Write. Click. Scrapbook.

Scrapbook. Scrapbooking traditions

 

Traditions are really visable this time of the year. I don´t think that my family has more traditions surrounding any other event during the year than during Christmas time. One of my favorites is acctually a rather new one. Five years ago we started getting together with a friend baking gingerbread. We missed 2012, but other than that I have scrapbooked the event ever year. 

 

This, above, is the first year. I love that my daughter aged 10 is there baking with the 2 year old of my friend! I remember I wanted to make a two page layout since I really wanted to capture all those shapes. My friend has like 200 different cookie cutters! It is so much fun!

 

This is our second year. One of my favorite things about this project (that of recording the same tradition every year) is to see how the girls grew in just a year. In the journaling you can read that the little girl has a little sister now and that we are hoping she will be baking alongside us the next year. 

 

 

 

As I mentioned above, we didn´t get to have a baking date the yer after the third year, but last year the little sister was indeed with us baking! My then 14 year old wasn´t :)  Last year I used my December mini to hold this story of tradition. We are having our annual baking date tomorrow and I can´t wait to add another year of this wonderful traditions to my album!

 Lisa

Making Christmas Unique

Hi, Sue Althouse here today, with some ideas for scrapping your Christmas. Even though Christmas is an annual holiday, I can always find something that sets each year apart from all the others. Like the year a drunk man in a Santa suit came in off the street and disrupted Christmas Eve service at my mother in-law’s church. (true story) Or the year Dad got roller blades. (we had 911 on speed dial)  You get the idea. Now, what will set your Christmas apart from all the others this year? Here are a few more examples.

 

One year, I had a simple plan to make a few Christmas cards for a few special people. Several weeks later, I had over 60 cards ready to mail! I don’t know where I lost control. Based on the number of people who took the time to tell me how much they loved their handmade card, it was worth it. But I’ve never attempted such a thing again.

 

Then there was the year I decided to go all out with my cookie-baking and made five different kinds of cookies using brand new recipes. My husband gladly helped me on this one or I never would have made it. The results were very successful, but I don’t plan on doing that again anytime soon.

 

Two years ago, there were heavy packages for me and my siblings from Dad, who usually leaves the gift giving to Mom. So that got our attention right away. We eagerly opened them to find on the inside...a brick. But we knew they were from our 1884 courthouse that had (sadly) been recently demolished. How many people would enjoy receiving a brick as much as we did? Now that’s some creative gift giving!

 

So I wonder what will define my Christmas this year. We have a new house to decorate and an 8-month old granddaughter to spoil. Both perfect candidates for a little excess, don’t you think? 

 

Printable Joy

The holiday spirit has descended upon us! For the next few Saturdays, we are suspending our Saturday Sketchbooks so that we may bring you the gift of freebies. This week may we present the Gift of Joy!

 

You may download it here. Please enjoy! Happy holidays...

One Topic Scrapbooking: Day Three

Welcome back! This is Amy Sorensen with day three of one-topic scrapbooking. (Day one is HERE, or click HERE for day two.) Once all of the planning (and shopping!) is finished, it’s time to start actually scrapbooking. I’ve only been able to scrap for one day this month so far, but I was able to finish two layouts in the morning I had. (I also finished two cups of hot chocolate, but that’ll be our secret…)

To get myself in the scrapping-Christmas mood, I turned on some music (Sarah McLachlan’s Christmas album) and picked a couple of my favorite photos from my stack. For the first one, I went with traditional Christmas colors and embellishments:

Everything I needed was already in my stack of holiday supplies, and I’d been thinking about the journaling for a couple of days, so it came together really quickly. One tip: if you cut anything out with your electronic cutter, spend an extra three or four minutes to cut something else out of the paper or cardstock you’re using. It will use up your awkwardly-shaped scraps and give you some extra embellishments that will quite likely match another layout. When I cut out the title for the above layout, I also cut out a Christmas tree and some ornaments. If I don’t use them on a layout, I’ll make a card with them.

For my second layout, I went with less-traditional colors. I have three boys and one girl, so when I get the chance to play with feminine colors, I grab it. I did have to grab a few things out of my pink drawer to pull this all together, but it added almost zero time to the process. I like that I used a mix of new (the “Naughty or Nice” embellishment) and older (everything else).

