the 2010 album project

Remember this? How I was scrapping along, keeping up with each month as it came and then at the end of the year, I would be rewarded with a completed album? It really did happen in 2009.


2010? Not so much. I think the last monthly page I completed is March, maybe April. I am so far behind. And this year, I got kind of tired of using all the same products (although I love how they look and it really makes the process faster). I was so tempted by all of the scrap goodies available and felt like I had self imposed a ban on using them. Silly, I know.

So today, in just about 10-15 minutes, I put together this super simple page. I am going to make a real effort to do a bunch like this over
the Holiday break and hopefully catch back up. So...all of the pages are not going to coordinate. Oh well. At least the important stuff will be documented and the photos will live in an album instead of my hard drive.

Feeling a push and loads of inspiration from Ali Edwards and her Christmas album and approach. Loving the big photos with just a bit of word art on them.

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scrapbooking: telling our story

Lately, I have been moved to begin making scrapbook pages again and telling our story. I credit some of the motivation to my new role at CatScrap Designs. It's lovely to have access to such great product :)

Thanks to the motivation of a Groupon expiring on May 18, this gem is on it's way to me.
Our 2010 Family Album. You can view mine and many other masterpieces HERE. The past two years, I have taken this approach: to write a monthly summary and add in other pages as I wanted. I primarily used the same scrapbooking products throughout each album and it really did simplify the design and I love both albums. {view 2009 album here}
But...this year I am going back to scrapping individual pages with whatever products I want to use at that moment. I have not decided if i will set a deadline and print them in an album or add pages into the existing books I have (family, Shelby, Olivia, Sisters) or just put individual pages into a designated 2011 album at some point. It doesn't matter to me right now...I just want to keep scrapbooking and I will organize them later.

So happy and lucky to have a sweet family and memories to document. Pin It

vacation album: keeping it simple

BLOGGER REFUSES TO LET ME RE-UPLOAD THESE PICS. SIGH.

I am tying together a few different kits from Little Dreamer, but still really trying to hold the products to a minimum in order to:
1: showcase the photos
2: tell the story with words
3: save time
4: have less clutter on each 8x8 page

Of course, since I got interested in these photos and this book, my 2010 album is falling woefully behind.
Headed out the door to make more summer memories right now...Kings Island here we come.

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for the 2010 album

While trying to quickly move some digital stuff onto a flash drive for vacation, I threw these two together. Both were premade pages that I added very little to beyond the photos.

Shelby.

Olivia.

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tackling 2010

Just a week or so ago, I renewed my interest in getting my 2010 scrapbook done. Today, I completed the following two pages that were part of my original "plan". I had already added the photos to the background pages, all I did today was add the journaling.

Which was easy, thanks to my blog. I simply went back and re-read each month, made a small summary and turned it into page journaling. The only thing that could have made this better is if I had done it immediately instead of 6 months later :)

Over Christmas break, I allowed myself to make some pages that were just for fun and were outside of the scope of the original 2010 "plan". I love them. I have not yet decided if I will add all of the non conforming pages to the back of this album when I print it, or add them in, in chronological order.

What do you think?

(click the layouts to view larger)

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more

...more scrapbooking

...more documenting our life simply

...more i phone photos

...more basketball

...more crossing things off of my to do list
-the 2010 album is only 4 months away from having that portion complete and then maybe a handful of additional layouts will round it out nicely
-my "picture a day" effort on the iphone is still on track

...calling my name louder every day...all of the tax info I need to compile and compute, like mileage and expenses

...a more conscious effort to stop before yelling or sighing or complaining and trying to enjoy life. Pin It

nov 2009: documented

During and after Shelby's tub, I sat down and got two more pages completed! I think if I finish December 2009, I may call it done and order the album from Shutterfly. That would have it at about 40 pages. Certainly there are stories I wish (and will wish) I had told more fully but it is March 2010 and I need to tackle and stay up to date on this year's album. 40 pages is 40 more pages of memories than 0, right?!

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The Evolution of my Digital Scrapbooking and Memory Keeping

Tuesday I shared how I organize my pages into albums and marry digital + traditional pages. I want to be clear, I am pretty easy going about this topic! Since the beginning, I am more of a moments scrapper and will sit down and make a page because I like a photo or because my kids did something especially cute, funny etc. I don't have a page for every birthday and holiday and I am OK with that. I also get to a point where I say, what I have done is good enough and I simply move on. I really believe each page and recorded memory is better than none so I don't worry about being caught up. I never have. There are many popular scrappers who seem to embrace this same vibe and certainly have provided me with inspiration and motivation. At the top of the list is Ali Edwards.

