So you might have seen that I am starting to work on a summer album for each of my kidlets, Harper and Magnus.  I started the covers last week but hadn't decided where I wanted the albums to go yet.  All I knew was I wanted one for each of them and I wanted work on them throughout the summer.

This past weekend I put some more thought into them and came up with a plan.  I decided I was not going to treat them like tradition mini albums that have a cohesive theme and use coordinating product throughout the album.  I am going to treat each page like I treat a scrapbook page - individually.  I have a very general theme that is based on each kidlet & our summer vacation but that is about it.  I plan to add in anything that catches my interest about them throughout the summer break.  It can be big or small, something we do, something that is said or even thought - theirs or mine.  Pretty loose but it leaves a lot of opportunities open.

So I decided to title each album - Harper Was Here & Magnus Was Here.  Very general but captures  the idea of the album - a snapshot of our lives this summer.

I started to work on the covers but was really itching to start on some inside pages.  So I put the covers aside to work on during a time when I don't have a story to tell and worked on some inside pages. I plan to make a summary page at the beginning but again I will work on that later.

So here is the first page in Harper's book.  Something big.

I got Harper to add her own writing to make it personal.

And here is the first page in Magnus' book.  Something small.

Just a funny that Magnus said the other day. 

(Ignore the spelling error in the journaling - it has since been corrected.)

This is how Harper feels....

This was her on Thursday before she left for the last day of school.  Oh ya, she was bouncing off the walls she was so happy. :)

So that made yesterday our first day of summer vacation.  Funny how summer doesn't feel like it has started until the kidlets are out of school.  So this is how we celebrated...

(most digital items on this page are from freebie kits on the MM site). 

Tomorrow is soon enough to follow the rules with getting dressed, limited video game playing and healthy eating. :)

(And I am proud to be THAT mom - I mean what is the harm??)

So I realized that I never mentioned that the lovely Ronee Parsons new book, Modern Memory Keeper, was available.  It is probably because my copy hasn't arrived and I haven't seen it page by page.  I always need visual cues for my memory to kick in, lol.

Anyway, if you plan on attacking that stack of heritage photos you have and making a scrapbook this book is a great place to start.  It is all about heritage scrapbooking but it encourages you to have a fresh take on it and this includes the colors you use (no browns here!) to the stories you pick to tell.  I had the wonderful opportunity to contribute some art to this book and I definitely learned a few things along the way.  First, I learn that I actually like to scrapbook heritage photos.  I know, weird, but I never had an urge to do it before.  I got some stories down that I would never have tackled before.  Second, I learned how to "mend" a photo.  I had a very old photo that had some damage and was torn in half but I learned how to "fix" it digitally and you know what?  It wasn't nearly as hard as I imagined it would be.  Shockingly not hard.  I was able to mend the photo and reprint it for family members and they couldn't believe it was the same photo.  It still had all its heritage charm but the tear was gone!  There were other things I loved but those were the most important things I took away from working on this book.  I cannot wait to get the book so I can learn some of the other things that are included.

This is one of the stories I would have never got down if I hadn't worked on the book.

It is filled with funny stories about how all our Grandparents got their nicknames.  It seems nobody in our family is content with calling them Grandma and Grandpa!

I made the ablum completely from scratch using cardboard, patterned paper (mostly A2Z and Bo Bunny) , transparencies (handcut and edges painted) and zipper ties for bindings.

This is also another page I created for the book which uses memoribilia.

I copied a love letter from my Grandfather to my Grandmother and included it on the page.  I needed to scan it and print it because the letter now belongs to my Aunt but she lent it to me so I could copy it.  I stapled the copied letter at the top so you can lift it and read all the pages.  It is kind of nice to have this personal item in my scrapbooks now.

I can't wait to see the whole book. :)  Congrats Ronee!

And guess what?  My missing luggage has arrived!  So I thought I might show you what I am up to today (fingers crossed).

Remember I told you I went on the shopping floor at the GASC this past weekend?  Well this is one of the things I got in my mad dash.  These albums are by Melissa Frances and measure I would guess about 8-9" high.  The half shapes fold out to a full shape which looks really great as a finished album.  The best part?  They were 3 for $5!  Yup, I had to ask again 'cause I couldn't believe it.  They had tiny ones too but I went right for the biggies!  In my mind I planned the star for a "Magnus" album and the flower for a "Harper" album.  I thought we could fill them together over this summer break (last day tomorrow!).  The third album - no plans yet but something will come to me. :)  So today I plan to get the albums started - you can see I have already started to pull papers (under the albums) for the covers.  I can't wait to get scrappy!

I also picked up this from the same Melissa Frances booth.  Made of wood and painted cream, about 12" long. 