I feel like this is a good start on my month of scrapbooking Christmas. I’m feeling hopeful that with this process, I’ll be able to wrap up all of 2004 and 2005 before January gets here.

Whatever holiday memory-keeping process you follow, I hope your December is magical and beautiful and full of great stories!

One Topic Scrapbooking: Day Two

Hello! Amy Sorensen here, welcoming you back to day two of one-topic scrapbooking!

Once you’ve picked your topic and gathered some stories, you’re on to step three: process your photos. There’s a reason for doing this after you’ve researched your stories. It’s easier to know what photos to print, and in what sizes, if you already have an idea of the stories you’ll be telling.

I do the photo processing all at once just so I can get it over with…Photoshop always gives me a headache so I sort of dread this step! I think about which photos match up with which stories. I also start taking some notes about which photos I want to make single-photo layouts with and which ones I’ll group in a multi-photo spread. I find that as I work on processing my pictures, I start getting ideas for the layouts themselves, which photos to put together, ideas for titles and embellishments, even a hazy suggestion about the layout design. Writing these down helps me immensely when I’m ready to actually scrapbook!

I also tend to think about focal-point photos and supporting images. The focal-point photos aren’t always the best ones, technically. Quite often they’re just the best ones to tell the story. It’s really more about emotion than image perfection. (But when a photo is technically good and emotionally resonant…that is some photograph magic!) Once I’m done, I end up with an assortment of 5x7s, 6x8, 4x6s, 3x5s, and 3x4s:

 

(I gave up on printing at home a long time ago. I have my photos printed at Persnickety Prints because they always get it right and I live in the same town!) Once I have them all, I cut apart the 3x4s (I have them printed two up on a 4x6) and divide the pictures into piles based on my kids.

Once I’ve recuperated from my Photoshop headache, it’s time for step four (which is a pretty fun step!): gathering supplies.

If you know me at all, you might guess what my first piece of advice is: shop your stash! I have quite a bit of holiday-related stuff. So, for this round of one-topic scrapbooking, I started in my two Christmas drawers. Then I moved on to my red, green, brown, white, and metallic drawers. (You’d be surprised at how many non-holiday-themed supplies you can use on holiday layouts.) Since I’ve already processed my pictures, I have a good idea of the tones and styles of supplies that will work well with my images. I pick out the things I know I’m most likely to use, which are patterned papers and alphabet stickers. I picked an alphabet stamp or two to use. And I also find some more challenging supplies, items I’ve purchased because I liked them but haven’t used yet because I don’t know if they’re exactly me. I might end up still not using them, but there’s a better chance.

Then I think about what gaps I have, product I know I’ll want but am short on, and then I do a little bit of shopping!

At first, all of the supplies are sort of a hot mess:

 

But a little organization goes a long way. I separate out all of the smaller pieces and put them into a box, and then pile the patterned papers and 12x12 embellishment sheets together.

This group of supplies will stay on my desk the entire month. There’ll be a few times I have to dig into my stash again, but for the most part, I’ll just be working with those supplies. This makes the process go much faster, especially as the month progresses and I sift through the supplies more and more. It also helps me use quite a bit. As the month passes and I make more layouts, I start keeping patterned paper scraps in the embellishment box, too.

I try to get all of the first four steps finished before the first day of the month. It’s true: all of this pre-planning takes up some time. But the cool thing is, once you’ve done it, your layouts come together so quickly. I’m not the world’s slowest scrapper, probably, but I am pretty close, but having supplies, stories, and photos entirely ready helps my creative flow run much more smoothly.

Check back in tomorrow, when I’ll share some new layouts and some other tips and tricks.

Happy scrapping!

One Topic Scrapbooking: Day One

Hello! This is Amy Sorensen, and I have a confession to make: I am amazed by those of you who manage to do a December-daily type album every December. Because even though Christmas is one of my favorite scrapbooking topics, I almost never manage to get any scrapbooking done in December. Let alone a page a day! I’m always pulled in so many directions in December, and there is so much to do, that scrapbooking sort of falls by the wayside.

