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April Week 4 Challenge: Big + Little, The Lots of Words Edition

Happy Friday! Amy here, with one more Big + Little layout.

Today’s pairing is not so much “big” as “a lot”: it’s a solution for those times when you have a lot of journaling. A big journaling space requires you to limit your use of other layout elements (photos and embellishments). So, try using a little photo on a layout that has lots of journaling:

For this layout, I was restricted to a small photo because the camera I had with me on the day in question wasn’t working properly, so the only pictures I had to work with were pretty awful. Grainy and blown out and more than a little bit soft. (I did, in fact, retire said camera after this day.) But I still wanted to scrapbook the memory. So I printed the photo in black and white, on textured cardstock so the grain could camouflage some of the flaws. And then I wrote quite a bit—even about the photos I wish I had been able to take.

When I do a pairing like this—big journaling space, small photo—I like to work the photo right into the middle of the text somehow. It helps the photo to feel more prominent and the combination to feel more cohesive. In this layout, I put the text into columns and then used a text box with the dimensions of my photo to create just the right spot for the pic.

How do you incorporate lots of journaling onto your layouts?

Happy scrapping!

April Week 4 Challenge: Big + Little Text (plus some thoughts on the 1980s)

Hello! Welcome back to WCS and another day of big + little pairings.

One of my favorite things to do on a layout is use a quote as my title. I would guess about 10% of my layouts use this approach. To me, a "quote" is anything that was written or said by someone else (usually famous in some capacity, although I have used a friend or family member's words as quotes, too) that is so striking in its use of language paired with idea that I get a little bit swoony. (Remember...I'm a word girl at heart.) I have a big collection of quotes and I'm always adding to it.

So last week, when my friend I've known since junior high shared a picture of me from one of our sleepovers in 1984 or 85, I had two thoughts: even though I look like a goofball, I must scrapbook this picture right now and I know exactly what quote to use! 

But I also kept in mind my recent goal of re-using good techniques. I looked at a few of my recent layouts with quotes and spotted something I hadn't really intentionally noticed myself doing: using a quote as a title, in big letters, paired with my own words as a sort of sub-title in smaller letters. Here's what I mean:

The quote, from Coco Chanel, is the title, of course. And my words—I loved those bead necklaces—is the smaller subtitle. I like the way the repetition of the font (it's called Alegance, if you're curious) helps draw the eye from the title, through the story, and then out of the page. Even though the subtitle is the little thing in the pairing, it helps give the layout a finished look.

I don't have a ton of photos of myself as a teenager in the 1980s (one of the great tragedies in my life!), but I have made a few layouts with the ones I do have. This is always a hard process for me because almost nothing in the aesthetics of 20-teens scrapbooking really matches the aesthetics of the 1980s. I find that I tend to use a lot of cardstock or almost-solid patterned paper for these layouts, because more obvious patterns feel like they just don't match somehow. (If any manufacturer ever made decade-inspired products, I'd probably buy some!) But I almost always use the font Perpetua for my journaling. It feels timely to me—a chunkier sort of serif.

So, I'm curious: Have you ever scrapbooked any photos that scream "I was taken in the 80s"? What supplies and approaches have you used?

Happy scrapping!

Looking Forward: Hopes for the New Year

Being the mom of two teenagers, one emerging adult, and one tween, I find that I do a lot of looking forward. I have to, because that is the direction my children’s gaze is turned. So much in their future is tantalizing: graduation and college and careers, church service and adventures and (eventually!) marriage. So much of their future is the focus of my worries: how do I help them make the right choices, survive their mistakes, find the path that’s right for them? When do I guide them and when do I let them walk forward on their own.

So I’m pretty much in love with our topic this week!

I decided I had to make a layout about my 16-year-old son’s experiences on New Year’s Eve. Or maybe it’s more about my experiences with my son on New Year’s Eve. I have a tradition of asking whoever’s still awake at midnight what their hopes and dreams are for the upcoming year, but when I asked him, he didn’t want to play. (He was despondent over his plans falling through.) So I guessed his wishes, and then he started to laugh, because I was exactly right!

It’s hard to see it when you’re 16 and something feels like a disaster, just how wide with possibilities the world is. In my journaling I wrote about the bigger things I hope this year will bring him. The journaling was inspired by Neil Gaiman’s writing; many New Year’s Eves he writes a wish and shares it with his readers. (You can read some of them here.) (I’ve been meaning to use one as a long title for a layout, but I haven’t done it yet!) Alas, I can’t write like Neil Gaiman (who is one of my favorite writers) but his thoughts helped me shape mine.

