thinking of you ~ mini album

A few weeks back on My Craft Channel, Heidi shared a project using the Hello Today Memory File Kit. The show was focused on creating the cover of the memory file with layered stencils and Magic Medium. But then she also made available the fabulous inside of that project by way of a free download. If you missed it you really should check it out.

That show inspired a few things for me. One, it allowed me to follow along some one else's project and just go through the motions without actually being original. This is a commonly used creativity exercise I like to use. Heidi's free project pdf was a perfect opportunity for that.  Second, I wanted to create a mini album for a friend as a gift. It just ended up making for a great creative opportunity.

The album is arranged very closely to how Heidi teaches how to build hers, but as you can see, I already changed things up on the cover. I adore that kraft glittered paper. It is the perfect cover pattern for this album. And this is how it usually goes for me when I am just going through somebody else's motions, my preferences always come out and I almost always learn something new.

So here is a look inside and my take of the Hello Today Mini album...

I loved adding that Color Magic Card to this page as an interactive piece. A homemade photo stack was made and I added several photos to it and stuck it inside the envelope. Oh how I love me some places to hide little this and thats.

This album was made as a birthday gift for my friend who came out and visited us this past summer. We were just hanging around town as well as home. Creating albums like this, well after the moments have passed, allow one to remember and reminisce. While being in the moment may have felt like a blur, relishing it now brings a lot of joy.

Turning the page I made use of the left side for a single photo layout. I mean, seriously...how could any other photo compete with that face.

I simply adored placing the photo stack from the kit right here.

The smaller pages lend to an interactive feel. The layers just invite the viewer to turn each page. And a photo stack allows plenty of extra room for many more photos. Even goofy ones.

The middle of the mini memory file was used for a couple of photos, and plenty of journaling. Even now, as important to me as journaling is, I can quite often fail to add my words. I was sure to not let that happen for this gift.

And that wraps it up. The last Color Magic Card added here has a greeting, as well as a surprise bonus photo my friend would not have been expecting.
Wouldn't you love a gift album like this? It was so fun to put together, especially since Heidi did all the hard part for me, and I just had to fill in the blanks. Sometimes that is just the perfect creativity exercise. And it was a joy as well to be able to gift it to someone else.

Hope you found a little inspiration here...
till next time...

~jamie

june memory planner

This post is part of my memory planner album posts and you can find the previous months here.

ah...welcome to june and a new edition to this album. an album that simply becomes more meaningful to me as the year continues. capturing #onelittlethingeveryday is so needful for me right now. and this month is sure to be as full as the past.

Heidi Swapp has made free printables available for this month just as she has done in the previous. 

And I totally love that 'bucket list' 3x4 card. 

I needed a place to hold all that I wanted to do for the summer. A place that I could continue to add to as thoughts and ideas came to me. And so this became a flappable insert to the left side of my planner to hold just such a list.  My numbered list this month will be what I call #30daysofsummerfavs. Just a list of the things we do daily that add to our summer experience.

On the right side I have left the top open and see through for now. I like the 'summer' die cut to show through and make a big impact as the season changes this month.

The pockets also provide a fun place to add some Dreamy Ephemera and attach it right to the page.

If you follow this series at all, you know I have put out the challenge to capture my family at least once a month. This may seem like an obvious capture to some, but for this family I have found that it did not happen as much as I would have liked. So, now we are 6 for 6. I layered our family photo under some vellum just as a way to add more photos.

Turn the page and there are already photos added to this month as well as the opportunity to see some of the other page still. June started off immediately with a big extended family event...a 50th anniversary...and there are lots of photos and stories to tell from that weekend. 

Here I share just a few of my favorite.

The calendar portion with very important dates like birthday, father's day, and of course the most important...the first day of summer.

Labels, stamps, and some stenciling rounds out this page...but the entries and photos will continue as the month progresses. This album continues to inspire being mindful of the blur. Looking for those moments and little things in a day or week. Writing down #onelittlethingeveryday that only adds to this busy life is a most beautiful way to spend this summer season, and many more.

say what you wanna say...

