Write. Click. Scrapbook.

Summer Summary: Summer

Hi, Amy here, welcoming you to August 31^st—the last day of summer dailies here at Write. Click. Scrapbook. It’s definitely that time of year: summer’s winding down and autumn chilliness is tantalizingly close. But before you put the hot months behind you, I’m bringing you one more summer summary.

(You can see the others HERE and HERE.)

When it comes to photographs, I had a sort of odd summer: aside from our trip to Mexico, I took almost zero pictures. I’m not really sure why this happened. We did plenty of fun, photo-worthy things, but somehow I just didn’t feel like taking pictures. I wanted to be more involved in the experiences my kids and I had, rather than watching them from behind the lens.

Still, I want to scrapbook the summer anyway. So before the memories could flit away (flitting of memories is so much easier without photos!), I made a summer summary layout for each of my kids. And yes, I confess: for one of these layouts (Jake’s), I had to literally pull the kid outside and bribe him with one last summer run to Sonic for slushies just to have a photo that would work.

My goal with the summer summaries was to get down some of the small details of the summer all in one spot. And while I started the project thinking they’d all come out fairly similar, especially in regards to the journaling, I discovered that was hardly true at all. Despite all the time spent together, I found I wanted to say something different with each layout I made. Here’s what I did:

Straight-Up Summary
In this layout:

I simply summed up all the activities Jake did this summer. I shot for a mix of small and large details and really: aside from our frequent arguments about turning off the PS3 (he is 14, after all!), the summer is neatly summed up here.

Summarize by Moments
I fully intended to make a completely different layout for Haley than I ended up making. When I started thinking about her summer, though, what seemed most important to document wasn't all the driving to the water park she did, or her struggles with cross country, or the fun things she did with her friends. (Although I'll eventually get those things down.) Instead I wanted to simply note the fact that her childhood summers came to an end this year and tell her about the moments *I* loved the most:

 
I explained my point in the longer bit of journaling down in the left-hand corner, then wrote about those five beloved moments in the journaling circles.

List of Ten

I kept a running tally of the movies we went to this summer, and for some reason, seeing the final count (nine!) sparked the idea to write a list of ten. Start with an activity, item, or moment that you can count with a one, then run up through numbers as high as you can go.

Traditional Paragraph

There’s something about a summary that begs for text to be broken up into bits & pieces. But sometimes a summary paragraph works just as well.


Everything his summer for my youngest revolved around playing with his friends. (It was a perfect three months for a 7-year-old!) Rather than fighting the repetition I played it up by highlighting every time I used the word "friend" (or something close).

Some other ways you might sum up your summer:

• write a bulleted list of favorite activities
• reflect back on your summer bucket list---what you accomplished & what didn't quite happen
• summarize via clothes: where did your son's flip flops take him or how many different spinny dresses did your 4-year-old wear?
• describe your summer through the foods you ate (I've been keeping a tally; we're up to 17 watermelons now!)
• break it down by months---what were the big activities in June, July, and August?
• focus on something specific, like summer reading, sports, injuries, adventures; even the details behind a suntan would be interesting!
• cobble together a list of your teenager's texts or Facebook updates

The great thing about summary layouts is that they're a place for a lot of details. Try one (link us up if you do!) and I think you'll find they're fun to put together.

Happy scrapping!

 

Glitter Tutorial

I have a confession to make: I was wrong about my dislike of glitter.  I am not sure what brought about my change of heart exactly, but now I look forward to finding opportunities to sprinkle this sparkly dust everywhere I can. So, while thinking about what I wanted to share with you today, I thought why not share a tutorial my recent venture into crafting with glitter? 

Today, I am going to show you how I made this card below with a wooden sun and glitter:

Instructions

Step 1. Let's gather our supplies. Choose the object that you want to cover with glitter. For me I chose this wooden sun by My Minds Eye. The other supplies are a paint brush, Mod Podge, and Glitter.

Step 2. Next, grab your paint brush and fill it up with the Mod Podge.

Step 3. Liberally paint it onto the shape, making sure you get the edges as well.

Step 4. Before we get to applying the glitter I highly recommend laying down a piece of paper or cardstock to catch the glitter that doesn't adhere.

Step 5. Sprinkle, Sprinkle, Sprinkle! (This is the fun part. ;) )

Step 6. Now, we wait for about 10 or so minutes. (This is the least fun part. But don't skip it!) Then turn your shape sideways and shake off the excess glitter.

Step 7. Now you are done and capable of going forth and making shiny projects with your sparkled up embellishment.

And there you have it! 

