Facial Time

I am blessed in the fact that my husband loves taking photos just as much as I do! When I saw the selfie he took with Alyssia, I immediately began imagining the scrapbook layout I would make. I love that Jim joined in and wasn't afraid of looking silly and even took the selfie.

Although I love to scrapbook the big life events like birthdays, Christmas, school events, it's the everyday moments that fill my scrapbooks. Moments like this would be lost without the time and attention to take the photos, and then my obsession to scrapbook them.

Scrapbooking Tips:

I used a sketch from Scrapbook Generation as my inspiration, and then went through my scrap pile from cards I had recently made. I cut my scraps into strips and inked the edges in black ink. I followed the sketch pretty closely and lined the top of the page, and then created the design behind the photo.

My favorite element on the page is the hexagon embellishments I created using dies from The Stamps of Life. I took the inspiration from the pattern paper I used. I thought the flower design in the hexagons gave the page a more feminine look, and picked green, pink and blue to be the accent colors. I used these same colors in the banners at the top of the page to help keep cohesive look.

The overall page is bright and cheerful and I was really pleased with the final results!

Zach & Mom

I typically do not like pictures of myself - I am my own worst critic, but this is one of my absolute favorite photos! I was laying on Caleb's bed talking to him and Zach came and jumped on my back. My mom was there and grabbed my phone and took this picture. I love that she was able to capture this cuddly moment.

I've learned that there is a last time for everything, and as the boys get bigger I know the day is quickly approaching where there will be no more cuddling. I love having pictures like this in my scrapbooks!

Scrapbooking Tips:

I challenged myself to use some of my card making supplies from The Stamps of Life to create scrapbook layouts. I used my favorite go to source for inspiration - a sketch from Scrapbook Generation - and then I gave it my own twist.

I loved the color pattern from the Friend pattern paper pad and picked the chevron paper as my starting point. The Stamps of Life only sells 6x6 pattern paper and 8.5x11 cardstock, so I had to get creative creating the larger banners. Once I had the widths I wanted, I cut my strips in half widthwise and then used the 6x4 photo to fill in the gap.

I die cut the hearts and created a visual triangle across the page. The page looked good, but I felt it was missing something. I dug through my stash of card kits and found these mirrored hearts and used them to add a little sparkle to the page.

I'm pleased with my results and love the memory this page brings back!

Star Wars Jedi Training

There is not much to say about this layout, but I wanted to share it in honor of May 4th. Sometimes my creative juices have run dry and I feel overwhelmed by the stack of photos waiting to be scrapped, and when this happens I turn to page kits. 

I had bought this page kit at a Creating Keepsakes Convention long before the boys even knew about Jedi Training at Disney. It was in my stash and thought it would be a good way to showcase my 5x7 photos of the boys taking on Darth Vader. I didn't add anything to it other than my photos. 

Sometimes a premade kit is all you need to add a little variety to your scrapbook! 

Darth Vader

This page does not have cute or poignant memories of my little guys, but I wanted to capture the feeling of when Darth Vader first appeared during Jedi Training. It was ominous because the theatrics were awesome! The actors leading the kids, starting to act nervous and announce they felt a "disturbance in the force" and then the fog started as the Imperial March (aka Darth Vader's theme) began to blare over the sound system. The doors opened to reveal the Sith Lord there in the flesh. 

The actor was phenomenal. He circled the stage, glaring at the kids and then the audience, while flipping his cape out the way over her shoulder. All the while you heard the amplified breathing noises synonymous with this character.

I was actually pleasantly surprised that Zach stuck it out. I was afraid he'd be too intimidated to continue, but he was an incredibly brave Jedi.

Scrapbooking Tip:

I absolutely LOVE this page and the story behind it is pretty cool. I had purchased this paper and die cut from Scrap Your Trip, and I originally planned to put only one 5x7 photo of Darth Vader on the layout. The problem was that no matter how I positioned it, I was blocking a major design on the paper, and in all honesty, it just looked stupid! 

I was working on this layout at ta scrapbooking retreat, and I remember one of my friends teaching a class on using pattern paper. I asked Annette what I should do with this paper. Immediately she told me I should cut a square out of the paper around the buttons, mat that square on a piece of black cardstock and then mount it with dimensional adhesive back in place.  The result was amazing. Her technique gave the paper a life of its own!

I tossed the original 5x7 photo and found my three favorite pictures of Darth Vader that could be cropped down to 3x4. I adhered them in a row at the top of the paper and then adhered the die cut title with adhesive foam. 

Without a doubt, this is one of my favorite Star Wars layouts. I left my comfort zone and was totally open to suggestions and it really paid off!

The Dark Side

I know I may be biased, but I thought my little Jedi's were adorable. Between the photos from the professional Disney photographers, and the pictures I took, I had over a hundred of them battling Darth Vader. I had a hard time narrowing them down to just eight prints for each boy!

