Every Day October wrap-up and December Daily 2010 Introduction

I am so happy to wrap up my Every Day October project! I know I'm going to look at this book for months to come - definitely something I want to do again next year.

Here is what I did for day 29 (wasn't having too much luck taking great photos today),

I have a strange and unnatural love for Bingo cards. Love 'em. Happy that I had one with "29" in one of the squares.

Here is day 30,

I used the Halloween Freebie from Ali Edwards for the "Boo" graphic in the page protector. I also used the "Happy Halloween" from the same set for day 31 too,

Because I had so many fun photos, I added an extra acrylic page that I covered with two photos, one on each side (I LOVE the photo on this side, the colors are just perfect).

And that is all she wrote!  I'm starting to really like doing these minibooks which is why I've decided to change from a 12x12 Christmas album to strictly doing December Daily albums. I really love doing them and it is such a fun artistic outlet.

I like to follow along with Ali Edwards when she does her December Daily album. She has such fun, fresh ideas, I like to incorporate them in what I do too. This year I'm going with an 8 x 8 album from Making Memories. I was happy that it is a "D" ring binder (it didn't say that in the description), I like that they hold more than a standard round ring binder.

If you followed me last year, you know I love stick-it felt. Love it. My birthday present this year was a Big Shot from Sizzix. I used this die set from Spellbinders to make the fun shape with red stick-it felt in the window and topped it with another fun freebie from Ali Edwards.

On the inside I have another sheet of stick-it felt sized to my pages which are 6x8, topped with the same freebie from Ali.

I fell in love with the cardstock that she used, a criss-cross Bazzill paper in Creampuff. Really nice and a great color. I also liked her printable overlays, but I couldn't get over having the date on there twice - I really like having fun odd number elements in there (like playing cards, bingo cards, etc.), so I designed something very similar in photoshop - but this overlay has a spot for a 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" square for coordinating patterned paper where the date is on Ali's overlays.

My plan is to adhere the patterned paper to the backside of the previous day's cardstock after I'm done embellishing it. I like to sew and staple on my pages and don't want it to show on the previous page.  And for days that have a lot of pictures or memorabilia, I'm going to add a cut-down sports card page protector between the two pages.

I mostly used whatever Christmas patterned paper I had around, although I did purchase two new designs from my local scrapbook shop.  So there you have it! Its all ready and waiting for me to start filling it on December first. Stay tuned sports fans!

Every Day October, Days 21 - 28

I am rounding the bend on this project!  I can't believe that October is almost over - of course this happens to me every year lol.  Its going to be nice to have this book to look back on this great month.

Here is day 21,

This is a business card protector that I found at an office supply store. A nice change from the trading card protectors - love 'em both.

Here is day 22 and part of 23,

I used the "print screen" function on my computer a lot in this project - I used it on page 22 to capture photos of my niece's first birthday shoot.

Here is the inside of the folder for day 23,

It was my birthday so I wanted to include cards and other fun stuff from that day.

Here is day 24 and 25,

I got the "blustery day" poem and image from the internet, it was verrry appropriate for us here on that day.

Here is the backside of day 25 and day 26,

26 was such a fun day, we were surprised with cookies from one of our great neighbors =0)

Here is day 27,

This was really fun for me - where we live we have a view of the Cascade Mountains.  They have been completely clear except for today, we saw snow.  Snow!  So awesome, kind of magical for us because we just moved here not too long ago.

Here is day 28,

And if you're wondering where I got the small "Treat" bingo card - I actually cut it out from the back page of the bingo card pack, you know the one where it shows what is inside the package?  I got that idea from my local scrapbooking store - very fun. Especially because I'd used the big one already.

More to come in a few days - have a fabulous fall afternoon!

Every Day October, Days 16 - 20

I am learning so much from this project!

It has taken two "Daily" type albums for me to really discover my "style" for these albums. I've decided that I'm going to continue on with Every Day October and December Daily for as long as I can - I don't think I'll be able to do this when the second kiddo comes along in the future.  And that's totally okay, I'm going to try to go with the flow, do what I can and not beat myself up if I can't.

Here is day 16,

I really don't like beer too much.  But there is something about Pumpkin Ale that I just looooove. So tasty.

Here is day 17,

My fabulous sister gave me permission to put my beautiful niece's face up and I am so glad that she did!  These pictures are just too darn cute.

Here is day 18,

Okay so I have some 'splaining to do about this one.

Every month Roman's class gets a new poem to memorize and recite in front of the class.  If they are able to do it by memory, they get a cool certificate. This month, Roman did it!  So I put the poem, certificate and quite possibly my favorite new scrapbooking invention so far:

This is a compact, super thin voice recorder from My Pages Talk.  You can record up to 30 seconds and keep it FORVER.  I'm serious.  Its awesome!  We all know how quickly our kiddo's voices change and this is a great way to add some serious interest to a layout or memory book.