Instead, I usually spend a good portion of January scrapbooking the previous December’s Christmas photos. I think of this as one-topic scrapbooking: a concentrated effort to scrap a bunch of stories and photos with the same theme. I did this in November with Thanksgiving photos, and I decided that this year, I’m going to do another one-topic scrapbooking month: This December, I’m scrapbooking Christmas photos. (I know! It’s totally a novel idea.)

Let me explain my one-topic scrapbooking approach. I’ve done this several times during my years of scrapping. I pick a topic first. One year, for example, I did birthday layouts in May. I’ve focused entire Septembers on autumn photo shoots, Octobers on Halloweens, and yes, Christmas in January. One year I did beach vacations all February! Aside from any scrapbooking assignments I have, I only scrapbook that topic for the entire month. My goal is to focus my efforts on getting a lot of layouts finished. I want to enjoy the writing and creating process, but I want to finish with a bunch of stories put on paper and pictures moved from my hard drive to my bookshelves. There’s a sense of satisfaction in checking off the layouts. Plus, focusing on just one topic helps me to be more productive because:

1. I leave all of my themed supplies sitting out all month. I get more and more familiar with what I have as I make more layouts, and I use more of what I have, especially patterned paper scraps.

2. Older stories come easier to mind. There’s something that happens with such a concentrated focus…I remember stories and experiences I didn’t write down.

3. It makes me happy! Working on the same topic gets me excited about going to my scrapbooking table, and that enthusiasm helps me get more done. (Not that I’m not already excited to scrapbook, but…this feels different.)

For the next few days, I’m going to be sharing my one-topic scrapbooking approach with you. Maybe it will inspire you to do something similar!

The first step is picking your topic. I like to do something that relates to the current season, because it helps to reinforce how the month feels. During my November of scrapping Thanksgiving photos, I felt more anticipation for Thanksgiving day than I usually do. I also arrived at the meal with a whole bunch of ideas for photos I wanted to take. (Photos I didn’t actually get to take because my big camera was being repaired and my sister, who’d agreed to let me use hers, had a dead battery.) Your topic doesn’t have to be related just to holidays, however. You could do spring layouts in March, or vacation photos in August. Or a thematic approach…how about a bunch of photos you love during February?

For this round of one-topic scrapbooking, I already knew I’d be doing Christmas photos. I decided to finally work on my pictures from 2004 and 2005. These are years I’ve scrapped nearly none of my stories, partly because I was teaching and then I had a new baby, partly because I had some issues I hadn’t yet resolved. Letting the pictures sit for a while (almost a decade still counts as “a while,” yes?) gave me some much-needed distance and perspective on those issues. I think I can see more clearly what has meaning and what stories didn’t have to be told.

Plus, I rediscovered this photo, and oh, my. How have I not scrapped this photo yet?

(My relationship to it has changed entirely, though. I didn’t know how it really felt to have three little kids who all still believed in Santa Claus until I had three big ones who don’t anymore.)

The second step is doing some research. This is especially important if you’re working with older photos. Your goal is to reacquaint yourself with your stories. Where do you write things down—your blog? Your Facebook or Twitter page? A journal? I’ve even remembered stories by looking through my old check register. Even just looking through your pictures will help your memory spark. Take some notes about the stories you want to tell.

Tomorrow I’ll write about steps three and four! 

Tell me—have you ever done anything like my one-topic scrapbooking approach?

Click | Documenting Ornaments

There is something magical about the twinkling lights of a Christmas tree. Nothing makes me happier than gathering in the family room at night to enjoy time with the family under the glow of the tree.

Add in some hot cocoa, a roaring fire in the fireplace and a couple of my favorite holiday movies and I couldn't be happier.

It really is magical, don't you agree?!

But, what really makes the tree so special to me are the ornaments we hang on it every year. Most of the ornaments were either given to me, I inherited them or they were hand picked by me. When unwrapping the ornaments I like to reminisce about where I got it or who gave it to me.

The majority of the ornaments are snowman/winter themed, but really anything goes. When you are decorating your tree take time to snap a few photos of those that are special and make a page.

