My daughter turns eight this year. Eight. How did that happen? She has big plans for her big day, and I have equally daunting decisions to make as I craft her birthday scrapbook. For the past five years I have always added a birthday poem to a layout. When I first started the tradition, I penned my own prose. However, as she aged, so did I, and my creativity took a hit in the process. For the past couple of years, I’ve turned to the Internet and books to find a short but sweet poem expressing my pride in her … Continue reading →

The weather in my neck of the woods has been downright sizzling. Mother Nature’s hot flashes have triggered 80-degree temperatures in mid-March, which in northern Wisconsin is unheard of. The historic weather is something I plan to record in my scrapbook, only we’ve pretty much bypassed spring and shot straight into summer, so I will have to make adjustments accordingly. For starters I want to create layouts with light and bright paper that scream seasonal bliss. Rather than stick with standard cardstock or flat paper, I’m considering going a bit fancy with foil paper or glitter paper. I also recently … Continue reading →

Lately, I’ve been shying away from scrapbooking single events. Whereas I used to keep a daily album updated with cute or memorable activities involving my young daughter, time is simply not on my side anymore and now I collect, collect, collect, and then whip together a whole book during a marathon scrapbooking session. My goal in 2012 is to take time to craft daily pages again. I love the idea of preserving a single moment in time, rather than waiting for a major event, such as a birthday, anniversary, wedding, or baby shower to happen before I sit down to … Continue reading →

When was the last time you looked at your wedding album? Most couples don’t make a habit of pulling out their marriage memory books unless there’s a good reason to do, such as looking to see something specific in a photo or remembering what a guest or member of the wedding party wrote in a speech or toast. Other couples make it a traditional to page through their wedding scrapbook on their anniversary. This is especially true of newly hitched brides and grooms who enjoy taking a trip down memory lane. As couples age, the motivation to thumb through albums … Continue reading →

I’m hooked on chipboard scrapbooks. Not chipboard embellishments; I am head over heels in awe of chipboard memory albums whose pages spell out words, such as “Mother,” “Love,” “Family,” “Vacation,” or “Sister.” I rarely stray from crafting anything but traditional albums. Typically, my focus is on squeezing as many photos on a single layout as possible, so using a standard 12×12 page works best for me. However, after seeing how many mini images I could fit on a page from a chipboard scrapbook, I am obsessed. Granted, when creating page designs in a chipboard scrapbook, you have to be a … Continue reading →

According to the marquee on our local bridal shop, wedding season is officially here. Spring is primetime for nuptials, and I’m sure my local scrapbook shop will be echoing the bridal boutique’s sentiments just as soon as it sells out of its Easter merchandise. Weddings are among the most popular events to scrapbook and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out why. Getting married is a life-altering moment that most people enjoy reliving. Having a memory book to display all of the special parts of the extra-special day is a gift that keeps giving. In addition to the photos … Continue reading →

Depending on the theme of your scrapbook layout, finding the right supplies can be a breeze or it can be downright frustrating. Obviously, if you are crafting a traditional birthday, wedding or Christmas, Easter or Halloween-themed design, getting your hands on appropriate scrapbooking materials is fairly simple. However, if you are trying to craft a layout to commemorate your cousin’s new job as the director of the city’s Planning Department, you might be forced to exercise a bit more creativity. In a previous post, I shared a little about my neighbor’s recent adventure to see Disney on Ice: Treasure Trove. … Continue reading →

Last weekend our neighbors piled into their van and drove more than 80 miles to see Disney on Ice: Treasure Trove. The live ice-skating extravaganza features costumed characters from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Mulan, and Tangled. I know this without having to shell out $50 a ticket to see the performance myself, because my scrapbook fiend neighbor snapped more than 100 photos of the show and has about half of them already displayed in a Disney-themed memory album. Personally, … Continue reading →

With the Super Bowl just around the corner, now is the time to start planning some super sporty page designs. Whether you are planning to scrapbook a viewing party or you’ve snagged tickets to the big game and you’re dedicating an entire album to your precious professional pigskin memories, it pays to add some key elements to your layouts. When crafting football-themed scrapbook pages consider adding the following: Your favorite team’s colors and mascots; team rosters; special stats; times and dates of each game; players’ bios, programs; and tickets or other mementos if you are going to see the game … Continue reading →

After I put the finishing touches on my holiday-themed memory books, I usually take a break from scrapbooking for a few weeks. January is typically a quiet month in our family. We celebrate very few birthdays and even fewer anniversaries during the first month of the year. However, since I am obligated to create a monthly layout for my Year in Review scrapbook, I still have to come up with at least one event to scrap. In years past I have crafted pages with photos of my daughter’s outdoor winter adventures, including skiing, sledding, ice skating, and snowman-building. So far … Continue reading →