 

Using this technique on your layouts

If you would like more inspiration on how to use this technique on a layout instead of a card, here is a page I made recently for the Crate Paper blog using their Little Bo Peep line. The wooden frames worked perfectly for a base to adhere the glitter.

Here is a close up:

I hope you enjoyed the post today and are inspired to make your cards and pages just a little more sparkly!

Schoolwork Layouts

School Memories

I am guessing that many of you, like me, have sent children back to school in recent weeks (or are getting ready to do so very soon). While I am always happy to have the routine of the school year back in place, the school year brings on another challenge - how to preserve and record those school memories. Enter today's blog post, complete with two different challenges that will (hopefully!) help all of us document more of those school memories.

Challenge #1: Scrap an Assignment

I must admit that I don't have a great system for preserving school-related papers. A few years back I set up file folders for each of my kids for each grade, with folders for schoolwork, report cards and awards, class newsletters and information, school photos, and art and writing they produce at home during that school year. Everything is shoved in folders and collecting dust.

Whatever your system is for keeping school papers, grab one and turn it into a layout. Yes, I know it's not a photo, but if you know me, I am a fan of photoless layouts, or layouts where a photo is an embellishment, rather than the focal point. You can either use the actual piece of work or can scan and print it at a reduced size. This is an even more fun challenge if you go back a few years (if your kids are old enough) and find something that catches your eye. Then walk down memory lane.

I did this recently, pulling a particularly funny piece of work my son completed in 2nd grade (he just started 5th grade this week). I scanned and printed the assignment to fit on my layout and embellished it with a small photo of my son taken the same month the assignment was completed:

Christa Paustenbaugh created a layout featuring an assignment her daughter completed, one that she and her husband found especially funny:

Hopefully, after you pull an older assignment and walk down memory lane, you will be newly inspired as the papers come through the door this year and will be ready to preserve some of the best, worst, and funniest work your kids bring home.

Challenge #2: No Photo and No Assignment? No Problem!

There are times when something great happens at school but there's nothing tangible to prove it. It might be a field trip your child went on. It might be an afterschool activity you never captured on film, or, as Jenny Larson shows us, it might be a gift your child has.

Jenny's son brought home a photo, but it was lost. It was important to Jenny to document this story anyway so she simply chose a photo of her son that matched the playful tenor of her story:

Here's a closer look at Jenny's journaling:

Choose something that happened at school - a class activity, a field trip, something funny a teacher said, etc. - and document it even if you don't have a photo or an assignment to put on the layout. Do as Jenny did and choose a photo that matches the mood of your journaling or go photoless and have fun with embellishments instead.

We hope that you will be inspired by one (or both!) of these challenges and will get more of those school memories down on paper.

Featuring, You!

Hey there! This is me in the bathroom at Busch Gardens. A woman in the bathroom was looking at me like I had grown a third head ... I tried to explain, but it just seemed more and more odd the harder I tried ... She was obviously not a scrapbooker!! You would have understood. And probably asked if you could take a photo for us. Because you are kind and you understand how it feels to get home from a vacation and not be in one single shot. sigh.

You were there this summer, right? You did things. Went places. Created memories? While you have been making pages for your kids and your neighbors and friends and family, have you taken the time to make some just for you? I haven't yet made any for my summer with me in them, so I was hoping perhaps we could do one or two together.

Are you in? Hooray!! I knew I could count on  you!!

 

This summer, we did lots of traveling. And I got to go eat at my favorite restaurant in the world, Beto's. There are many in Utah, but none rivals the one of fourth south. It has a new name now, but the food was just the same. Phew!

My mom and sister came down to join me in Utah. What a lucky girl I am to have them. We had a fun week together!!

This page is one that I made with a vacation photo, but not a vacation layout. I used it to make a connection to another time. No rule against using photos for stories not attached to the photo directly!

Thank you for providing me a good excuse to put together a few layouts with me in them! I hope you will try to be in some of your layouts, too!

Enjoy those last moments of summer...

everyday (simple) cards.

Let's start today's post out with a confession: I am not a card maker. Nope. I admire the cardmaking geniuses who can whip up a masterpiece with 3 scraps of paper & a border punch. I am also not a very good card sender. I'm a slacker in the thank you card department, and birthday cards are likely going to contain the word "belated." Sigh. It's important to get honest with ourselves about these things, isn't it? What's a simple gal (ha! get it?) like me supposed to do? Clue: "run to hallmark" is not the answer. As always, it's best to keep it simple...

Atta girl (or boy).

A friend of mine recently ran a half-marathon...certainly worthy of an atta-boy card! Think about all of the "everyday" achievements that you can recognize for your friends & family. Good grades, achievement of a personal goal, athletic events, or even just a fantastic meal. Take every chance you get to give someone a crafty pat on the back.

