Write. Click. Scrapbook.

Photographing Your Back-to-School Story

Hi everyone, Amy here and welcome back for another day of Back to School reflection!

I have a printable photo checklist for you, as well as some helpful tips, but first, let’s consider for a moment the role that we want photos to play in our Back to School memory keeping.

For me photos play a pretty big role in documenting our “Back-to-School Story.” And as a result I typically plan an extra half hour into our first day and have a small list of planned photos that I like to take each year.

Certain photographs I aim to take in the same spot so that I can effectively capture physical changes that occur from year to year.

These photos of my son were taken by our front door--the first one in 2012, then in 2013 and again this year.  With a similar background in each photo, I think the differences really pop!

 

There are specific things I like to capture each year to show how my boys’ interests change over the years.

And I feel like my son's choice in shoes from year to year say a lot about his changing personality:

 

 

I've also tried to make a habit of documenting his first activity in class each year.  

In 2012 my son's class did a quick art project together on Back to School Night and in 2013 my son's first activity as a Kindergartner was to write his name: 

 

These are just a few of the photos that I take each year, but they've become an important part of capturing our "Back-to-School Story." 

 

A Back-to-School Photo Checklist

 

Below is a photo checklist that you can download with plenty of ideas to help you visually record your “Back-to-School Story”. This is an all-encompassing list of which some of the photo ideas may not interest or apply to you, but this way there are enough ideas for everyone to find one or two to try out this year!

You can download the printable checklist here.

A Few Final Tips

 In conclusion I'd like to leave with some final bits of advice to help you prepare for capturing those back to school memories.

1. Think about getting haircuts and/or selecting outfits beforehand.
2. To avoid showing up late for the first day, remember to plan time into your routine for photos or consider taking some of the photos on another day or possibly even after your kids return from their first day at school. 
3. Think outside of the box and try out different angles and perspectives.
4. Get in close to record the details. 
5. Take time to sit back and capture the emotions associated with going back to school.
6. Consider adjusting your camera’s ISO for indoor photos, this should help you to combat the unflattering effects of florescent lighting present in many schools.
7. If the thought of dragging out your “big girl camera” and all of your equipment feels like too much of a hassle, consider using your trusty point and shoot or even your phone to capture a few back-to-school shots.

 

Join me tomorrow for lots of ideas and inspiration for piecing together your Back-to-School stories and photos on your scrapbook pages, I look forward to seeing you!

Writing Your Back-to-School Story

 

Hi All! Amy here and it’s Back-to-School Week at the Kingsford-Collard home--so I’ve decided to focus on that during the next three days that I’ll be spending with you as your Write.Click.Scrapbook hostess.

Back-to-School time has always been a big deal for me ever since I was a child. And so it has become a part of my family’s life that I take special care in preparing for and documenting. As a result I enjoy sharing our story with others via blog posts, scrapbook pages and the likes.

In fact every year I typically write a big blog post heavy on words and photos, documenting the event—from finding the perfect new backpack and shoes, to this year’s homemade teacher gift, to my own excitement and anxiety about the triumphs and challenges that lie ahead for my boys.

If you're interested in taking a look here are links to my Back to School 2012 Post and my Back to School 2013 Post.

 

 

This year, however I found myself a little overwhelmed by the task of putting together a “big Back-to-School post.” You see my son broke his arm this last week and a lot of the energy I would have normally put into back-to-school has gone into making sure he’s comfortable and taking special care of his arm so that we might avoid surgery.

But that’s not the only reason I’ve been avoiding the topic of Back-to-School it’s because everything still feels very much up in the air and somewhat overwhelming...

 

 

"Will he be joining his classmates on the first day of school? Or will he be recovering from surgery?"

"How will missing out on Back-to-School Night and the first day of school impact his ability to cope with being at a new school?"

"How will having a cast affect his learning, participation in school activities and his efforts to make new friends?"

 

All of these questions make it difficult for me to focus on the fun and excitement that surrounds this time, but they also have me realizing that no matter what, all of this is still an important part of our “Back-to School Story” this year.

So while we may be holding off for now on making our home-made teacher gift and taking our Back-to-School photos and we may end up having to skip Back-to-School Night and the first day of school, the one thing I’m not going to put off or skip this year is recording this part of our “Back-To School Story.”

 

Back to School? by Amy Kingsford | Supplies: Mommyish Designs and Digital Scrapbook Ingredients: Seek Happiness Collab; Celeste Knight: School is Cool; Creashens: Band of Rubbers; Laura Passage: Filed Away.

