Write. Click. Scrapbook.

April Week 4 Challenge: Big + Little

Guys. You should see my pile of layouts I need to put away. I think there are more than 300, literally. Actually, probably more, because it’s been more than three years since I’ve put layouts into albums. (Needless to say, it’s not my favorite task.)

So over the past few weeks, I’ve been sorting layouts to get them ready for albums. And honestly, it’s been pretty awesome. There are layouts I totally forgot I made, and stories I’ve loved revisiting. And, as I’ve been sorting, I’ve been making lists. What works? What doesn’t? What techniques or approaches should I use more often? This is helping me make new layouts much more quickly because I have a sort of bank to pull ideas from.

One of the things I’ve noticed that I like (but don’t do very often) is the pairing of something big and something little. I like the contrast and the way that the big + little pairing almost makes the little thing that draws your eye first.

So this week, the WCS challenge is a pretty easy one: mix something big with something little. I’ll share several examples over the week, and I hope you’ll play along by linking here or joining the challenge on Instagram.

On this layout, my big thing is the 6x10 photo and my little thing is the 2x3 picture. I intentionally printed one big, one small, but I had no idea what story I’d write until I had the pictures in my hands, and they made me think about the boys in my life; the journaling grew from there.

Stay tuned for more big + little layouts. Happy scrapbooking!

Scrapbook | Using a Digital Kit to Make a Mini Volume 3

It's a new day and a new kit and a new mini. I am so very excited for this one. It's almost May which means almost Mother's Day, so I went hunting for a kit I could use to make a mini for my mom from me and the kids. I did a little happy dance when I came across Postscript from One Little Bird Designs. 

 

Following my general strategy of simple is stunning, I put together pages where each of us can write a short love note. Opposite to this page will be a photo of the author. Nothing fancy. But it will be a hit, I am sure. Here is how it came out, minus the photos and the notes themselves.

The ps page is for an extra tidbits. And the final page is the back cover. I am delighted with how it turned out and just know my mom is going to love it, too.

How about you? Any thoughts about Mother's Day albums?

soon,

Sketchbook Saturday

 

Apparently I was wrong last week about thinking that all the schools were out. Now, I think they nearly all are! Let's celebrate with a new sketch. Something to help you get a page done quickly and easily. Something that can be dressed up or scaled down. 

This week, I picked a layout with just one photo. When I saw Laura's layout, I sighed with love.

Maybe it is the lovely square center. Or perhaps the hanging bulbs. Or maybe the transparent title rectangles. Or maybe just the easy simplicity of it all. Or maybe all of the above. :) No matter the reason, it just had to find it's way into a sketch and into a layout for me.

 

Here is how the sketch turned out.

 

And here is how my layout turned out. I am so happy with it!

I can't wait to see the layouts you make with it!

And don't forget, if you would prefer a layered digital template, you may get one for a mere 99 cents for a limited time! Just click below!

I hope that you enjoy the sketch and that it helps you make a layout or two! Happy Saturday!

Scrapbooking & Other Crafts | Watercolours Day 2

Hello again! I hope that the showcase yesterday gave you the inspiration to try using watercolours on your projects. Today we'll look at a few more projects from the write.click.scrapbook team, and I'll share links to even more resources. Plus. there's something for the digi and hybrid scarppers too!

 

 Laura sent me these two beautiful cards that she used watercolour techniques on. The first uses a simple colour washed background similar to yesterday's layouts.

On the Mother's Day card, she coloured in the stamped flowers with watercolours. Here's a tutorial from Elizabeth Kartchener showing how you can use a water brush to work with watercolours. It's the perfect way to do the kind of colouring that Laura did.

Another way of using watercolors is with watercolour crayons. Donna Downey shows how in this video.

I used them on a non-scrapping project a few months ago too.

You can get watercolor effects without using actual watercolours. Sometimes stamping inks will work!

See how this card was created over at PaperCrafts, and learn two other techniques too.

Using these techniques isn't just for paper scrappers! You can even find digital versions of painting effects to use on digital or hybrid pages.

