Sorry for the blogging break. I've been exceptionally busy lately working on an aisle runner for a lovely bride, Kaylee. I will be setting it up tonight for her wedding tomorrow, so I should have pictures of it in all it's glory. Congrats to Kaylee & Zach!!
On to other things - I started scrapbooking when I was 16 years old. I was elected Historian for our Student Council during my junior year of high school, which included taking pictures of all sorts of events we hosted and putting them into a scrapbook. It was very basic and simple, but I fell in love. Ever since then, I've considered myself a scrapbooker. The reality is though - I've only finished ONE scrapbook, and that was a mini-book. I have layouts from different times in my life, and a few books that are almost complete, but otherwise, I have a pile of works in progress. One of my goals for this year is to really get back into scrapbooking where I'm creating layouts on a regular basis, and I'm completing a story. More on goals later in the post.
Kelly Purkey is so inspiring to me in her scrapbooking layouts. Her photographs are so real and fun, and her layouts are gorgeous. I get the sense that I know her just from looking at her layouts - and I imagine she's a very fun person to be around! Check out her blog if you get a chance. (All the images in today's post are Kelly's layouts - I have to share them!)
The reason I bring up Kelly this morning is that she basically inspired this post. She has posted some layouts recently that I not only love, but would like to adapt to my own scrapbooking stash. I'd also challenge you to consider these types of layouts if you're like me - I think it will motivate me to tell my story, as well as give an accurate picture of my daily life, rather than trying to tell the story of a certain period of time in my life.
This first layout details Kelly's loves for the year. Read her original post here. I think this is such a great concept, and a very easy way to journal. I'm the type of scrapbooker where I'd probably try to make a page for each of these things, which is why I can't keep up with my pile of pictures and memorabilia. Think about all the things you've loved over the last year or so. These don't have to be great lasting loves (or, they could be - my love for cupcakes, for example, is eternal). Think about doing this every year of your life. How much would things have changed? My list in 1987 (I was 5) would have included things like Legos, my Carebears, my parents, mac & cheese, watching He-Man & She-Ra and playing with my Popples. (Do you remember those shows? Or even know what a Popple is??) Fast forward 22 years to 2009 and my list looks much different. Sure, the parents are still on it, but it also includes things like Facebook and my cell phone and my new husband. The point is - I always love thinking about all the things we loved as kids, and then as teenagers. I imagine that won't change as I grow older - it's fun to look back at all the things that have stuck around, that have disappeared, that seemed so important at one time, or that we couldn't even imagine back then. I WILL be trying a similar layout for 2009 in the coming weeks. What a great way to wrap up last year.
This layout is another creation of Kelly's that I love! What an interesting way to look back at the last year, in terms of numbers. Visit her original post here to read about the details of her year. One of the things I really admire about Kelly is her amazing self-portraits. There are very few pictures of me by myself in the thousands I have on my computer and CD's. I'm just not comfortable taking pictures by myself. I will overcome this. Hopefully this year. I'll try :)Anyway, think about your year last year in terms of numbers. What kinds of things will you come up with? Following Kelly's example, I might say something like 7 weddings (yes, we attended 7 weddings), 1 marriage, 2 cell phones, 2 flights, 11 books about vampires, 8 levels conquered on Super Mario Bros. Wii, etc. It's harder than you would think, but a great way to look over everything that you've accomplished and experienced (and maybe still are experiencing.)
One last layout to share. Kelly turned 27 in 2009, and challenged herself by creating a layout of 27 things she wanted to accomplish over the course of the year. You can read about how well she did here. I think this is a fantastic idea, and I would love to try it myself.(Here's the goals thing I was talking about above.) At the beginning of each year, I rarely make a New Year's Resolution. It seems like everyone is feeling very ambitious at that time of the year and has these lofty goals. The same is true for me. But, I know myself well enough to know that if I make this grand resolution on January 1, I will likely be feeling like a failure by January 8. I can plan for things and dream of results, but I don't have the best follow through. What I can do well, though, is break down what I'd like to accomplish each year in small bites. This is what Kelly has done with her layout. Think of little things that are easily accomplished and go for that. In my opinion, there's much less chance for failure! And even if you don't conquer one goal, you can look at your list and say - hey, look at everything I did get accomplished!
I'll stop gushing now about how much I love Kelly and all of her creativity in scrapbooking. It's getting a little ridiculous at this point, but I can't help it. She's so easy to admire! You've just gotten my scrapbooking to-do list, of sorts, so look for my take on these layouts in the coming weeks. One of my goals (that will probably appear in a layout soon!) is to create one scrapbook page per week. It's a manageable goal, and just think - a scrapbook with 52 layouts is a pretty substantial story. Be sure to visit Kelly's blog when you get a chance!
I've been trying to keep my Project 365 updated, so visit that album when you get a chance. So far, so good. I think I've gotten a picture everyday, though it is VERY challenging right now.
Have a fantastic day, everyone!
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