My tradition of asking about upcoming hopes is one I undertook intentionally. I wanted to give my kids (and me, really, because I always share mine with them, too) a space for thinking about what is really in their hearts. There is a difference between hoping a thing can happen and making it happen, and I believe that verbalizing the hope is a way to build a bridge toward acting on the hope. But I realized this December 31 (or maybe it was in the wee hours of January 1) that I’ve rarely written down their hopes. I’m so glad I thought to this year!

How do you document your looking-forward thoughts and goals?

Happy scrapping!

Scrapbook: School Summary Layouts

This is Amy Sorensen, and I have a hard and fast rule about scrapbooking in the summer: I don’t get started on any vacation, summer activities, picnic, hiking or other warm-weather layouts until I’ve made a school summary layout for each of my kids. I journal about the major points of their school year: big projects, memorable experiences, unique activities. I try to get down some little details too, like where their locker was or how they got back and forth to school. Also favorites:  teacher, class, friend, lunch item. I wish I could remember those stories from my own school years, but most of the details have blurred together for me. (Although I do have some pretty good stories from junior high, one involving my math teacher sighing and saying, “Amy, are you ever going to be on time?”) Since I can’t remember mine, I make sure to get down my kids'. Since I have teenagers, sometimes it’s a little bit rough to get them to cough up any stories, but with a little prying (not to mention some texting and Snapchatting) I’ve managed to get the details. Or at least the ones they’re willing to tell me!

If I follow my rule and make the layouts first thing after school gets out, the stories are still fresh. It just requires a photo on the last day of school (again…with teenagers this takes a little bit of finagling, and this year I had literally one photo to scrapbook with…but it is worth the stress!) and some time spent talking with your kids about their year.

Here are the school summaries I made this year.

I only have one kid left in grade school:

I realized after I wrote the summary list of 4th-grade details that I still had a little story to tell, so I added a paragraph of text that tells what happened on the last day. A few hours after I finished this layout, I remembered a whole bunch of other stuff I wanted to add to the detail list, like what he learned in art and some funny things he said throughout the school year. I just wrote them down on the back of the layout! 

For my 15-year-old's school summary page, I also needed a list and a paragraph. So I surrounded three sides of the last-day-of-school photo with text:

I will be so sad when I run out of the script alphabet stickers I used to spell "the end." They are some old ones from Webster's Pages, and I bought two sets of every color, but I use them a lot, and they're almost gone. 

My 17-year-old's layout was harder to make, because seriously: eleventh grade was rough. He mostly refused to give me any details because he wanted to forget junior year entirely. (Which made me pause to think: should I even commemorate the year? But I decided to anyway, in the hopes that the memories of the hard parts will make more sense when he is older.) Writing the journaling was tough, because it didn't feel authentic to leave out the more complicated, hard stories from the year, but I also didn't want it to be entirely negative. In the end I started with the hard stuff, transitioned to the better stuff, and then wrote about what I hope he really learned, with an eye for the Jake who might read it in the future:

Yep, same picture. I told you...teenagers are hard to photograph sometimes!

If you want more ideas for making your own school summary layouts, you can also read this post.

And with that to-do item checked off of my scrapbooking list, I'm moving on to some summer layouts. Happy scrapping!

Scrapbook: Forgotten Techniques

Happy Thursday! Amy here. I remembered something yesterday morning that I’d forgotten:

I love crooked lines.

Maybe I love them because it’s hard for me to cut straight ones? Even with a paper trimmer I goof it up sometimes. And I really don’t love that kind of crooked lines—the ones I meant to be straight.

No, I mean organic, wandering, purposefully wonky lines. There’s something liberating to their lack of perfection! I used to make layouts with crooked lines all the time, but it’s been awhile. Yesterday, though, I pulled out an old scrap (really, really old) of blue patterned paper that was at the very bottom of my blue drawer. (For the scrapbook-supplies historians out there: It was SEI’s very first line. Remember how awesome that line was? With the color blocking?) Some time ago, I cut off a wonky strip. So I continued on and made a wonky border, and then a wonky strip, and then threw it all together on a layout:

 

It made me think about how techniques come and go. Not just in the scrapbooking world, but in our very own scrapbooking space. There are a lot of techniques and supplies I used to use, but somehow just stopped, even though I didn’t stop loving them. In my long quest to use my stuff, I think I need to remember techniques, too. Because making a layout with a wonky frame and crooked strip made me happy!

