Tribute To Dad | Digital Scrapbooking Resources

Hey Scrappers! Chelle’s Aunt Sari “pop”pin’ in with some great ideas for Father’s Day, aka dear old Dad, Poppa, Daddy, Father, Daddy-Oh, Pop, Pa, Patriarch, the Old Man, the Ol’ Fart. I’m sure you have your special nicknames for the Dad’s in your life. Here’s one of my nicknames. Toward the end of Dad’s life, he became more a a child then my “Father.” He had an Aunt named Gwennie May. My Dad’s name was Glen and I often called him Glennie May. He thought it was funny! Even when he was dying of cancer, it always made him smile. LOL

Consider all the Dad’s in your life, your father, your father-in-law, grandfather, children’s father, or just someone who participated in your life as your dear old Dad.

  • When I was in my early teens, our church group would sponsor a special dinner and activity night for the girls and their fathers… A Daddy Daughter Date… if you will. My Dad was out of town. My sister Arlene sent her husband over to be “my” Dad. A thank you to Larry for doing so. I’d have felt “weird” without a Dad that night.
  • Chelle’s Dad, Ed, also comes to mind. With me being only one year older that her, I was often at their house or participating in “their” activities. I remember going to Disneyland with their family when I was around 12 or 13.  I don’t think I have a single memory of a childhood fireworks show on the 4th of July without Ed being involved. He uses to drive down the road, swerving from lane to lane to see how gravity-smashed we’d get against each other as he rolled into the next swerve. A special thank-you to him as well. I always knew I could tell Ed anything and he’d help out or give me some good advice. He also makes the best scrambled eggs ever. I loved sleeping over at her house.
  • When I was young, my sister LuAnn married her husband, Marty. I can remember him saving all the boxtops on cereal and sending away for the free prizes all for me. Marty’s always been a fun guy!
  • You might also consider an Uncle as you’ll see I did in this LO of my Uncle Boyce (Chelle’s Great Uncle.) I remember hearing Boyce sing, play the organ, ballrooom-dance, milk the cows, all while being a Father of 5. Later in life he had Parkinson’s Disease and he lost most of his control over physical abilities, so this picture helps me remember him before Parkinson’s when he was young & healthy.  We had a  special Family Home Evening where all of my Grandfather Pitcher’s descendants came. All I remember we did was ballroom-dance together. There might have been a square dance or 2 as that was something my Pitcher Grandparents did a lot of. I can remember dancing with Boyce. I was pretty good at it too, since I was young enough I just stood on his feet. LOL

Next a couple from Chelle. One of her original paper scrapbooks was a blessing book, she provides a LO from it.Look how far her skills have changed since the mid-90s. Just start! Just Do It!

Followed by the “Glen Griffin Classic,” a golf-tournament was have annually around my Father’s Birthday, just a week before Chelle’s in July. Dad liked to golf, and he had a great handicap–as long as he was the one keeping score. Dad loved his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, and always had a funny joke or a teaser to share. He often stopped people driving down the road. They’d stop and Dad would say, Do you know how far you’d have been if you hadn’t stopped?” or “Do you know your back wheels are going forward?” For all the new grandson’s-in-law, he would reach out & shake their hands, and wanting to make a good impression, that give Dad’s hand a real-firm and lively handshake back. Dad would always say, “Are you cold? Well, why are you shaking?” Dad had a million of them!

Now some ideas from the Creative Team. We’ll start with Shannon and her beautiful LO of her Father.

Next up is Kayla with her LO titled “My Dad. Check out the funny things her daughter remembers about her Dad. His weight is my favorite!

Lynett”s LO of her son’s tribute to his Dad just makes me all squishy inside. Love the wet-paint alpha!

Last we have Melissa, with “You & Me” and a perfectly masculine little kiss.