I'll be honest. I love my boys, but I'm not a huge Star Wars fan. While I want to preserve these awesome memories, I'm running dry on Star Wars Inspiration when it comes to creating scrapbook layouts. So my solution to speed up the scrapbooking process but not sacrifice creativity was to  "scraplift" myself. I took one design and made two layouts.

I used a sketch from Scrapbook Generation that would allow me to use full size 4X6 and 6x4 photos. I normally follow these sketches completely, but in this case, I only referred to it for photo placement. I had a paper pad of Star Wars paper that had three sheets of each design. And this is where the creativity came in!

I cut the 12x12 sheet of paper in half. I adhered the now 6x12 pieces to the bottom of Caleb's layout. For the vertical photos, I trimmed them only slightly and put them on red photo mats (not to match Zach's clothes, but to match Darth Vader's lightsaber). I then adhered my photos as shown.

To create embellishments for these pages, I cut the various "dark side" phrases out of another piece of pattern paper from the same pad. I adhered those strips for the titles. Each boys' layout got different phrases. 

On Zach's layout, I created a mirror image, placing the pattern paper and vertical pictures on the top of the page. Even those these pages are basically identical, there are a few subtle differences. 

The photos are the most important element of these pages, so even though I took shortcuts, I'm completely satisfied with the finished product. They capture my boys living out the ultimate lightsaber battle, which I am sure they will never forget!

Jedi Training

The boys created some awesome memories when they participated in Jedi Training at Disney's Hollywood Studios! That was all they wanted to do when they found out that we would be going to Disney. To make this happen, I rushed the boys and Nana and Papa that morning to get to the park right when they opened, then ran / dragged them to the kiosk where we could sign them up. Once I got them into the 1:20 pm Jedi Training session, this Mommy relaxed!

At the appointed time, we came back and the boys put on Jedi robes with all the other Jedi's-in-training. When it was time, they paraded to the stage outside of the Star Tours ride while the Star Wars theme played in the background. I'm not embarrassed to admit I got goosebumps when I saw the boys so excited and happy.

I'm also not embarrassed to admit that on the way back to Give Kids the World Village, I cried. It had been 15 months since Dave had died, and grief still crept up on me at the worst times. The boys had just had the experience of a lifetime! They were 6 and 7 years old and had successfully battled Darth Vader, and I felt incredibly sad because their Daddy should have been cheering them on and he wasn't there. Thankfully, the boys were too happy, tired and sweaty that they did not see my tears. But my parents noticed and I know they were thinking the same thing I was. 

Scrapbooking Tip:

Here is the first Jedi Training layout in our vacation album. I took one of my favorite photos of each boys and adhered them to a specialty paper from Scrapyourtrip.com. The Jedi Knight Die Cut was all I needed to make this simple layout. 

In all honesty, I was planning on adding more to this page. I started off with white photo mats under each photo, but they didn't look "right". I also tried various other die cuts, but I felt like it made the page look too cluttered. One rule of thumb I follow while scrapbooking is, "When it doubt, leave it off." More times than not, I'm happier with the finished layout when I went simple.

Star Wars . . . May the Force be with You

Unless you are Star Wars fan, you may not recognize the significance of this week. This coming Saturday is May 4th, which to Caleb, is a big deal. This day, according to Wikipedia, is Star Wars Day. Why May 4th? Because May 4th sounds like, "May the force," as in the famous line spoken by Jedi's, "May the Force be with you."

So in honor of this unofficial "holiday" of sorts, I've decided to showcase some of my (many) Star Wars layouts, and to make my son smile.

These layouts are all from our Baking Memories 4 Kids dream trip to Give Kids the World Village and Disney World.

When the staff at Give Kids the World Village found out that Caleb was a Star Wars fan, they staged a fun surprise meet and greet for the boys. They called in Star Wars fans, who came in costume to play with the kids. A staff person came out to greet the boys and said, "There are some people here that would like to meet you." When they opened the doors the boys went crazy! There was a moving R2D2, a Storm Trooper, a Tuscan Raider, and Jedi students. They lightsaber battled with the boys for over a hour!

Scrapbooking Tips:

I had so many photos, but I forced myself to one layout - with a creative twist.

The layout you see above contains 13 photos. I used black cardstock for the base and laid out 12 of the photos in a grid formation. I then cut down a piece of specialty "Star Wars" paper to fill in the left page. I adhered my 5x7 group shot and added a Star Wars die cut that I order from a specialty scrapbooking company called Scrap Your Trip. I added a top and bottom red border to compliment the red light saber in the die cut title.

When I put this layout in the album, I added a half page insert with additional 4x6 photos that could not be cropped down, and my journaling. By doing this, I kept this event to one layout, but was able to add some extra (adorable!) photos.

For amazing die cuts and specialty paper, especially if you're working on a Disney album, visit Scrapyourtrip.com. It's an amazing website where I purchase unique and creative papers and embellishments. I also find them to be reasonably priced in comparison to other companies offering comparable products. This is the first place I go when I start scrapping a vacation album!