Go West, Young Man!

Perry (my oldest, just-turned-eleven-year-old-son) has been spending time with his grandparents in Montana. He took pictures from the road, and their camping stops en route to Montana - the Grand Tetons in Wyoming, and Yellowstone (he got to see Old Faithful - I'm jealous!). They arrived at their home in Montana one week after Perry's road trip began from Tennessee. Upon arrival Perry uploaded, and e-mailed to me, photos of the pictures he took with his camera. The bottom photo is a picture Perry took last Friday (since arriving) on a drive to the Bison Range in Montana.

Montana, American Goldfinch

(click to enlarge)

While in Montana, we had a great kitchen table view of the birds feeding on Grandma and Grandpa's front porch.
Grandma's Bird Feeder text reads: Grandma says, "The bird is an American Golfinch (Carduelis tristis), male, winter phase. All the tan/grey feathers become bright yellow in the summer. They are common birds at our feeder this time of year."

The kids each scrapped their own goldfinch page.

Montana, Lee Metcalf Wildlife Refuge {R&J}

Here are the two layouts I did for R & J. Simple and quick. I got 6 *full-size* 4x6 photos (I frequently crop photos w/cutter to cut down on visual clutter, and to make more room.) on J's page. (thrifty, and why I prefer to scrap in 12x12). This was made possible by journaling directly on the photo w/my photo marker. It does feel *wrong*when you first write on photos, but once you do it, it's quite fun. For me, the fun is that it allows me to actually use more photos... I would have one less photo to display on J's page if I hadn't written on the photo. Another thrifty tip - if you're going to fill up a page, it doesn't matter what paper you use. Use up your ugly paper - you will end up seeing very little of the actual cs (cardstock). Crazy patterns in your pad that you think you'll never use - they work great for photo-filled pages. R's layout - I selected borders (in printing "preferences") on the focus photo. My plan was to write on the borders, but I decided to use stickers instead. I still think it made for a nice, thrifty embellishment. Covering the rest of the cardstock with photos makes the focus photo appear to be framed.

Montana, Lee Metcalf Wildlife Refuge {P}

A few photos of P taken at the wildlife refuge. This layout is an example of how easy it can be to personalize a page. I place all my pages in one book, chronologically; but when the book gets too full, I will take out the individual pages I've scrapped for the kids, and place them in their own scrapbook(s). How to personalize? We all know how that our son's award ceremony will make a great personal page, but don't forget the shared stuff. Who wants to look at just pictures of themselves, anyway? (I think I dated a guy that did, but that's a story for another day...or another blog...)

Here are a few ideas on how to personalize shared events:

1) Journal to one person in particular (it can be as short, simple, and subtle, as the tag above)

2) Tell the story from one person's perspective (P was climbling the tree while the others were watching the ducks)

3) Feature a favorite acitivity, unique to the person. (tree-climbing)

4) Feature photos of the person you have in mind. Note that I still include J (and I'm going to include this same tree climbing photo of J on his own page, just b/c I like it so much and I think it makes a fun "following in their footsteps" theme).

I think this approach to scrap separate personal pages as you go along, makes it less overwhelming to scrap for multiple children (in the end, my kids will each end up with their own albums, without me having to be intentional about it); *and* it makes it more fun, since I don't repeat the same layouts, or even photos. It's also a thrifty way to scrap - since I tend to take this approach when I end up with at least several good photos of each of the kids, I would otherwise be scrapping 3+ pages anyway. Most likely, the pages will be somewhat coordinated, so you will end up using what you have (versus buying pages later on specifically for her *special* scrapbook).

This is just my opinion, of course. My point is to find out what works for *you* and just scrap it...don't get stuck in the planning phase! Tomorrow I'll post the other two kids' layouts of this trip, which will include thrifty layout tips!

Let me know what you guys are doing... I would love to get, and share, new ideas!

Montana, Nature

January 14, 2009. We have many beautiful pictures that we took on this visit to the Lee Metcalf Wildlife Refuge, located in the Bitterroot Valley, near Stevensville, Montana. http://www.friendsofleemetcalf.com/index.html
Nothing can enhance God's masterpiece! To crop, embellish, or otherwise place anything else near this, would only take away from its perfect beauty! I know I'm a minimalist scrapper, meaning that I like my pictures and journaling to tell the story without alot of knick-knack; but how could *any* scrapper disagree with me on this one?!? I'll probably frame this; but to "scrap" it - I'll simply enlarge the photo (5X7; I usually do 4x6 or smaller, when cropped), give it a page of its own on neutral cardstock (tan or gray), and write up a small, subtle description in the lower-right corner. If I really want to make my writing even less visible, I'll write directly on the photo with my photo marker (lower-right, where it's darker than the rest of the photo). This will make a nice intro for the rest of the nature photos, which I'll approach in the same fashion.

Montana, Horses

We spent time in Montana with Grandma and Grandpa's horses. Grandma and Grandpa know alot about horses! Here are a few things the kids say they've learned about horses:

P: Always approach a horse from his front and side at a 45 degree angle. Pet him while you're talking to him, so he will know you're still there.

R: Never walk toward a horse when his ears are back or down.

J: Horses like to eat grass and hay. Horses like to be petted. Be sure to watch your feet and the horses feet. Horses don't mind if you hold their mane while you're riding.

For J's page (middle), the lettering is on the back of an index card. I kept the full size card, and journaled below the dates, which is hidden by the photos. To do this, I formed a pocket with the photos (easy - just limit the adhesive to the corners) and tucked the cards inside, without actually adhering the cards to the cardstock. Hidden journaling is especially nice if you have something personal you want to journal, but you aren't comfortable making it so visible. Just let your loved ones know that it's there; otherwise it may not have longevity - ;). Another reason to use hidden journaling is for visual appeal. That would be why I chose it for this page. I was happy with the LO as is; I didn't want the extra visual clutter.

Montana, Sledding

Someday, very soon, I will get straight shots on these layouts (aarghh!). I think I do better on the outdoor shots, versus indoor on my wood floors. I think the grooves in the wood are tricking my eyes into thinking the layout is straight, when it's not. (Anyone with advice? J, I know you can help me out -;) If I were more patient (or obsessive!) I'd just reshoot; but it's best to shoot photos (of photos) in natural light, and I'm not waiting 'til tomorrow - got too much scrappin' to do -;).

We ended up with many happy photos of the sledding trips... it was difficult to narrow down to a 2-page layout. The kids had a great time - thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

Journal: A Bittersweet Day.

We were reunited with the entire family at Grandma's funeral earlier this day. That evening we all hung out at C's parents' house - pictured are C's mom, sister, brother and wife and kids (along with C,P, and R).

(Note to self: make sure not to tilt camera for layout photos -;)

Montana, A Quiet Morning

We flew to Montana for Grandma Alice's funeral. We arrived the evening before the funeral and stayed six days.

This was our first morning in Montana. I used 3-D adhesive to make the center photo pop. I love this photo - the kids stood there silently transfixed on the scenery for several minutes. The kids said it was the enormous icicles that they were mesmerized by. There was also more snow than they ever remember having seen, and Grandma and Grandpa's llama, to gaze at. Since we're on EST, (2 hours ahead of Montana's mountain time zone), it was still dark when we woke up.

The kids and I enjoyed "skating" in our snow boots. The kids spent much time playing with Sonny - Grandma and Grandpa's beautiful, and friendly, Golden Retriever. Sonny loves fetching pinecones and snowballs.