Write. Click. Scrapbook.

More of Us

In keeping with the gallery theme this month, I decided a week of blogging all about us—the scrapbooker—was in order. For me, this is definitely a challenge that needs conquering. I just don't make myself a priority. I think our kids and family will look back through our scrapbooks and really cherish those layouts that include us or are entirely about us. Ninety-nine percent of the time, I am the one behind the camera in my home. I made two goals for myself when scrapping this year: (1) journal more and (2) get in more photos. It's so much more fun and maybe even easier to create layouts about our kids. But this week I challenge you to get in front of the camera and make a layout, or two, or more about yourself. The January gallery and Lisa's Click post on taking self portraits have gotten us off to a great start. I have a lot of prompts, ideas, and inspiration up my sleeve from myself and the collective. 

Let's start with something simple, that some of you may cringe at the thought of talking about: our birthdays, or more specifically—our age. Yes, our kids birthdays are so much more fun, but why not celebrate our own too?

Christa made this fun page about her last year in her thirties.

 

Christine talks about turning 40 and includes maybe the first photo ever taken of her. Layouts with then and now photos are always great.

 

Diane made of list of things to do that matches her age in years.

 

And me, I simply stated a fun little fact about myself on my birthday.

Journaling Prompts for Birthday/Age Related Layouts

1. State the who, what, when, and where of your birthday celebration.
2. Make a list of things to do. Make the list length match your age in years.
3. Make a layout with photos celebrating each decade of your life (20's, 30's, 40's, etc.)
4. Scrap a past birthday and share fun facts about the big things that happened that year.
5. What are you looking forward to/not looking forward to about being a particular age?
6. What was your favorite birthday gift ever?
7. What has been your favorite age and why?
8. Make a layout about your most memorable birthday moment.
9. What is your dessert of choice/favorite cake flavor you like to have on your birthday?
10. Do you have any birthday traditions?

Sunday photo+words

scrapbook!

Hello! Welcome to Scrapbook! Saturday. I am so happy to be here with you today. Didn't you think this month's gallery was amazing? I loved reading the little bits of advice, the life lessons, and the resolutions. As I made notes of pages I wanted to make, I found my journaling list was long. It's not that I wasn't inspired by the design or products on the pages, I was just so beguiled by the words, that I failed to note the rest. Does this happen to you sometimes, too?

Even though the stories were the first notice, going back through with an eye on design I was glad that I had taken the time, as there is much to love there, too! I run through life so quickly, that I often forget to truly pay attention. Similarly, it is easy  to click through the gallery without actually absorbing anything. But when I sit down and look, really look, I find all sorts of treasures that I might have missed. Let's get started and see what we can find.

SKETCH

First up is our sketch. Looking to Jennifer's January gallery layout,

Diane created this sketch for us:

 

And look at how well our team made use of it. 

 

Amy followed the sketch closely, and made great use of a beautiful photo as a background.

 

Jennie swapped the journaling block for some spotted vellum. A lovely part of sketches is their flexibility.

 

LisaO has all the elements but shuffled them around a bit.

 

Aliza's page is not for the faint of heart! I love how she shortened the lower strip, making it even with the title's edge. Don't you think it transforms the sketch into something new?

I stuck closely to the sketch, but deleted a couple of embellishments, and stretched my photos into rectangles as my photos weren't cropable. (Is that even a word??!!)

 

Lastly, we have Diane's lovely layout. Do you see the sketch in it? She told me that she began with the sketch, but once the photos came into play it took on a life of its own. Don't you love when that happens? The sketch gets you started and then creative lightning strikes and suddenly you have a wonderful layout sitting in front of you. Just like that!

 You may download the layered template here. Enjoy!

 

ROYGBIV

Take a moment and pop on over to the gallery and see if there is a color scheme that appeals to you. There are five kraft layouts, ten with white backgrounds, and a handful with prominent patterned paper. Have you a preference?

Looking for an entire palette, I was drawn to Jennie's layout from our Note to Self gallery.

With its soft muted hues, I just knew it would make a lovely color scheme for us this month.

