Last night I asked my brother what he thought about the friendship scrapbook I made which features his wife and several of my other BFFs. His reply: “A friendship scrapbook? Is that what you’re calling this sappy love fest?” What? Too many rainbows and unicorns? Actually, I know exactly what prompted his sardonic comment, and it’s not all the awesome photos I embellished with hearts and XOXOXOs. My older sibling simply doesn’t appreciate a heartfelt friendship quote when he’s forced to read it. Or, maybe it was the sheer volume of emotional prose that got to him. Regardless of his … Continue reading →

If you ever doubted that scrapbooking was a hobby reserved exclusively for women, then you must have missed the episode of HGTV’s “House Hunters” where two guys were searching for a home that included the “perfect craft room,” so they could scrapbook their hearts out. Scrapbooking is no longer a passion shared only by grandmother’s with extra time on their hands or Martha Stewart wannabes looking to one-up fellow PTA moms. Scrapbooking is a hobby that does not discriminate. Rather, it invites men, women and children to exercise their creativity and preserve memories for future generations. Interestingly, Redbook magazine recently … Continue reading →

If you can’t stop singing the blues when it comes to uninspired scrapbook layouts, then consider paging through magnificent music memory albums. Right now my local scrapbook store is featuring some of the most incredible music memory books created by crafty customers. A gal, who took a spring trip to visit the Grand Ole Opry, Graceland and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, put together the most incredible music scrapbook I have ever seen. Where to begin with its greatness… For starters, the woman who handcrafted the music masterpiece went to Lyrics.com and designed her own scrapbook paper featuring … Continue reading →

My pregnancy went by in a flash. I was so busy working 14-hour days that I didn’t have time to fret over the little things. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to relish the special moments either. If I had the time I would have made more of an effort to document my journey to parenthood. I wish I would have jotted down some of the ups and downs related to my pregnancy, so I could share them with my daughter. For many, the main focus of a pre-baby scrapbook is the pictures that chronicle your body’s changes from conception to labor … Continue reading →

It’s unfortunate that many of us only consider honoring our military heroes when major holidays roll around. I am guilty as charged. Often I lose sight of the fact that there are tens of thousands of men and women overseas fighting for my family’s freedoms while their own spouses, children and parents eagerly wait for their safe return. Yesterday I popped into my local scrapbook store to purchase a few last embellishments for my daughter’s end of the school year scrapbook and I passed by a large display of military-themed scrapbook supplies. The owner of the store has a nephew … Continue reading →

Life would be so much easier if my young daughter was into Scooby-Doo, Mickey Mouse, or Sesame Street. Instead, she likes obscure kiddie characters that are not featured as scrapbook embellishments. Dang. I so wanted to create a layout featuring her favorite Nickelodeon characters, but I can’t find a single company that sells “Penguins of Madagascar” stickers, stamps or die cuts. Ditto for “Bubble Guppies” and “Max and Ruby.” However, if your kid is into Elmo, Cookie Monster or Big Bird, then the scrapbook supply world is your oyster. Good gracious, have you seen how much Sesame Street scrapbook merchandise … Continue reading →

I am a Recess Mom, not Room Mom at my daughter’s school, yet somehow I got suckered into helping put together an end-of-the-year thank you scrapbook for a couple of educators. Granted, one of the teachers is my daughter’s homeroom teacher and the other is the music teacher, but I’m not an expert scrapper, so I refused to take on the entire job. Fortunately, the mom in charge delegated the work so that none of the moms who volunteered to help would be stuck making pages and pages of layouts solo. My task was to find a list of appropriate … Continue reading →

A couple of days ago I posted about the end-of-the-year scrapbook I am helping to make as thank you gift to for my daughter’s teacher. I got roped into volunteering for the job, but am not the one who is actually putting together the layouts; rather, my job is to collect a series of teacher or education-related quotes which be added to the pages as embellishments, borders or titles. I shared some of my favorites in a previous post, but just found out that most of them were too long. So, I’m back at it again. I decided to search … Continue reading →

I love that title. In fact, I lifted it from my friend’s summer travel scrapbook. Obviously, I have no shame. Actually, as I told my pal, I think the title is so clever it deserves to be shared with the world. Travel scrapbooks are my favorite to design, and with spring break in full swing and summer just around the corner, I thought it apropos to share some of my favorite tips for spicing up layouts that spotlight trips to the beach. One of my favorite pages features photos from our recent trip to Hawaii. I used pictures I took … Continue reading →

Making a spring break travel scrapbook is fairly simple. After all, it doesn’t take much to add photos and memorabilia to layouts. However, if you are looking for ways to make your pages pop, then consider the types of embellishments you use. For example, for a beach-themed page, instead of using a slew of store-bought stamps and stickers for added effect, why not create an ocean and sand setting as a backdrop for favorite photos of your kids frolicking in the waves? You can use chalk to draw the water and sandpaper for the sand. Or, use fine art sand … Continue reading →