Scrapbooking « karenika

The Savor Project – The November Album and some Changes

One of the reasons I start my yearly projects early is to get a chance to test them out and make sure I have the process part down and make sure that I am going to actually enjoy working on the project. While I always reserve the right to change my mind, alter the project throughout, or even stop it, I tend to prefer to stick with it so I like to give each of them a test run before the year starts.

Such was the case with The Savor Project. I talked about it at length on this post and talked about my plans. I made pages all throughout November and then took a break for December since I was doing the December Daily album then.

When I came back to it to finish my last two November pages, my book looked like this:

It didn’t take long for me to realize that this system wasn’t going to scale. If my book was already this fat in one month, how would I fit 12 more months in it? How many books was I going to need? As much as I liked the idea of having this book and this specific format, I knew it wasn’t going to work for me. So for a few days I completely obsessed over it. And finally found a new format that was a little less ideal than I’d like but will scale to hold the whole year. I will do another post to talk about that project in my next post on Wednesday. For today I wanted to show you the full November album. I changed the cover slightly to reflect the changes and decided to declare this album the Savor November Album. And there we go.

So here’s the new cover:

I just changed the year to 2011 and added a little “nov” and that was done.

Here’s a quick look at the first pages I’d already shared with you with the text explaining them:

That page of journaling comes out and you can read more:

Here’s one from November 7:

And here’s one from November 8:

This one is quite involved as the left page flaps down to tell one more story:

And the right side has a top flap and a tag that comes out from the side and the heart is a journaling tag that also comes out:

this is an extreme example and most of my pages are simpler but it does show how far a spread can be taken:

and here’s an example with ephemera. My jury duty papers:

and our safeway (grocery) receipt from that week:

this is November 10 and 11. On the left is the kids playing together and David’s new desk which we spent all night putting together and he’s already lined up his legos on. I also added the box for the Robitussin because I was sick that week and absolutely hated taking this medicine.

this page has the back of the medicine and then a printout of a bug that caused me to work on a day I was officially off work. I took the 11th as a vacation day but then we had a compatibility issue and I ended up chasing it down all day so it wasn’t really a day off. I printed the public bug report out and put it in the pocket to remind myself.

Behind the printout, I put a photo of Nathaniel surrounded by diapers. This is to remind me that he finds ways to self-entertain when I am busy with work or being sick. And it ends up okay. It might be a mess but he’s happy.

The next spread is just a photo of the kids playing on the left. I was still sick and Jake was out of town. The kids were just sweet as can be. Played quietly and happily. I just feel indescribably lucky. The right page is about when Jake gets home from his trip and the kids are so happy to see him and hang out with him.

And finally the last spread. The one on the left is my performance evaluation. Just wanted to be able to come back and look at them. The right side is both the kids writing at different times of the day and how much joy it brings me to see them at the table and how much they enjoy writing.

and here are the rest of November pages:

November 17. On the left it’s about David and my reading project and the book we were reading then: The Westing Game. The right side talks about Nathaniel looking at all the catalogs we’ve been getting for the holidays and telling me all the toys he wants. And then on the bottom of that page is the first book in my new book club.

left side of this spread is Nathaniel’s sharing day at his school and how fun it was to watch him. The right side is about going to see the fourth Twilight movie with the same friends I’ve seen the last three.

And this page is November 20 – 22. Left side is David feeding Nathaniel and how much I love seeing them help each other. And the right side is about how silly they like to be together and how they always make me laugh.

November 23. I love how Nathaniel loves to go through my notebooks and look at my sketches and my art. So I have a photo of him doing that and some words on how it makes me feel. The right side is a surprise I got in the mail. Even though I had sent an email to Christine, I’d completely forgotten about it so I was very surprised when I got her card in the mail.

so I put the card in a pocket on the right side with the envelope it came in. I love the whole thing. Thank you, Christine.

The next spread is on Thanksgiving Day. On the left is actual Thanksgiving dinner and then on the right it’s all about setting up our tree and getting ready for Christmas.

And here’s the last spread of the month. On the left side is some of the happy mail I got that wasn’t actually Christmas related. A pair of heels from my mom all the way from Turkey and some wonderful prints I’d bought from Kal Barteski. And the right side is photos from the day of art and fun and rest we had during our Thanksgiving weekend.

And that’s the end of this little book. I still have some empty pages in there which I will likely take out and use for other art projects. I love how this little book turned out. I loved working on it and I am very grateful for it. Here’s to hoping my new setup makes me just as happy.

David Today You Made Me Cry

This layout is for Write.Click.Scrapbook’s January Gallery. The theme is to scrap “today…”.

Journaling Reads:
Today i went out to the movies with my friend. When i came home there were two notes on my bed. “I love you very much. I really missed you and I had a bad night and I peed like you told me to.” they said. They immediately made me cry. When I was a little girl, I left notes for my mother when she went out so it was so wonderful to see you do it for me. It made my heart swell and I wanted to wake you up and give you a huge hug. I love you so much.

December Daily – Day Twenty-Four and Five

And here we are. I hadn’t decided if this book would go to Christmas Day or The 31st. But it turned out the decision was made for me since my book ran out of pages right on Christmas Day. I like the idea of going only until the 25th because it gives me that one week to rest before the new year starts.

