Write. Click. Scrapbook.

Summer Photo Challenges #7 + #8

Today we are back with two more photo challenges for our summer photo challenge. This summer we are building a photo folder with specific photos so that we might have them at the ready for a surprise project to be revealed in August! 

 

the easiness of summer

Summer has its own pace. Slow. Lovely. Today we are going to try find something that captures the easiness of summer. Is it your feet up on a lounge chair? A stack of books in the midst of being read? Toys strewn about the yard? Perhaps it's the time on the clock when your teenager (finally!) rolls out of bed. Think of something that represents summer and all it's lazy glory.

 

blue sky

And iconic summer image and memory: lying on the grass staring up at the puffy clouds floating in the blue blue sky. The blue of last summer is so distinct. The next time it's there, find the pose, and snap away. It's a lovely sight. One well worth preserving!

 

That's it for today! We hope you are playing along and having fun. Remember to keep your photos in a handy folder... it's almost time to use them!

Summer Ephemera

Sue Althouse here today, with my very first post! We tend to do more in the summer - get out and see things, go places. I'm sure we're not alone in this. I like to save the little bits and pieces from our adventures and preserve them in a special way. Here's what I've accumulated so far in June and July.

 

I simply toss everything in a small basket and let the pile grow. Right now I'm too busy enjoying summer! At the end of the year, it gets sorted and added to my Ephemera Album.

I keep this ongoing mini album as easy as possible. The ephemera fills each page, so there's no need for additional products. Reminds me of the scrapbooks I kept as a child and teenager.

 

I started my first Ephemera Album back in 2008. I purchased five identical albums then, enough to take me through 2027! Each year, I have six pages waiting to be filled with these little tokens of our travels and daily life events. Every four years, an album is filled and I start on the next one.

I always intend to add memorabilia to my scrapbook pages, but I always forget. My Ephemera Album solves that problem. No more guilt! If you want to start one of your own, any mini album will do. Smash books, Project Life albums, even making one yourself would work very well. I hope this gives you some inspiration for preserving the little tokens of wonderful summer memories!

Summer Silhouette #2: Text + Photo

Since I blogged last, in June, my surreal summer has continued. I took my daughter to her university orientation (wait a second...how did she grow up so fast?). My youngest decided that he wanted to replace our swing set with a trampoline (and while it's true that the swing set really was pretty worn out, it still felt like the end of an era—we've had playground equipment in our back yard for seventeen years!). And my two middle sons, 15 and 13, both have jobs.

It's nearly enough to make me quote Ferris Beuller, but I think I'll save that for a scrapbook layout! Instead, I'll share one of my current favorite techniques, which is combining photos and words using my Silhouette. Here are three recent ways I've done this:

 

1. Overflowing Text

I often put my titles right on top of my photos, but sometimes I want the words to flow off the picture, like this layout:

To create this overflowing text, I processed my picture and cropped it to an 8x10. Then I added the text, letting the words flow off the picture on purpose. (I confess: the clerk at photo printing spot I use looked at me a little bit strange when she handed me my pictures!) I made sure to write down both the fonts I used (Penelope Anne and Xiomara) and the font size. Then I cut the same words out, using the same fonts and sizes, with the Silhouette. Then I just stucked them down to the back side of the photo. (HERE is another example of this technique; scroll down to the first layout in the post.)

 

2. Frame Your Photo

Try framing your photo with words, like I did in this layout:

 Creating a frame with words is similar to creating a frame around words (like my post last month). You just create two offset squares (for the inner and outer frames). Select all four squares and choose subtract. Position the two frames as you wish, then add the text and weld. Or you can just download the frame I created:  Download Star spangled frame. It's sized for a 4"x5" photo.

 

3. Send your Photo Through the Silhouette

Try cutting your title out of a photograph, using empty space (sky, water, mountains, buildings, sand, or other landscape). When you send the photo through the cutter, make sure to change the type of medium to thick cardstock. You can use the positive letter shapes (which now have the texture of sky, or water, or mountains) or back the negative shape and use the entire photo, like I did in this layout:

This summer of mine might be odd, but it is reteaching me something: scrapbooking is a good thing! Reliving the days when all my kids were little isn't quite the same as actually living them was, but it is such a blessing to be able to revisit them.

Sunday Photo + Words

In Review

This month's gallery celebrated lists of ten. It's summertime and free time is at a premium. As we look for ways to streamline our pages and productivity, we realize that journaling is is a terrific place to do so. Let's look back through our gallery and make a list of lists we can make.

 

Summertime Scrapping with Kids

Hi Everyone! Katie Ehmann here with you today for a fun post about scrapping with your kids. My girls are 6 1/2 and almost 4, and they love doing crafts. Instead of buying pricey craft kits, I decided to use some of my old scrapbooking stash and let them go to town on a rainy day this week. I print all my photos at home and sometimes I print extras that I decide not to use on my own layouts, so I grabbed a stack of photos that I thought would be inspiring to them. They had an absolute blast choosing the perfect photo, pouring through a stack of patterned paper, and adding lots and lots (and lots!) of embellishments!

 

I have to say that I was pretty impressed at the time that they took with their layouts, and with how much they enjoyed the whole creative process! Here they are, proudly showing off their creations:

 

 

Are here are each of the layouts they created:

Lily, Age 6 1/2

Maya Age 3 1/2

Maya Age 3 1/2

Lily Age 6 1/2

Thanks so much for joining me today, and I hope you'll give scrapping with your kids a try this summer!