What technique have you not used in a good long while?

Happy scrapping!

Scrapbook: Inspired by Housework

Hello there! This is Amy Sorensen, and I don't want you to get the wrong idea from that title. I’m not a person who loves cleaning my house. I’m glad if it’s clean…but I don’t generally get inspired by housework.

Still, this is also true: last week I was working on hanging up clean laundry and all of a sudden I was inspired to make a layout. Laundry-room inspiriation…not my usual impetus, but whatever, I’ll take it!

I was hanging up my sons’ school uniforms, and thinking about how funny it is that while he doesn’t love wearing a uniform, he is fairly particular about what pieces of the uniform he’ll wear. Only a light-blue shirt (even though he could wear red, navy, white, forest green, or yellow) and only khaki shorts (even though he could wear blue shorts, or even blue pants. What is it with boys only wanting to wear shorts, even when it’s cold?) It hit me, right there in my little laundry room, that this is an unrepeatable detail of our life right now, and it would be a shame not to scrapbook it.

So I took a picture of him the next morning and made this layout about his “uniform uniform”:

This experience left me thinking about where ideas come from and what I might be missing out on by not paying attention. So I made a little goal for myself, to watch for scrapbooking inspiration over the next week, whenever I was cleaning my house. This layout was inspired by the most dreaded of household tasks, cleaning the bathroom:

(Please note that in real life, the pieces on this layout are straight. It is always so hard for me to photograph layouts without a bit of a skew!)

It’s not immediately obvious why. We are finally replacing our worn-out shower with new titles, and I’m so grateful not to have to clean that white tile and grout ever again! But I’ve been thinking a lot about tile. Rectangle or square? Straightforward rows or some tiles tilted at an angle? Big, 24x24 tiles or smaller 8x8 ones? And then there are the endless hues of brown you can pick from. It all left me thinking I needed to make a grid-style layout, evocative (sort of) of tiles.

Finally, I found the idea for the journaling on this layout while I was cleaning my kitchen.

 

Not one of those quick, drop-all-the-dishes-in-the-dishwasher cleanings, but a deep and detailed one involving rubber gloves and scalding hot water. Lots of time to think, in other words. I was pondering my son Nathan, and why, when he told me the fabulous news that he’d gotten a job, I went into my bedroom and quietly sobbed. I wasn’t immediately sure why sadness had been my first response, but as I pondered it while I was cleaning the kitchen, I realized it’s because him getting a job means things will change—and I sort of don’t want them to! I sat down and wrote this journaling right after I finished the kitchen (and washed my hands!), and it was cathartic to come to an understanding.

I haven’t made them yet, but I have other housework-inspired layout ideas to work on over the next few weeks:

• While cooking a big Sunday dinner, I decided to make a layout about each of my boys’ current food likes and dislikes. I don’t know about your house, but in ours there is a huge disparity between who likes what. It makes for interesting dinner choices!
• A few other laundry-inspired ideas: current favorite outfits or fashion choices, struggles with finding clothes (my teenagers both have LONG torsos, so finding non-belly-Ts is an issue, for example), the tall socks trend and how it makes me think about my dad.
• I started to think about each of my kids’ cleaning personalities. Some of them are cleaners by nature and some of them aren’t.
• My windows need to be cleaned, but oh my, it is a task I dread. My mom, however, never let a spring or a fall pass without washing her windows. I need to tell that story!
• I’ve never documented some of the biggest messes—you know, the ones that become family legend. Like the time my daughter filled up the entire back cubby in our minivan with chocolate chips. They melted into a big, cubby-shaped block of chocolate that she’d dig at while we were driving. How have I not ever scrapbooked that story?

This little goal of mine reminded me that really: inspiration is everywhere! It almost makes me feel a little bit more excited about the fact that I really need to vacuum right now. Almost!

Happy scrapping!

a journaling goldmine!

Hello and happy Monday! I hope you all had a lovely weekend. Today I want to share a resource I came upon quite by accident.