Photos to take:

• Clusters of ornaments (before hanging)
• Ornaments hanging in the tree
• The entire tree (with and without presents)
• Decorating the tree
• Family gathered around the tree

Don't forget the tree topper (and in this case the adorable helper). Since we were married we have always put a star on the top of our tree. This one made it for 23 years before it quit working. I searched high and low for another star to replace this one.

Here is a list of questions that will help you document the story or your ornaments and tree topper. Your loved ones will want to know where all these ornaments came from someday!

• Where did the ornament come from?
• Who gave it to you?
• Why is it special?
• What do you put on the top of your tree? Why?

One of these days I'll make a mini album documenting all my favorites and I'll use these questions to ensure I'm documenting their story.

Documenting December

 

Hi, it's Cristina here, and today I want to show you my December Daily albums. The most wonderful time of the year is starting soon.. and I am starting to make plans on how I want to document December this year.

I have completed a December Daily album in each of the past four years, and I am at it again this year for the fifth album. This really is my favorite project. I love Christmas, and I love documenting it.

In these past four years, I have taken different approaches to putting my album together, and I want to share my impressions with you. Each of these four albums was put together using my stash.

My 2010-2013 albums

In 2010, I used a 2-ring album. The pages were all hybrid, and I used my Silhouette extensively. In 2011, which was once again all hybrid, I assembled the album using my Cinch. In 2012 and 2013 I used pocket scrapbooking. Here's a look at the inside of the albums.

I love combining different shapes and textures in the album - you can see how I used bubble wrap at the front of my 2010 album and vellum at the front of the 2011 and 2013 albums.

What I liked & what I want to change

 And here is a peek at some random pages in my albums.

As you can see, in my 2010 album I combined a lot of different shapes of pages. I love this and want to do it again in 2014!

In 2011, I added lots of journaling to tell my Christmas stories. I used each 2-page spread per day, one story per day. I want to do this again in 2014!

In all my albums, the number of the day is featured prominently. I want to do this again in 2014!

The pocket-album approach I used in 2012 and 2013 made it very quick and easy to put together my album and I was able to use up a lot of journal cards from my stash, but I found myself writing less. I also dislike that the different textures get lost behind a plastic protector.  I will not do a pocket album in 2014.

My process

In 2010, my first December Daily, I pre-made all the pages because I was traveling for most of December. I ended up not being able to keep up with the album during my trip, and finished it a few months later. The other three years I worked on my album as we went. In 2013 I actually fell behind and I finished my album after the summer. I definitely lose inspiration if I don't work on my album in December, so I will try to stay current as much as I can. But I know now not to worry if that fails, because I can catch up when things slow down. In any case, I find that waiting to have my pictures in front of me works best, rather than having all the foundation pages made first. I will make a list of Christmas topics to use for the days in which I don't have any Christmas-related story to tell.

And now.. I'd love to hear from you! Are you looking forward to December? What are your plans for documenting this month? Leave me a comment and let me know!

In Review

It is the final Saturday of the month which means we are here together for one last reflection upon and look into this month's gallery. We hope you enjoyed our layouts and felt inspired to create your own lovely layouts. Here are a few suggestions for making the most of our December gallery, Holiday Traditions.

 

Here are six journaling ideas for you from our gallery.

Advent Legos | Jennifer Larson

12 x 12 | materials cardstock (Bazzill) + patterned paper (Fancy Pants) + buttons (Fancy Pants) + stickers (Fancy Pants) + ink (Stampin’ Up!) + gems (Mark Richards, Stampin’ Up!) + die cuts (Fancy Pants) + die cutting system (Silhouette Cameo) + fonts (Lobster)

Make a layout detailing all that is involved with a family tradition.

 

Evolution of His Chanukah Lists | Aliza Deutsch

12 x 12 | materials cardstock (American Crafts, Bazzill Basics Paper) + patterned paper (BasicGrey, Jillibean Soup, Cocoa Daisy) + brads (My Mind’s Eye) + thickers (Pebbles inc) + mist (Tattered Angels) + stickers (My Mind’s Eye, BasicGrey) + tape (My Mind’s Eye) + wood veneer(Cocoa Daisy) + embellishments (BasicGrey)

Record the changes in the lists of your kids. Include their take on what is happending as well.

