I made one for Ayla, so in the name of everything fair and equal I had to make one for Paxton too -- a "fancied" Flipbook from Snapfish.com. They're only $4.99 so when I got a coupon code for 50 free prints when you spend at least $5 on a "photo gift", it was a no-brainer. Either I got 50 free prints, or a free Flipbook -- good both ways!
I followed almost the exact same pattern for Paxton's First Year Flipbook as I did for Ayla's: his monthly gorilla pictures, followed by another favorite picture from that month. I also love that I got to use this fun tab punch that I bought for my Baby's First Year photo albums again!
Such an easy project, and cheap too. It's a great way to use up scraps of papers you love and have a cute little album to share when you're finished!
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Submitted by Andrea on Thu, 08/26/2010 - 16:55.
Thinking about scrapbooking? I highly recommend it. But it's not for everyone, either. And certainly there are SO many variations, styles and ways to scrapbook. For those who might be interested, here are a few tips I like to live by in my scrapbooking endeavors:
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I love to take pictures, I love to write and I love to create works-of-art. So, it was a no-brainer when I took up scrapbooking as my hobby of choice. Not everyone falls into it so easily. But it doesn't have to be an overwhelming feat either.
First, you need to decide why you're scrapbooking. Is it to record stories? To have a place to put your photographs? To be crafty? All of the above? Any reason is fine, but whatever your reason is, it will be the strongest factor in how you create albums and layouts and it will define your approach to scrapbooking.
For instance, if want to remember specific dates, stories, and reflections, your albums and layouts will be very journaling-focused. If you're looking for a method of displaying and viewing photographs, you may lean more towards photo-album-style books. And then there are those who like the crafty element of creating a work of art, who will spend more time thinking about which products to use on a page, than the photos and words that go with it.
Whatever your reasons, here are a few tips for making it fun and do-able:
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Set reasonable goals and expectations. Break your scrapbooking projects (which can feel overwhelming and impossible to "finish") into smaller tasks.
Choose photos for an album one day and write your journaling another. On a different day, pick a group of coordinating products to match your theme. In just a few days, you'll have created your own album kit ready to go whenever you are ready to scrapbook those memories.
Instead of scrapbooking *everything*, you can tackle years of back-logged photos with subject-themed albums such as sports, birthdays, school, holidays, etc. Or, divide a year into months, making monthly collages and dedicating only 2-4 pages to each month.
Here are several examples of album organization that I use:
Through the Years Album
Baby's First Year Photo Album (These make great baby shower gifts!)
Basic Baby Album
Elegant Wedding Album
- Buy product kits. Kits are fabulous. Everything coordinates, you have all the elements you need on hand (paper, stickers, die cuts, embellishments, ribbon, etc.) and you can store it all together with your project, which makes it easy to get started anytime you have an opportunity to work on it.
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Keep organized. I can't stress this enough. Keep your photos filed and dated, your supplies organized and easy-to-access, and you'll always be able to jump right into a project. There's nothing worse than feeling the urge to scrapbook and having to spend all your time getting organized instead.
See how my room is organized: Scrap Room Video Tour
- Write what you won't remember. My memory is terrible, so I write everything down - names, dates, locations, and most importantly, the story. What happened? Who was there? What did they say? How did you feel? Keep a journal, a calendar, or a blog to help you write it all down immediately so it isn't forgotten by the time you scrapbook it.
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Photograph your world. Sometimes the perfect smiling-at-the-camera portraits aren't what become the most treasured photographs. Don't forget to take pictures of everyday activities, the house you live in, the places you go, and the people you love. No matter how blurry, how dimly lit, or how messy the background, you'll treasure the memories of those simple everyday things.
Week in the Life Album - This is one of my favorite albums, full of photos of mundane, boring, everyday tasks. But two years later, it's a great record of our everyday life. I might do this one again in a few more years.
Most of all, stay true to your reasons for scrapbooking and make it fun--for you. Don't worry about how other people do it - just do what you like and what works for you!
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Submitted by Andrea on Sun, 08/22/2010 - 19:49.
I spent this past weekend at our MOPS Weekend Crop fundraiser. Even though I spent plenty of my time setting up tables, collecting money, answering questions, and cleaning up, I still managed to get a full vacation album completed! That's only possible when you schedule a full 15 hours of uninterupped cropping time. Since my scrapbooking time is limited more now than ever, it was very nice to surround myself with papers, stickers, photos and glue and not have to keep up and away from little hands. I decided to concentrate on my cruise album instead of individual layouts. I figured since I was enjoying an "away" weekend, I could relive our cruise vacation. It *almost* worked...but the gym lights and crop meals weren't quite the same as sunshine and cruise food!
notes:
- The album is made from chipboard, cut with the AccuCut machine (a mix-n-match album set), and held together with silver rings (which I need to replace with larger ones).
- The front cover has a transparency overlay with the title.
- I added paper strips with holes punched to the itinerary from each day, so that they could be included and unfolded to see what all the activities were for each day.