Sometimes creating these pages becomes purposeful messages to my children and their hearts...

This page was created with my middle daughter and her place in time in mind. She is this typical middle child who is a peace maker and a people pleaser. But she does not always know how to advocate for herself. And so she spends herself into an emotional place forgetting she simply needs to say what she needs to say...

Thus the words of Sara Barielles came to mind...
After I created this journaling on my Sizzix eClips machine, I realized I forgot the word 'honestly'...but hey...sometimes we forget those things...so I added it with letters underneath the title 'brave', and I think it works. To me it does not change the message at all.

I sprayed card stock with blush, amethyst, tinsel, and navy Color Shine to get that color effect behind the die cut words. I truly love how this came out and will be using this technique again.

To make this page I was feeling 'navy'...and loved that pin dot from the Hello Today paper pad...some old school Heidi Swapp like the scallop ribbon and definition stickers as well as sentiment stickers (which are now thankfully available via the new digital kit found here) were added as clusters and to support the encouragement of this message. And sometimes one simply needs to challenge themselves to use a color they do not always connect to...which is the amethyst...but don't ya just love it against the navy and blush?

This layout sat several days on her computer table, hard to miss when she was working through some academic challenges. Some of our kids don't need any help communicating themselves...but then some do. Hoping this piece will encourage her heart and mind to share honestly what she needs as well as what she wants. Anyway, that is my hope.

supplies: American Crafts cardstock. Heidi Swapp Hello Today Paper Pad. Glitter Stickers. Color Shine (Blush. Amethyst. Tinsel. Navy.) Scallop Ribbon. Definition Stickers. Sentiment Stickers. Glitter Banner Delights. Paper Banners. Color Pop Chipboard Moment Stickers.

scrapping for friends

For a Christmas present to a friend this year, I subscribed her to the JMPGirl Monthly Scrapbook Page. (yep...I just made that up). She is a long time family friend who loves our family deeply and and loves any and all photos I send her way. So I thought it would be fun to purchase a stand that holds 8x8 layouts, and send her one a month. For the most part I am creating layouts with photos from last years family photo shoot, but since March was my birthday month, I want to send her one of moi!

I simply had fun with this layout and the use of a monochromatic feel. No rules here really at all, save for mint! Yep. Mint has a hold of me right now. SO lots of mint pattern from Hello Today as well as a background from Mixed Company.

Mint played out on Color Magic Paper Goods which is a perfect match.

You may even find some Serendipity in there as well. And of course book paper die cut into leaves breaks up the color in a very subtle way.

More clusters of butterflies and arrows and notched banner pieces. So the challenge here today is: send a friend or family member a layout page created by you. Have fun with it. Let yourself go and layer it up with die cut and paper punched pieces. A fun little creative piece for someone else to enjoy.

hello today die cut flip album

Today I am over at HeidiSwapp.com sharing this album that shows off the new Hello Today Lace Paper. Love that paper!!! Hope you will join us.

hello february

time flies...
this is why i take pictures.
print them.
and document.

this little guy and his life are flying by too. i am finding the need to grasp at his dwindling toddler days and be better focused on his little stories. it is actually causing all kinds of introspection on my part as to how that should look, but that is a post for another time.

his grandparents gave him this red trike. and that boy can jam down the sidewalk with sheer delight. we had a gorgeous and warm day in the middle of january (do you remember when it use to be warm?), and it was great opportunity to get outside. to run. play. and of course ride.

This layout  uses a lot of Hello Today but it is also mixed with some old school No Limits. Hello Today can be very soft and girlie, so I loved the challenge to turn it up a bit and give it this little boy feel.

by attaching a little mini book to the front of the page, i added more than one photo. because, you can't have too many photos of that face. this was easily made by folding pattern papers that were cut 12x4 inches, folding them in half, and stapling in the middle. walah! a mini photo flap book thingy.

till next time.