Day 90: Scrapbooking!

Okay....today, I spent two hours at the Mac Store in the Mall of America ending with a lock-up on my back, successful link-up between my iPad and new MacMini, and the need for many drugs to make it through the rest of the day.  Now I am JUST FINE!  My friend came over for some scrapbooking love today, and although I didn't make much headway, I got two pages done towards Christmas of 2010, and many sorted pictures for the 2010 album.  Then I got to thinking about how much my scrapbooking habits have changed over the years.  I have been scrapping as long as I can really remember, but I only have my books from high school on.  I have them all lined up here in the top shelves of an IKEA cabinet...all generally done by year.  The ones in the far left compartment are from high school, college, pre-marriage, and a poorly put together wedding album.

 These ones were HUGE, and I used self-adhesive picture pockets to arrange my own layouts.  I didn't do any matting, and I had NO concern for using acid free adhesives on anything else I might stick down.  Generally, I just wrote whatever wherever, and there was no real decoration.  I liked though that the pictures were removable, and they weren't altered in any way....this is something I miss in my current albums.

High School: 1994-95....Choir Trip to NYC

My glued in paper articles are already yellowed, and I just used clear packing tape to stick down the flowers from some wraping paper I got.

College...I shortened some of the pictures and their adhesive pockets...stickers too, although very unrelated to the pictures....strange.

 

 

 

So scrapbooking continued, and by the end of college and shortly after, I was using acid free paper and adhesive and cutting pictures and matting paper and the works, right?  Three ring binder.....every so often the rings still freak out and drop pages or have an open one that has bent.

Hubby's Undergrad Graduation.....fancy scissors=)

Saved notes from my student teaching experience....these sorts of things always make me smile.

Wedding album, I must have started assembling this sometime in 2001 late.  I used big fold out pages....I really need to attend to the fact that there is very little journaling in this album

More wedding album, multiple color mats, and I included copies of our vows.  I am really glad I did that!

After this, scrapbooking became about documenting our first child, Sylvia.  I kept EVERYTHING!  We bought our first digital camera prior to her birth, and boy, did the pictures flow!  This is but one layout from that year, but you can clearly see that I like lots of pictures per page, and I got an embossing gun and some stamps that year for Christmas =)

Christmas in Brasil 2002

October/November 2003

I took all of my digital pics and made computer resizing so I could print several pics on one sheet of photo paper.  I then ended up with lots of what look like photo strips in my scrapbooking.  I made my own letter blocks, or I used stickers.  I used stencils for my circles at that time.....very time consuming.

2004 was an avid scrapping year....I wasn't working when we first moved back to Minnesota from Pittsburgh, and I was (am still) very product oriented.  I also must have learned about Creative Memories circle and oval cutters with the different matting blades.  For a while, everything was double matted and not square!  The letters came from using the big manual dye cut things at Archivers.

Halloween Festivities 2004

Felix, 2004: Digital Camera....I could take these shots again and again until I got what I wanted.  I also printed works on overhead transparency and cut them up for little sayings over the pictures.

For several years, I organized all of my scrpabooks based on calendars.  I would make a page overview for each month and write important stuff on the calendar....like milestones, vacations, events....sometimes just the everyday living stuff too.  It is fun to look back and see what was important in our life at that time.....still, lots of "filmstrip" style pictures.

2004 Family Wedding, some of my favorite all time layouts came from these two inch blocks.  It allowed me to see a lot on each page, and also see scenery without taking away from the people who I really wanted to highlight.

2004 still, but see these scenery shots just act as background paper really.....no fuss no muss, just the beauty that is family.

2005: I remember cutting these letters out at Archivers using scenery pictures from our trip to Brazil....At Archivers, I could (still can) use all their tools and just buy paper there while I work.  It really allowed me to pick the PERFECT paper for each page.  I loved that!

2006 was a small picture taking year....I can't recall why.  I arranged (and I still do) each book by events chronologically, but didn't include calendar pates at all.  This was another family wedding....not much frill, just a lot of pictures of people I love.

This is from the 2007 album, and I was using letters punched out of pre-made alphabet sheets.  I like titles and letters.

I did notice that starting in 2007, I have evidence of adding Cricut letters.  I used to go scrapping one weekend every October with an auntie and they had a Cricut for general use there.  I would knock out the entire year's book in one weekend (usually I already had a start, but still, at least half was done in one night).  The ladies used to be so miffed when they would find out that I was up to date.....well, not so much anymore.  I haven't finished 2010 album, but then again, I didn't go scrapping with the auntie this last October either.

This is also from 2007, a trip to Alaska with the entire extended family....so cool!  I made a special album for just that trip....the first "occasion" album I had done at that point.

2008 Album: Sylia's Birthday....I guess my style always has a lot of pictures per page.....after all, it is about the photos, right?  Cricut letters from October auntie scrapping weekend =)

 Then in March of 2009, my hubby got me a personal sized Cricut for my birthday (EBAY!)....and then I went letter crazy for everything.....I particularly LOVE layered letters!  SQUEEL!!!!!  Hubby gave it to me right before we left to lead a band trip to New Orleans.  I spent the entire time there taking pictures knowing I would return to make a scrapbook just for the trip using my CRICUT!!!!

2009 Album

New Orleans Trip Album 2009

New Orleans Trip Album 2009

Still lots of pictures per page, but LETTERS ARE COOL!  Now I can say whatever I want without running out of letters =)

2010 Album: Pages just for my garden

2010 Album

2010 Album....I have  a LOT of pages where I was working to purge my stash of letter stickers.  I used one letter here and there for many pages to try not to waste them.  Not too bad....and now I don't buy letters at all!

 So this was a lot LOT longer than I had planned, but if you are still here at the end, be sure to leave a comment just so I know you were here!  I think scrapping is fun, and I love to display the pictures of the best moments in my life.


I CHALLENGE all of you scrappers out there to dig out all of your albums tonight and go through them with your family.....That is what they are for, right?