Who are the Dad’s in your life? What are your special memories that you could scrap? I hope we gave you some great ideas! Want MORE? In my LO I used Chelle’s Anchor’s Aweigh, Shannon used Rolling Along (both are part of the Military Bundle), Chelle used Hole-In-One/Putt-Putt, & Kayla, Lynett & Melissa used Toadally Add On. Did I hear a request for EVEN MORE? Chelle’s “Toadally” kit will be in the market next month. We know you’ve been waiting….

 

 

 

Think Memorial Day | Digital Scrapbooking Resources

Hello Friends! Officially Memorial Day is about honoring our deceased servicemen…

But ’round these parts’ it became a day to honor our kindred dead. As a child my father would ride in the hot car for “hours” traveling to cemeteries where his parents would meet old friends and visit forever. I don’t remember going to cemeteries with my grandmother, but I do remember helping her cut the beautiful lilacs that she would place on the graves of her ancestors.

One year we decided to visit as many of our ancestors’ graves as we could find in one day:

As a teenager, memorial day was the day we could finally plant the flowers without fear of a killing frost. We planted for hours…enough to make us super silly.

Creative Team Member Lynett also celebrates Memorial Day with Family.

How do you celebrate Memorial Day?

Capture Your 365 \ Digital Scrapbooking Resources

Hey Scrappers! Do you ever feel like you are taking the same photos over and over?  Do you hesitate to get out your camera wondering what you’ll photograph?  The best way to improve your photography is to TAKE MORE PHOTOS.  But take photos of what?  I love Katrina Kennedy’s monthly photo lists.

Have you heard of Katrina’s “Capture Your 365?” I was able to do a walking tour with her at digi-polooza in Las Vegas this year. It was so worth it! I wanted to pass on some of her ideas about taking a picture every day. Here’s a list of things to know ahead of time.

  • I will take duplicate photos. I will repeat some of the photos from last year, but nothing will really be the same. It is a new year. I am different. The items and angles and moments and memory surrounding them will be different.
  • I will have some bad photos. Without a doubt I will have days with blurry photos, underexposed photos, and photos I don’t care that much about. They reflect life. As my life is not always perfect or balanced, neither will my photos be.
  • I will have a couple of photos that stand out from the rest. They will be the photos that shine. They will be the photos I place on my walls in frames and print for family. I’ll be happy if I have two that fit this description. That is the way this project works for me.
  • I will contemplate quitting somewhere along the way. I can expect to feel that urge toward the end of January when the newness has worn off a bit and we get back to the daily grind of life. I might want to give up again in July when the light is bright in the middle of the day. October, typically my busiest month of the year, will be difficult as well.
  • I will keep going. I will trudge through the dark times because I love this project. Well, frankly, I don’t know how to stop. Seriously. I don’t. And that is okay.
  • My photography will improve. I’ll learn something more about my camera, about exposure, about composition. I’ll see something in a way I didn’t before. My photos will get better. In small amounts, but they will improve.
  • I will meet new people. People are always my favorite part of the project. Connecting. Seeing others lives through their daily photos. Knowing we are alike and different in so many small ways.

So without further delay, here is her list of May photo ideas. Want to receive a daily reminder prompt? It’s just to the right of the May photo idea list. Just enter your e-mail address and you’ll be hooked.

PS.  I’m taking her “Your kids Captured Through the Lens” Class.  I took it a couple years ago, but I think doing the homework again will help me continue to improve.  I’ll be sure to share the results.

 

 