I used it on a layout celebrating an exhibit I saw this past week featuring Aurora Robson. (Be sure to stop by her site. Her work is amazing!) Her work was all in white with a white window behind it, so the light papers were the perfect backdrop.

I hope that you will find these shades as useful as I have!

 

TRENDING

This month we have three equally outstanding trends: arrows, tags and labels. I spotted 11 layouts with arrows, 12 with tags, and 10 with labels. How about you? have you been using them lately, too? Should we check? I'll wait if you want to go find the last layout you made so you can see...

Did you find some? I did...

Alright, maybe I just made it...  I had fun adding in all three elements. I hope you will have fun, too!

 

Thank you, for joining me today! What a great week. With Christa's ideas for getting our men into our scrapbooks and with all the CHA sneak peaks, this week couldn't have been better. Thank you for letting me highlight some inspiration from our gallery, and thank you Diane, for putting our sketch together! Can't wait to see you all back tomorrow!

Don't Forget About Grandpa

Thank you so much for joining me this week as we talk about those manly pages and various ways to design, color and go outside the box with them as well.  It's our final day here and I wanted to make sure there is one important fella we don't forget - Grandpa.  I know for me personally, this is something I wish I had more of for my own grandfathers.  I have only a few photos and just a few stories to go along with them.  I'm trying to change that for my girls and get their grandpas not only in the photos, but also get some stories down for them as well.

My first layout isn't necessarily all about my father-in-law, but the love that my youngest daughter has for her grandpa.  She sees the "job" of being a grandpa as a rather glamorous one and hopes to attain that status some day (shh...don't tell her it's anatomically impossible!)

This next layout I wanted to create to show the connection that my girls' grandpa has with them.  They are so lucky to have 2 grandpas who not only love them, but truly want to be connected with them as they grow up.

Celeste created this layout as an ode to her grandpa and the wonderful person/man that he was.  What a great way to remember him.

I love the detail that Marnie used to create this layout about her daughter's love for her grandpa.  You don't notice it in the larger photo as much, but when she zooms in you can see that her daughter is holding on to her grandpa's hand for the family photo.  I love how Marnie focused on this small detail.

She went on to show another aspect of her daugher's relationship with her grandpa on football game day!  I know her daughter will one day look back and not only appreciate the photo, but also the layout and story behind it.

I think every family has that milestone even when a child surpasses their parents and/or grandparents in height.  I know my own daughter is inching closer and closer to grandma and she's beyond excited about that!  Marnie documents that here when her son surpassed his grandpa in height!

Have you documented your grandpa or your childrens' grandpa lately? 

Thank you so much for joining me this week and I hope you were able to draw some inspiration from the collective's ideas and pages.

And before I go, one last favorite manly line from this year's CHA show.  This one from a company near and dear to my heart, Pebbles and their I Love You More line.

Getting In Touch With Our Feminine Side

We've tackled all things male this week, including design, color and being a boy in general.  Today we're going to get in touch with our feminine side and look at using those predominantly feminine colors on boy/man layouts.

Do you have trouble using pink on your boy pages, or are you one that has no problem busting out lighter palettes and flowers for your pages?

Whether it's just a slight pop of pink or purple or floral patterns or creating an entire page of feminine colors on your boy pages, the collective has some inspiration for you on how to use them for your next project. 

 

TOUCH OF FEMININE

There are ways to get just a smidge or dash of feminine color on your pages the next time you are creating.  You can incorporate just a small paper strip, a chipboard embellishment, or even (gasp) a sequin or two!

That's just what Amy did here on her page about her son and his good friends.  You see that small strip of zig zag pink paper near the top? See, just a smidge of pink.  And do you see what else Amy incorporated?  Lots and lots of sequins!  These are a perfect accent for her page:

Celeste took it a touch further and incorporated various shades of pink triangles in her layout about she and her husband.  You'll notice she used a dark background behind the photo, but then her digital papers to embellish the page were pinks, yellows and florals.  A great way to use contrast on a page including her husband.

