Mother's Day Mini-Album

"Mini-album" and "digital scrapbooking" don't seem to go together -- but they can, and easier than you might expect.

Here's a 6x6 swatch book mini-album that I made, printed up by Heritage Makers:



The sad part is, I have yet to see this album myself! This is a new product for Heritage Makers, and the album shown is a prototype. But it's now available as a standard product, so I will be ordering one soon. The screw can be removed and replaced by a ring or ribbon, and multiple books could be combined together, making it very versatile.

I'm glad I did this album, because it made me put down all the things I appreciate about my mom, but never say. I know it would make me feel good as a mom! In fact, my daughter Sophie gave me a little treasure chest full of paper slips, each one with something she loves about me, to cheer me up when I've had a bad "mom day". They are crying to be put into an album like this.

There is also a brighter version of the same design in the Heritage Makers' template gallery, suitable for teens to give to their mom:

There's one other new Heritage Makers product I have to mention, not just because I'm affiliated with them, but because I think it's unique and a great thing for scrapbookers. This is an 8x20 "gallery wrapped canvas" (designed by Lynda Angelastro of Heritage Makers). It's canvas, wrapped and mounted around a wood frame so that it stands out one inch from the wall:

It also comes 20x8 (horizontal), as well as in square sizes. I'm thinking of using the horizontal size for a set of 3 of my favorite layouts (digi or paper). That way I don't have to frame them all separately and I can still keep them in my album.

Also notice how Lynda converted the photos to black and white, and then gave each a slight color tint. A very cool effect that could be used in any layout!

This and That

It's a little early for Mother's Day, but since that is what I have been scrapping lately, I decided to share a couple of favorite pages from a recent "Things I Love About You" mini album I made for Heritage Makers:

The mini album will be appearing in the Heritage Makers catalog and template gallery in February.

Here a few shots from Sophie's birthday and Christmas day, including the perfect present for a soccer girl, her very own backyard goal: :

Christmas Card 2009

This year's Christmas cards are finally off to the printer, hopefully ready in time to reach the recipients before Christmas.

I didn't have time for a family photo this year, so the front is photo-less:

Since the card is a tri-fold, there is an inner cover as well:

which opens to a 3-panel interior:

I really wanted to let the pictures do most of the talking, although there is a short write-up of our year.

I have to say, you just can't beat digital Christmas cards!

Fantastic Friends Book for Tweens

I was recently asked to do a small 7x5" book template for Heritage Makers. This book is designed to showcase the relationship between a pre-teen girl and her friends. And of course it's perfect for my own little pre-teen, who is moving on next year to a middle school that is different from where the rest of her friends will be going. Here are a few of my favorite pages:

You can view the whole book here.

Another Father's Day Card

This is another Father's Day card I did, this time for my dad:

Front:

Inside:

Back:

We've been very lucky here -- it's the middle of June, and the highs are only in the 80's and 90's. We can even go to Charlotte's soccer practices and sit outside comfortably! We'll see how long it lasts...

Father's Day Card

I haven't been doing much scrapbooking lately, unfortunately, due to my surgery and the recent tragedy involving the drowning of a family friends' son. But I did do a couple of digital Father's Day cards, such as this one here:

Cover:

Inner cover:

Inside (3-panels):



A fellow scrapbooker recently asked if she could feature one of my layouts on her camping blog. I said Yes, because I think it's a pretty cool blog, with some really useful information if you camp:

http://rjnbenterprises.blogspot.com/

Karl's 15 Minutes of Fame

It's not really fame, since he's nameless -- but Karl is featured on Heritage Makers Father's Day flyer. That's him, on the book in back (one of my designs). I didn't know he was on the flyer until a friend told me. Not a big deal, but still kind of fun!

Sophie graduated yesterday from 6th grade, tonight we go to see Taylor Swift in concert, and next Tuesday is my surgery. Busy times!

What I'm Doing with My New-Found Time

Now that I'm employment-free, I don't have an excuse for not exercising and losing those few extra pounds. So I've been hiking one of the local mountains at least twice a week, in between running. My favorite is Piestewa Peak, with an elevation gain of 1,190 feet. It's quite a workout, but exhilirating at the same time.

I also started my 2-D graphic design class at the community college. So far it has been a blast. I'm not sure which is more fascinating: the design material, or listening to the conversations of the fresh-out-of-high-school guys at my table.

One of the intesting things we're learning about is the Divine Ratio. I knew that the Divine Ratio (or Golden Mean) was used in Greek architecture. But I didn't know that it's the basis for the musical octave and is found through out nature. I may even have to read this book:

The Golden Ratio

Who knew design had a mathematical basis?

I'll also be creating scrapbook pages for the Addicted Scrapper's February kit. Just look at these adorable papers: Addicted Scrapper's Sneak Peak. I love those happy colors and can't wait to start playing with them!

I've also made a new Father's Day Storybook template for Heritage Makers which will be appearing in the Template Gallery soon:

Circles

I've been on a circle kick lately. They add such a fun and energetic feel to scrapbook pages. Here's another layout featuring circles, with photos of my family at various stages. I love getting old pictures scrapbooked, and capturing a little of my childhood, not just my childrens'.

And Another Heritage Makers Template...

I was asked to do another template/sample album for Heritage Makers, this time a Grandparents album. This was quite the project, since as a sample book that will be available as hardcopies, it needed to have real photos and journaling.

Fortunately, I had scanned quite a few heritage and family photos on a recent visit home, so I had some of the photos I needed. But not all! I had to call home several times and ask my mom for photos on a particular topic of their lives, then my brother had to scan them and upload them to a photo website so I could access them. Pulling this album off required a lot of work from multiple people. (Thanks everyone!)

I have to say that it was all worth it, even if my bed and I didn't see each other much for a couple of days. Gathering all these photos and stories together is something I've always wanted to do, but never seemed to find the time for. Getting it all together in an album that everyone can get a copy of is truly priceless.

First Template for Heritage Makers

This week, I designed my first template for Heritage Makers, a "storybook" company that publishes digital photo/scrap books.

Now, I don't think their storybooks are going to take the place of scrapbooking for us fanatic, hard-core types. But it is a great way to get an album done quickly, or to create multiple copies of a gift album. And for people who don't have the time or inclination for scrapbooking, they are awesome.

Their products are similar to the photobooks you can order from places like Shutterfly, but so much better. They're heirloom quality, with sewn binding and acid-free paper. They offer a large variety of pre-designed albums and pages, which you can use as-is, or modify as you choose. And they have tons of digital scrapbook elements that you can use to create your own pages from scratch.

So without more ado, here are some of my favorite pages from the album, an 8x8 adoption album:

If you'd like to view at the whole album, you can see it here:

If you know of someone who might be interested in using the template, contact me and I'll be glad to let you know when it's available through Heritage Makers.