 

This gorgeous page from Laura uses a background that is a digital rendering of gesso and paint. You can find the kit this paper is from here.

I found this digital watercolour set too:

Watercolor splashes by Celeste Knight

Now you can splash and splatter without making a mess!

Finally, here's a set of free watercolor backgrounds.

So what do you think? Will you try watercoloring on a project?

Tomorrow we'll talk about embroidery and crosstitch, so get your needles and floss ready!

 

 

What I've learned from my Mother

Welcome back to our Mother's Day Celebrations and Preparations! I am here to tackle the topic, "What I've Learned from my Mother." Sounds like a simple enough task, but I sit here wondering, "Hmm, where to begin? It's hard to know where to start, because, well, human babies learn about the world right from day one, through all the interactions and experiences with their environment and those around them. So we have learned from our mothers (and fathers, but we'll talk more about that in June) in countless different ways. And, as a mother, there is so much we want to teach our children before they move off on their own. How, oh how, to capture it all?

 

Tell A Story

Somtimes it's hard to wear your heart on your sleeve, or on your scrapbook page, but by simply capturing a story, you are saying, "This made an impact on me." And, a story about a person can capture their personality much more easily than putting all your thoughts and feelings into words. Here's a specific story about my mom; she recently fell and hurt her shoulder, and in her own retelling of the events of that day, her unflappable positive attitude came through. And that is just one of the reasons, my sister gave my mother the name, "Miss Mary Sunshine."

I feel quite lucky to have been surrounded by that positive energy and outlook throughout my life.

What about you? What story can you tell about your mother that refelcts who she is?

 

Describe a Memory

Is there a food, ritual, or object that always makes you think about your mother or grandmother? Take a picture of the item, and simply describe the memory it evokes. I am always reminded of my grandmother when I make Charoseth for Passover. Here, it's not about capturing a grand, life lesson, but rather a small moment, where all I learned was how to peel apples and chop some walnuts. 

 

Looking Forward

Lisa and Amy both scrapped about what they have or hope to have taught their own children. 

Amy said that Mother's Day always makes her stop and think about how she's doing as a mom, and this was what she thought about. I suggest you read it closely. There are life lessons for all of us in there, and it's kind of a tear jerker. (Her daughter is off to college soon!)

 

Lisa, cleverly, asked her daughter to write down a few things that she learned from her. Her answer says, "to be nice to others, craft, take photos."

 

When Lisa mentioned that she asked her daughter this question, I shuddered to think what my sons would answer if I posed the same question to them. I knew they would use it as an opportunity to mock me. But growing up with Miss Mary Sunshine, I guess I have learned not to take things too seriously, and to enjoy  a good laugh. So, when my son answered, "I learned that Totty is the better parent," I scrapped it anyway. One of the things I enjoy most about motherhood, is being surrounded by people who make me laugh. Even if it is at my expense. 

Mother's Day Gift Idea: a Card

For today' gift idea, we are kickin' it old school, with a simple Mother's Day Card:

Thanks for joining me today! I hope you have found some inspiration here this week to document the mothers in your life, and, perhaps, to reflect on your own role as a mother. I think I have found enough inspiration this week to keep me going until next Mother's Day!

Mother's Day Celebrations

Each night as I tuck my girls in, we read a book, say our prayers, and then sing song after song until they fall asleep. (Yes, I know. I'm indulging them. I am certain that I really only a year or two left of snuggling them before bed, so I am taking full advantage of the love!!)

One of the songs that sticks in my head is one I grew up singing, Mother, I Love You. Here are the lyrics:

1. Mother, I love you; mother, I do.
Father in Heaven has sent me to you.
When I am near you, I love to hear you
Singing so softly that you love me too.

2. Mother, I love you; mother, I do.
I want to help you because I love you.
I want to mind you; I want to find you
Happy and smiling because I love you.
Mother, I love you; I love you, I do.

I often find myself humming it during the day. And it totally makes me think of my mom and how much I DO love her. I hope that if I sing it to my girls enough then they will grow up and sing it and think of me kindly, too!! Not a bad strategy, no? And one day hopefully they will get married and have kids that I can sing to, too. 