Encouragement Rocks.

Getting a card in the mail always puts a smile on my face. A card with a "you can do it!" theme? Even bigger smile. If a friend is facing a challenge or new opportunity, let her know that you believe in her. It doesn't take much. A small scrap of paper, some washi tape, and a stamp (thanks, KP!)...and viola, you've just brightened someone's day. 

Sometimes life is hard.

One of my favorite bloggers wrote a post recently about acknowleging when life is hard (you can read it here). Her simple, but powerful, words were the inspiration for this card. I'm thinking that this card will lift the spirits of a friend going through some hard times. 

Do you make "everyday" cards? If so, share your links below....we'd love to see! 

Sunday Photo + Words

In Review

Summer lovin'
Havin' a blast
Summer lovin'
Happened so fast...

Grease had it so right! Our Summer Lovin' gallery was a total blast and it all happened so fast. August has somehow melted away but before we go, we need to take one last look back at our beautiful gallery and its lovely layouts!

 

This month our gallery featured 11 single photo layouts, 14 multiple photo layouts, and 1 minialbum. If you copied each layout, you would have scrapbooked 86 photo and told no fewer than 25 stories. This month brought lots of geometric shapes, brought to you by misting, cutting, and silhouetting. There were also a handful of negative shapes, with color peeking in from behind. Color was ever present, with nary a black and white photo to be found! Instagram continues to trend with phone photos giving our digital slr's a run for their money!

As we look back through the gallery project by project, let's compile one last set of inspiration lists! (Unless of course you want more? and then we need to hear your comments letting us know that this is a feature you would like us to continue!!)

 

First up, 26 journaling ideas for your summertime pages.

1. Francine - write about a single moment on a family vacation
2. Vivian - a trait about you or your child you notice while away from home
3. Deb - let your title help tell the story
4. Alexandra - capture a change of thought from times' past
5. Kathy - do you cheat on your summer foods during the remainder of the year?
6. Diane - tell what you see every single summer
7. EmilyS - tell of an unplanned tradition
8. Celeste - do you have a con artist in your family? details, details....
9. LisaO - seeing your hard work pay off
10. Valerie - the ease/unease of seeing old friends
11. Katie - the season that best fits you or your family members
12. Christa - soccer moms unite! tell what you do for your children!
13. Paula - tell a time when the weather got in the way
14. Teka - what is your favorite summer footwear and why
15. Erin - today we took a spontaneous field trip...
16. Sarah - relate your childhood to a current moment in your children's lives
17. Amy - in between moments, stages, ages, and their trials
18. Monika - this week my kids got along/didn't/something in between...
19. Katrina - describe a summer scene you see every single day
20. Jenny - ask each member of your family to relate their summer's top 5
21. Kelly - make a list of things you remember from a summertime outing
22. Keshet - make note of a new favorite food stop
23. EmilyP - capture a story from your grandmother
24. Donna - compare this summer to last
25. Marie - write a bitty love letter to someone special in your life
26. Marnie - find a photo from summer that you love and write about it

 

Next, 26 photo ideas for your summertime pages.

1. Francine - take a photo of a time that might have been frustrating
2. Vivian - snap your subject and then snap the sky
3. Deb - put your camera on "running man" mode and snap away
4. Alexandra - include some background that will give your historical perspective 
5. Kathy - prove it's your favorite food by showing it from different occasions
6. Diane - take an action photo from the back. try to capture the feeling of the movement
7. EmilyS - take a photo of a sign
8. Celeste - goggle shots rock!
9. LisaO - take a picture of the food you grow
10. Valerie - follow around some little friends and capture their bond
11. Katie - watermelon eating is sloppy and colorful and makes for a lovely shot
12. Christa - take a series of photos that includes a detail shot, a macro shot, and a few backgrounds
13. Paula - take a photo of something that challenges the season
14. Teka - shoot down - feet and shoes!
15. Erin - don't forget a family shot
16. Sarah - turn up your shutter speed for a fast action shot
17. Amy - photos of having fun
18. Monika - capture the emotion of a relationship
19. Katrina - the view out your car window on your commute
20. Jenny - place your subject in the lower third's grid intersection
21. Kelly - capture everyone who came along for the trip (you, too!)
22. Keshet - something new to you
23. EmilyP - flower by flower, or food by food, or person by person
24. Donna - let a background help provide size perspective
25. Marie - find a repeating event but capture it from the front, back, top, bottom, side, ...
26. Marnie - take a photo before you grab a napkin for a summer drip

 

Lastly, 26 bits of design inspiration.

