was featured on Ali’s blog. You can visit that post here, and read all about Monika’s inspiration and her process for putting her album together. There is also a download available at Ali’s blog for the four tabs that Monika used to create her Summer in the Life album.
Here is Monika's album cover:
And here are a couple of her favorite pages with her descriptions below each page:
“These two pages bring a smile to my face because: 1. I got to spend a day with my boy as we visited some colleges AND we got the classic hold-the-camera-ourselves self-portrait as we squinted looking into the sun and 2. I just love to see our daughters play with and enjoy the same toys my son played with as a youngster. Sure, I have some more appealing pages design-wise in my mini, but for me it's about capturing some moments that might have been forgotten. And these pages do that for me.”
“I thought it would be fun to take Zach back to the park he played at as a kid when we lived in town AND to take the girls to the park their big brother played at, but they've only been to a handful of times. This was just one part of a really fun day and Zach and I got to talk about some "remember when..." moments that might not have come up in conversation if we had not planned this adventure.”
You can see even more of Monika’s album by visiting her blog at these links:
Lately on her blog, Monika has been posting the details of another mini-album and she shares lots of great ideas for telling your story in a way that is doable and makes the most of what you have on hand.
I admit I have always wanted to, but have never made an album like this before. Even though I love Monika’s album, I knew that I didn’t want to document our entire summer. We recently moved into our first home and a lot of our time has been occupied with minor (and not so minor) home repairs. It’s been somewhat exhausting – rewarding, but exhausting. Instead of tackling our entire summer I took this concept and applied it to just one day and one outing. Living in Southern California we are lucky to be close to the beach. Now another admission, I don’t really love the beach and neither does my husband. But for the sake of our children who do, we have figured out a way to go the beach so that everyone has fun. I decided to make this particular outing into a mini-album because I already have several beach layouts. I thought using a different format would be a great alternative to my usual story-telling method.
I kept my album very simple. There are no embellishments on the inside pages of the album (just the label stickers I used for journaling), and only one metal charm and a tag hanging from the front. This album probably took less than an hour to put together (like a lot of you, I work in spurts, 10 minutes here, 15 minutes there). For me, that’s fast. If a recovering perfectionist like me can embrace this approach - I think you can too.
Here is a glimpse of my album:
A must-have for any beach visit:
We like to get the beach early, before the sun comes out. We have a method for beach-going and I hadn't ever documented it before It was good to get that part of the story recorded.
One of my favorite photos from the day - Gabe chasing the seagulls (who were being a little too nosy if you ask me!):
And finally, a picture of me snuggling with Nathan. He didn't really like getting sand on his feet, which was strange since the last time we were at the beach he had a great time. I made sure to give the camera to my husband so that he could capture this little moment:
For more details and images of this album you can visit my blog
Marnie Flores contributed an album for today's post. Her album measures 6x6 so it will accommodate 4x6 photos of any orientation.
This summer we took a family holiday and a family road trip. We saw many friends and family, stopped in many places, and I took more than 20 gig of photos. There is ABSOLUTELY no way that I am making scrapbook pages for all those photos, and honestly putting a book together in chronological order seemed a bit more like a gussied up itinerary and less like a scrapbook. So instead, I split the memories into three sections: our travel, regular summer stuff, and things to remember. I punched out two pages of October Afternoon journaling cards and filled them with lists. Miles traveled. States we drove through. Games we played in the car. Movies that were on the rotation. friends we saw. Each family member we saw. On and on. Anything little tidbit of memories that I could group over the whole summer, and not trip by trip.
Next, I added some lengthier journaling on cardstock that I trimmed to fit. Lastly, photos printed, all 4x6 to save time and trouble. My book dimensions are 6x6 so the photos can be horizontal or vertical. Put it together with binder rings and we are good to go. And if I forgot about something, I can just add it in when I remember. And I didn't add all my photos in yet, but I can when I have a chance to print them all.
Lastly, for extra help, don't be afraid to compile the lists as a family. Not only will someone remember something you forgot, but you will also have a great chance to reminisce and remember.
All of the projects shared with you today not only fit the theme of easy summer scrapbooking, but they also happened to be about summer! However, as I said the other day, the ideas I've been sharing with you over the past four days can be applied to any topic and at any time. The mini-album I made for today's post was so easy, fun and fast, that I know I'll be making more like it in the future. There have been a lot of mini-albums featured on the WCS blog over the last several months. If you're in need of more mini-album inspiration click here to find more ideas and tips from the collective.
Finally, if you’ve put together an album of your summer memories or any mini-album share it with us in the WCS Flickr gallery.
