THE ALASKA PROJECT ...part 1

Hello!  Hello!  I know my blog has been a bit quieter now that I've decided not to blog each day; however, I have been crafting...just not so many cards.  Instead I've been working my my scrapbooks.  Now cards are great because they are usually fast and provide instant gratification.  But is past time for me to get into my books!  You see, our family loves to take vacations & they have really started to pile up on me!  So my goal this year is to get our vacation albums in shape! 

I have to say, every time I start working on pages I fall in love with scrapbooking all over again.  It really gives me joy when I look at all the wonderful memories we've created as a family.  One thing I can say for sure...Tim and I have definitely passed on our love for travel to our children!

So today is part one of THE ALASKA PROJECT & I'm really excited about it!  I thought I'd take you through my scrapbooking process ~ yes it can be time consuming; however, at the end of the project ~ it's exactly what I want!

Step 1: Sort through your digital images and print your photos.  Don't print everything!  My hubby is a shutterbug & he took about 7000 photos in Alaska this summer ~ not to mention the photos the rest of us took.  It was a huge job narrowing down the photos I wanted for my book.  I downloaded (or is it uploaded) them to Snapfish.com and ordered them when they had a special going because I knew there were so many.

Step 2: Decide on a theme for your project.  By coming up with one set of supplies, it helps your album go together so much faster.  Figure out coordinating cardstock colors & limit them to 3 or 4 colors.  These are the supplies I came up with...

I decided to use the Simple Stories Destinations kit for this project.  I fell in love with the rustic feel and colors of this set & thought it was perfect for the theme of this album.  There are lots of great supplies included in the kit, but for a project this size, I ordered 2 - 12x12 kits so I would have enough to finish the huge album.  I'm only about 20 pages in & I actually think I may need to order a few more of the coordinating papers. 

The stamps I decided to use:

Unity Stamp Co. (Co-Brand Simple Stories Destinations kits) & other miscellaneous images from Unity. 
Hero Arts ~ Alphabet blocks
Technique Tuesday ~ travel set

Step 3: When I ordered my photos, I also ordered several packages of photo sleeves in different styles.  I like using 3-ring 12x12 binder albums because I can move things around while I'm working.

Step 4: Once my photos and page protectors arrive, I start by putting my pictures in chronological order.  Then I make a day by day list of what we did each day and little details I don't want to forget.   At this time I also pull out any memorabilia I collected on our trip ~ maps, ticket stubs, brochures, postcards, etc...

Step 5: Next I start putting my photos in the photo sleeves ~ probably one of the most important steps in my process!  I like to mix up the sizes and styles of the page sleeves.  I also through in some 12x12 pages & I add notes in pockets of things I want to journal when I get to that page.  Don't get discouraged, this part can be time consuming ~ but it's worth it because it makes the next part so much easier!

One of the things I love about scrapbooking this way, is that once the photos are in the photo sleeve pages, you are ready to enjoy & share them ~ even if you haven't added all the other fun embellishments.   You don't have to pull out boxes or envelopes of photos to share with family or friends ~ just pull out your book in progress.

Step 6: Once the pages are all in place, I start adding bits and pieces from the Simple Stories kit.  I love these kits because the are specifically designed for scrapbooking with the photo sleeve pages and to help make scrapbooking SIMPLE!   It's really all about getting the project COMPLETED!

So that is the process I follow when preparing our vacation (or other theme) albums.  I'm about 20 pages into my album and it's coming out just as I hoped it would!  I LOVE IT!  Here are some pictures of the first few pages.

First up ~ a 12x12 title page with a few of my favorite photos from the trip!

My second page is a piece of 12x12 pattern paper from the Simple Stores kit that I've added photos, journaling, stamping, and stickers to give a fun overview of the entire trip. 

Now we get into some of the photo sleeve pages of the album.  Along with the photos of downtown Alaksa, I have a title block at the top & a journaling block at the bottom to give some of the details of the day.  This is a theme I'll uses throughout the book.

And my last page {for today} ~ is the opposite side of the page above.  This includes another journaling block for Day #2 along with some embellished photos and a piece of memorabilia included.  Side note: Gotta love photo editing software!  In the original photo of Matt in top left corner, there was a cleaning cart and 2 people in the background ~ not anymore!

So that complete part of of THE ALASKA PROJECT.  I hope you enjoy taking this scrapbooking journey with me.