Yesterday & Today: Three More Layouts

Today was a great day for scrapbooking.

It was rainy outside, so I decided to stay in and finish up three layouts from Ali Edwards' Yesterday & Today class.

Hope you don't mind if I take a moment to share them with you. (To view the other layouts I've done for this class, click here and here and here.)


Layout #1: One Day in My Life
As the title suggests, for one day in late March, I documented nearly everything that happened in my life. I remember driving into work that Tuesday hoping that my day wouldn't be too boring because I wanted to have plenty to write about. Well, God must have been listening because not even an hour into my day, two of my students got into a fight at P.E. and one of them came running into my room with a bloody face, screaming and crying. I spent most of my P.E. prep time questioning the boys about the incident and writing a referral. As it turned out, both boys were suspended. If you're interested in reading more about my day, click on the photo above. Bear in mind that I've blurred some of the names to protect my students' identities.

Oh, and one note about the layout itself. I pulled out my sewing machine specifically for this layout and loved sewing pink thread around the text + photo boxes. In fact, my sewing machine is now staying out in my scrapbooking room, just in case I feel the need to sew on another layout or card.


Layout #2: Seeing Me
For this layout, I snapped a photograph of me every day for a week in April. (Two were taken with my iPhone; the others were shot with my Canon or Nikon.) I love the way this spread turned out, but let's be real: I'm kind of over myself. :-) I haven't taken this many pictures of me in a LONG time. (But I guess that's the point of this class, huh?!)


My favorite picture is the one above of Tyler, Brian and me, taken right after Tyler's t-ball game.

To the right of the photograph is my journaling: April 2011: Age 32, Walking on the treadmill. Reading The Happiness Project. Giving the STAR test at school. Perusing an e-book on how to draw a self-portrait. Looking forward to spring break. Visiting the doctor for a sinus infection. Popping Sudafed and Tylenol. Organizing my closet by color. Switching from AT&T to Verizon. Purchasing a new phone: iPhone 4. Sending text messages to family. Watching Tyler play t-ball. Proofreading mission brochures.


Layout #3: I Have Learned
I love that this layout is purely words and paper. Oftentimes, I think that scrapbook layouts have to include photos, but that's simply not true.

This layout really made me think: What have I learned in my 32 years on this earth? Which tidbits of wisdom do I want to share with others?

Over the past few weeks, I jotted down thoughts as they came to me. Some ended up in a "note" on my iPhone; others I typed up in a Word document.

I tried to be really honest and open about what I've learned thus far in my life.


I think it would be really valuable to do another layout just like this one 10 years from now.

I have four remaining layouts in Ali Edwards' Yesterday & Today class. In July, my plan is to tackle them as well as create a scrapbook layout about our family trip to Yosemite in 2009 and our day in Chicago in 2010.

I {heart} scrapbooking.

J

Yesterday & Today: Two More Layouts

Recently, I completed two more layouts as part of Ali Edwards' Yesterday and Today class.

In the first layout, which is comprised of two 12 x 12 pages using divided page protectors, I focused on some of the everyday details in my life right now.


For each photo, I wrote three sentences that begin with I and one of the following words: see, dream, live, make, go, eat, play, am, think, love.


After crafting the sentences in Word (using the free Mom's Typewriter font), I printed them out on white card stock, then trimmed and glued them onto each photo.


The photos were taken over the course of a week--at both home and school. As you've probably noticed, I'm present (in one way or another) in each of the photos. In order to make this happen, I learned how to use the self-timer on my Canon, so I could easily take pictures at school. At home, I used the self-timer on my Nikon or asked Brian to take my picture.
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For the second layout, which is a 6 x 12 piece, I chose to pair patterned paper with a collection of random facts about me.


In all, I wrote down 32 bits and pieces of information--tidbits that I don't think I've documented elsewhere in my scrapbook layouts.

Here are a few of the facts I included:
* My camp counselor nickname was "Toothpick."

* When I received one of my school shots at five years of age, I fainted and fell off the exam table.

* I started wearing glasses at age 16.

* I got my ears pierced (for the first time) that same year.

According to Ali Edwards, the inspiration for this layout came from a mini-album she created in her Life Artist book. The album contains random facts about the important people in her kid's lives, such as her parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles.

I'd love to create a similar album with a collection of facts from each of my parents.