I am the mother that monitors all sorts of media. (With a handsome and technically savvy 15 year old in the house, I feel it my duty and responsibility to help him to learn to manage his social media interactions, and his electronic communications. We have no snapchat (I cannot fathom one itty bitty moral reason why an adult would need this, and think it ruinous that kids have it), no facebook (really, feel free to call, text, or better yet, ride on over to your friend's house if you need to know how he/she is), and monitored use of twitter, and instagram. I also have the right to read texts and imessages at any time, with only one ask. (Feel free to use me as the person who is "much more strict than I am" when you need to with your kids!))

 

As I helped myself to his phone to check out his Instagram messages (seriously, did they really need to add this feature?), I saw a hyperlink for ask.fm just below his name.

I clicked on over and then spent the next hour reading the q+a.

And I laughed.

And laughed.

I know that Nigel is whipsmart and has a delightful sense of humor, but to see it in action was amazing. I had quite a night, reading through all his quirky answers. 

Here are a few of my favorites:

Do you smile at strangers?

No I know about stranger danger

 

What do you look like when you wake up in the morning? 

A narwhal

 

You're extremely hot but I'm pretty sure you hate me

Probably not I don't hate many people but you were right about the first part

 

What question would you like to ask the Somali pirate?

How many times a day he says argh

 

What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?

Always brush your teeth

 

If you could print any phrase on a T-shirt, what would it say? 

It's ok to stare

 

Awesome, no?

 

I copy and pasted them from the site onto 4x6 cards. It is going to take about 45 to record all his answers. The pages are super plain...

 

 but I thought I could intermingle them with selfies and other photos and make a fun little mini-album. They best part for me was seeing his personality shine through. And because he isn't trying to appease me by filling out questionnaires, the answers seem all the more authentic.

 

How about you? Have you found any journaling gems for your teenagers? If so, please share! I'd love to know!

 

Thank you for stopping by! I hope this gave you a bit of inspiration!

Capturing Your Summer

Is there something that you can think of that just screams summertime to you? Maybe its the beach or pool, maybe it's kids enjoying frozen treats. For me, this past summer with a teen and tween, it was sleeping. Lots and lots of sleeping.

I wanted to document this milestone in my kids summertime routine, since sleeping was not something that either of them, or my baby for that matter, have ever been fond of in the past. I managed to snag sleeping pictures of both of them and whipped up a quick layout so I'd have it to remember.

Make sure you document what summer means to you, even if it's something as trivial as sleeping. I am hoping that it rubs off on my baby boy this summer, but so far he's proving to be just like his older brother and sister not needing any sleep at all. Oye.

Happy Tuesday!!

write.

A few weeks ago, an old friend of mine came to visit. She moved to North Carolina ten years ago; we’ve kept in touch by email and Facebook and random texts at odd times. When she walked into my office and saw my shelves full of scrapbooks, she said, "Wow. That is a lot of scrapbook layouts."

She wasn’t making fun of me—she’s a scrapbooker, too—but her observation made me stop and think of the sheer numbers of layouts we have the chance to create. Every single one is a chance to use lovely supplies and to make something visually appealing. But each layout is also an opportunity to say something significant.

Every time we write journaling, we probably write about what happened: we went, we saw, we did. And that is good, of course. What happened is important. But what we feel about what happened—sometimes that is the crux.

Of course, some layouts only really need the "what happened" kind of details. But sometimes you want to dig in a little bit more, and that’s what we’re looking at today: journaling that goes deeper than the surface details.

Quantity isn’t the issue here. You can write something significant that’s short. It’s the real, memorable bit of something that you’re trying to get at. Here’s an example.

Consider this journaling:  Today at Grandma’s start-of-summer party, we had an impromptu photo shoot. All the grandkids were there, so it was fun to get everyone in the picture, even if there were a few goofy faces.

Absolutely nothing wrong with that—it gets the who, what, when, and some of the why. But if you look beyond the surface (remember: not what happened, but what you feel about what happened) you might write something like this:

Looking through the lens at 18 grandkids and 2 grandparents, I couldn't help but really see: the similarities, the differences, the gentle happiness on Grandma and Grandpa’s faces. You might not always get along or see things in the same way, but you are all from the same tribe, and having all these people in your life with the same history? Well, it is a hedge against loneliness.

Writing this kind of journaling sometimes just happens. (Don’t you love those moments?) But sometimes you have to push yourself a little bit. When you want to dig deeper, you have to think about the topic from a different angle or ask yourself different questions. Here are some ideas that will help you shape those deeper thoughts:

• What does this event or experience illustrate about your family, traditions, perspectives, or general way of living?
• How did the experience change you? Did you learn something about the subject, realize a truth about yourself, or see something in a different way?
• Can you draw connections between this current moment and something in the past, or between this person and someone else, between a place and a memory, an activity and a personality?
• What about the experience did you love, or want to always remember? Or, from the opposite perspective, how do you wish it had been different, or what was difficult?
• What inspired you to take this specific photo? Or what sort of picture do you wish you had about this subject?
• What did the event or experience cause you to hope, feel, or remember?
• Is there a color, scent, or flavor of which the experience or event is particularly evocative?
• How does some characteristic of the subject—age, knowledge, skill, history, habits—change the way he or she experienced the event?
• Why is this event or experience important?

With those ideas in mind, here are three journaling challenges to try some time this month:

1.   Write about a sport, but not from the perspective of an individual game.
Celeste focuses on the little details that make up the season:

and here, I focused on what I hope my son learns from basketball:

2.   Write about a day you loved.
Alexandra wrote this journaling about the day her first baby was born, and I think she captures exactly what that moment feels like:

Celeste journaled about a specific day on a trip, one that didn't go as expected but still held some great moments:

In my layout, I tried to explain why I loved this particular wintery day:

3.   Write about a connection between a recent experience and one from your childhood or adolescence.
I bump into this kind of connection quite often now that I have teenagers. Here's one that's a little bit raw, but honest, too:

Make sure to share your layouts with us!

Welcome, September!

September is here. This month, not only will the leaves begin to change; so, too, does our format. We hope you enjoyed this year's summertime dailies. A delightful smattering of technique, permissions, and inspirations, our summertime dailies are a carefree schedule for a carefree season.

But school is back in session and so are we! Our weekly author series return beginning Monday. This month, you can look forward to the reading the wit and wonder of Marnie Flores, Francine Clouden, Monika Wright, and Kathy Martin.

They have four weeks of top notch content ready for you--we look forward to seeing you each day as you stop by for some scrapbooking fun and learning. If you haven't already, you may want to consider subscribing to the our feed, then you won't miss a thing! Just click the subscribe button up there and to the right in the grey navigation bar!!

 

A new month always brings a new gallery! And this month, the theme is Looking Back. September seemed the perfect season to look back and document a change, a memory, or something that you hadn't yet. We hope you enjoy our layouts! And now, you have two ways to enjoy the layouts. You may scroll below, or you may click over to the photo album! The layouts will be full size in the photoalbum and the journaling will be available there, too! But now, you may stay right here and get a taste of each layout. We hope that allows you to comment on the projects more easily and to let each designer know how much you appreciate the time and effort they spend to bring you a little artistic love! Enjoy!

 

The More Things Change | Francine Clouden

12x12 | materials patterned paper (October Afternoon, Studio Calico, Crate Paper) + chipboard stickers (October Afternoon) + stickers (Glitz Design, Authentique) + Bingo Card (Jenni Bowlin) + button + spray inks

A Note from Francine
This page documents Kieran’s abiding love for hummus. He is 8 months old in the first photo, and 21 months old in the second. Looking back at the first photo from the perspective of the second is when I first realized how much he had changed from being a baby!

September Fun Fact
I can’t believe I am saying this but I am actually looking forward to cooler autumn days. Not winter though, never winter!

 

 

Little House | Katie Ehmann

12 x 12 | materials patterned paper (Echo Park, My Mind's Eye, Tim & Beck for Studio Calico, Simple Stories) + embellishments (My Mind's Eye, Studio Calico, Freckled Fawn) + stickers (American Crafts, October Afternoon)

A Note from Katie
I took this photo of my grandparent's old house a few months before it was demolished. I spent much of my childhood visiting this house, and am so grateful that I have these memories documented. I hand cut the big patterned paper heart with pinking shears and then cut it again, flipping the outer heart to make the contrasting border. I used wood veneer hearts as embellishments to tie the theme together.

September Fun Fact
I love September because it is the start of the college football season and I get to watch my alma mater, the University of Michigan Wolverines play in The Big House! There is nothing like cheering them on with over 107,501 screaming fans! Go Blue!