 

LAYOUT IDEA: GRANDMOTHERS

Grandma layouts don't need to be just sappy bits o' love. Sometimes you can let them just capture the real deal. My oldest and his grandma like to banter--they are both teaser-types; there is much guffawing when they are together! We got to spend two days together in March. And for their parting together pic, this is what we got:

Silly, no? I love it. I also have a whole selection of blurry photos from Nigel doing the duck and dip to avoid the kissing love. Another relationship trait/quirk/regular that needs to be recorded.

 

Another idea for a grandma page is to document similarities. We all love to fit in with our families; seeing how we are alike gives us such a sense of belonging!

 

And let's not forget how much we love photos of grandmas with their tiny babies. LisaO made this sweet layout.

Mmm. Love that.

We have a few teammembers who have lost grandparents lately. They all would like to remind you to take more photos. And be sure to get in those photos.

 

MOTHER'S DAY GIFT IDEA: BIRTHDATE ART

This year, why not make something personal? How about a bit of wall art that respresents all the grandkids? Depending on how many grandkids there are (one of the kids in my sunday school class has 90 cousins - this might not work for her!), a list of birthdays is graphic, fun, and helpful!

And if you don't have grandkids yet, you could make one for your mom that has the birthdays of all the kids in your family. Or all the people in your family. No rules!! I've even made them for special events in a couple's life. Anything that is important to your mom or grandma would work!

 

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you are enjoying our week. Please stop back tomorrow for our final day of preparations!

Mother's Day Celebrations

Welcome back to day two of our Mother's Day celebrations and preparations! I hope you enjoyed yesterday's post!

The other day I called my mom and thanked her for being such an amazing chauffeur. I remember my dad introducing her as a cab driver. I remember calling my mom "Jeeves" (the best chauffeur name we could come up with!) whenever I crawled into the car for a ride to dance, music lessons, or theatre rehearsal. But I had no idea how much of a sacrifice for her and an imposition upon her it was, until now. Until now when it is my turn at the wheel. Literally. 

Isn't it funny how life works? How walking a day in someone's shoes changes everything? 

Not so long ago, I took a long hard look at Nigel. He is 14 which means in less than 10 years he may very well be married. Which will make me a mother-in-law. I am going to be a mother-in-law to a young lady that I hopefully love and one that even more hopefully loves me in return. But here's the thing. I am fiercely loyal and more than a bit neurotic, so there is a chance that she may not love me from the get go. I am abso-smurf-ly positive that she will in the end, but the beginning? Could be iffy.

Trying to imagine things from a different perspective is enlightening. I have a newfound respect for my own inlaws. That they welcomed me into their family. That they let me be me. I am sure it wasn't always easy. There are familial differences that I am certain didn't always make things smooth. But as the years pass, my sweet mother-in-law and I have more and more in common and have become closer and closer. She is really good to my kids, and she works hard to include me. And once I realized that I may be a mother-in-law one day, I know I have become more forgiving and more flexible as a daughter-in-law.

I haven't really made any pages about my relationship with my mother-in-law. It is time! 

 

LAYOUT IDEA: CELEBRATE OUR MOTHERS-IN-LAW

Here are some journaling ideas to get your pages started:

• things you have learned from you mother-in-law
• how your relationship has grown, changed
• a list of favorite qualities your mother-in-law possesses
• things you have in common

And if you want to help get your husbands involved in journaling on a page about their mom, here are some ideas for you:

• I remember when my mom...
• My favorite thing about my mom is...
• My mom is awesome because...

I have found that I get the best answers from my sweet husband when I email him for an answer, or when I write the response as he talks. Maybe that will help you, too.

Here is my layout. It's a bit of everything.

MOTHER'S DAY GIFT IDEA: COUPON BOOKS

Today I made a coupon book for you to print and leave out for your kids to fill out for you, or for you to fill out for your own mamas. Either way.

It will print on a regular sheet of paper (I prefer white cardstock). Once you print it, all you need to do is trim it into its six pages. And voila! A perfect little present. I hope you like it! You can download it here.

