National Scrapbooking Day... It's TODAY!

It's pages and memories like this that remind me why I love to scrapbook! Tim was out of town for his birthday last year so we tried very hard to make a day special when he got home. We told him we were going to have a party but he didn't know any of the details. We went to friends house for dinner, swimming a Cold Stone Ice Cream Cake, and PRESENTS. We surprised him with a Wii ~ he was so HAPPY! I love these pictures because the expression on his face shows how happy he was that night.


I hope all you scrapbookers out there have a chance to get some projects done today. I have had a wonderful time this week working on some 12x12 layouts. It has been MONTHS ~ maybe even a year, since I have sat down to really work on pages. I've done a project here and there, but I haven't dedicated a good chunk of time to doing pages. So this week I carved out some time to work on some fun pages. One thing that has really helped me with my scrapping guilt, was to make the decision to scrapbook what I love and not worry about working chronologically. It has taken a lot of pressure off & is very liberating. Remember ~ it a hobby, so have fun with it.

So after taking such a long time off from this wonderful hobby ~ here was my process for getting back into the scrapbooking groove...

1) I went thru idea books and picked out 8 to 10 layouts that I just loved. My new favorite idea book is by Becky Fleck called Page Maps ~ it is a fantastic book! She also has a great website and uploads new layouts each month ~ go check it out HERE!

2) Using the layouts I picked out in the idea books, I then went thru my pictures on the computer and decided which events (or just everyday things) I was in the mood to scrapbook. When I upload my digital pictures to my computer, I organize them by year and month so they are easy to find. For the page above, I picked out my favorite shots of my husband's birthday from last year.

3) Using the layout from the idea book and the pictures I wanted to use, I decided on which pictures from that event I wanted to print and what size to print them. I have a photo printer at home that will print a variety of sizes, so I usually don't print too many because I never use them all.

4) Now that I have my layout idea and my pictures are printed, I figure out what paper and embellishments to use. That part usually takes the longest for me. If I end up taking too long, I usually just start laying down things and deal with what I don't like later ~ LOL!


So that is usually my process ~ Happy Scrapping!

Supplies Used: Cardstock ~ SU Textured & Prism; Pattern Paper ~ SU; Ric-Rac ~ May Arts; Photo Anchors ~ Queen & Co.; Title ~ Cricut (Base Camp cartridge); Chipboard star and button ~ SU; Font ~ Avant Garde (Word); Swirl Punch ~ Marvy.