I recorded Roman saying his poem, slipped it inside a cool kraft envelope and stuck it on the page. The button to hear the recording is right underneath the smiley face stamp. And you can hear it clear as a bell, even in the envelope. Awesome.

Here is day 19,

This is a fun project that I put together a few years ago from a back issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine - the frame is from Ikea, I stuck some wire mesh to the back and viola!  A super fun, Halloween advent calendar-ish type project.  This is also the first time I've used smashed bottle caps on a project - I think I'll do it again.  And yes, they are from that delicious pumpkin ale =0)

Here is day 20, 

The weather was still gorgeous (and BOY has that changed lol) and I wanted to add this quote by George Eliot (and looking at the page now I see I misspelled "her" name. Sorry Mary Anne.). 

That one line - "my very soul is wedded to it", wow. Definitely how I feel and why I wanted to do this project.

More coming soon!  Thanks for all your emails and comments!

Every Day October, Days 1 - 15

Here are the pictures of my Every Day October album. For those of you that are new to my blog, this album follows the format of a December Daily album. I did the December Daily last year and loved it - but we have been keeping a separate Christmas album for the last ten years.  I found myself repeating the same layouts in both the December Daily and the December Album on several occasions.  And I am a fan of simplifying things so I may not do that project this year.  I still wanted to do a "Daily" album so I'm highlighting my favorite month - October. And "October Daily" just didn't sound right to me so it became "Every Day October".

Another thing I'll be doing this year is not listing the supplies, it's very time consuming. So if you have a question about a particular product, just email me or leave a comment.

Here is the coverpage that I made out of a 12x12 acrylic sheet, cut down to 8.5x11 and hole punched.

Here is day one,

I used a bag from a grocery store in the San Juan Islands where we were staying at the time, and made a fun pocket for some pictures. I used my favorite old-school dymo label punch for the tab. I seriously love that thing.

Here is day two,

Burlap is cool.  I plan to use that quite a bit throughout this album.

Here is day three,

Some of these layouts will use the backside of the previous day, some won't. I pretty much "go with the flow" and do what I think looks good. With this one I used a Starbucks coffee bag and had some fun with orange crackle paint for the number "3".  I love that stuff! I slipped a story about why I love fall so much (some parts are blurbed out because they have some detailed info I didn't want to share with the world).

Here is day four,

I seriously love my niece.  Which is why she is blurred out in that photo just in case.

She is so stinkin' cute and I put here in this album every chance I get.  This is just a trading card page protector cut down to make things interesting.  I love this baby.

Here is day five,

I used the back side of the trading card page protector and also used a Heidi Swapp transparent clock to feature the super cool picture of the Cascade Mountains.  Ali Edwards uses those a lot in her projects and I love the quirky-ish ness that it brings to an album.

Here is day six, 

I used the back of the clock transparency and cut out the circle with the new Martha Stewart circle cutter - for those of you that don't have it yet...run...don't walk to your nearest craft store.  It is awesome. I'm really impressed with her line of craft products so far.

On the other page I used photoshop to crop the photo down and put the border and text on the photo. This makes it so much easier to achieve a fun, clean look with your layouts. And Photoshop Elements is really affordable too, I highly recommend both programs.

Here is day seven,

More burlap. And Dad's old typewriter. With pumpkins. LOVE.

Here is day eight,

I plan on including more of Roman's artwork from school in this album too.

Here is day nine and ten (some info is blurbed out - addresses and stuff),

I also love using playing cards on layouts too. Its kind of funny how the things that look best on pages were never meant for crafting.

Here is day eleven and twelve,

We love, love, love, love Charlie Brown in this house. Love. So I had to do a page on the Great Pumpkin. I could watch that movie all year. I do watch that movie all year.

I also wanted to put a spotlight on the amazing weather we've been having in the northwest this month - it has been amazing. Mostly sunny and clear with just the right amount of chilly.

This is the weather for the month of October on weather.com, I just hit "Print Screen" (which will copy all the images from the screen onto your clipboard) and pasted it into Photoshop.  I'll have to do it again at the end of the month because the weather is STILL gorgeous. Crazy.

Here is day thirteen,

I usually can't stand ads and extra paper that we get in the mail.  But I thought it would be fun to put snippets of the "extra" (a.k.a. junk) mail on a page. I backed it with a chipboard house shape and hole punched it. Viola.

Here is day fourteen,

You can't really read the text on here, but if you go to SproutOnline.com, there's something called the "Barnyard BOO-gie" game. You can put your kiddo's face in the character and watch them dance. It is hilarious. I made so many screenshots that I used the front and the back of the sports card page protector for this one.