Thank you for stopping by! I hope you enjoy putting together some pages about your relationship with your mother-in-law and that you can put the coupon book to good use!

Be sure to stop by tomorrow--it's launch day!!

Mother's Day Celebrations

I remember loving Mother's Day as a little girl. I thought my mom walked on water and getting to spend time in class to make her things seemed like a dream come true. Arts and crafts? fantastic. For my favorite person on earth? magical.

This week we are going to help get ourselves ready for Mother's Day. I am excited for this so that I can be ready in time to ship what I make!

Each day this week, we will bring you ideas for layouts, and a gift idea for making your mothers feel special.

 

LAYOUT IDEA: ME & MOM

I have spoken often about our once a year family photo shoot that we do on Mother's Day each year. It is a time of year that I pass my camera to Richard and let him take pictures of me with the kids. Every year, I download the photos and then immediately despise them. My hair will be wrong. I will notice the weight gain, the grey, the wrinkles. All the things I ask you to not notice. (Irony noted). So I let them sit for a year and then look back. And like magic, I see things differently. Now, I see my kids looking littler and more vulnerable. I see our relationship captured. And I am incredibly grateful for the photos and for the showing restraint from pushing the delete button.

 

For today, let's make a layout that captures the relationship between you and your children. Either as a whole, or with each child invidually. On our mother's day shoot, I try to get a photo with each of my three kids, so they will have photos of the two of us to look back on. I used one such photo to create this layout.

Then this layout captures the differences in my relationships with my kids. If we all three piled on the couch, I would interact with each differently. I play with Nigel's hair; I rub Lavender's tummy; and I hold Poppy's hands or feet. And they all know each other's things. I love that.

 

Aliza made this layout documenting something her neice told her sister. 

Doesn't that melt your heart? It is also a good reminder that great layouts don't need a whole column of journaling to touch our hearts!

 

Have you a special relationship with one of your kids? Or are you the special child to your own mother? Have you documented that yet? Perhaps it is time!

 

MOTHER'S DAY GIFT IDEA: QUESTIONNAIRES

Last year, we made this for you for Father's Day. And I admittedly was a bit jealous and wanted one for me! So why not, I asked myself?

Here is a Mother's Day version. I am going to print it and give it to my sweet husband with a request that he sit and help the kids fill them out for me for Mother's Day. I have no shame. :)

This is also something that you could have kids fill out for their mothers if you are a church leader, or a school teacher, or a nanny!! You can download it here.

 

Thank you for stopping by today! We look forward to a whole week of celebrating mothers. Please know that we know that you don't need to be a mother to have a wonderful impact on the children in your lives. We hope that Mother's Day can be a celebration of womanhood, too!

PREPPING FOR A GOOD YEAR day four: holidays

Happy day! I am so glad to have you back!! I really appreciate your company this week. I hope that you are having fun thinking about ways to stay ahead of your event photos! I cannot believe that I am going to have a football season captured, 10 school events taken care of, and by the end of today's post, 9 holiday layouts! That's right, today is about the holidays.

Looking to my beloved google calendar, I listed the holidays that we will celebrate this year:

1. Halloween
2. Thanksgiving
3. Christmas
4. Valentine's Day
5. St. Patrick's Day
6. Easter
7. Mother's Day
8. Father's Day
9. Fourth of July

Event photos. Which means I am scared away and therefore fail to properly record. But in prepping for the nine holidays, I set aside my concerns and dove head first into creating some layouts. Because the approach to each layout is unique, we will evaluate their designs one at a time.

I am hoping that there will be lots of crossover for your holiday schedules, too, so perhaps we can both use up the layout ideas!

Let's get started.

1. Halloween

Halloween is a big deal at our house. I have nearly as many Halloween decorations as I do Christmas decorations!! Every year we go trick or treating, and all three of mine will dress up. Because they change their mind on costumes about 6000 times a day for every day in October, I decided to go with a basic Halloween color scheme. To best capture the costumes, the photos will be vertical. I usually try to get the same sort of shot for each costume, so I felt safe going with three similarly sized photos. I also know that a layout with three kids need equal representation lest one feel more beloved than another... For a three vertical photo design, I opened up to my sweet friend and inspiration, Jody Wenke! and found this which seemed perfect! I even opted for a graphic element for my title in honor of Jody's creativity!

2. Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving at our house is a food day. Turkey, potatoes, vegetables, pies, more vegetables, more pies. Every year, I end up with tons more food photos than people! And they tend to be horizontal so that I can get lots of food in each shot. When I was visiting Teka's blog, I found a layout that had a big focal photo. Making it a four photo instead, I now have room for the turkey, the trimmings, the pie, and a place setting. We have repeating decor that is traditional in its colors, so I just followed that palette for my layout.

3. Christmas

A few years ago, I put my camera away for Christmas morning, but now realize I can't remember much about the presents or the morning. So this year, I am going to get a few more shots of the kids and their excitement. Knowing I will have several photos, and knowing that I am not very comfortable with two page layouts, I went looking for a sketch. I found this one at SketchSupport.com. I took a few elements off, but stayed otherwise relatively true to the sketch. I kept it whimsical and light as our morning photos will be in our coordinating pj's!

4. Valentine's Day

When I was peeking at Jody's site, I saw my favorite layout and thought it would make a sweet Valentine's layout. Each year, the girls get a love shirt for the day, and we make homemade Valentines for their class. I figured this page could go either way. Or maybe it will house a picture of them reading the love note that I promise myself every year that I will write. Maybe this will be the year I do!

5. St. Patrick's Day

St. Patty's day at our house is mostly the hat and shirt! We have a giant tall Suessian hat in two tone green. I think it will match these colors well. Thinking that the hat is tall, I left room for a long skinny photo. And I will squeeze a little journaling in there, too. I didn't want it to be too plain, so I added a little subway-art effect on one of the rectangles. Do you like the bit of pizzazz?

6. Easter

I am realizing as I type this, that we dress for our holidays. Halloween costumes, Christmas dresses, Christmas pj's, Valentine's tees, St Patty's tees, and now, Easter dresses. Goodness, I suddenly feel so shallow. Thank heavens for Old Navy and Target so that the budget survives!!

I digress... Nigel is past cute shirts and ties, having moved into the land of white shirts and a dark suit. So I thought this page could focus on the girls. I picked traditional Easter colors, thinking the pastels will allow Lavender to still have pink on her outfit, and Poppy with her purple will fit right in! Again, the photo needs to capture my apparent need to shop and dress, so the photos will be vertical. I had a journaling square, but then wondered how much I would say about their dresses? If necessary, I will add one back in later.

7. Mother's Day

I have talked about my Mother's Day present before--a complaint free trip to the park for mom and kid photos. For this one, we sometimes go in Sunday dress, sometimes come home and change. And if we do that, everyone picks a favorite outfit that allows their personality to shine through, so the colors may be varied. To maximize my chances for success, I prepped with a grey page with elements neither too formal, nor too casual. I could have gone vertical or horizontal on this one (I will have both) so I just picked horizontal for fun! I did round the corners to soften the look. And I made sure to change up the direction of the shadowing so that it didn't have funky in between spacing.

8. Father's Day

We love Father's Day at our house! It means we grill a juicy steak dinner for Richard and he is good to make a big scene when he opens the kids' homemade cards. I wanted a layout that could be flexible for either of these photo ops, both of which would be a horizontal shot.

I didn't have a particular idea in mind for the design, so I went browsing online, and found this layout. I loved the vertical rectangles--they gave the feeling and warmth of a pieced quilt. To maintain that thought, I selected colors and patterns that would feel collected. Curated, if you will. I mimicked the stitching, too, for that added sense of a quilt.

9. Fourth of July

The final holiday layouts is the Fourth of July. We have celebrated our last three years in Utah. So while I don't love traveling that far, chances are, we will be there next year, too. Which means we will go to Day's Market, buy a package of fireworks for the kids, and then head over to the church parking lot to light them. And while I may go vertical for photographs of big (real) fireworks, our parking lot show is more smoke bombs and snappers, making nearly all the photos horizontal. And plentiful. Which meant I could do a repeating grid. Adding in some patriotic colors, and we have ourselves a festive and fun layout!