 

Graham Cracker Houses | Kate Christensen

12 x 12 | materials digital kits cardstock (Cardstock Essentials No.3 by Karla Dudley) + patterned paper (Here Comes Santa Claus Collaboration by Gennifer Bursett, Mye De Leon, Robyn Meierotto, and Shannon McNab) + template (My Treats by Amy Martin, modified) + buttons, flowers (Here Comes Santa Claus Collaboration by Gennifer Bursett, Mye De Leon, Robyn Meierotto, and Shannon McNab) + tag (Tag You're It by Robyn Meierotto) + arrows (Wood Veneer: Arrows by Sahlin Studio) + doily (This is Why Collaboration by Mye De Leon and Gennifer Bursestt) + alpha (Here Comes Santa Claus Collaboration by Gennifer Bursett, Mye De Leon, Robyn Meierotto, and Shannon McNab) + mist (Toolbox Mists V.7 by Gennifer Bursett; mists by Adrienne Looman) + action (Digital Glitters by Sahlin Studio) + fonts (Traveling Typewriter, Violation)

Did you have a change in a regular tradition this year? Record the change and the reason for it.

  

First Photo with Santa | Valerie O'Neall

12 x 12 | materials cardstock (American Crafts) + patterned paper (My Mind's Eye) + printed chipboard (My Mind's Eye) + thickers (American Crafts) + phrase sticker (My Mind's Eye) + number stickers (Dear Lizzy/American Crafts) + mist (Studio Calico) + pen (Copic) + punch (EK Success)

Take time to explain your beliefs on a layout. And how those beliefs shape your holiday traditions.

  

Fave December Moments | Diane Payne

8.5 x 11 | materials cardstock (Studio Calico) + patterned paper (Glitz) + buttons (A Flair for Buttons, Glitz, Prima) + labels (Glitz) + mist (Heidi Swapp) + stickers (Glitz)

Record a childhood holiday memory.

 

Holiday Card Trouble | Marnie Flores

12 x 12 | materials patterned paper (Glitz) + fonts (Ostrich Sans, Bebas, Letter Gothic)

Don't be afraid to document a holiday "failure."

 

 

Here are six photography ideas from our Holiday Traditions gallery. 

Happy Mail | Celeste Smith

12 x 12 | materials kit (One Little Bird: Happy Mail) + kit (Valorie Wibbens Sprinkles v10) + stitching (Sahlin Studio Stitches v1)+ font (Underwood Champion)

Try to get a shot of you or your kids mid-tradition. It's totally okay to pose this kid of shot, too!

 

Gingerbread House| Amy Coose

12 x 12 | materials cardstock (Bazzill) + patterned paper (Chic Tags) + letter stickers (Chic Tags) + labels/tags (Chic Tags) + mist(Studio Calico) + stickers (Company Name) + rubons (Chic Tags) + pen (American Crafts) 

A full shot and a detail shot make a lovely pairing for recording a family tradition.

 

Starting Traditions | Francine Clouden

12 x 12 | materials cardstock (Bazzill Basics Paper) + spray ink (Kesi’Art) + pearls (KaiserScrapbook) + rhinestones (Making Memories) + patterned paper (Studio Calico) + journal card (Jenni Bowlin) + letter stickers (Sassafras Lass) + chipboard stars (Heidi Swapp) + sticker phrases (Cosmo Cricket) + sequins + acrylic star pin + printable tags

Think of all the ways we use our hands to create during the holidays. Getting shots like Francine's preserve not just the traditions but the hands that make them.

 

Elf Tradition | Cristina C. Scrap

12 x 12 | materials patterned paper (BasicGrey) + alphas (BasicGrey, American Crafts) + stickers (BasicGrey) + wood veneer, sequins (Studio Calico) + pen (American Crafts) + washi tape (Cavallini & Co.) + adhesives (Martha Stewart glue pen, Zig 2way glue, foam dots) + stamps (Stampers Anonymous, Tim Holtz, Kelly Purkey) + ink (Versafine Tsukineko, Ranger Archival ink) + embossing powder (American Crafts) + heat gun

So many of us have an elf visitor--why not record each visit, or at least the stand outs?

