To journal or not to journal???

The big question about this layout was whether or not to add any journaling. I'm a big fan of getting the stories down, especially in the children's albums...but as you can see, on this occasion I opted out. The photos look great but in actual fact Tom didn't have such a good afternoon. Before the races, the children have a choice of about thirty activities dotted around the field...and the real story is that it all proved too much for Tom and he had a huge stroppy meltdown. The happy photos at the end are thanks to the miracle working of his teacher.
So there is a story to tell, but I chose not to tell it. I really do believe in 'warts and all' journaling...but in years to come does Tom need to read that he had a bad day and it was embarassing for me having a wailing son in front of all the other parents? I thought not! I'm sure those of us who had happy childhoods also had 'meltdown' days but our memories filter out some of those bits. I'm happy for Tom's memory to do the same:)

'I ran in a race'

Supplies: Paper and cardstock - Creative Memories, Bazzill, SEI, The Girls Paperie; Stickers - American Crafts 'Thickers', Cosmo Cricket 'Tiny Type', My Little Shoebox 'Mini Alphabet Sticker'; Journaling boxes - October Afternoon, Echo Park; Bunting punch - Woodware

And at last...I have used my new 'bunting' punch on a layout!

True Stories

I've just signed up for the Shimelle 'True Stories' course :) For those of you who know me, I love the idea of including lots of journaling on my pages (and have a huge collection of journaling stamps to prove it), but don't always manage to actually do it! This is a 3 week course with daily email prompts to help with telling our stories...can't wait! If you fancy having a go, check out Shimelle's blog here .

Journal your Christmas

In a rash moment I have signed up for Shimelle's online 'Journal Your Christmas' class. It looks really fab - loads of ideas to get me buzzing...though I am now having odd moments wondering if it was wise to add anything more to my 'to do' list.

The idea is that I get sent daily journaling prompts throughout December with the aim of completing a (mini) album. Even if I don't get loads done in December (realistic if nothing else)then I hope to get some journaling done each day which I can then use later. I also love the idea of trying to take at least one photo each day whatever is going on. Watch this space...

Scrapping without photos

These are some of the hardest layouts I've ever made - not because they are anything fancy but because they are about one of my best friends, Stephen, who died in a car accident last week.

A scrapbookers dilemma - I have so many memories of Stephen that I want to record and yet I've found I only have a handful of photos from university - nothing more recent. I guess in our twenties we felt no need to record the day to day stuff - everything seemed permanent (and there were no digital cameras!)

This first layout is simply an 'in loving memory' page, using a photo I found on facebook.

'Friends'

Supplies: Paper - Fancy Panys, Paper Pizazz, Scrap within reach, Core'dinations; Stamp - Stamps away; dymo labeller

This next one however was more of a challenge. We used to spend hours listening to music and browsing in HMV and Virgin...but our musical tastes were really different. He loved shiny, trashy pop and I was a bit of an indie girl. There were just a few things we agreed on and I wanted to remember some of the gems. I have listed (with my trusty dymo labeller!) some of our favourite tracks. The 'friends' tag can be lifted to open up the circle, revealing far more journaling about favourite songs, concerts, memories etc.

'Playlist'

Supplies: Paper - Fancy Pants, Scrap within reach, Core'dinations; Alphas - thickers, MAMBI; border punch - Martha Stewart; Stamp - Stamps away; dymo labeller

Some of you know how much I try to get everyone journaling - but I hadn't expected to lose the photos all together! However I am sure I will be making more 'photo-less' pages about Stephen - a very special person to remember :)