  {September Summary page}

When 2008 began to wind down I realized I loved everything about digital scrapbooking and I had  a very novice understanding of PhotoShop which I hoped would be enough. At that point, I set out to record 2009 digitally with the ultimate goal of printing my first Shutterfly Photobook. My approach would include one summary layout for each month and random additional pages that covered events more fully. I embraced the use of templates and limited myself to a short list of digital kits and product. In the end, the whole book coordinated. 

{example of an individual page}

In late January of 2010, I called it good. I simply said the pages I have at this point are enough to tell our story. I uploaded and pressed order. The book is 34 pages and I treasure each one. The monthly summaries kept me on track and I really did not mind limiting myself to only a handful of products. This strategy worked so well that I did it again in 2010!

I again used a limited number of products and each page loosely coordinated. The biggest pro is that this format kept me on track. I rarely fell behind on completing the monthly layout and my biggest resource was my blog. I could look back for key events and happenings and then translate them onto the page. The con? I did tire of using the same items this time around. So much digi goodness available and I felt like I had imposed a restriction on myself so for 2011 I changed it up.

How do you record and organize your pages?

The main thing I have learned, and one that I have made an unwritten rule, is to print my pages! The format (photobook, individual pages, in an album or binder) doesn't matter but the enjoyment multiplies when you can hold your creations in your hand.

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perspective

I spend a lot of time on the internet.
I read a lot of blogs.
I feel like I have "met" some of the most interesting people.

There are a few out there now, particularly tugging at my heart strings. I am pulling for them like they are my next door neighbor. And if you have some extra prayers available, you may want to meet them too.

Kayla and sweet baby Scarlette

Edie

In addition, I have decided to embrace a very casual project 365 project. I hope to take at least one photo per day with my Iphone. I mentally committed to this on Jan 2 so my first days' photos will just have to be what I happened to have taken. Makes it interesting, right? I have not thought through what I will do with them in the end. Suggestions? For safe keeping and to view my progress, I think I will start by uploading them to Flickr and creating an album.

My mind is still swirling about finding time to finish up my documentation of 2010 via a digital album. I really want to get this off my mind so that I can focus on the new year.

Lots of online talk about "one little word". I like it. I am trying to settle on a word. My top candidate is enjoy. Pin It

accomplished

I got far fewer done than I had hoped.

Using the laptop, and PSE exclusively, slows me down a bit.

And I brought photos on flash drives which I thought would be fine but I realize how addicted I am to Picasa and not viewing photos (quickly, easily, effortlessly) on there, really slowed me down.

Still, I had a great time hanging out with other ladies accomplishing the same goals. Good food, good conversation and some forward progress in Operation Photo Album v.2010.

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2 more pages complete

I think I may have shared one half of this last week. I love the versatility of the laptop but I have some major things to learn on PSE. Couple that with my attempts to scrapbook without a mouse and only using the laptop pad and I am handicapped for sure. So while I work out the kinks, my pages might not have all the bells and whistles but I have decided to call them good and move on. Forward progress!
I am pretty sure these two additions to my Shutterfly album put me above 30 pages. I really want to work through these and order it pretty quickly so I can begin using the same strategy for 2010. I am going to pick one kit and basically use that as the basis again. I have an idea of what that basic kit will be. I'll share soon.

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Ocean Isle 2010 8x8

Click here to view this photo book larger

I got my vacation photo book finished with two days to spare before my Groupon expired! I had purchased an 8x8 album via Groupon for just $10. In order to complete it in a timely manner, I scratched my previous plans for a custom scrapbook and used their pre-made options. With the additional pages and shipping, I checked out owing only $18.

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project 365: 2010

No, I have not quite finished 2009. There are currently 35 pages uploaded in my 2009 Shutterfly album and I have yet to complete November and December so I am in the home stretch. You can view pages here and here.
I got so excited about using the kit I selected for this year, that I had to set out to work! I am scaling back a bit even from last year, doing only one monthly page. I hope to do more "filler" pages highlighting events and accomplishments though. The kit is from the The Daily Digi and I set up this template with a different background color to alternate each month. The other total bonus? The kit came with a bunch of pre-made quickpages. And...I am going to print 8x8 this year instead of 12x12. Mixing it up.

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