 

 

Looking Back | Diane Payne


12 x 12 | materials patterned paper (October Afternoon, Pebbles Inc.) + embellishments (October Afternoon, A Flair for Buttons, Studio Calico, My Paper Shop, Milky Way Jewelry, Whisker Graphics) + stickers (October Afternoon, Basic Grey)



A Note from Diane

With the theme this month I thought it would be fun to reflect on where I've been since I was a little girl and what I wish I would have done a little differently along the way. I hope this layout will give future generations a better idea of what I find important.


September Fun Fact

When I was a little girl, my parents took us on two week long summer vacations by car. It brings back fond memories for me and is probably why I love road trips so much!

 

 

Remember | Emily Spahn



8.5 x 11 | materials {Gossamer Blue kit}: patterned paper (Echo Park, Pebbles, My Mind’s Eye) + cardstock (Stampin’ Up!) + buttons (October Afternoon) + resin flowers (Prima) + chipboard buttons (My Mind’s Eye) + chipboard alphabet (American Crafts) + twine (October Afternoon) + die cut (October Afternoon) + metal flower (EK Success) + journaling sticker (My Mind’s Eye)>



A Note from Emily

A long time ago I printed out a bunch of 5x7 photos. I don’t know why I love this one so much…something about the “everyday-ness” of it all. It’s even more special now, as our dog in the photo passed away earlier this year. I love recording these simple ordinary memories.






September Fun Fact

September is my favorite month. It’s my birthday month, but I especially love it because it signals the beginning of fall! I can’t wait for sweater weather, football games, changing leaves, and all of the other amazing parts of fall.

 

 

First Father's Day | Valerie O'Neall

8.5 x 11 | materials cardstock (American Crafts) + patterned paper (Sassafras, My Mind's Eye, and Crate Paper) + circle tags (Elle's Studio) + mask and mist (Studio Calico) + alpha stickers (October Afternoon) + stamp (American Crafts Dear Lizzy) + other (buttons, shipping tags, twine, and date stamp)

A Note from Valerie
I don't have a school-age child yet, so I decided on this photo to look back on from my hubby's first Father's Day. I started with a very neutral black and grey color scheme, but a little color ended up finding it's way onto the layout.

September Fun Fact
I'm canning for the first time ever this year. I've had a garden for four(?) years now, but this is the first time I've had enough excess for canning and been brave enough to try it.

 

 

Then - Now | Lisa Ottosson

8.5 x 11 | materials patterned paper (Amy Tangerine) + embellishments (Sweet Shoppe.com Kristin Cronin-Barrow, iloveitall on etsy)

A Note from Lisa
Late August always makes me look back on the year and several years as my daughters birthday is August 31st. This year she turns 13…

I wanted to quickly add that the now and then circles are from a digital kit that is called For the love of: conversation. It was bought at Sweet Shoppe.com.

Also, when I went to look for older photos of Myrra (the dog) and Stina (my daughter) I couldn´t find any although I know we have several. I really wanted to include some of them on this page, so I dug out our old home videos and took screen shots! The photos are terrible of course, but the memories are surely not! The older photos are held in the glassine bag.

September Fun Fact
Right now I am freaking out about officially being a mom of a teenager!

 

 

A Day to Remember | Vivian Masket

12 x 12 | materials cardstock (Bazzill Basics) + patterned paper (October Afternoon) + mini-album pages (October Afternoon) + die cuts (October Afternoon) + stickers (October Afternoon) + chipboard (October Afternoon) + pen (Sakura) + font (Typenoksidi) 




A Note from Vivian

Mini-album pages, used as both a journaling spot and patterned paper, helped me to pull this layout together quickly.

September Fun Fact

I created this layout while on vacation at my parents’ house, not far from the beach where this photo was taken.

 

 

Third Grade 2012 | Jennifer Larson

12 x 12 | materials cardstock (Bazzill) + patterned paper (Pebbles, October Afternoon) + tags (Elle’s Studio, Studio Calico) + stickers (Pebbles) + floss (DMC) + templates (Bazzill) + pen (Zig)

A Note from Jennifer Larson
I am terribly behind on school photos. Rather than going back over a year to create layouts for each milestone event, I put them all on one page, using a circle ( and many more circles!) to symbolize the year.

September Fun Fact
I teach high school English, and let me tell you, the teachers are just as nervous and excited on day one as the kids are!

