Tag Archives: photographs

Taking photographs

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In 2010 I took a photo every day (or mostly – if I missed a day I just took an extra photo the day after). I love the photographs that were put into  my Project 365 album, and look at them often.

There are many photographs in each month’s computer folder for 2010, because I always had my camera with me. I was constantly looking out for opportunities to capture at least something of my day. I often had several very different images to choose from when it came to selecting the photo that would represent that day, and the others remain in the folders and instantly bring back memories when I review them.

In 2011 the folders have far fewer images because I didn’t do the project, and my camera was sometimes at home when something captured my attention – I have no idea what those things were now, because there is nothing to prompt my memory.

So in 2012 I have again tried to take a photograph every day. The monthly folders on my computer are full of images and I am happy to have these reminders for my fickle memory to rely on. Today we are again in the midst of winter as a southerly front has come through dumping snow on the hills and cold rain and hail over us here in the valley. However I can look back on my photographs for August and find images that remind me it is really springtime, and that summer is undoubtedly on its way.

Drought broken

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A scrapbooking drought, that is.

It’s been a while since I made any scrapbook layouts, but two sources from the web have inspired me to get out the photos, paper and glue once again. The first is from And Now for Something Completely Different, a series being offered by Shimelle Lane at UkScrappers.co.uk. I had been aware of her Glitter Girl series (as she generously duplicates this on her own website), but only found the ANFSCD series by accident. Here is my take on her March instructions (which you can find here):

This is quite different from my usual style and it’s not something I would have tackled without the step-by-step instructions. I like it though!

The second source of inspiration for my recent scrapbooking productivity has been a class at TwoPeasinaBucket.com – Scrapbook Stamper’s Workshop with Jen Gallacher. There are five sets of 10 lessons, each set comes with a video showing the techniques, and a detailed pdf that you can print out for reference at the scrapdesk. At US$25 the class is good value. While there’s no expectation that every lesson will spark a LO, I have used the first two today, and made these:

The first one uses photos from 2009, when I took my great-niece to a store to choose beads and make a necklace for herself. Her joy in creating something that she could immediately put on and wear was infectious, as you can probably tell from my grin. The class lesson I have applied here is the use of embossed stamps on vintage book paper. I used Jen’s lesson LO as a sketch too. My friend and fellow-Scrapmate Mandy gave me some washi tape to try, and and I have used one of the samples on the layout.

The second layout uses stamps to create the fun tag in the centre of the banner. Other than transposing the journalling and title, I have pretty much followed Jen’s example. The photos are from a combined birthday celebration back in 2005 – so good to have them scrapped at last (and to re-live the fun memories of that day while I trimmed the photos and put the tag together).

One thing the class has already shown me is that I have only a limited range of stamps. I have a few journalling blanks, an alphabet or two, some flowers and butterflies, several sentiment stamps (for card-making) and a set of flourishes. Lesson 3 suggests using stamps to create embellishments – but unless I’m making a layout about the garden, my collection falls a bit short. Do you agree that I need to go shopping?!

 

Documenting 2012

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Last time I did the Photo A Day project (in 2010) I made four pages for each month. The first page for each month was a pocket page, on which I pasted ephemera collected over the month. The pocket held most of the photos. The next  two pages were the two sides of an American Crafts divided photo protector (the kind that hold six 4×6 landscape photos on each side). The final page was a scrapbook layout using one or more photos from the month that had a common thread or allowed me to tell a particular story. I enjoyed this format.

Roll on 2011 when I’d decided not to take a Photo A Day – but I grabbed a Project Life album on special (go here to find out more about Project Life).

This is what I’m using for my 2012 project – and I’m pleased to say that it’s working out OK so far. I’ve finished January and am still snapping a photo every day (often more than one). I’m managing to fit the bits and pieces I collect (receipts, cards, flyers) into the pages as well as writing enough to help me remember the whys and wherefores for each photo. It’s fun – and very affirming to have four weeks done. I’m off to complete week 5!