 

Journaling: 

Back-to-school time has normally been a fun and exciting event for our family in years past. Caleb couldn’t be more excited to start first grade, but for some reason I was a little more anxious about things this year. Caleb was attending his first public school, in which his class size alone would be three times that of his previous class.

Every time I drove past his new big school it made my tall and lanky six year-old seem so much smaller. I would wonder if he’d thrive in the hustle and bustle or if he’d simply just disappear.

As if all of these feelings weren’t enough to completely stress a mother out, one week before the start of school Caleb broke his arm. And all of the sudden everything seemed up in the air. I was left to wonder: “Would Caleb be going to school on the first day? Or would he be recovering from surgery? How would missing out on Back-to-School Night and the first day of school impact his ability to cope with being at a new school? How would having a cast affect his learning, participation in school activities and his efforts to make new friends?”

It almost gets to be too much to handle and then I look at my son and he’s carrying around his backpack and picking out his outfit for the first day of school (changing his mind every couple of days) and I realize that he is no less than ecstatic to be starting school--cast or no cast, this week or next. All I have to do is take one look at that smile and I just know that everything is going to be alright!

 

What does your Back to School Story look like?

 

There is no denying that the excitement, overwhelm and even the anxiety that surround this time of year are a big part of our stories. The printable below includes several prompts to get you thinking/writing about some of these feelings and how they fit into YOUR “Back to School Story.” 

 

 

You can download this printable here.

I hope you’ll join me tomorrow for tips on photographing Back-to-School and there will be a printable Back to School Photo Checklist for you too!

Sunday Photo + Words

Sketchbook Saturday

Hello! How are you? Has school started yet? Not here, gratefully. I am looking forward to the peace and quiet, but am not in any way ready with school supplies, the teacher assignments, the getting up early. (Though in ten days I will be singing praises for a return to routine, and having a schedule back. Ten days. Which means nine to get ready, I suppose?!)

 

Until then, I continue to sneak in layouts when I can. This week, I made a sketch from Jennifer's gallery layout,

as it seemed like a wonderful layout from which to create one with its ten photos!!

 

Look how it turned out.

 

 

When it came to making my layout, I moved the photos to a middle strip. It seemed a little more orderly with my photos having so much color, design, and varied perspectives. I think it was the right decision.

 

 

Amy switched it up a bit, too, using fewer photo, but still maintaining the spirit of the sketch.

 

And let's not forget that our sketches work equally well for cards. Kate made a lovely one as a reminder.

That one will certainly be making an appearance at my house! Love that!

 

If you would like to purchase a limited time offering of the layered template, you may do so by clicking below!

Thank you for choosing to spend some time with us this weekend!! We adore you!

birthday birthday! (it's a giveaway!)

Hey there! It's my birthday! Okay well technically it isn't until tomorrow, but I didn't think the big boss lady would take kindly to me highjacking her Sketch Saturday post!

In honor of my birthday I'd like to share the joy a bit. Please leave five comments on Write.Click.Scrapbook posts from the past week or so. Then come back here and let me know you done did it. Make sure we have a way of getting in touch with you. Then I will enter your name in a drawing for a $20 gift certificate to the online store of your choice. Doesn't even have to be a scrapbook store. Whatever you like!

What are you waiting for? Go leave some love for my teammates! I'll have Marnie draw a name on Monday.

 

EDITED TO ADD: The giveaway is now closed. The giveaway lucky number was Margaret who posted on August 15, 2014 at 12:55pm. Margaret, please email us at writeclickscrapbook at gmail dot com at your earliest convenience. Thank you!

 

Happy Happy,

Summer Summaries

Summer is quickly winding down - far too fast it seems - and if you are like me, you have a nice little pile of random photos from this all too brief season. After all, we take more photos in the summer than any other time of year. These casual shots likely do not warrant their own individual layouts, but neither do they deserve to be tossed in the trash. Today I'm going to present several ideas for combining these pictures on layouts that will help you summarize the summer season.

 

1. Unite Your Photos with A Map

Aside from The Big Vacation (it was the beach for us this year), we love to take little day trips that are closer to home. This layout combines one photo from each place we visited and a map that neatly summarizes our wanderings. That was such a fun summer!

2. Unite Your Photos by Location

The pool, the park, the zoo...think of all the places you frequent every summer and take photos every time you go. Do you really want to scrap a separate layout for each visit? No, me neither. A summer summary layout is the perfect solution. In this case, I stayed very close to home with a layout about the summer world that lies right outside my door.