Aliza used a pop of pink in a couple of different places on her layout about her son and his stylish way!  She used predominantly darker colors on her layout, but you'll notice she used a pop of red/pink woodgrain paper for contrast and if you take a look closer, a little pink bicycle too next to the dark title/lettering!  A great way to draw your eye in.

Amy didn't use pink on her page, but went with a light yellow palette and paired that with the colors of the rainbow to coordinate with the rainbow photos. 

GOING FOR THE GOLD, ER, I MEAN PINK

Now, let's take a look at those pages that threw caution to the wind and went all out pink and flowers.  Don't be afraid to go for the gusto.  Remember, your family wants to look back at the photo and the memory and not so much your color palette of choice.

Celeste went with a yellow and pink palette for her layout about pinkberry ice cream!  I love the polka dots and splash of digital mist!

I also went with a primarily pink color scheme on my layout about my daughter and my husband.  I wanted to keep the same colors as my daughter's swim suit so pink and flowers it was! 

Celeste also brought out lots of flowers on her page to highlight her son's first Communion.  She didn't just use pink flowers though, but incorporated some blues and muted colors as well to offset the pinks.  The contrasting blue bow is a nice touch and draws your eye into that visual triangle.

Celeste told me that one of her favorite color combos to use on pages with her boys and husband is orange and dark pink.  I think it's the perfect way to to contrast a primary color with a feminine color on a page.  As you can see, not only does Celeste use this color scheme, but Jennie also uses it in her pages as well about her sons.

And finally, we'll end today with a sweet feminine colored heartfelt layout by Sarah about her son.  She combined lighter, more feminine colors with a large heart surrounding her photo and meaningful journaling.

So what is your favorite way to use pinks and flowers on your boy layouts?

Speaking of pink colors, another favorite line from CHA 2013 is the Studio Calico Here and There line.  They combined darker blues, browns with a light pink as well and I think it looks fantastic together!

Color Me Manly

Since we tackled designs for manly layouts yesterday and showed some examples, let's move on to choosing colors for those designs today. 

Have you noticed a pattern in the layout colors so far this week?

And on a different note, do you notice a trend in paper and supplies and the predominant colors used?

Yep, us mamas of girls have no problem finding all kinds of pinks, flowers and frills. I know when I try to buy "manlier" papers and supplies it's a little more difficult to find what I like and what will work for my style.

I know that when I am starting a page, I tend to gravitate towards darker and primary colors first.

Although this layout is about our family, with my husband in fatigues in the photo I immediately grabbed the red paper and added primary colors, like the yellow and blues, on top of that:

Celeste went the same route with color in her layout.  She has a lot of white space, but packs a punch with color by layering various digital papers behind her photo.  The red paper really makes the red hat her husband is wearing pop off the page.

You'll notice in Christine's page that she used not only lots of primary colors in  her layout, but also lots of different patterns and textures that play off of one another to make her layout cohesive.  Her layout also packs a color punch too with her black and white photos.

Now, let's talk dark colors on boy/man layouts. I don't have boys that I dress in my house, but I do have a grown boy that I not only buy for but also help to dress each week (heehee!).  He tends to gravitate to darker colors even when he's out of uniform - dark greens, browns, black, etc.  I notice that I tend to do the same in scrapping pages and photos of him as well.  I grab darker colors and maybe put a pop of color subtley within the page.

On this layout I used some pops of primary colors, but the main elements lean towards darker colors - brown, burnt orange and a touch of dark blue:

I really like the use of Celeste's darker colors in her layout about her son.  Again, lots of white space, but so many textures and dark colors throughout her page as well to pull your focal point back to the photo.  The colors really convey the mood of her layout too. The hint of light tan offsets those darker colors so well.

Christine shows how you can use predominantly a dark color, but without making the layout completely dark.  Make sense?!  The pops of white lettering and embellishments sit so well on the all dark background on this page.

And finally, Aliza used literal white space and offset that with pops of brown and dark blue to go with the cool photo of her son!

What are some of your favorite color combinations when creating manly layouts?  Do you go the primary route or the dark route or something alltogether different?