 

Wow. Who knew that event layouts could be so fun? I had a great time picking out colors and hunting for designs. In fact, I realized as I was making these layouts, that I needn't fear event layouts. They are a terrific excuse to use iconic colors and patterns, and don't need to be any fancier than any other layout I create. I am certain that the lack of storytelling and the multiple photos have been stumbling blocks for me. But in making these 9, I realized that the photos can carry a bulk of the story weight, and that is okay. Just because a holiday photo doesn't come with a particular story, doesn't mean the photos can't be scrapbooked. Nor do I have to pick just one great photo. I can use grids to add lots of photos. Repeating successful strategies isn't boring, it is brilliant! Grids work and they fit my design aesthetic, so they are awesome. 

I hope you will all take an evening to put together your holiday layouts, too. Especially if event layouts have scared you like they did me. I have been scrapbooking for more than 13 years, and putting these layouts together as a group has taught me so much about my perceived deficiencies. I really feel like I made a breakthrough!! Thank you for taking the journey with me!!

Tomorrow will be our final day of our "Prepping for a Good Year" week. I hope you will join me for one last set of ideas and layouts!

Have an incredible day!

 

Grandmas Are Awesome, too!

Today we are have a project that makes a terrific present for the grandmothers in your life!

Last week our family had the pleasure of being with our extended family. All nine Flores cousins were together. The kids had an amazing time getting to know one another, and we were thrilled to meet the smallest. These gatherings are sadly not a frequent occurrence for us, so when they happen, I find myself taking oodles and oodles of pictures. This time, not only did I take lots of together time pictures, but also managed to get an individual photo of each of the kids. I was so happy. Visions of mini albums began to swirl in my head.

I remembered many of you asking for ways to use up 4x6 photos, so I thought I would try to put a mini together that made use of them! (Since I switched to digital, I have not printed out many photos and funnily, I was a bit startled by the size of the photos! Silly, huh?)

For this album you will need 10 patterned papers (fewer if they have backsides you can use), one sheet of letter stickers, a bit of twine, a binder ring, a heart punch, a trimmer, a needle, some adhesive, and some journaling cards.

I love the Handmade line from LilyBee and knew it would be perfect.

especially knowing that LilyBee has these amazing letter sticker sheets.

 

I thought these would make terrific journaling cards (aligning the number to the order of the cousins)

but alas, my local store did not have them, so instead I made journaling cards for the kids.

I was also hoping for this page to decorate my cover

but again, no luck. (I should have done some better time management on my thoughts, no? ☺) So I dug out an old heart punch instead. A bit of red twine, and my tools, and I was ready to go.

 

Here is my put-it-together list:

1. for the cover, trim 2 6x6 pages
2. for the inner pages, trim 9 6x6 pages
3. order the pages
4. adhere the photos
5. add the journaling cards between pages
6. punch a hole for the binder ring
7. decorate the cover

Not too bad, I hope. I am making this one for Richard's mother, whose term of endearment for the kids is "Angel," which I (happily!) used in lieu of Grandma's Brag Book, for the cover title. I strung 9 hearts together on the twine, representing each of the 9 kids. I had a leftover journaling card that I also added to the cover for a bit of extra decoration. And here it is! I hope you, and she, like it!

 

Here are a few of the inside pages.

As you can see, the photos sit on the bottom four inches. Nothing fancy. I printed them with their names on them, too. (Not that Grandma/Gummy/Gumball/Boo doesn't know who they are??!!)

 

(I was hoping for something sweet. I suppose 13 and sentimental are a bit incongruent.)

 

Here you can see that the cousins' journaling cards are not yet written.

I will drop the cousins' cards in the mail this morning which should give me plenty of time to get them back, reassemble the book, and then pop it in the mail to Grandma! All in time for Mother's Day--a first for me, that's certain!

 

I hope you might consider this as a fun gift for a grandma in you life!

Thank you for stopping!