The world must be ending

because I actually SCRAPBOOKED yesterday. The first time in, oh, I don’t know how many years. And I enjoyed it. Immensely.

I have fallen off of the memory keeping bandwagon for some time – I got busy with work and life and scrapbooking took time I didn’t have. And then I got so far behind that the thought of starting and trying to catch up just was overwhelming. My poor scrapbook table sat dusty and unused, becoming a place for the family to pile things that they didn’t want to deal with at the moment. My scrapbooking software has been unopened, and while I have been saving photos, no archiving has been done. No organization or anything.

However, ever since we got back from our Disney trip I have been wanting to do something with those photos. I didn’t want them to sit unenjoyed on my hard drive. We had a great trip and I wanted to preserve those memories. To be able to look back on the stories and relive the fun.

So, I have been toying with the idea of a pocket-style scrapbook. I even purchased a 6×8 album and inserts and Disney-themed décor. And then I looked at how many photos I had. Over 1,000! Between the photos we took and the ones that we had taken by cast members, we have a LOT of photos. I wasn’t sure my little 6×8 album could hold all of that. And I wasn’t going to print that many pictures only to discard about half or more that wouldn’t make the cut into the album. That’s wasteful and expensive.

So then I thought about doing a simple Shutterfly album. I uploaded the photos and then started looking at the options online. I realized that I would not be happy or content with the products they had because I was used to being able to customize my pages with my digital scrapbooking.

So yesterday, while we watched movies as a family, I set up my laptop in the living room, downloaded some Disney themed digital kits and got to work. I managed to make it as far as our first “official” day in the park. I’m planning to do more this weekend, so hopefully I will make good progress. I have a lot of pictures to go through, but I’m having FUN and enjoying it again. And that’s a pretty big thing.

Who knows? I may actually scrapbook again.

Scrapbook kit: Simple Stories Digital collections (Say Cheese & Say Cheese 2)

Scrapbook Tuesday

I have a confession to make.

I’m way behind on my Project Life album.

Way, way behind.

I seem to have lost my drive for working on the album. I’m sure I’ll get it back – right now I’m only behind for the month of August – but for right now the thought of working on it seems like a chore, not a pleasure. So I will let it sit for a few more weeks until I find the desire to work on it again.

But –

I have done a wee bit of scrapbooking – I seem to have found the desire to digitally scrapbook. Interestingly, I did the same thing last year; lost my drive to work on the Project Life stuff around the time school started and then wound up working on digital pages for a while. So, maybe there is a trend here? Maybe it has to do with the hectic first weeks of school, I don’t know.

Regardless, as long as I’m doing something creative, I’m happy.

Here are two of the pages I’ve created recently. They’re focused on the first day of school for the girls:

The journaling reads:

Your first day of school – always a little scary for kids and a little more so this year for you… you started a new school, your sister was not at the same school as you anymore and you didn’t know any of the kids who would be in your class. But, in your typical fearless style, you were rarin’ and ready to go that first morning, up way before it was time to be awake and ready to leave almost a half an hour before we had to! I walked you into your classroom – our yearly tradition – although you didn’t want to hold my hand just in case people might mistake you for a “baby” that way. But we all know you are most definitely not a baby. You are a big girl. A third grader. And you are ready to tackle whatever your new school throws your way. I’m so proud of you and can’t wait to see what you do this year – whatever it is you decide to do, I’m sure it will be fantastic. Everything you do is!

And the second page:

The journaling reads:

Middle School.
Such a big step for you… a milestone you have waited so long to finally reach. And now it is here for you. After a couple of weeks of worrying and fretting this summer – about all of the changes that were coming, especially your locker! – you are finally ready for the big step… right across the threshold of your new school experience. In spite of the summer jitters, you were ready to roll on the first day of school. You’d met your teachers, practiced opening your locker, walked the halls and found out the friends you’d have in your classes. You knew the drill and you were ready to go. I dropped you off in the front of the school – no more walking you into class on the first day – and as I drove away I couldn’t help but remember the first day you started Kindergarten and how you had a lot of the same worries that had plagued you during this summer as you thought about Middle School. Just like then, you met the challenge head on and came through with shining colors. I can’t wait to see the things you’ll do and the places you’ll go in the next three years. Whatever they are, I’m sure you will shine – you always do.

Journal Your Christmas – are you in?