Then & Now Tips | DIgital Scrapbooking Resources

Hello Friends! One of the greatest things about digi scrapbooking is our ability to look back at earlier photos/LOs and compare them. Sometimes it’s our skills that have changed. Other times it’s the “same” picture but taken weeks, months or even year’s later. This week we have 4 LOs to show you. First, Lynett shows us her slim and sleek new “bod” she’s been working on. Way to go Lynett, you’ll have that extra 20 pounds lost in no time. (She used Toadally & Toadally Add On. Toadally will be available in SO Market in July.)Next we have Jan, she posted, “It was fun to look through the slides Dad had taken of our family trip to Sequoia National Park back in 1968. Mostly because we had just been there again this year, but also because there were quite a few photos the two of us had taken that were almost the same. What was amazing was comparing Dad’s photo of the Crescent Meadow to one I had just taken and seeing how little the scene had changed in 44 years.” Sari says, I love that WONKY tree in the background. Can’t believe it still looked the same! Jan used an jaw-dropping 10 kits in this layout. (On The Trail, On The Water, Let’s Camp S’more, Make A Splash, Hole In One, Forrest Friends, Wet Paint Alpha, Rainbow Greens & Neutrals, & Toadally.) Play a game with yourself, Guess which kit each item in the LO belong iJenn S shows us how much a new ‘do’ changes things. Her daughter, Lacey, looks so much older with the darker do. She meshed the Rainbow Pinks & Neutrals to emphasize her daughter and her hair. Love all the cluster work! Especially that sweet little tag at the top.Last we have Man’s Best Friend from Patty showing us how much her dog had changed in 3 years. I have to confess, I kept trying to read her journaling. I finally zoomed in enough to realize it was in another language and even if I had “readers” on, I wasn’t going to be able to translate it. LOL! She used Fetch, Toadally, Toadally Add-On, & Wet Paint Alpha.Sure hope these ladies’ LOs have inspired you. Take this scraportunity to add some “then and now” to your designs.

Zoom In For Photos | Digital Scrapbooking Resources

Hello Scrappers!
The single best piece of photography advice is “ZOOM IN”.  Either with your camera or with your feet.  Get in close. Capture the details.  Whether it’s your child swinging at the park or your first tulip blossoming, get up close. Together our eyes & brains are pretty smart.  If you see a photo of a child with the top of his head cropped off, you don’t believe he has a flat head, you’ll know you just can’t see it.  So ZOOM IN.  Zoom in on the head of one of the ducks at the pond.  Zoom in on the center of one of the flowers in your garden.

If you are scrapping with photos already taken the same concept applies. But instead we’ll call it “CROP IN”. Every photo doesn’t need to have your entire child in it.  A close up of his chubby little fingers trying to peel the foil off another chocolate Easter Egg will be more exciting. It will help tell your story.  A close up of her adorable chocolate covered face will show how much she’s enjoying her Easter goodies.

Next time you are taking photos, remember to zoom in.  And when you pull out some photos to scrap, look for opportunities to “crop in”. Here’s some examples from the creative team. Great Job ladies! Talk with your soon.

Carol

Stefanie

Erica

Erica used “Litabelle Designs Head Start #4” template with her LO.

Saving Your Stories | Digital Scrapbooking Resources

Hello Friends!  My kids say funny things.  My second DSS used to call a gallon of milk, a “pack”.  “Hey Chelle, we need a new pack of milk!” As a 5 year old, my dd15 was convinced her name was EmilyAnne5. I don’t remember these things because I have a fabulous memory, I remember them because I wrote it down.  Most of us aren’t scrapping those memories on the very day they happened.  Making a collection of those stories can help when you are ready to scrap.  In this digital age there are lots of resources for remembering your stories.  All you need is a place to jot down the details:

  1. Oh Life: http://ohlife.com/  — Oh life sends you an email each day asking how your day went.  You can ignore it, or if you have a story you want to remember, just reply to the email.  You can search your email/stories on the website.
  2. There are several online journals.  Don’t be intimidated into thinking you have to actually keep a journal. Just use it when you need a place to save your stories.
  3. Text yourself/spouse  — maybe you don’t want anything formal…and you can’t keep track of a notebook.
  4. (I’m certainly not speaking from experience.)  When I need to remember something I’ll just text the main points to my husband (my old phone would let me text myself…but not this one).  Then when I have my computer handy I can transcribe the texts.
  5. Mini notebook –  a simple little notebook and pencil to write it down when it happens.
We might not be able to remember the details of memories from years past, but we can save the stories of our current memories.