Not my usual thing but as soon as I saw it I thought - jewellry box.  I am going to cover it in bits of papers and maybe some photos and use it as a jewellry box.  It was on sale for $9 which was a steal I think but they knocked it down to $5 because one of the latches was broken.  Woohoo!  I love deals! 

Especially deals that I don't have to search for!  I mean, it took me all of 5 seconds to find this super deal.  Can't wait for the next GASC to see what I will find there! Grand Rapids here I come!

Do you remember the other week when I posted this entry?  I mentioned that I created a page that made me really happy.

I did do some more scrapping last night after the kidlets were in bed and I think cause I had taken a break during the day (and spent the day before being creative) I felt like I was on a creative high.  I ended up creating a page that really made me happy.  I mean every little bit of it was just right to me.  It has been awhile since I have been so creatively satisfied with a page. Since before that crazy creative overflow a few weeks back actually. 

And you know what is great -the page is for someone else.  I was creating a page for someone and it is a wonderful feeling that it turned out so right.  I am mailing it off to her today so once she gets it I hope she will let me share it here.  I definitely want her to see it first. :)

So she got the page and she loves it.  And Annamarie has been gracious enough to allow me to share it here.

Not the best photo of the page (looks slightly warped, lol) but this was it.  She gave me the photos (so easy to work with when they are this gorgeous!) and I made the page.  The lines on the left side are for her to add her own journaling to it. 

One of the things I liked about the page was the rounded corners on the photos together with the white borders.  I thought you might like to do this too (pushy aren't I?) so I am hoping to get a tutorial together in the next day or so to post.

Also, my new article is up at TakeGreatPictures.com.  This article is a two part-er.  It is about scrapbooking your childhood photos.  This article is some prompts and encouragement to get you started.  Next one will be about ways to scan the photos so you can use them.  There are 3 new pages with the article - here is one of the photos I used.

Now you know you have got to see what that photo is about!

So that is it for today.  It is kind of rainy here today and Magnus and I have lots of errands to do.  Harper is finally back at school (thanks for the well wishes) so we have lots to catch up on.  Have a great day everyone.  :)

PROGRESS

So here's the deal.  I'm a blog surfer.  I love creative blogs.  I love to see what people are creating and their thought process.  It sparks my creativity.  It drives me to get my butt in gear and put my ideas together in some form.

BUT.  Seeing all the amazing creativity can have its down side.  It can make a person feel inadequate.  Like you cannot possibly ever measure up.  Like you would have never thought of making "that" in a million years and "it" is so amazing.  Do you know what I mean?  I am sure you do ‘cause everyone has insecure days.  You have to be pretty thick skinned not to.

So here are my thoughts on the subject. 

I know you are not supposed to compare your creativeness to others ‘cause we are all individuals, yadda, yadda, yadda!  But come on.  It is seriously impossible not to sometimes.  It happens to us all.

BUT TO ME creativity is about progress. Yes, today's word.  What is important in being a creative person is that you are making progress.  Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned pro I would hope you were always making progress in your craft. 

So yes, it is good to have inspiration in others you admire - something to push you but it is not good to get bogged down in not being as "good".  Ok, repeat.  Seriously.  It is so obvious but sometimes I need to be smacked in the head with it.

So the best way to feel good about your creativity?  Look at your progress.  See where you were and where you are now.  So start at the beginning.

Here is the first page I ever created.

Yup, the very first. 

So I look it over with a critical eye.  Not a negative eye.  Just look for areas I would do differently now that I have been making pages for awhile.  I know some who would be embarrassed to show pages from the past because they feel they look dated or amateur.  But I say look at it as progess.  There is that word again.  Progress.  Where you were in the past and comparing it to where you are now.

So these are the things I see.

I never wrote any journaling on it.  Always meant to but never did.  Something that I would never let happen now.  It is way too important to me.

My craftsmanship.  Wow. has this improved over time! I had some serious glue issues but now I can wield glue with ease.

Floating photos.  I know how to anchor items visually on the page now as well as how to make a page flow.

I could go on but you get the idea now.  So then to confirm my progress to myself I look at a recent page I have made.

Big difference.  Progress. 

Journaling - check.  No stray glue - check. No floating photos - check.

I know this shows an extreme difference but I want to hit myself over the head with it. J  I could even do this with a page from a year ago and see progress.

So when I am feeling like - why am I creating? I'll never measure up - I can perform a progress check-up and realize that there is always room for improvement.  That should be my goal.  Not to be as "good" as_________.

And that's it.  Simple but it is helpful to me and maybe to you.

(I am writing this down today so it will be here when I need a pick me up and also for you.  So if you ever need a pick me up you can come back and read it.  It is hard to remember in the moment of feeling negative to remember this.  So bookmark it.  Label it - Creative Pick Me Up.  Then come back and read it.  Hopefully it will make you feel more positive