If you’ve followed my blog for any amount of time – at least a year, anyway – you know that I have a yearly project that I do to capture our memories of Christmastime…

It’s a self-paced class offered by Shimelle on her website and is an online class which consists of daily email prompts and suggestions for creating your own scrapbook or journal to capture your holiday memories.

The first year I participated (2009) I created a combination of traditional and digital pages – here are some examples:

Cover of the album & first page

One of the prompts was to capture the weather:

And here are a few digital pages I did:

You can view more of these pages over on my flickr pages.

And the second year (2010) are here –

They are digital – which I liked because I could keep up with the prompts more easily. I also used my blog to write a lot of what I would later put in my journal as I took the time to do the actual scrapbooking.

Looking back at the pages, I am getting really excited about getting started on this project again. I am going to start scouring the digital scrapbooking websites to find a good kit that has some pretty pages and embellishments to use. I think this year I will print the whole thing as a bound book (last year I printed the pages and slipped them into page protectors just in case I wanted to add anything that was last minute and non-digital content).

One of the things I like about Shimelle’s class is that, while the prompts are similar from year to year, I have found that my albums are so different each year. Depending on what is going on in our lives, with the kids and our friends and family, and what traditions or memories are resonating with me for the year.

This year, I’m hoping to get the girls more involved – maybe let them do some of the journaling and capturing their thoughts about the holidays.

There are quite a few other holiday scrapbooking projects – December Daily (Ali Edwards), 12 Days of Christmas (Big Picture Classes), etc. – but I find that Shimelle’s seems to inspire me the most. I love the fact that her prompts are not simply scrapbook-focused prompts. I can journal, write a blog post, take pictures, whatever. If that is all I do, I’ve still captured the story. If I decide to take it further and make a scrapbook out of it, then that is even better, but it’s not necessary.

I also like the self-paced aspect. I don’t feel like I HAVE to do something every day… I can do as I have time and am inspired. Both years, I’ve found that I tended to do two or three pages at once and then nothing for a few days. But you couldn’t tell when the project was finished because the prompts are so diverse.

So, what are you going to do this year? Anything? How will you capture your family’s holiday memories past and present?

I’ll be sharing my progress over the next month or so – if you are doing a holiday memory project, I’d love to see what you’re working on, too! Post your blog link in the comments and if I have enough, maybe we’ll start a weekly link up to share!

Scrapbook Tuesday (thoughtsalonglifeshighway.com)
Journal Your Christmas (all the posts from last year)

Just a little bit of scrappin’

I’ve been so busy lately – busy and sick – but this week was the first week where I actually felt like my old self again – and had my old energy levels back. Which is such an awesome thing! I missed being the Energizer Bunny of the house and it was so nice to get that back again.

And one of the things the new energy levels allowed me to do was to sneak in a little scrapbooking in the evenings.

I haven’t done a lot and a couple of the pages need some more work but I’m planning to spend a good portion of my weekend either knitting or scrapping – I’m in a crafty sort of mood. Besides, it’s supposed to be chilly and I think staying inside is a good idea.

That’s my story, anyway, and I’m stickin’ to it.

So, here are the pages I’ve been working on –

As you know, I’m working on a Project Life album – or I started one, anyway – but I am seriously considering making my 2011 family album a completely digital one – maybe even ordering a book of just the digital pages. I’ve never done that before, but since I’m doing the majority of the pages digitally anyway, I think I just might go that route this year.

I’m also working on some other little projects – Christmas cards and a Christmas gift surprise for some of my family – but I won’t be sharing those on the blog right now. Don’t want to spoil the surprise!

A little bit of scrappin’

I have been on overload this week. Lots going on at work and at home.

So, I managed to carve out a few minutes of time last night to do a little therapeutic scrapbooking – to give my brain some creative time and my body a little rest.

Here are the pages I did. Not many, but it sure was nice to get some done. I am hoping to do more this weekend.

I can publish CM SBC+ templates if anyone is interested… let me know!

My Day By the Numbers

I finally got around to doing my first prompt (not the first prompt, just the first one I’ve done) on Shimelle’s True Stories class. Life has been so busy, I haven’t even had time to read the prompts, much less write the responses. But I am determined to do them – I love her classes and always find such inspiration – both for my writing and my scrapbooking – when I take them.

Here’s today’s page: