Stitch In Time

Travel Album: Alaska

It's a year later and I'm just now starting off our travel album of our trip to Alaska.  Better late than never right?

I absolutely fell in love with the Penny Arcade Funnel Cake Stamp from Studio Calico.  I used the digital version and printed it out on a sheet of vellum.

On the next page I printed out a full-size picture of the harbor of the city of Juneau, and then I layered a transparency (also from Studio Calico) over it.

Next I took a baseball card page protector and started adding in pictures.  I have so many pictures from this trip, I am going to need to add in quite a few more pages.

I took my favorite manilla envelope from Baum-kuchen and filled it full of some paper souvenirs and cards and added it to the front.

And there you have the start of my travel album.  Hopefully I will get it finished before the end of the summer and our next vacation.  Have a great weekend!

Scrapbooking... what now?

Hearing the news about Two Peas in a Bucket closing today has made me sad and even feeling a little lost. It's where I first discovered scrapbooking and learned what an embellishment was.  The gallery was always my first source for inspiration.  It's where I discovered Jill Sprott and the ScrapGals podcast. Mostly I went to the message boards to connect with other scrapbookers.  There wasn't a day that went by that I didn't check the boards to see who was doing what.  I didn't post there very often, but I always checked in to feel in some way a part of the scrapbooking community.  

Scrapbooking has been around a very long time. Not long ago I posted a scrapbook my great grandmother created over 100 years ago.  And I recently took over my mom's scrapbooks from high school and college (pictured above).   Before the days of the internet, they created meaningful scrapbooks that I will always cherish.  No matter what happens I know I will continue the tradition of creating scrapbooks for myself and my family.  And I know the same holds true for others who truly love scrapbooking and memory keeping.

But I will miss the community.  I will miss the one common place I knew where others shared my passion for scrapbooking.  I'm feeling like I took it for granted all of these years, and now that it's gone I don't quite know where to turn. The first thing I did when I heard the news was to click on the Forums, only to discover they had already been locked.  I hope something good comes out of this.  I hope that it's just a hiccup in the road and scrapbookers will regroup and build an even stronger community. And the next time I won't take it so much for granted.

Summer Begins

School got out on Friday and up until the last minute it seemed like we would never get to summer.  But Saturday came and so did the sun.  There are kids on bikes zooming through the neighborhood. My husband got out and pressure washed the patio and deck until everything looked brand new. I filled the bird feeders and planted an herb garden. Last night I counted 5 kids out on the swingset in the backyard.  The walls of the dining room were repainted a fresh white which is brightening up the whole house.  The neighborhood got together for drinks and barbecue. I've already read two books just for fun.  Summer is officially here and I can get used to it! 

 

Family Recipe Album

I thought I'd start checking off the status of some of my goals for this year, one of which was creating a family recipe album.

Although this book will always be a work in progress, I can happily say it's one item I can count checked off my list.

I started with a Sn@p! Binder and added in Recipe Divider Pages from Simple Stories' Homespun collection.

On the back of the divider pages there are helpful things like Kitchen Conversions.  I also included a picture of our kitchen which is really just a leftover photo from my December Daily album.

Wherever possible I tried to include recipes in the owner's handwriting.  In this case I scanned in a couple of recipes my grandmother sent to me.

If someone was nice enough to have typed out a recipe for me on a card (thanks mom!) I just slipped the entire thing into a page protector.  It definitely sped the process along, and I love including the original recipe cards.

I also typed out some of my own recipe pages when I didn't have a nice copy already done for me.  On the opposite pages I included photos of the person whose recipe it was, so in a way it's also a bit of a family history album.

I'm excited to cross this project off my list. I have a bunch of other projects in the works. Only one more day of school for the kids, and then hopefully I can get even more done this summer.

Road Trip Kit

Crate Paper's new The Open Road colleciton was perfect to make a little kit to carry in the car on road trips.

I started with a tin pencil box which I painted blue and yellow.

Inside I put a scavenger hunt game of different items for my kids to spot along the drive.

I also included a list of all the states in case anyone wanted to play the license plate game.

I put the game, a tiny first aid kit, some small toys and candy in the box and now we are set to hit the road.