Maybe I can twist their arms, say "pretty please" over and over again or better yet, only write one item on my birthday list. :-)

J

Yesterday & Today: Six Childhood Memories

I just completed my second layout in Ali Edwards' Yesterday & Today class. (Click here to see my introductory layout.)

It's been a work-in-progress for several weeks now; little-by-little it came together.


Choosing six photos was the easy part. In fact, as I sifted through boxes of pictures, I pulled out at least a dozen photos I wanted to write about. But I had to narrow it down to just six. (It's very likely that I'll do another six stories this summer.)

The six photos I ended up including in this layout were pictures that instantly brought memories, feelings, and thoughts to mind. They were also the ones that made me laugh or smile.


Crafting stories to go along with the six photos proved to be more difficult. I had no problem jotting down notes; the details that I could remember off the top of my head.

I also showed the photos to my mom and sister, eliciting their recollections of the events and time periods.

But actually taking those phrases and stringing them into sentences and then organizing them into a coherent story (six times over) became a challenge.

Writing is tough.

But for me, it's important; it's worthwhile.

That doesn't mean I don't procrastinate every now and again, though.

I'd like to share one of the six memories from this layout: Childhood Memory #5.


Nichole and I loved to sing and dance. It didn't matter if we were inside or outside; whether we were in shorts, pink silk pajamas or leotards and leg warmers. On this particular day, the tunes came from our silver boom box sitting on the driveway. We'd pop in a tape, push play, and sing away. Sometimes, we'd have to hold down the fast forward button to get to our favorite song. Other times, we'd rewind the tape, so we could listen to a song once more. Some of our favorite songs included: I Think We're Alone Now (by Tiffany), I Wanna Dance With Somebody (by Whitney Houston), and Papa Don't Preach (by Madonna). And as you can see, taper candles worked perfectly as microphones.

I'm so glad these photos + stories now have a home. No doubt, this will be a layout I enjoy for years to come. I think my sisters and parents will like reading the vignettes and looking at the pictures, too.

For me, that's what scrapbooking is all about--telling the stories of your life and those you love.

J

Yesterday & Today: Intro Layout

I feel really lucky to be taking part in Ali Edwards' 12-week online scrapbooking class entitled, Yesterday and Today.

In the first week of class, Ali set the stage for the class by posing the following question:
If you were gone tomorrow, what would you want others to know about you and the life you have lived?

Thought-provoking, huh?

My first task was to grab a pen and paper and list all of the stories I yearn to tell--stories not only from my recent past, but also from my childhood, adolescence, and 20-something years. For fifteen minutes, I scribbled away, listing a string of memories on a single sheet of paper.

From there, I sorted the story ideas into two columns: Yesterday or Today.

The third task involved browsing through my scrapbook layouts, making notes about what I like most about them, and what I might do differently in the future. Through this activity, I learned that I love layouts with large pictures (5 x 7 or bigger), white cardstock, and lots of journaling (preferably in my own handwriting). I didn't see very many black and white pictures in my current layouts, so I'd like to incorporate more in future ones.

With the reflective activities of Week One complete, it was time to jump into Week Two. This is where I began rifling through stacks of old photos, on the hunt for six pictures to include in my introductory layout. My mom was kind enough to "loan" me a box of family photos, so I could look through them at my leisure. I tried not to hem and haw over which ones to use; instead, I just found six I thought worked well enough, assembled them on canvasses in Photoshop and uploaded them to Costco.

Here's my intro layout:


The little girl pictured in the top left photograph (taken in the 1930s) is my paternal grandmother, Geraldine Rose, who at the time, was probably just 5 or 6 years old.

The little girl pictured below her is me as an infant.

Below that is a family photograph of my parents, my sisters and me taken at my dad's college graduation.

I also included a close-up shot of my sisters and me as well as a picture of Brian and me taken on a cruise ship about five years ago.


The picture above is me in fourth grade during my first year of Girl Scouting. My "Junior" vest looks so bare in this photo; I had yet to earn any badges because I had just recently joined Girl Scouts. Over the next few years, though, I filled up that vest (both front and back) with scores of badges. (And I still have it in a box downstairs.) I chose this picture of me in uniform as the large layout photo because Girl Scouting was such a big part of my childhood. I participated in Girl Scouting for nine years, beginning as a Junior, moving up to Cadette, and then finally graduating to the level of Senior.

I have so many wonderful memories as a Girl Scout; in fact, I have a feeling I'll be scrapping some of those stories in a layout (or two) later on in this class.

J