Journal Update

I have been having so much fun creating my journal for the EtsyBloggers Journal Swap!!! Here lately I've been working so much on inventory for up-coming shows and custom orders that I haven't actually made any scrapbook layouts in quite some time. And since I am making my journal scrapbook-style...this is an awesome creative outlet!!!

Here are my latest pages:

I'm not going in any particular order. Just whatever strikes my fancy that day :) I'm using all of my favorite colors and trying to embellish each page or add a photo to make it fun! I'll keep you updated on my progress!

Use That Memorabilia

If you're anything like me...I tend to be a pack rat! And then you throw in being a scrapbooker and I have a hard time throwing anything away! You never know when you can use it on a layout :)

Today I thought I'd show you a few ways to use memorabilia on scrapbook layouts. Why store it away when it can be displayed in your albums along with your photos :)

For this layout I put the actual graduation medal on the page with extra strength adhesive. It made a nice border, don't you think? I also added the professional graduation invitation. There was nothing on the back, so I was able to adhere it down and you can still open it and see the inside.

And on this two page layout, instead of using the entire diploma...I scanned it and downsized it to fit nicely among all the photos. I also included the graduation program and the special invitation I made for the event. Both of these will also open so you can still see the inside :)

Worried about your memorabilia being acid free and safe for your scrapbooks? Worry not :) You can test your items with a pH pen and spray them with a deacidifier such as Make It Acid Free by Krylon.

So go ahead...get that memorabilia out of a box and into your scrapbooks :)

Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

Every year when Cinco de Mayo rolls around, it sends my mind back to my trip to Mexico :)

In 2000 a group of students took a trip to Merida and lived with families! We then got to spend a day in Acumal and enjoy the beach :) We got to see so much and learn so much while we were there! I took hundreds of pictures and scrapbooked tons of layouts...I probably should have just done a mini album for the trip!

In honor of Cinco de Mayo, I thought I'd share a couple of my layouts with you :)

Now keep in mind that I made these back in 2000. You can definitely see how far my scrapbooking has come in those 9 years!

It's always fun to look back on those old layouts. It doesn't really matter how corny they look with stickers just stuck all over the page and writing all over the place. What matters are the memories...that's what scrapbooking is all about after all :) Enjoy the layouts!

Just Play :)

I like to scrapbook all the major events in my life...holidays, birthdays, family get-togethers. But sometimes I just want to play! It can be a learning experience to just play with your supplies and have fun with a layout.

For this layout, I took a photo that I really liked, but wasn't anything special and had fun with it. The photo is of my mom and I with our toes in the sand at Lake Michigan. Just a fun photo I wanted to take for the heck of it. I used tons of rhinestones, some puff-paint, and some paper scraps for flowers and punched circles. I also played with the photo effects to make the photo black and white, but leave our toe nails in color...cool effect :)

This is another photo I really liked...and one that was pretty special. Any photo where Jesse is smiling is special! But I took so many photos this day that I just wanted to play with this one. I used scraps of paper and a gel pen to make a sun. I also used some paint for the title area...all fun little additions :)

So I'm here to tell you not to feel guilty about just having fun with your supplies and photos! So many people focus on getting "caught-up" or getting all the milestones scrapped. But sometimes you just need to cut loose and play!!!

My latest client layouts

I just finished some really fun layouts for a client and I thought I'd share them with you :)

My favorite to make was this Be Merry layout. I love the over-sized tree and presents. And I really love the colors too :) I think the stitching adds just the right touch to the patterned paper behind the photo.

This layout is actually a three part layout. I used these special page protectors with flaps to create them. They are gate folded to open in the middle to reveal another layout underneath! These work great for layouts where you have too many photos to fit nicely on a two page spread, but want to keep the photos all together. I think this set came out great :)

My favorite part about this layout is the photos of the truck! You know me and old vehicles :) My client was visiting some family that lives on a farm and the truck really spoke "country" to her, so she wanted them added to the page...very cool in my book!

I love scrapbooking for myself...but I also love scrapbooking for others :) Some clients I meet with on a weekly or monthly basis. And others mail or email their photos and I mail their completed pages back to them. It really is an easy process. You send all the photos, I do all the work and send back beautifully created pages :) If you are interested in having some custom pages done...just email me at: memoriesforlifescrapbooks@hotmail.com and we can get started from there. I work very closely with my clients to make sure I create pages that they are going to love! Get those photos out of boxes and into albums today!

Multi-Photo Layouts

Some things I hear a lot of scrappers complain about is never being caught up and wanting to scrap all of their photos of an event. Well, if you're like me and take about 100 photos of every major event and at least 50 of the not so major events, scrapping all of these photos can be quite difficult. My solution...multi-photo layouts! I hardly ever scrap just one photo on a page unless it is a really important photo...or I'm just in the mood to play. Multi-photo layouts help you get a lot of photo scrapped in a small amount of space. Just look at the layouts here. I fit a whopping 10 photos on this layout and still had room for a large journaling area. The key here is to use a grid format. I printed two larger photos at 4x6 and then formatted all the rest to be 3" tall with varying widths for variety. I like this multi-photo layout because of all the white space I was still able to leave. I fit 8 photos on one 12x12 layout and still leave room for the eye to rest. ( It is hard to tell here, but there is about a 1" border around the outside of the red frame.) This one is a combination of photos and embellishments in a grid. I fit 8 photos on the front as well as journaling and the main photo in the middle opens up to show three more photos underneath. This layout has by far the most pictures on it than any other layout I've done. I'm proud to say that I fit 26...that's right, count 'em...26 photos on this two page spread! I kept the embellishments to a minimum and used one photo as the main focus to keep this page from being too busy. So next time you find yourself with a pile of photos to scrap and little time to do it in...think multi-photo layouts! You will be happy you did :)

Fall is in the air!

Can you believe tomorrow is the official start of Autumn! This time of year is sort of bittersweet for me...I hate to see sunny summer days go, but I love wearing sweaters and jeans and being a little less busy.

Luckily our weather has warmed back up a little, because last week I could have sworn fall was already in full swing! I've even started seeing combines out already. They say it will be an early harvest with the weather conditions we've had this year.

I thought I would share a layout I did about Fall In Iowa and what it represents to me.

What does Fall represent to you? Do you love or hate this time of year? I'd love to hear your responses :)

New Photo Purse

I'm so excited! I finally got layouts done for my new purse! I am so happy with them too :) It's kind of strange scrapping in a different size than I am used to...these are 8x10 and I am used to 12x12. It keeps my creative juices flowing!

The purse isn't exactly what I was looking for, but how can you pass up a purse you can scrapbook on :) Now I just need to try and keep up with changing the layouts every month or two!