Here is day fifteen,

Neighborhood gatherings are so fun. I added the recipe for the soup I made on a library card and stitched it to the page protector. I made the photo collage and added the text in Photoshop.

And that is it so far!  More to come in a few days, same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.

its coming...

I have truly forgotten how crazy October is for our family.

This is one of the busiest times of year for my business, my customers are small business owners who are gearing up for the Christmas rush.  And we have birthday parties galore this month. We have five birthdays  (including my own) and one anniversary.

But I am having a blast with my project!  The good thing about being busy is that there is no lack of content - I always have something to take a picture of/write about.

Stay tuned tomorrow (I promise!) for pictures of days 1-10, I need to wait for the sun to rise again to get some better photos. 'Night!

planning for Every Day October

I am so excited.

Joann.com is having a 40% off scrapbooking supplies sale right now so I took the opportunity to stock up on albums and to get the album I'll be using for my new Every Day October project.

This is going to be exactly like the "December Daily" project, except this year, I'm doing my favorite month. The December Daily project was great, but I found that I was repeating a lot of the same content in our family's Christmas album. I am a fan of making things as easy and fun as possible so I am making the switch.

I'm going to be using an American Crafts 8.5"x11" D-Ring Modern Album.  I'm using the brown to go with the autumn theme. I love these modern albums, the chipboard covers allow for some fun customization.  Here is what I came up with so far,

First I painted the cover with a mixture of two Making Memories Scrapbooking Paints, Nutmeg and Eat Your Carrots (yes that really is the name).  The nutmeg was a little too brown and the carrots was waaay too orange. Mixed together, they worked nicely!

To distress the edges a bit, I used a sponge with a Staz On Brown ink pad.  This is a solvent ink pad that is permanent and waterproof. Because the cover was painted, the ink dried nice and quick.

Next I used a fun date stamp from Close to my Heart with the same Staz On ink pad to make the date circle on the front.

I used letters from Making Memories to make the title and then used a bat punch by Martha Stewart crafts, (one of my favorites) on an old dictionary page.

Am I early?  Oh heck yes. When I think about all the fun things that we'll be doing in October (camping trip, Harry Potter exhibit coming to the Seattle Science Center, decorating in the new house, pumpkins, etc.) I am really inspired.

Bring on fall, I am totally ready.

organizing family photos and albums

Most people who read my blog know that I love to take pictures.  A lot of pictures. And I also like to scrapbook and create Life Art, its a great creative outlet for me and I love looking back on all of our memories.

I've gotten a lot of questions from people asking how I organize everything and I am finally explaining everything from albums to photos.

We have two ikea bookshelves in our living room that hold all of our books,

I like having them out in the open in a central location.

At this point in our lives, I have the albums divided into four categories: Roman, Family, Christmas and Week In The Life (still on volume 1 of that one, I just started last year).  I also have any mini-books that I've done in a basket below the albums (you can see the top of it in the top photo).

Because these books span eleven years, I also have some specialty albums, our wedding, my family history, Zach's family history, my high school & college memories, Roman's first year and yes, I even have smaller albums for the pets (keep in mind that we had the pets before Roman came along so I had some extra time on my hands).  You can also see that I've used several different types of albums over the years, the one thing that keeps everything "together" is the labeling system that I use on the spines.

I see a lot of software out there to help organize photos and to me it looks like it takes something that can be simple and makes it complicated (and I loathe complicated).

I organize my pictures like I organize my albums, we have a "media" folder with subfolders of "Christmas Album", "Family Album", "Roman's Album" and "Other Albums".

The Christmas Album folder has subfolders with the years the photos were taken (with a Christmas Past folder for random scanned pictures when I was a kid).  I didn't go digital until 2005 so thats when the folders start,

Our Family Album photos are organized the same way,

and Roman's photos are organized by his age,

The Other Albums folder is for projects like Week In The Life, December Daily, etc.

Then when I download my pictures from my computer, I make a folder for each event (Roman's Birthday, a fun Saturday outing, etc.) and then put the photos in the corresponding folder.

Last year I decided to try a December Daily album, something new and really fun, but I found that I was repeating a lot of the same things in our Christmas family album.  So this year, I knew that I wanted to do something similar to the December Daily...just not in December.

My favorite month is and always has been October.  I love everything about it, from the leaves changing, the pumpkins, the super fun Halloween decorations and the cooler temperatures.  And every year, it seems to go by way too fast.  So this year, in December Daily tradition, I'm going to be doing an Everyday October album - something that I am really, really excited about.

So that's it - my super simple, non-complicated system. If you have a user-friendly system I'd love to hear about it!