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reunion album complete!

I had posted the first two pages of this album here, explaining Grandma's birthday party and how amazing this family reunion was. And, since posting those pictures, Grandma has been talking seriously about planning her next birthday party. I can't wait!


This is a completely different way to scrapbook. It is more art than story. The pictures are stunning and I loved decorating them. But the wordy girl in me was dying not to journal on each page. With the pages so skinny, a lot of text quickly ate up the layout. So I gave up trying and finally settled into just playing with ribbon and flowers and buttons. It was so different and it was so fun to experiment and play.

I think it is really good to challenge myself creatively like this. I have a pretty standard way that I scrapbook, with lots of layered paper, borders and a few embellishments. But this was totally new...to use ribbon and make everything three dimensional..to use some sequence and fabric and glue was just good and helped me get out of my creative box.

I still wanted to get the story of the week told within the album, so in the end I wrote out one long journal post and printed it out for the last page.










I love how this album turned out and now I have lots of ideas for how to incorporate these new techniques into other projects and handmade albums. I tell you what. That Donna Downey is pretty amazing and I am so grateful for her style and example while playing with ribbon, flowers, fabric and ink. So stinkin fun.

4 comments:

Elsa said...

I love it! I'm so impressed with your scrapbooking ability and with your creative output. Seeing your completed project reminds me that there were plans at one time to make Grandma an album of that week but I don't recall hearing whether it ever happened. Sometimes my memory leaves me and then returns later. :) It was probably a project I started in my mind. I have such difficulty finding energy or time to scrapbook these days but like the digital options available though they are not as personal.

This is sort of a side note, but did you know that you can now publish a book of your blog if you want to? I'm not sure how great the options are, but I've decided to blog pictures and notes about Greta's first year and then load them into a book when the time comes. Hopefully their options for cover and pages will be more attractive by the time I get around to printing. Sometimes you just have to find what works for the present and make the most of it!

Kimberly Gust said...

Hi, Becca! I've been checking out your blog since the night of Donna's class. Congrats on finishing your album! I haven't touched mine since that night, but I can't wait until I have time to play. I'm even more inspired now that I see your album completed. Thanks for sharing!

If you do ever decide to have a scrapbooking retreat at CJH (even just an evening or day event), I'd be happy to help. Just let me know!

Kim

donnadowney said...

you rocked this album girlfriend!

Penny Smith said...

HEY! That's not digital! :)

LOVE it! GREAT album!!