So here’s Day 24. The front is our photobooth photos from Tintin and the movie tickets.

and the back was a photo so I just added a few photos of the kids opening their Christmas Eve presents and called it a day:

The next day was our Christmas Morning Breakfast as it’s become tradition for me to put this in the journal:

and the back was the very last page in my book so I put a few of my favorite shots from Christmas Day and made sure to end the book with my word to remember.

and that’s the end of this book. Here’s what it looks like all full:

Here’s the front:

and the back:

and there we go. Another year, another December Daily.

Here we come 2012!

December Daily – Day Twenty-Three

I’m almost done with my book. I just took photos of the last few pages. In the meantime, here’s day 23:

The front is just a shot of our tree with a little present ornament I received from Junelle that I love.

and the back is photos I snapped of Jake and David while we ate at the diner at the mall. They are blurry but they make me happy.

I only had a few pages left in my book so I decided to keep things simple for the last few days.

so that’s it for Day 23.

Holiday Gift Card Holders

As part of Pink Paislee’s Winter Wonderland event, I made two sets of cards which are actually gift card holders:

These are super-simple. Here’s a single card holder:

and a double-card holder:

You can see a lot more at the Pink Paislee blog.

I will admit that though I never give gift cards for the holidays, I like making these.

My Mind’s Eye Blog Hop

Welcome to the My Mind’s Eye Blog Hop!!

I wanted to start by telling you how much I love My Mind’s Eye and their beautiful products. The layouts I made using their products are among some of my very favorites. Here’s an older one that I still love. Especially now that David’s lost four more teeth. This layout was about how now that he’s lost a baby tooth, his smile will not be the same. Just one of those special memories I like to capture:

Ok, I can go on and on about my love for their products for a long time and I know you’re here for the blog hop so let’s get on with it.

You special word is “the NEW“.

If you’ve landed here from Lisa’s blog, you’re going in the right order, if not, go back and start on the My Mind’s Eye blog to ensure you can get the right phrase. Lori is next on your list!!

ONE winner will receive one of everything in our 12 Days of Christmas AND both Kraft Funday collections!

Here’s what you do:

1. Email Amber (amber@mymindseye.com) with the secret phrase.
2. Leave a comment. (My Mind’s Eye will randomly draw one of the designers’ blogs and choose a winner from her blog comments. This winner will receive our entire 12 Days of Christmas collection.)

The blog hop will close on December 28th, at midnight.

Good luck and Happy Holidays!!

December Daily – Day Twenty-Two

And we’re on to day twenty-two:

David reading out loud to me. I wrote the Little House on the Prairie but it was actually The Little House in the Big Woods. I love listening to him read to me.

i also love these little stickers. Put them all over my book this year.

another photo. added just a little my mind’s eye chipboard on there.

Nathaniel’s been lining things up a lot lately so I was compelled to capture it. I just love how cute he is. He loves when I photograph them.

and on the back is the little boy reading a catalog. I love the little feet that stick out.

and that’s it for Day 22.

December Daily – Day Twenty-One

My next page was leaves so I left them as is and added the numbers:

the next page is David’s Lego creation that he was super-proud of:

and then the back is the first day of Hannukah. When Nathaniel saw the candles, he screamed “Happy Birthday!!!!” and tried to blow them out. We laughed and laughed.

and that’s it for Day 21. My book is almost full so I am guessing it will only go to Christmas Day this time.

December Daily – Days Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen and Twenty

So here we go. There are a lot of pages from Legoland and not much of the two days we spent in the car.

I wrote up the story of how we came to decide to go:

i tucked the tickets inside and wrote a little story about getting to the hotel.

the next page is early morning Nathaniel and Jake and how they watched the planes:

and then a simple spread with both my boys smiling:

then right outside Legoland both us and the sign:

and a page with a flap where i wrote about how kids can play legos while we wait in line:

here it is with the flap open

the next spread is more photos of the kids and the park.

and then more. I love the fabric on the right which is why I didn’t cover it all.

the next page is all the photos of the lego models I took while there and the kids playing in a car.

and the other side of the spread explains the models a bit and then one of the boys sitting as we wait for the shuttle to come pick us up. David’s there under the flap.

The next spread is just a tree photo (from last year, it was in the book when i made it.) and a Starbucks sign that I liked with some My Mind’s Eye stickers. The right side was actually a baseball card holder page but I didn’t feel like using it for now.

and then finally for today, my rings came so I took a photo of my finger.

here it is with the flap open and some journaling about my word:

Phew. All caught up!

Welcoming Daddy

This is the one a layout I made for My Mind’s Eye December newsletter. There are step by step instructions in the newsletter.

And the journaling says:
Your greatest moment in any day is when Daddy comes home. There’s so much joy and jubilation. On this day, we were coming back from the playground and Daddy met us halfway. You were so very thrilled and excited to see him that you ran right up to him and hugged him super-tight. He’s one lucky man, your daddy, He’s so very loved by all of us. And we are so lucky to have him in our lives.

December Daily – Days Fifteen and Sixteen

So I got to do today early. Here’s the last two days.

Yesterday was all about David. I went to his school for a musical performance in the morning so I took a photo (blurred for privacy.)

i tucked the program under the little flap.

the backside is his story he’s been writing at school that he shared with me when we went to his class after the performance.

that’s the 15th. For today, I wrote a little bit about my thoughts and gratitude around this season and put a photo of Nathaniel. You can’t see it but he’s looking at my December Daily album in the photo. He loves looking at the album every day.