Month: September 2020

I love experimenting with size in my scrapbooks. I enjoy the challenge of using both different sized albums as well as different sized page protectors. As my scrapbooking style has developed, I have enjoyed playing around with using multiple different sized page protectors, photos and ephemera in my albums.

My December Daily albums are usually my most “crafty” albums of the year, and are often a place I used to try out new ideas for layouts. In my 2019 I experimented with size more than I ever, and had a lot of fun with it. I used a 6×8 album, but also played around liberally with 3×8 shipping-style tags, using cards outside the page protectors, and creating my own pockets to hold ephemera. I like that they added a lot of visual interest without adding much bulk, which is often a problem I have with this project!

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This year, I’ve been doing Monthly Project Life for our family album. I’m loving the ease, and the variety of page protector size of the 9×12 album. It is a very simple size for both quick, pocket layout, and more crafty, detailed spreads. Another thing I’m loving about this size, is the ability to include different size page protectors such as 6×8 and 8×10. I like the way that different sized page protectors look when they are layered on top of each other within a spread. I think it adds interesting visual texture, (and it allows me to stuff in even more photos).

Sometimes its fun to experiment with size outside the page protectors as well. This is not a technique I employ much, mostly because I’m worried that little hands will damage things outside of the page protectors, but it is still fun to play around with from time to time. In this year’s Week in the Life, I did a spread that layered a 3×4 journal card, on top of a 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 watercolor painting on top of a traditional 3×4 page protector. I really like how the different papers and plastics have different textures. I also added a repeated element of the geotag half circle outside the page protector in my 3×8 Europe travel album which I used to hold the names of different locations that we visited.

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I enjoy the look of my albums more when I switch up the sizes of pictures and page protectors that I use. Do you use pictures or other elements outside the pockets? Do you switch up the size of your page protectors in your albums? I’d love to hear what you think!

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2020 has been anything but normal. Between the pandemic, civil unrest, injuries, losses, and the ups and downs of having a toddler, there have been many many challenges to contend with. And somewhere along the way, I seem to have lost my scrapbooking mojo. I managed to complete February and March in my monthly project life… and then…nothing. I took pictures and wrote most of the words for Week in the Life, but it felt like a chore. Our life has felt like Groundhog Day for months, and I just couldn’t find the motivation to tell stories.

However, I was not stagnant. At least not for long. I learned how to sew so that I could make masks for my family and friends. Then, I thought, if I could learn to sew masks, I could sew curtains, and placemats, and soon I’m going to start my first quilt.

I started a watercolor subscription with Let’s Make Art, and have found joy and calm in painting. I have started branching out into more detailed tutorials with Anna Mason’s online school, and even tried my hand at original paintings based on flowers we see on our daily walks.

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Recently, my friend Ingunn, a fellow scrapbooker, told me about how she decided to make a dedicated “pandemic summer” album, just dedicated to the awesome things she and her family were doing locally. This spoke to me in a way that project life had not. I wanted to tell the stories of our hikes and small adventures like Henry’s first camping trip. I didn’t want to put a lot of pressure on myself to make a perfect album, and I wanted something that felt do-able and reasonably easy and quick.

I found some layered templates designed by Liz Tamanaha over at Paislee Press which fit perfectly into a Citrus Twist Life Crafted album and just started plunking in pictures and short journaling. I added simple embellishments from Ali Edwards’ Roam kit. The final outcome is clean and simple, and I’m really happy with how it looks.

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The best part about working on this album, is it has gotten me excited to tell stories again. Just today I uploaded photos from May and June to be printed at Costco! I’m hoping my project life slump is coming to an end and I’ll be able to share some of the new layouts soon!

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