 

New Traditions | Lisa Ottosson

8.5 x 11 | materials journaling cards (Crate Paper, Becky Higgins) + rub-ons (Creative Imaginations) + labels (Crate Paper) + doily (Michael`s) + pen (Sharpie)

Don't forget the bokeh shot of your tree!

  

Made with Love | Stephanie Bryan

12 x 12 | materials | cardstock (American Crafts) + patterned paper (Carta Bella, Chic Tags) + stickers (Glitz Design) + rub ons (Chic Tags) + tags (Chic Tags)

Switch to your macro lens or setting and roam the house for a few detail shots that help document your holiday festivities.

 

 

And finally, six ideas for designing your pages.

Christmas Cards 2012 | Sue Althouse

12 x 12 | materials cardstock (Bazzill) + patterned paper (Echo Park) + thickers (American Crafts) + square punch (Creative Memories)

49 photos or card tidbits fit on one layout. Truly! Let's try it!

 

Enjoy the Show | Amy Kingsford

8.5 x 11 | materials patterned paper (Chris Collection by Karla Dudley) + flair (Chris Collection by Karla Dudley) + veneer (Wood arrows by Robyn Meierotto) + alpha (Shadow by creashens) + stickers (Chris Collection by Karla Dudley) + masks (brushies no. 1 by creashens, watercolor splatters by Celeste Knight) + template (Quick Scraps No. 2 by Anita Designs) + fonts (Orator, Great Vibes)

Painting on patterned paper lightens the pattern allowing you to journal right on top of the paper.

 

Since 2009 | Monika Głód

12 x 12 | materials cardstock (American Crafts) + patterned paper (Studio Calico) + transparent overlay (Studio Calico) + alphabet (American Crafts)

Try stitching over a stamped images. Yes, it's just for fun, not to hold anything down, but look how pretty!

 

Joy & Wish| WaiSam Ho

12 x 12 | materials patterned paper (Elle's Studio, American Crafts) + wood veneers (Studio Calico, Freckled Fawn) + stickers (American Crafts) + alphabets (American Crafts) + flowers (Prima Marketing, Inc.) + stickers (American Crafts) + stamps (American Crafts) + ink (Prima Marketing Inc) + dies (My Favourite Things) + stickles + adhesives (Elmer's Tacky Glue) + sewing machine (Brother)

Ofttimes we try to coordinate two pagers bu making them look similar. Or do it Sam's way with similar design but dissimilar colors. So interesting!

  

My first DD | Jina Jean

12 x 12 | materials patterned paper (Fancy Pants, Allison Kreft Designs, Chic Tags) + brad (Crate Paper) + ephemera (Pink Paislee)+ sticker (Pink Paislee) + tag (Chic Tags) + mini bag (Allison Kreft Designs) + clips (Allison Kreft Designs)

Use watercolors to add a pop of color and create a color scheme that coordinates with your embellishments.

 

Tradition | Lisa Ottosson

Use a collection of photographs from years'  past to put together a compilation layout.

 

That's it! 18 more ideas for creating amazing pages. And only four more days until a brand new gallery to inspire you even more! Thank you for stopping by!!

Christmas Eve

 

Merry Christmas Eve, I hope you are all ready for the big day tomorrow.  I have accumulated quite a few traditions during this time of year, and I am usually a bit of a wreck by this time of the holidays trying to make sure we've done (and I've captured) as many as we possibly can.  This year, I decided to try and cut down on the stress and the tears that come with capturing some of these traditions.  Case in point-one of my favorite Christmas Eve traditions is taking a family photo in our pj's in front of the Christmas tree.  After a full day of stuff, Christmas Eve mass, and a big family dinner, you can imagine how excited my kids were to sit for a big photoshoot.  This year I decided to take the picture a few days early, and there were no tears and no screaming fits from me, which was a big win in my book.

In the long run, it won't matter that this wasn't done on Christmas Eve. In fact, I'm pretty sure I won't even remember when I took it.  What I will remember was that I was able to capture this sweet family moment. I hope your family has a wonderful Christmas, and that you are enjoying creating many family traditions of your own.