 

3. Unite Your Photos with a Color Scheme

One year I selected a few random photos, added some fun product and created a summary layout based on color. The yellow, green and black palette reminds me of summer and I was able to unite the page even further with my journaling. Color always makes me happy.

 

4. Unite Your Photos with a Letter of the Alphabet

Look at the objects in your photos. Can you select a grouping that all begin with the same letter of the alphabet and use that to create a summer summary layout? That's exactly what I did here using the letter "B". This is still one of my favorite summer pages.

 

5. Unite Your Photos with a Common Theme

Summer eating is glorious. So much fresh produce, casual meals eaten outdoors, and ice cream. Lots of ice cream. We constantly snap pictures of summer food and I have actually created an entire layout about corn on the cob, but that is another story. This summer summary page uses photo strips of 2x2 shots to capture our favorite summer foods. Now I'm hungry!

 

There you go, five ideas for organizing and scrapping those stray summer photos. So many summer memories deserve a place in our scrapbooks. Combining them strengthens those memories and their impact on our lives. Happy scrapping!

Summer Mini Book

Hi everyone! It's Aliza here today, and I have a little summer mini album to share with you all. I'll be honest, the album isn't finished, but then again, neither is my summer just yet. 

Going into this summer, I knew that we did not have any grand vacation plans. But our long, lovely days have been filled with work, small trips, and activities close to home. Lots of these days did not have any stories to go along with them, but still I wanted to capture all the ways we stayed busy before the summer is all gone.

 

The Inspiration 

Now a little while ago, I bought this adorable little blank, hardcover book. It's been sitting in my desk waiting for the perfect project. Then, an even littler while ago, I came across an Edward Gorey mini book, called The Eclectic Abcedarium. It's small (like my little, adorable blank book), with tiny drawings, and few words, and when I held it in my hands, I immediately felt inspired to tackle my own mini book.

 

The Project

So, without further ado, my mini book, inspired by Edward Gorey, but that looks nothing like Edward Gorey's work, because really, I am not on that level of wonderful. And, also, there are no deliciously creepy illustrations in my mini album. (Except perhaps the dinosaur skeleton holding a ball of playdough.)

The Takeaway

1. Even if your entire summer was spent close to home, and even at work, there is still plenty to record.

2.  Do you have a product you've been wanting to use? Challenge yourself to find a way to use it.

3. Find some artwork that you love, and use that as inspiration for your next project. Even if the end product bears little resemblance to the original. (Except for maybe a dinosaur skeleton holding play dough.)

Thanks for letting me share my process with you!

 

 

Click. Telling a Story Through Photos

 

Happy Tuesday! It's Cristina here with some photography inspiration for you. I want to encourage you to take a series of photos, and I will show you how this helps to tell a story.

Everyday Photographs

I love to document the everyday, the little things in my life. I often end up with random snapshots of different events. But sometimes these photos are related, and help me tell a story.

Here is a simple example. My husband tried a new dessert recipe, and it was really good. Here's a photo of the end result.

 

It's a pretty photo, sure. But there's more to this story.

Storytelling Through A Series of Photographs

I also took photos during the final preparation, and an additional shot with my first spoonful.

 

Do you get the idea?

These pictures were taken within seconds/minutes of each other, but in other cases to tell your stories you will need photographs taken days, months, or even years apart. Here's another example, with photos taken at a few days' distance. We had a robin nest in our back yard, and we followed the progression from eggs, to hatchlings, to full-fledged birds.

Each of these photos, individually, is a memorable photo, but together they tell a story.

I hope you've been inspired to be more intentional in your picture taking, and tell a story through a photo series.

NOTE: The photos in this post were arranged using collage templates by Designs by Lili at The Lilypad.

Just Write | Journal Challenge

Hello! I have a journaling challenge for you today. The challenge is to write about a place or an object.

I make so many layouts about the people in my life, but sometimes places and objects need layouts too. A couple months ago our foster daughter left our home and returned to her mother. It's been both a time of mourning for us as well as a time for celebration! Mom and daughter are doing great. Now that we're back to only our child, an older more independent one, I've been working through the hundreds of photos I took of her and am starting on a scrapbook for her. She loved her room at our house and it deserves it's own page in her book.

This is my layout that inspired the challenge:  

 

 It's a double page 6x8 size for a Studio Calico Handbook album. Super simple with a photo collage on the right and typed out journaling on the left with some American Crafts Thickers and My Mind's Eye enamel shapes.

 I'd love to see how you interpret the challenge. Link up your layouts in the comments section. Thanks for stopping by today!

Sunday Photo + Words