Elle's Studio June Guest Designer

I was thrilled to be asked to be a guest designer for Elle's Studio this month.  Today they revealed their June 2014 kit, and can I just say it's super cute!

Here's a look at the layouts I created.

First up was a page about my daughter using Everyday Moments.  This collection has a little bit of everything in it, including stamps, wood veneers and colorful tags.

Everything in the collection coordinates perfectly together.  I even pulled in some of the Patriotic Wood Veneers from a different kit and they still worked.

I also made a layout using the Shine collection.

Since we are just getting into summer around here I thought it would be the perfect time to make a bucket list.

I used a photo of my son, already barefoot in the backyard where I can usually find him during the summer months.  I did my best to layer the labels in a rainbow pattern.

Once again I pulled in some Patriotic Wood Veneers that I placed over some type I created on my computer.

And finally I made a quick little mini album with a wood veneer cover!  This cover does all of the work for you.  All you need to do is put some rings through the holes, or use tied strings like I did here.
The album is the right size to use with 3x4" journaling cards, so it takes no time to put together.

I added some wood veneer letters from the Shine kit to the cover.  I love the texture it adds.
Make sure to check out the Design Team gallery to see the latest creations, there's so much inspiration to be found there. And don't miss the June kit which is available today only for only $9.99 (after that it will be $11.99).

You can visit the shop and check out all of the other new items this month!!

Crate Paper - Boys Rule

Today I made a layout just for fun.  I need to do this more often.  I keep going back to the Boys Rule line by Crate Paper.  Whether it's cars, video games, or skateboarding it just seems to fit my son to a T.

Now it's back to the grind.  I'm off to Target to pick up a few necessities for the week.  Have a great day!

Almost Summer with Simple Stories

The weather has been cooperating and it feels like summer.  Now if school would just get out so we could really start enjoying some of these sunny days.

It's definitely flip flop weather, and my husband has the top off his Jeep.  Speaking of which, I was backing my husband's car out of the garage and hit our other car which is now in the shop.  Oops!

Lately I've been liking the idea of including a calendar with my Life Documented pages. It helps me keep track of what's going on.

A lot of pictures in this spread come from a girls weekend my daughter and I went to together.  It's been a long time (like before kids) that I've gone on a girls trip and it was really special to be able to share it with my daughter.  I wish I had thought to take more pictures while we were there.

And there you have it.  Have a great weekend!

Scrapbooking: Lessons from Lulu

Lulu Clementine was my great grandmother.  I never met her but she and I share a common love of memory keeping.  Over 100 years ago she started this scrapbook for my grandmother, documenting her life from birth through marriage.  I have learned so much from the way she preserved her family memories.  And here it is over a century later and her stories have stood the test of time.

She presented the scrapbook to my grandmother on her 25th birthday.  I love that she included a handwritten letter inside the front cover where she writes:

"I present this book of pictures and I hope it will mean as much to her as it does to her mother - to whom the pictures taken over a period of twenty five years are beyond price."

Even back then she knew the importance of not just documenting the special occasions but also of everyday life.  You get a brief look at life on a farm with this photo.  On the back it reads: Stove: Copper kettle is the water reservoir.  Hot water at all hours.

Perhaps one of the biggest lessons she taught me - every photo is dated and labeled.  It helps so much now to be able to go back and put a name with a face.

All of the little notes help.  Not just that she and her sister are taking a walk, but that they are headed to Sunday school.

Another everyday shot.  In most pictures my grandmother has perfect ringlets, but this picture shows her true hair after a shampoo.  Now I see where my curly hair comes from.

Mystery solved in the next photo which reads "mother holds the comb ready to make the famous curls".

She also scrapbooked the hard stuff.  The upper left photo shows the littlle girls crying with the note "grandpa has passed on".

My grandma had a lifelong love of camping, and now I see where it came from.

School pictures of my grandmother (left) and her two sisters, showing the age difference between them.

And finally on the back cover, my great grandmother recorded a family tree.  A simple yet meaningful way to end the book.  I am so glad to be the keeper of this family heirloom.  It makes me think of who will end up with the scrapbooks I create someday, and how well did I do at recording our family's memories.  I hope I do half as well as Lulu did.