Remembering the First Day

The new school year began this month and who doesn't love that! School age kids are back in class instead of wanting rides and money to hang out with friends. This year E started kindergarten and little A started preschool. So naturally, I got to get the first day of school pictures and then I had to put them on a new layout. (If I'm going to scrapbook, I might as well do it when it happens instead of waiting a couple years! haha)

Sorry for the horrible picture, I used my phone just because it was easier. Besides, I can sacrifice a little picture clarity if you still get the general layout idea.

Each of the little ones got their own page but I planned to have them facing in the book so I made the layouts complimentary. I kept it super simple and really only embellished with a few rhinestones and a contrasting paper on each page. My absolute favorite part is the family picture. How perfect is that?! The whole family walking E to her first day of kindergarten.

Feeling Scrappy

I have decided to start scrapbooking. This is a big thing for me. I've never been a big fan of that particular craft simply because it seems like you spend $50 on stickers and embellishments all for one picture on a 12" x 12" piece of pretty paper. Personally, I love my pictures and the stories they tell too much to have them be lost in a sea of stuff that is actually supposed to make them stand out.

Don't get me wrong, there are some great layouts that really do make the picture the center of attention. In fact those are the ones that have inspired me. That and the fact that I love the beautiful papers you can find and the idea of telling my story and holding the memories that I hold so dear. (Basically I need to use the stack of papers and printed pictures I have before I can justify buying more paper!)

The layout I made for this post features pictures from Easter this year. I loved the bright colors of the base paper and contrast of the flowery side panel. I opted to punch out the main focus of the pictures and set them on a bright green solid, which will also serve to frame some journaling (that's why there is the random huge green rectangle in the middle there). And balanced the page with a few gems on the flower paper and dimensional flower stickers to the right.

My personal favorite part is the main picture at the top of the page - my step-daughter N taking pictures of her hubby and their little girls E and A. I love that it is someone taking a picture of their family and I punched the family group out and raised it with some double sided foam mounts just to make it pop out a little.

I think I might actually start to enjoy this as a hobby, which may scare my sweet hubby.

Sentimental Picture Gift

It is a little scary to think about, but we are eight days from Christmas! People may be starting to panic trying to figure out gifts for those hard-to-shop for loved ones. Or how to fit one more gift in to an already tight budget. You don't want to give some generic gift that will be forgotten about or re-gifted next year.

One thing I love to do as an affordable and very meaningful gift is a scrapbook inspired framed picture. There are so many possibilities if you have a huge stash of supplies. If you don't, not to worry - this is still a fairly inexpensive gift that really doesn't take long to create.

What you need:
- picture frame (I used 8x10)
- pictures (I used two trimmed to fit, but you can use as many as you can fit)
- scrapbook papers
- sentiment stickers
- scissors
- glue
- ruler or paper cutter

The process is super simple and pretty straightforward. Trim your main background to fit the frame. Deciding on your layout may take awhile, but take the time to play with it, see what you like and don't glue anything down until you are sure you love it. I trimmed a strip of coordinating paper to put the sentiment on and help it stand out and trimmed the pictures so they would fit well.

I used an inexpensive frame from my local Walmart. For the papers and sticker sentiments you can either go to a craft store and buy individual pages and matched stickers. Or you can do what I did - check out the stationary/gift wrap area of your local Walmart or Target. I paid $1 each for a set of coordinated papers (that had several pages in it) and a sheet of matched stickers. Total, after printing the pictures was about $6 for this project. It may not cost a lot, but it will surely get an "AWWW" when opened!

Scrap Supply Storage

When you are a scrapbooker, card maker or any other paper craft, it is easy to get overrun with supplies. It's not always easy to know how to organize all of the pretty papers, embellishments, pens, punches, pictures, and stickers. What's the use of having all those pretty things if you can't find what you want when you are looking for it?


I ran across a great slide show over on BHG.com that offers 20 Creative Scrapbooking Storage Solutions. There are some really cool ideas here to help keep things organized and easy to find. Click here to read the article.

Sun Valley Scrapbook Page

Sun Valley Idaho is a winter wonderland that attracts people from all over the world for not only it's winter sports but also its sheer beauty. We are lucky to live only about an hour and a half south of Sun Valley so we can drive up on the weekends to explore the scenery and shops. Earlier this year we did just that.

I chose a simple black cardstock paper for the background because it allowed the white snow, blue sky and green trees to really jump at you. Using dark green accent paper and glittering foam snow flake stickers to add character, these pages are so simple yet so elegant. I didn't have very many pictures to choose from so I decided to group the pictures I did have and added the typed journaling and title.