Speaking of color, one of my favorite male color combos from CHA 2013 has to be Fancy Pants Swagger line.  I love the burnt orange, blues and hint of dark red too:

Tomorrow I'll be back with ways to incorporate all those pinks and flowers you have laying around into your male layouts.

Designing the Manly Way

Hopefully you enjoyed the collective's inspirational manly layouts from yesterday.  Today we're going to tackle the design of those pages we create for the men and boys in our lives.  I find it easy to splash a page with flowers, frills and butterflies for my girls and I on a page, but that isn't an easy decision when tackling the pages about my husband, friends and nephews on a page! However, never fear, there are many, many other options the collective is going to show you today to incorporate in your manly designs!

STARS

Because I'm married to the military, my first go to design element on my pages are stars.  Stars and stripes have been in my daily life for over 16 years now so it's no wonder I tend to gravitate to them!  In this layout I used not only small star elements, but also created a central/large star element in the design for added punch.

Celeste used arrows in this layout as well as simply an accent piece in her digital layout.  The stapled gold star is just the right touch to finish off this layout.

ARROWS

Arrows are a trend that have been around for a while, but seem to be making a big debut again recently. I love them as an accent, as a focal point and as they were originally intended - to point to something.

I used a Silhouette chevron/arrow cut for this layout about my husband taking over as a commander.  I wanted the arrows to be pointing down to the photos, but added a pop of color behind each strip.

Aliza used arrow strips in her layout to point to the photo as well.  I love the leading lines above and below the photo to draw your eye in to what's important-the boys in the photos.

Jennie took it a step further and incorporated not only an arrow embellishment, but arrow paper as well layered with other papers, photos and embellishments.  I also love the small layer of embellishments in the right corner that also incorporates a subtle arrow.

I love how Katie included not only arrow embellishments and papers on her layout, but also threw in a handful of hearts to go with those as well!  It's hard to get hearts on a boy page and I love how she incorporated both on this page.

SHAPES

There are all kinds of shapes, big and small, that can be used on boy and male layouts.  Whether it's a large central element like we've already discussed or repeating patterns, it's a fun way to add color, dimension and punch to a layout.

Amy uses large stitched circles, paired with smaller circles (the sequins) to embellish her layout.  It pairs so well with the layered papers and the photos in her layout.

Christine paired lots of different sizes and colors of circles on her layout.  I love the way the photos are in the center and the circles draw your eye to them.

Celeste went a different route with shapes and incorporated lots and lots of hexagons in her layout.  I love the repeating pattern and different colors she used throughout her layout.  She used the hexagons for not only an embellishment, but to house her title and journaling as well!

Finally, we're bringing it back full circle (slight pun intended!) from the stars we began with and looking at how Valerie incorporated stripes in her layout.  Like the other layouts using repeating shapes, she is repeating her stripes up and down her layout.  What draws you in is the way she uses various colors and patterns behind her already established pattern.  It complements so well.

This new line from My Mind's Eye CHA 2013 would be extremely helpful in getting those designs started for your next layout. 

What are some of your go to design tips and tricks for the layouts about men and boys in your life?

WCS is Getting Masculine Week

That's right, the mama of 2 girls and grew up in a house of girls is taking on masculinity in layouts! Everyone needs a good challenge, right? For some it might be 2 page layouts, for others it might be multi photo layouts, and for me it's bringing some masculinity to pages about the men and boys in my life!

So this week we will be looking at design, color (both masculine and feminine), and how to get those stubborn men and boys into those photos for pages.  The collective have some great examples of all of these topics to include in your pages and cards even.

I've also been scouring the sneaks and photos this week from CHA in Anaheim to look at some fabulous news papers and product lines available for your masculine layouts.

Without further adieu, today I bring you some in general, inspirational layouts about the men and boys we all know and love!

I made it a priority to get the man of our house in more layouts and started with this one:

It's ok to dig out some older photos too and scrap about that time period, or how your life has grown, etc.

I love everything about Jennie's layout about her son and his favorite jam! The stars, the stripes, the tags-awesome layout!

