The Month of May (a mini-album)

Elizabeth is easily one of the most talented people I know. Not only is she an amazing scrapbooker and photographer, she is the momma of three hopelessly cute and spunky little people. I check Elizabeth's blog religiously, and I am forever hoping that her witty writing style will rub off on me. Her third little girl is so much like Sadie that I often think, "Well now, I should really just make life easier and cut and paste that paragraph right there and pop it into my scrapbook." I don't, but I'm sure tempted.

I was so incredibly lucky that a) we were both Hall of Famers in 2006 so that I got the chance to "meet" her; and b) she asked me to be one of the contributors for her fabulous book, The Scrapbooker's Almanac. I know I've said it before, but when I got my copy of the book, I was floored! The ideas are endless and biased opinion aside, it's still my very favorite book on scrapbooking.

Pages 158 and 159 are home to my very favorite project, and one that I knew immediately that I absolutely had to scraplift. And there's no doubt about it - it's a scraplift, pure and simple. I loved Elizabeth's mini-album about her daughter so much, that I had to create one of my own.

 

The idea is simple. It's a photo-a-day challenge. With a focus. My focus was Sadie. During the month of May, she turned one year old. Everybody knows that babies change so fast and so constantly, and I was feeling very, very behind on my scrapbooking and memory keeping in general. This album was a way for me to refocus and to get some of my thoughts, observations, and memories into an album.

 

I created a page for each day of the month and on each page was a photo that I had taken that day with an accompanying story. Some days, the photo came first, and other days, I had a story in mind, so I followed Sadie around seeking a perfect photo.

 

Elizabeth's album is in a vertical format, but I chose a horizontal format simply because I all ready had this Bazzill 12" x 6" album. She used the same patterned paper on each page, but being the patterned paper junkie that I am, I mixed it up and used a different color/pattern on each page.

 

During the month of May, I did not do anything else scrap-wise. I simply took photos and wrote stories, and every night after Sadie was in bed, I put the page together (although I was consistently a couple days behind - not sure how that works). I followed Elizabeth's design and kept my pages pretty simple. I wanted to get the album done and not get bogged down in adding embellishments or doing time-consuming techniques.

I did pretty well with this album, but after making 31 of the same pages, I lost my ambition and it ended up on my "to-finish" pile for the sake of three photos that I needed to order and attach in their respective places. 

 

But this week of finishing projects has been the motivation that I needed to get this done! And adding in the photos has been an excuse for me to look through the album and marvel at how much she's all ready changed in the last five months.

 

I could have made 31 full-size 12" x 12" pages about Sadie, but this album was a manageable way to scrapbook a lot of the details of her life and personality at age one. Details that I will most likely forget before I could ever get around to scrapbooking them in a larger, more embellished format. 

As far as scrapbook albums go, this is my second completed album (right behind the wedding album). It was worth every second of time I spent photographing, typing, cutting, pasting, and stitching. I love it.

     

I'm still debating about working on one every year. Next year, it might simply be a week's worth of photos. We'll see.

 

Supplies shown: Album: Bazzill Basics; Patterned Paper: Daisy D's (dots), Chatterbox (flowers), Die Cuts With a View (pink), KI Memories (green); Rub-ons: 7gypsies; Chipboard Letter: (Autumn Leaves)

Comments

[Rhonda Steed]

WOW!!Totally awesome!!!

[Heather M.]

this is totally awesome, mary! i'm inspired to *someday* do the same! you are so right - a small album like that is so much more manageable - good for you for finishing it up!

[lovely cee]

QUOTED

"Well now, I should really just make life easier and cut and paste that paragraph right there and pop it into my scrapbook." I don't, but I'm sure tempted.

that's exactly what i'm thinking when i read your entries and journaling. you are such a wonderful and witty writer.

i love this book!!! i did one for gabby last year. but there's 2 pages that are not exactly done yet and i don't have an idea for the cover. and Danie's birthday book, still doesn't have a cover.

did you print your own prints? they're all perfect squares

[Sara Rossi]

What a TERRIFIC album!! Love the idea but don't think I'd be that dedicated each day (sad to say)! Sadie will treasure this!!

Had to laugh at the "2nd completed album" comment! I just started an 8x8 album even though I have 2 other albums that need to be finished!

[Crystal]

What a beautiful little memory book of that important month! I think you should do it annually - wouldn't they be fun to look at by the time she's 6 years old?!! And congrats for finishing it up - such a good feeling, isn't it?! Happy November!

[laura vegas]

this is such a cute album idea! love that the design is kept simple ... and that it's easy enough to put together. and to have all those stories ... so great!

[Elaine MacAskill]

I enjoy every bit of this website. Keep up the good work. I love to hear all your news.