 

 

here's the story | Celeste Smith

12 x 12 | materials kit (One Little Bird & Sahlin Studio Worn at The Lilypad) + masks(Robyn Meierotto Cut It Out at Design House Digital) + stitching(Robyn Meierotto In Stitches Neutrals at Design House Digital) + frame (Kitschy Digitals Vintage Photo Frames at Kitschy Digitals)

A Note from Celeste
This is the last photo I have to my mom and dad with me. We weren't much of a photo taking family. I wish I had more! Unfortunately, this story is a little sad. My father is now having chemotherapy and has a long road to travel. We are hoping for the best!

September Fun Fact
My oldest started middle school this year. It's amazing I'm excited and nervous for him all at the same time. Let's hope he catches on to it quickly - he's my forgetful one!

 

 

8 Years | Kathy Martin

12 x 12 | < b>materials cardstock (Bazzill Basics) + patterned paper (Little Yellow Bicycle) + embellishments (American Crafts, Jillibean Soup, May Arts, Bella Blvd)

A Note from Kathy
This October marks eight years since we moved cross country from Hollister, California to North Carolina. It’s amazing to think back through these years and how much has changed and how we’ve grown as a family.

September Fun Fact
There’s actually a Hollister, California, but it’s not a beach community like the famous Hollister clothing company. We lived in Hollister for six years. It’s a small town between San Jose and the Monterey Bay surrounded by world famous farms. Most notorious are the strawberries from Watsonville, but there’s also Gilroy, the garlic capital of the world and Castroville which is the artichoke capital of the world.

 

 

Looking Back | Monika Wright

12 x 12 | materials patterned paper (Pebbles) + embellishments, letter stickers, border (Pebbles) + flapper, flair button (Ormolu) + sewing machine (Singer) + punch, die cut (Stampin’ Up) + shipping tag, chipboard (craft supply)

 

A Note from Monika 
Looking Back...this month’s theme. So I literally went looking back to a stack of photos that have been calling out for some attention and pulled this photo of my now 20-year old son. This photo was printed 3 years ago at which time I sat down and wrote some journaling about the photo. How’s that for looking back on a photo taken 17 years ago and journaling written 3 years ago finally coming to life on a layout.

September Fun Fact 
I haven’t ridden a bike since I was in my teens. My husband earned incentive points through his company and chose a bike for me, which I am guessing means I need to get my little tooshie on and actually now ride. Watch out girls, Mama’s on two wheels!

 

 

My Fish School Bag | Deb Duty

8.5 x 11 | materials patterned paper (Studio Calico, American Crafts, October Afternoon) + embellishments (Studio Calico, October Afternoon, Prima, My Paper Shop) + letter stickers (October Afternoon) + stamps (Studio Calico)

A Note from Deb
With the theme this month, I decided to go way back. I've been scanning old photos from my mother's house. This was the first day of preschool when I was about to be four. I have such a bad memory so it's really nice to have old photos to help remind me of things I had forgotten.

September Fun Fact
When I was little I so wanted hair like Marcia Brady. I was very happy when I got my first Chi flat iron about ten years ago. Finally I can have straight hair! I've been flat ironing it ever since. I wear it curly (which is better described as frizzy) very rarely.

 

 

Looking Back | Paula Gilarde

12 x 12 | materials template (Meant to Be Layered Template (Katie Pertiet)) + metallics (Lynn Grieveson) + labels (Banner Labels No. 1 (Katie Pertiet)) + title stickers (Wooden Alpha No. 8 (Katie Pertiet))

A Note from Paula
I can't believe I've know these girls for almost 20 years. It makes me feel old! We got together recently and it made me think about all the fun times we had over the years.

 

 

Blessed Love Happy | Teka

8.5 x 11 | materials patterned paper (Jillibean Soup) + embellishments (My Minds Eye) + Bling (Recollections) + Twine (Jillibean Soup)

A Note from Teka
I love using products on a page that are leftovers from other projects. Makes me feel "green". The kraft banner is actually a page left over from a mini I did for Jillibean Soup.

September Fun Fact
I always feel the most creative in the morning after a fresh cup of coffee.

 

 

Little Red Tricycle | Erin Sweeney

8.5 x 11 | materials patterned paper (My Mind’s Eye, Studio Calico, American Crafts) + embellishments (K & Company) + letter stickers (American Crafts) 

A Note from Erin
I printed these pictures 2 years ago, yet somehow they never got scrapbooked. As Mackenzie will be turning five soon, it’s fun to look back at her as a toddler.