1. Francine - use the bottom strip from your patterned paper
2. Vivian - hang your photos from a laundry line
3. Deb - use different fonts for your title
4. Alexandra - mist an embellishment but not completely
5. Kathy - use two contrasting patterns in balanced sizes
6. Diane - mist over stickers and then remove them
7. EmilyS - tilt away: the cropping of the photos, the placement of the photos, and all the papers around them
8. Celeste - coordinate your colors to those in the photo
9. LisaO - use a title font that mimics your design asthetic (rounded for rounded, squared for squared)
10. Valerie - add a date to your layout
11. Katie - balance an oversized title with a small subtitle
12. Christa - pick a focal photo and find a way to bring attention to it
13. Paula - use a photo as your background
14. Teka - use a repeating graphic element in an unusual way
15. Erin - round two corners while leaving the other two square
16. Sarah - add a speech bubble
17. Amy - use a set of photos from an outting as a backdrop for a related story
18. Monika - crop a photo so the angles are askew
19. Katrina - draw a color pallette from your photo
20. Jenny - incorporate a list
21. Kelly - use a map as your patterned paper
22. Keshet - find paper that allows your photo treatment to shine
23. EmilyP - stitch a border around a photo
24. Donna - add a doily to a boy layout
25. Marie - add an icon to help support your story
26. Marnie - "cut out" a title digitally by using inner shadows

That's it! 78 ideas to help keep your pages coming! No ruts allowed!!

 

As a thank you for the time you have spent with us this month, Marnie created a printable for you to help you with your very own Summer Lovin' pages.

You may download it here!

Thank you for stopping! We would love to see your inspired pages!

Summertime Hobbies

Hello! Kathy Martin here with another dose of Summertime Dailies. Have you noticed the days getting a little shorter as summertime winds down? Long daylight hours are one of the things I love most about summer and the time it affords me to enjoy my favorite hobbies like reading, cooking, gardening and antiquing. Last week our family enjoyed a little rest and relaxation at the beach and I noticed that I'm not the only one who enjoys a good read while on vacation. I also enjoy spending little time gardening and in the kitchen cooking, although during hot summer days the recipes I try are often salads with homemade dressings and fruit smoothies.

Hobbies are an important part of documenting our memories so I thought I'd share some page ideas that incorporate some of my favorite pastimes.

So, other than scrapbooking, what are your favorite ways to spend a lazy summer afternoon?

Playing With Type

Hello again everyone! Summer is just winding down over here in France (school doesn't start until the first week of September). I hope you have all had a great summer where ever you are! Today I want to talk a bit about my love of type. I think it is a love that is shared by many of my WCS team mates, and no doubt by many of you.

I tend to consider type as part of my page design when I am creating a layout, and I love nothing better than mixing different fonts. My favourite way of adding my titles, and even journaling is letter stickers. Any scrapbooking kits that contain at least two sets of letter stickers gets my vote! Here are some ways that you can play with type on your pages.

 

Title Work and an Embellishment

I used two different sizes of letter stickers for the title here, the larger red text emphasises the words "red footed" making them pop off the page. In addition I cut out a portion of a sheet of patterned paper that repeated the alphabet over and over, using a piece starting with the letter K for Kieran.

 

Title, Subtitle and Journaling Details

On this page about Kieran doing art on the floor I went to town with letter stickers. I wanted to convey a feeling of fun and anything goes, so chose a different colour and font for each of the four action words. Then I used yet another three fonts for subtitles and journaling details

 

The Title is the Main Element

This page was inspired by a poster that I saw online. That phrase just matched this photo perfectly! I used a bunch of different letter stickers to convey a fun feel, and added an addition detail with the strip of text paper below the photo.

So go ahead! Go grab that letter sticker stash (you know you have one!) and have some fun playing with type!

An easy minibook

Hi there! I am back with my final Summertime blog post!

I dug out a project from the archives this time. Some of you might have seen it on my blog in 2011, but I think it is still my easiest minibook I have made and wanted to share the idea again. 

Now, bear with me when I try to explain what sort of page protector I have used. I have used one with 6 pockets. Let´s see a photo of it.

 

OK, this mean I can use 6 6x4 photos and use the smaller pockets for journaling or embellishments. 

I have used polaroid square photos for my project. 

These two pictures show the front and back of the pageprotector when laid flat.

Then I folded the page protector like an accordion and I can easily flip the pages.

As you can see this mini is more about the photos than words. 

I used the smaller pockets for patterned papers and small embellishments. When I first made this I used it as a class project for tweens that are not that into scrapbooking and it worked supergood as a beginner project! Maybe this is something you can use at a birthday party or another event with kids or beginner scrabookers?!!

Have fun! And I hope that the end of summer treats you well!