Celeste knows a thing or two about scrapping the men in her life since she is surrounded by them!  As the lone female in her house she has years of male scrapbooking under her belt.  And just FYI you will be seeing A LOT of Celeste this week!

I love this mix of fonts and colors in Amy's layout:

Valerie combined a great large title, paired with a smaller title along the side for her boy layout:

As a child of the 70's, I simply adore the viewmaster embellishment on Aliza's layout!

I think this starts us off in the right direction this week, don't you?!  I'll be back tomorrow with even more manly inspiration for you!

Before heading off today though, here is a look at one of my favorite new lines from Simple Stories - Urban Traveler

Sunday Photo + Words

Click.

Welcome to the first Click. Saturday in 2013! I wanted to talk a little about taking photos of ourselves. 
Self portraits can be a little intimidating and I know I try to hide from the camera alot. But I have found that with my iPhone capturing selfies are a bit easier than with my DSLR. What about you?

In our latest gallery Note to self I counted to 9 layouts featuring a selfportrait! That is awesome! I asked the other team members if they had any tips and tricks for taking selfportraits and here is what they said:

Christine:  "I think if you have an iphone or ipad, you can easily turn the camera to the front camera and take a selfie! Also, timers and tripods are great for self portraits.  Oh and it doesn't even have to be just your head shot.  My husband and I take jumping photos a lot, with just a tripod and self timer."

Francine: "My tip is to get a shutter remote. It's a huge help and they are very affordable (e.g. on Amazon). Also take lots and lots of shots!"

Christa: " I have my resident (nearly) 8 year old take photos for me because she's actually quite good and knows to "look for the red dots on the inside" before she takes it!!
If no one is around I normally set up a lamp or something to focus on then plant myself where the lamp was so I'm not out of focus. It normally takes 100 photos to get one mediocre one!"

Amy: The turn feature is also on Android phones! (or...at least it is on mine.) My tip is to have a teenaged daughter who has taken approx. 2,281,972 self portraits. She will train you right!

I totally agree with all of the above and especially with Amy´s comment :) I have a teenaged daughter that has absolutely filled her Instagram feed with selfportraits! Ofcourse you should ask them for tips!

 

 I found this layout that I made a few years ago where she (my daughter) had used her DSLR to take hundreds of photos of herself! And that is one of the tips really, take lots and lots of photos, it is so easy since we have the technology for it now. Practise makes perfect!

 

Here are some hands on tips!

1. Practise holding your camera/phone at arms length. If you have a phone that allows you to switch to the camera infront (so that you can see yourself when you look at the display) you can more easily try different angles. Try not to use your flash, it creates such a harsh light. 

2. Take photos in a mirror. Practise holding your camera so that you don´t hide behind it. 

When you take a photo in a reflecting object remember to look into the lense of the camera, otherwise your eyes will be focused out in space. 

Also pratise on holding your camera steadily when you take mirror shots where you zoom in alot. 

3. A selfportrait doesn´t always have to show just your face. Perhaps you want to capture where you are or who you are with, like in this layout

But there is also more parts of you that represent you. It all depends on what you want to capture. Here are a few examples 

I have a passion for gardening. I love to get my hands dirty. That is what I wanted to capture in this photo. For this I simply layed my camera on the ground and prefocused on the plants and used my other hand to press the shutter.

Me and my dog Melvin were having a snuggle session in the grass and I wanted to try to get a few photos of it. As you can tell I layed my camera in the grass and zoomed in quite a bit, pushing the shutter with one hand.

Here I wanted the "feet-photo" effect, but didn´t want to just point my camera down. I wanted to capture where I was at the time. For these I used my timer.

Here are a few bonus ones that I found on my daughters memorycard :)

Is she the daughter of a photographer or what?! 

Before I end this post, I just want to clarify that although I am comfortable laying my camera on different surfaces like the ground or something else in nature you should be careful. If you feel like it would be a risk for your camera, don´t do it! Perhaps a tripod would be a great thing to put on your wishlist?! I am hoping for one for my iPhone! 

Have fun snapping picture of yourself!