Anniversary Album 2013 - Part 2

For this page, I decided to go simple with a couple of layers and a few embellishments. I used some Sharpie paint as a border to the whole page to tie together with the white letters in the title, and the white polka dots in the patterned paper. The kraft photo corners add a bit of an anchor to the photos.

For this page, containing photos I absolutely love, I chose to bring in lots of hearts and a larger title. Lots of energy and texture on this layout, and it's one of my favorites.

A little bit of variety in colors for this page, with yellow as a more prominent accent color. I used the rick-rack trim to mimic waves and the kraft background to coordinate with the sand in the photos. My favorite detail, the yellow frame to draw attention to my favorite photo of the four.

Fun layout with some 3x4 cards, including the map heart embellishment cut from a fourth card. I like this simple design of photos in a vertical row, the accent photo last, and of course the subject of this layout makes me love this page even more.

Another page putting those cards to use, this time 4x6 cards, trimmed down. Again, a little more yellow added in, and a fairly simple design with just enough embellishment.

I admit the design of this page went a little awry with the odd placement of the patterned paper and journaling label, along with the arrows stamped to add some motion. It's not my favorite, but it tells part of the story, and it's a bit eclectic, which I always appreciate.

A little more simple than most of the pages, but I love the chipboard frame drawing the eye to the accent photo, and I like the other minimal embellishments. The background paper is one of my favorites from this kit, and I thought it was perfect for the subject matter of this page.

At first, I was uncertain about this patterned paper, due to its busy-ness, but I like the end result. The doilies are a great addition to frame the photos, and there's just enough contrast with the wooden hearts.

Another favorite page, this one came together so easily. I especially like the labels to hold the journaling, especially since there wasn't too much of the story to add to these photos of what we ate for that special dinner. I really like how the colors compliment each other, too.

For the last page, I wanted to use that background paper because it's a happy profusion of hearts. I like using the strip on the bottom of patterned papers, and this one made a good "shelf" for the photo. I used part of a cut-apart sheet as a sort of subtitle, and I brought out the red with stamped arrows.

To unify the pages for this album, I used a kit with many love-themed products, a color scheme, hearts and arrows, and I flicked drops of shimmery spray mist on every page to add a bit of sparkle. The pages were completed in a relatively short amount of time, a little over a week, I think, and I love the complete project more than I expected I would. This is the first time I've done an album for our anniversary with anything but autumn colors, and I couldn't be happier with the result.

The Great Scrapbook Re-org of 2014

When I first started scrapbooking, back in 2007, I did mostly chronological scrapbooking, and I scrapbooked every photo I printed.

And I printed a LOT.

I focused on the photos, and I didn't include much journaling on my pages. Maybe a caption here and there, once in awhile a paragraph. My purpose was mainly to display my photos creatively; story wasn't much of a consideration at all.

Later, I started paying more attention to the story because scrapbooking became more about preserving memories and telling the story of my life. I still worked chronologically until 2011 when I began to organize my storytelling a different way, by category instead of chronology.

No longer did I have what I call yearbooks, albums containing a certain year's stories. At first, I really enjoyed not having to be quite as organized, concerned about where the pages fit within the album. I could scrapbook by mood, rather than the date the photos happened. It felt a little more free.

Over time, though, I became more and more uncomfortable with not being able to open an album, say 2012, and follow the thread of what happened that year. I didn't like not being able to read through my scrapbooks like I read through my written journals, which are always by date. I wanted to change back.

To inspire me, I enrolled in Shimelle Laine's self-paced class, Cover to Cover, which is about creating albums that make sense, rather than simply containing scrapbook pages. I have completed only seven of the prompts for the class, and already I'm both energized and inspired to streamline my scrapbooking process, which includes going back to yearbooks for the everyday stories of life I want to tell, as well as some albums dedicated to certain other topics, whether it's my childhood, the story of my relationship with my sweetheart, trips we take, or whatever I feel deserves an entire album to itself.

Last Friday night, I started reorganizing the existing albums back into yearbooks, and not only did it go better than I expected, it also took a shorter period of time, and it made me aware that some stories are missing from all three years, 2011-2013. (I haven't even really begun scrapbooking 2014; that's a topic for another post.)

I love Shimelle's ideas that an album isn't ever, or doesn't have to be, finished. I can keep working on any album, if I so desire, even the yearbooks, adding more stories, even retelling some if I don't think they're complete or don't like the design of the page or whatever. 2007 and 2008, particularly, complain pages that tell no story at all, so I may want to go back and remedy that.

For a long time, now, scrapbooking has felt a little too much like a chore to me, and my reorganization efforts are remedying that in a variety of ways.

Anniversary 2013 Album - Part 1

On August 8, I went to a crop at the local scrapbook store, something I hadn't done in a long, long time. I took too much stuff, as I always do, because I wanted choices of what to work on. Included were photos from our anniversary last year, and My Own Kit from February, and I started creating the album for that occasion, which I wrapped up yesterday.

Happiness.

That's the cover page, and I love that red bow. I've had it so long, I don't even recall what it's from, but it rocks to get it onto a page.

The second page, all about one of our favorite things: coffee. I like the subdued tones, here, and the stamped hearts.

4x6 cards as patterned paper made a great background for this photo. With the busy patterns the tilted design, I hoped to convey the energy and busy-ness of the big city.

The large letter stamps weren't part of the original kit, but they fit the bill for a large title.

I like creating pages like this one with minimal product on a neutral background that really lets the photos stand out.

Lots of great patterns here to convey (I hope) the energy and bustle of a busy city street.

This one, my favorite so far. The mix of colors, the title treatment, all of it appeals to me, and it came together easily.

Photos of the rest of the pages are taken. Hope to have those up soon.