- One page is missing...but since it includes a photo of me in a bikini, I decided to spare the internet as a whole...
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Submitted by Andrea on Mon, 08/02/2010 - 07:05.
Using this as my guide, I just completed orders for four baby albums - three girls and one boy. I had to improvise a little with a new album style, but I actually like the results even better!
I used a color scheme inspired by the Fancy Pants Dancing Girl paper line to alter my templates to make a more girly album, and instead of using circle punches for milestone & holiday labels, I used 6" x 1/2" strips that can lay right over a photograph, since the albums I used didn't have a margin for journaling. I love the albums, which have a faux leather cover and black inner pages.
I also bought a circle tab punch so that I could create monthly tabs for the album and use coordinating fonts and colors on the labels:
The inside of each album starts with a title card, with the baby's initials, name and birthdate:
Then, it jumps right into monthly stats, slots for photos and journaling cards, starting with birth and finishing up at 12 months. Each month features a different patterned paper embellishment in the same color scheme.
Each month has photo sleeves for at least ten 4" x 6" photos, and ends with a journaling card. It also includes "milestone" labels that are 6" x 1/2" strips that slide right over the bottom of a photograph.
The last section of the album includes photo sleeves for baby's first holidays: New Year's, Valentine's Day, Easter, 4th of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, ending with the First Birthday celebration and plenty of room for party pictures and first year portraits.
The boy version is very similar, with a brighter color scheme:
I love how these turned out and hope the girls who ordered them love them too! It's such an easy fill-it-in album that any new mom can keep up with (or fill in later!)
I'm taking orders! $50 per album plus shipping. E-mail me at mrs@bensteed.com if you'd like me to make one for you. Allow about 4-6 weeks for delivery. I currently have a blue, pink and black album on hand for quicker turn-around.
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Submitted by Andrea on Tue, 07/06/2010 - 15:21.
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Submitted by Andrea on Fri, 06/04/2010 - 09:37.
My sister asked me to make a Baby's First Year album for some friends of hers. Since I don't know them, or have any idea what their take on scrapbooking, photo-taking, etc. are, I had to come up with something a little easier than my standard baby album (for me & them). So I decided to come up with another easily replicable album to use again and again...
i started with a 2-up Pioneer navy leather photo album. Then I created digital 4" x 6" files for a title page, month-by-month growth chart cards, journaling cards & circle labels to include throughout the album. I printed the digital files onto white cardstock, trimmed them to size and then embellished with patterned paper and ink. Finally, I added cardstock tabs to label each section, complete with stickers and ribbon around the spine of the album.
(the colors for the number of months alternates between red, blue, orange and green)
Each month includes a blank journaling card, that can be filled in, moved to another section (like the holiday section at the back, or not-used-at-all!
I also included in a little zip-lock baggie, circle labels (with adhesive tabs on back) that can be added to the margins to label photos throughout the album.
Easy to make, easy for parents or grandparents to add information and photos, and I can use the digital files over and over again for gifts! This set is geared more towards boys, but with a few color changes, it could easily be used for a girl or neutral album too.
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Submitted by Andrea on Tue, 06/01/2010 - 19:02.
One of my April goals was to make baby gifts for 9 babies born in the last couple of months. Finally, they've all been born, and the gifts have been sent! Whew. And now I can show you what I made for them!
DIAPER BAG TAGS --
They’re inexpensive (use your scraps), easy (they can be partially pre-made), and have just the right homemade touch that any new mom will love (ahh…alphabet stickers)! With a decorated design on one side and the baby’s name on the other, diaper bag tags are a perfect way to distinguish one bag from the next at day care and church nurseries.
Supplies Used:
Instructions:
- Choose a double-sided patterned paper and cut it to fit inside the pocket for the clear ID badge holder. Mine were 3.5” x 2.5”.
- Use a corner rounder to round the edges of each card.
- On one side of the card, add a 1.25” x 2.5” strip of cardstock and a circle punch to anchor your themed embellishment of choice. In the two examples above, I used a car sticker for the boy tags and a silk flower and button for the girl tags.
- Ink or outline the edges of all the paper elements, making sure to detail both sides of the background card (in different colored inks if you wish!).
- Assemble the decorative side of the tag, adding your themed embellishment.
- On the opposite side of the tag, adhere a chipboard alphabet monogram and the name of the baby. On the boy tags, I used alphabet stickers to write the name, while on the girl tags, I simply printed the names on white cardstock strips.
- Insert the tags into the ID badge holders.
- Add a ribbon to the pre-cut hole at the top of the ID badge holder. This can be used to attach the tag to a strap on a diaper bag. A more versatile option (for those who change diaper bags as often as they change purses) would be using a key ring or zipper clip.
While I was at it, I also made some neutral baby-themed tags using the Crate Paper Little Sprouts collection of papers and die cuts, for my “not-finding-out” friends!
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Submitted by Andrea on Thu, 05/13/2010 - 18:24.