Again, so simple and so elegant. Anyone could do pages like these without spending a fortune!

Happy Crafting All!

A Day At The Falls

One great thing about having family visit from another state is being able to show off the natural beauty of the area I live in. Believe it or not, Idaho has more than just potato fields! Shoshone Falls is wonder that rivals Niagara Falls in size and sheer splendor. When the water is pouring over the rock face, it is an awe-inspiring site.

Obviously I had to show this gem off to my sister and nephew when they came to visit. The resulting pages showcase a simple layout on a black background, really complimenting the vivid colors. Though there is very little embellishment, the striking blue rick-rack at the top and bottom make a bright statement and add to the continuity of the two pages. Personally, I feel it is best to let the pictures and journal entry tell the story, rather than the embellishments!

Happy Crafting All!

Family Fun Journaling

Being in a fairly rural area, we have the good fortune to be able to enjoy the outdoors in ways that people in urban areas just can't. Especially when you have access to four-wheelers and miles of open desert! So when we had a Sunday with nothing to do and perfect weather, we jumped at the chance to go get dusty and have fun.

Those kinds of spontaneous adventures usually make the best and most vivid memories. They are the kinds of days that are perfect for journaling. The page layout is, again, simple and filled with pictures rather than embellishments. One of the big differences between this page and my other recent pages is that I used hand-written journaling rather than printing off the title and excerpt.

The only embellishments used were a couple of chipboard tags fastened to the pages with decorative brads and a scrap of scrapbook paper. All the written elements were done on blank tags. The black pages bring out the vivid summer colors in the pictures. So simple!

Happy Crafting All!

Silver Creek Remembered

I love journaling because it gives me a chance to revisit great days of the not so distant past and allows me to relive some of those wonderful memories. Way back in May, my husband and I took a drive up to Silver Creek which is south of Sun Valley. Naturally, we took our dogs to give them a day of roaming the countryside, exploring to smells and sites.

When I was putting these pages together, I knew I didn't want a lot of embellishment on them. I wanted to remember the day, the sights and the people I was with. Using a lot of pictures is the best way to capture that give a lot of visual reminders. The journaling and title element for the pages were both done in Word which allowed me to preserve the written memories in a more legible script and I was able to design the pieces in a way that complimented the layout. The only real embellishment on the pages are the strips of self-adhesive ribbon on the outside edge. The ribbon adds interest and a different dynamic without competing with the pictures.

It's not hard to create a lovely page to preserve memories without losing those memories to the fancy embellishments. Pages like these prove that less really is sometimes more!

Happy Crafting All!

Pictures To Die Cuts

If you have ever ventured through the paper craft sections of you favorite craft store, you'll undoubtedly have seen the lovely die cuts available for your projects. But why buy them when you can make them at home. It's easier than you think.

Above is the perfect example of how easy it can be. I used a picture of a blooming rose that I took at a city park, cut around the rose and made my own rose 'die cut' perfect for cardmaking or even scrapbooking. If you don't happen to have a collection of pictures to use, you can always search domain-free images to use in your projects - simply download the free images and cut them out.

Obviously, using something like a Cricut system would be easier, but those can be expensive. Using my own pictures, the only investment I have to make is in printer ink, paper to print the pictures on and a pair of sharp scissors. And with the economy the way it is, saving money anywhere you can is a definite plus!

Happy Crafting All!

Scrapbook or Journal?

When I was young, there was really only two options for what I could do with photographs: 1) Stick them in a shoebox to keep them safe or 2) Put them into a photo album, which was usually the kind with adhesive and clean plastic covering. Now that I'm older, I know that those old albums are the not best place to store my memories simply because once the picture has been in there a while, it's impossible to get it out.

Scrapbooking and I just don't get along. I have seen some absolutely gorgeous scrapbook pages that showcase a genuine artistic talent. However, I still believe that a scrapbook should be a photo album and I just can't bring myself to spend hours designing a page with $50 worth of embellishments for just one picture. It won't tell the whole story attached to that memory.

Lately, I've found myself leaning toward journaling, which is almost a hybrid scrapbook. Combining the artistry of scrapbook with a little storytelling, the journal saves the complete memory in both images and words.

Showcased above are some simple journaling pages I created for a recent family trip to Craters of the Moon here in Idaho. In mirroring 8"x10" sheets of paper, I was able to place several pictures taken at the park with pictures of the family and a little written reminder of what I loved about the day. I used mostly scrap papers, left over from other projects and was able to whip the pages together in about a half hour. Simple and fast - two things I love in a project!

Happy Crafting All!