September Fun Fact
I lose things. Often. I’ve lost two sets of keys with the remote keyless entry – both after driving home. How does that happen?

 

 

& Time Flies I Christa Paustenbaugh

12 X 12 | materials cardstock (American Crafts, Crate Paper, Echo Park) + patterned papers (Studio Calico) + stickers (Crate Paper) + wood veneer (Studio Calico, Studio Calico) + brads (My Mind’s eye) + chipboard (American Crafts, Studio Calico) + flair (A Flair for Buttons Etsy Shop) + wood veneer (Studio Calico) + twine (Ormolu) + die cut machine (Silhouette SD)

A Note from Christa
The theme for this month came at just the right time for me, but also broke my heart in half too. My oldest is getting ready to start her final year of elementary school so I dug up an old photo from when she was starting her elementary school journey at the ripe old age of 5. I see the physical changes in her, but also remember all the emotional and mental changes too. She’s starting her 4th different school this year and I couldn’t be more proud of how resilient she is!

September Fun Fact
I love September: the crisp air, football get togethers and a regular routine in our house. This year is a bit different though: no crisp air in September in a tropical climate and those football parties will be during the week after the games are already played in the States! It’ll be a new normal for us!

 

 

1976 | Sarah Pendergrast

12 x 12 | materials patterned paper (Studio Calico, Basic Grey, Jillibean Soup, My Minds Eye) + embellishments (October Afternoon, Studio Calico, Banana Fish Studio, K & Co) + stickers (American Crafts. October Afternoon) + tools (QuicKutz, Silhouette, Martha Stewart)

A Note from Sarah
My design was inspired by a Hambly overlay. I used butterfly punches and die cuts to replicate the design using a yellow gradient.

September Fun Fact
I’m the youngest of five kids, and the closest to me in age is seven years older. It was a happy mix of being a bit spoiled as the “baby” and an only child at the same time!

 

 

Looking Back | Alexandra Sirigue-McLeod

 

Still Here | Amy Sorensen

12 x 12 | materials paisley stamps (Close to My Heart) + round swirly stamp (Hero Arts) + fleur-de-lis and bird on a stem stamps (unknown) + StazOn ink (Tsukineko) + markers (Copic) + clock hands (Silhouette) + ribbon + Samo Sans and Janda Stylish Script fonts

A Note from Amy
For the stamped border, I wanted a colorful swirl of pattern and bright hues.To make it, I stamped with big stamps, letting the images come out a little messy and soft so they could blend into each other. Then I just had fun coloring in all the blank spaces. I wrote the journaling in a similar way, with run-on sentences and ampersands and a stream-of-consciousness feel.

September Fun Fact
My September goal is to finally finish the quilt I've been working on for my seven-year-old. Since he was four. The only good thing about my procrastination is that now I know to make it bigger than I had originally planned. Someone should check up on me!

 

 

Two Years Later | Marnie Flores

8.5 x 8.5 | materials patterned paper (Creativity by Crystal, Crystal Wilkerson) + fonts (Josefin Sans Std, Bebas)

A Note from Marnie
I thought for this month's gallery, I would be putting together a layout comparing all three kids on their first day of kindergarten. But when I opened the folder for Poppy's first day, I saw this picture. And knew that this was the story that needed to be told.

September Fun Fact
I have something every single day this month. And on a couple of days, we have three places to be at the same time!! It's going to be a fun month!

 

Bike | Kelly Jeppson

12 x 12 | materials patterned paper (American Crafts) + letter cut-outs (BasicGrey) + circle punch + white gel pen

A Note From Kelly
My parents gave all the kids in my family a cd of "vintage" family photos, and this is one of my favorites from the collection. It's a photo of me and my cousins with my grandpa, who passed away when I was pretty young. We used to all go on bike rides together, with me on the back of Grandpa's bike because I was too young to keep up with the big kids. I know that the photo is grainy - it was probably taken circa 1980.

September Fun Fact
My husband just bought me a road bike - I'm still trying to figure out how to shift! And I think she needs an Italian name, as she's a Specialized "Dolce" model. Any suggestions?

 

Thank you, write. click. scrapbook. team for creating a most beautiful gallery! And thank you, dear readers, for spending your precious time with us! We hope you feel inspired to create some fun today!