Three is the magic number

This picture is an excellent example of just how different two pages made from the same layout can be.

Amber kept hers simple and clean, with minimal pattern, perfect to express her feelings about her growing family.

I adapted the layout to fit an 8x8 page, as I have an 8x8 album that is strictly about my niece. Mine is simple as well, but the added pattern in the edge papers adds to the girly girl theme. :)

Everyday's a holiday...

As you can see, Amber and I again took a totally different tack on this page. Her page, featuring her son, is bright and sunshiny just like his cheery personality. The page is about his love of the "Jolly Holiday" song from Mary Poppins, which I started singing to him one day to try to keep him calm. Who knew it would be a hit?!! :) It is a simple layout to be sure, but the bright colors and trademark glitter usage make it sparkle and shine.

After finding a set of cds my cousins had made for the family for Christmas a few years ago, I decided to see if some of the files were available as jpegs so I could use them to scrapbook. I was surprised to find a wealth of photos at my fingertips, and after a lot of happy tears through reminiscing, I decided to make a page featuring my grandfather, who died ten years ago this past January. I think about him quite a lot, and I had been wanting to create a page to honor his memory for some time. I just never knew that I had so many pictures available to do so! The quote I used for the title is "don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." More often than not, when I think of him these days it is with a smile on my face and a warm feeling in my heart, grateful for the time I had him in my life.

Sometimes life gets in the way...

and you are unable to post for a while.

The McCall family lost their patriarch last week; he was a great man and he will be dearly missed by all who knew him.

It Doesn't Take Long to Fall in Love.

Continuing on our scrapbooking journey, Amber and I chose this page for our next scraplifting project. Because there are occasional layouts for which we aren't prepared or don't have the right kind of pictures for, we have been skipping around a bit, though we fully intend to return to those pages we have skipped. :)

I especially liked this layout because it offered the chance to use so many different patterns, which meant an easy way to use up the mountains of scraps left over from other projects (because throwing paper away is a travesty!).

The title of this blog post is in reference to our pages in that both of us loved these two individuals from the moment we met them, and truly, they are both so adorable how could we not?? :) Amber's page features her son in his third month, his changes and developments, and a list of his current nicknames. She used a lot of really playful patterns for her page, very fitting for the subject. My page is about my friend Tyler, who was the first friend I made at Western. I used different patterns featuring the same colors, his favorite colors of blue and green, because I can't help but think of him when I see them.

Enjoy!

The Second Page

A quick and early update today as I have a lot of homework to do today for tomorrow, and no time during the day tomorrow in which to do it!

Another super simple page layout, and one which features a single photograph, a style that I've really come to love and use a lot. After all, you can say as much with a single picture as you can with five.

As you can see, Amber's is more traditional than mine (though there's hardly any green on it!), which really fits the subject matter well. Her page is about her son's developments at two months, and some of her feelings about being a mom, and the homey patterns offsetting the bright orange color really emphasize the warmth and closeness felt for her subject.

My page is more graphic and urban because not only does it suit the photo very well, but it fits Gary's personality. He is a graphic designer, so I wanted to go for a very graphic arty look with a lot of color to represent his artistic side. The different patterns blend well and add emphasis to the blurred background of the photo, which is just as important as his diva expression. :)

Hope this gives you inspiration to try your own scraplifting project! Cheers!

The Journey Begins

I apologize for the long time between posts! I've been a little busy with school, and honestly, a little negligent, if you can imagine. However, Amber and I have started our single magazine scraplift project, and from here on out (until I say otherwise, hee), they are all from Scrapbooks Etc.'s Scrapbook Page Planner. :) Off we go!

Like I said when we started this project, it's amazing how we can get two such different pages from the same layout inspiration. The best part, aside from letting us express the differences in our creativity/processes is that by modeling our projects after someone else's page, we save so much time. Before we began doing this, we would (or at least *I* would) spend up to four hours trying to figure out a layout for a single page! We don't really have that kind of time anymore, so scraplifting gives us the opportunity to continue to scrap and still have time to do all the other things we have to do.

This layout is rather simple, but I think it really works well for the subject matter. Amber's layout is about her son's developments and personality at one month. You'll notice two things about Amber's work that I always tease her about: one, she uses a lot of that color green, and two, she almost always has to use glitter! :) But that's just her personality, so it always adds to the page. My layout tells the story of how my niece finally learned how to pronounce my name, which made me very sad. I loved my sweet little nickname, and somehow it was lost while I was away. She's growing up so fast! Every time I see her there is always something new!

I'm going to try to update every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from here on out, because those are the lightest days in my schedule. So please be sure to come back on those days and check out the new pages!