Full Circle Friday

Well I am back from my recent travels and adjusted back to normal life again. Though it can be a big effort I do try to make scrapbooking part of my normal everyday life. A recent way I have been making that happen is scrapbooking with my 4-yo daughter. She is very interested in scrapbooking! After our Disney vacation I got her an 8x8 scrapbook of her own to work on. She chose her own papers, some stickers, chipboard and other embellishments. Because she is only 4, I do help her trim photos and apply the adhesive but the page design and product selection I leave up to her. Even if I make some suggestions, she makes the final decision. It is so cool to see her take ownership for this project and care so much about it. So onto my proud mommy bragging, here are a few of Ella's Disney scrapbook pages:

This holiday season try making some gifts with your children... a card for their teacher, a mini album for the grandparents, a frame for dad's desk. There are many great ways to include the kids and they will have a great time too! If you are having trouble coming up with kid-friendly ideas, just ask the staff at Windy City Scrapbooking to point you in the right direction.

Ok, now onto the sketch! The November guest designer sketch didn't happen last week but there is no reason to waste a perfectly good sketch. Plus I had to stick to my challenge of starting my Disney photos. This one is a 2-page layout, 8.5 x 11. There is one focal photo and journaling on the first page and then a series of smaller photos on the second page. You will see I chose to change some of those smaller photos to blank space and embellishments.

Because my photos were pretty busy and intense, I went with a plain white cardstock background with a few bursts of color. I love the new flocked dot paper from Doodlebug and they were perfect for my design. The flocked alphabet stickers are also by Doodlebug (they come in glitter too!). The EK Disney themed embellishments are perfect for our vacation memories as the characters were the main focus of our trip. The new Technique Tuesday stamps designed by Ali Edwards are really fun and versatile, I just had to find a way to use them on my layout. The last embellishment I used was a sticker we collected from the Magic Kingdom while waiting in a line. They give away a ton of stickers there. Some the kids plastered on their shirts but I was able to hide a couple for the scrapbook.

Using memorabilia from a vacation is a great way to add a personal touch to your pages. Every vacation I take I designate a plastic bag as the "paper bag". I pick up brochures, ticket stubs, receipts, etc throughout and put them in the paper bag for safe keeping. When back home I pull out the bag while I scrapbook to incorporate the goodies into my pages. Try the paper bag on your next trip!

If you recently took or are planning a trip to Disney be sure to check out Angie's new class "Doing Disney". In the class you will complete a 2-page layout featuring Disney themed pattern paper and stickers. The class will also discuss an organizing principle for scrapbooking an entire trip to Disney World. This class is coming in January and is not to be missed by Disney vacationers!