August Sneaks & Summer Photo Challenge #6

It's that time! Sadly, August is merely days away. Happily, that means there is a new gallery coming! Here are a handful of sneak peeks for your viewing pleasure:

Francine
JennyL
Laura
Aliza
Diane
Mel
AmyK
LisaO
Stephanie
Marnie
Valerie
Sue
AmyC
Christine

 

We couldn't leave you without a little bit of "homework" so we have a new installment in our summer photo challenge. 

summer's warmth

This can come from the golden rays of sun, the tan on your skin, the ice cubes sweating in your drink, the sunkisses in your hair. So many places to find the warmth of summer. Where will you find yours?

 

Don't forget to get a photo that can be cropped to a square, and to save it in a file that will be easy to access come August!

Thank you for stopping by! Hope you enjoy the sneaks!! Only 6 more days and counting...

Using chipboard shapes as a mask

 

I have been paper scrapbooking for about a year, and in this short amount of time I have amassed a remarkable stash. I am generally pretty good at using it up; occasionally, though, a few products get neglected, and it bugs me to have them just sitting there. It was the case for these chipboard speech bubbles by Pebbles. 

 

I love these shapes, but they are rather thick, and somehow I never quite manage to fit them on my pages. I have owned them for several months now, and only used one of them (on a card). So I challenged myself to use them somehow, and came up with the idea to use the shapes as masks. First, I misted some paint on journaling cards.

I chose "pretty pink" and "gold" Mister Huey as mists, and sprayed in a cardboard box to avoid getting paint all over.

When I started to build my page, I decided I could use a few more bubble shapes, so I traced a couple of bubbles on another journaling card, and cut them out. I also used an embossing pen to trace the outside of one speech bubble a few times directly on my background paper; I sprinkled silver embossing powder on top, and heated it up.

I added some stamping, stitching and letter stickers to finish up my page. And now I feel much better about that pack of chipboard bubbles that was just sitting there! Have you used supplies in ways they were not directly intended for? If you have some product that has been stumping you, I challenge you to find a way to put it to good use!

Summer Mini Album

Hi everyone!! It's Stephanie here today to share a fun little mini album I put together to document a family vacation we took over the Fourth of July.  

I love making little albums that I can hold right in my hands. And there is just something about making "mini" layouts that is so refreshing to me!  

For this album, I decided to use envelopes as pockets to hold my "mini layouts". I adhered six white 5x7 envelopes together and then used two pieces of fabric covered chipboard as my front and back covers. I used the beautiful The Pier collection from Crate Paper for this album. The colors are so perfect for any and everything summer!

Here is a peek at my completed album. The album itself is about 5.5x7.5 inches. I cut my chipboard a little larger than my envelopes so the edges of the envelopes wouldn't be seen. I sewed the fabric and ribbon onto the bases of my album prior to adhering the whole thing together.

I typed the place and date on a piece of vellum and then used one of The Pier frames to help make the text "pop". The "Summer 2013" card from Elle's Studio and the stickers from Crate Paper were perfect for finishing the cover.  

Using envelopes as your base "pockets" for a mini album are great because they allow you plenty of room to layer on your "mini layouts". As you can see, I like to keep my minis a little messy and love to keep the thread from my sewing machine or tags sticking out of the sides.

Here is a look at my finished pages, as well as a few close up photos...

I ended up with a few extra photos and not enough pockets so I created a "mini in a mini" to store those pictures! I used a piece of 4x11 inch white cardstock and scored it every 3". Then I folded it together, adhered my photos and glued it onto the last page in my album.

And that's it from me today!! I hope you enjoyed this little mini album and I hope I have inspired you to create a mini of your own! If you give it a try, please add it to our Flickr group and post a link in the comments below!! I can't wait to see what you create!!

xoxo,

Christmas in July

Carey Bridges here, and today I'm bringing you a little Christmas in July! Yes, you read that right...Christmas. Being in the heat of the summer in the middle U.S. makes me think of the cooler days ahead and how quickly the Holiday Season will be upon us. Plus, all of the sneaks peeks from the Craft and Hobby Association (CHA) Summer Conference and Trade Show have been tempting me with the gorgeous winter and holiday releases.

 

Since 2007, I have set out to capture my Christmas Season through daily documentation, whether you call it a Christmas journal, December Daily or Project Life. I've gotten anywhere from a completed journal (all the way through January 6th, the Twelfth Day of Christmas), to just notes on my phone and photos awaiting time to scrapbook them, to fizzling out after a week. 

 

As I look back over my various attempts and look forward to planning for Christmas 2013, I realize I’ve been successful at completing albums when I adhere to the following tips.

1. Keep it simple. I love decorating my pages, but when I give myself permission to keep it simple and just move on, the project is much more manageable.
2. Limit the choices. Generally by staying with one line and a few coordinating embellishments to repeat throughout the album, I spend less time looking for or picking out products and more time scrapbooking. Using one line also gives the album a more cohesive feel.
3. Prepare in advance. This is probably the most important key to success. I’m an “in the moment” kind of scrapper, and I love to play with my newest acquisitions. But for a big project like this, I prepare page bases beforehand that can be reordered in the album to fit the daily topic. I leave the embellishments and finishing touches for during the season. This keeps me from feeling too restrained and gives me the ability to change it up when I’m adding the photos and stories.
4. Don’t stress about falling behind. The Holidays are busy, and I do fall behind in documenting and creating. I set myself up for success by having page bases ready, by making sure I at least jot down a few notes each day, and also by telling myself it’s OK if I’m not caught up. I know my notes and photos are there for when I do get time to scrapbook them.

When I look through what I’ve captured from past Christmas seasons, through the various stages from notes all the way to completed albums, I am so happy to have those fleeting memories recorded!

How do you plan to capture your Christmas 2013?