Get It Scrapped! » One Month At A Time 2010

One Month at a Time: July 2010

Debbie Hodge — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 13:35:08 +0000

Monthly prompts, sketches, ideas & encouragement for getting your photos scrapbooked “one month at a time.” See the all of Tami’s One Month at a Time posts.

by Tami Taylor

There is one four letter word you should say more often. That word is ‘play.’ Yes, that’s the theme of my life right now. It’s summer vacation, our first year in a house with a pool, and the ages my boys are at is perfect for group activities.

We do not stop playing because we grow old.
We grow old because we stop playing. – Benjamin Franklin

I have a goal to keep this month fun for them. About a week ago, I was working on my laptop and Zach kept interrupting. Each time I told him he needed to go play. Eventually my patience wore thin and I found myself lecturing Zach about how he should be glad I’m telling him to go play. I even added a trite “I wish someone would tell me to go play.” This, of course, was followed by Zach replying “Just go play mom.” Who can argue with that?

It was an eye opening moment for me. I realized that life is really that simple and play should be a priority in your life. Whatever “play” means to you, do it. Experts recommend spending at least 15 minutes every day playing with your child, but play what they want to play. I’ve been doing this every day for about two weeks. I am making time to do what my kids want to do for about 15 minutes. If that means putting a train track together, watching Dora or listening to the latest video game rehashing then that’s what I do. Try it with a child you know and see what a happy glow they get from it.

As you can see my kids don’t need convincing to play.

This new commitment to my kids and myself to play more has taught me a few things about myself. I have always loved puzzles and miss doing them. I love putting train tracks together and creating interesting configurations. I love the squeal of delight Keagan gives when I tell him it’s finished and he can turn on his train. As far as legos are concerned, I’m an awesome constructor of moving vehicles. That’s what is in demand at the Taylor House: helicopters, planes and cars. I like designing things with legos. The boys even let me build my girly things like houses as long as there is a garage attached where they can park their helicopter car. I’ve enjoyed legos so much that we splurged and now have 1000 legos.

Playing with children’s toys is highly underrated. Using your imagination and letting go of all the adult responsibilities (even if only for 15 minutes) gets your creative juices flowing. (Not to mention bringing back all kinds of memories from your childhood that you could use for the Scrap Your Story: The Early Years lesson.

Some great links to get you playing:

http://www.bricklink.com/ (great lego site that you can mix and match the pieces you want)

http://familyfun.go.com/

http://www.gameskidsplay.net/

http://eventful.com/ (because play doesn’t mean you have to have kids)

http://www.host-party.com/

And heck, if nothing else, go play with all those cool scrappy gadgets you have! We have some Midsummer challenges going on in the forums. You can play with those, or snatch up Building Pages before the early bird special ends tomorrow.

Do you have any great links to fun sites? Please share them in the forums or comments here. I have to point out yet another benefit of doing the One Month at a Time series: I’m all caught up so I can go play!

Here’s the sketch Debbie made for scrapbooking your June photos. Click to download a layered Photoshop template. Click HERE if you’d like a printable sketch in a pdf.

Download/open pdf with July Prompts!

Look for “One Month at a Time” on the 1st of each month in 2010. Tami Taylor gives you a sketch and prompts for getting monthly memories scrapped . . . “one month at a time.” Tami Taylor is a busy mom, teacher at Get It Scrapped! and the owner of Scrap This Kit! She’s also the producer of the Vegas Crop sponsored by Get It Scrapped! and Scrap This Kit.

One Month At A Time: June 2010

Debbie Hodge — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 19:29:31 +0000

by Tami Taylor

Source: bestphotos.us / Bruce Fritz

Summer is here!

Officially not until the 21^st but it is close enough for me!

Did you know that the month of June gets its name from the Roman Goddess Juno? Juno is the Goddess of fire and meat. This is why June is the month of the BBQ. OK, not really but when I think of June, I think of barbeque. I also think of Father’s Day, weddings, the last day of school, sunburns and summer vacations. But let us be honest, food wins hands down.

My dad was king of the grill. His la piece de resistance was BBQ chicken. When I was away at college and spent my first summer away from home, his BBQ chicken was on the list of things I missed most. When I told him in the fall how it was the thing I missed most over the summer, Dad treaded out in the crisp autumn air to grill chicken. It wasn’t unusual for him to grill outside of summer, one year he treaded out in the snow and we had grilled steak for Christmas dinner.

As the parent now–with four kids–it is important to me that they have some of the same childhood memories. Now–in Vegas, I can’t tread out in the snow to grill for them, but I can teach them about grilling.

The truth about grilling is that it isn’t just about the food. Though that in and of itself is enough of a reason to grill. The true love for grilling is more about the atmosphere. Grilling is about being outside, with other people, letting the sun hit your face and just taking in the outdoors. We grill at our house and it’s the time everyone comes outdoors. Zach & Keagan run around and play, Kyle is in charge of keeping them away from the grill. Tony tends to the grill. Austin has hit the age where he’d rather learn about the grilling process and help man the grill. I do all of the above or work on side dishes, and sometimes I just enjoy letting everyone else do it all. It is a full family affair and one I love.

Last year for the first time we tried grilled corn. It was amazing. Others agree, there is even an entire website devoted to it.

Source: public-photo.net / byrev

This past weekend we had our kickoff BBQ. Now that we’ve moved, we live in a home that makes it easier for us to entertain and have people come over for some great food and a dip in our pool. I see a lot of grilling in our summer future.

Do you grill? Share your favorite recipe on our message board or in the comments. I’m also looking for great ideas. My all time favorite recipe for grilling is grilled salmon. I love using cedar planks. This is a great recipe for salmon on the grill.

One advantage to grilling (and summer-period) is that with my little ones get outside more and, thus, they get worn out more. This means better naps and faster bedtimes. More sleep for them, more playtime for mama. I was able to do this May layout during naptime.

Here’s the sketch I made to scrapbook these May photos. Click to download a layered Photoshop template. Click HERE if you’d like a printable sketch in a pdf.

Spend time this month keeping track of what happens in June and even more time just enjoying your grill. I will be checking for grilling photos come July. Until then, have fun scrapping 2010 One Month at a Time!

Download/open pdf with June Prompts!

Look for “One Month at a Time” on the 1st of each month in 2010. Tami Taylor gives you a sketch and prompts for getting monthly memories scrapped . . . “one month at a time.” Tami Taylor is a busy mom, teacher at Get It Scrapped! and the owner of Scrap This Kit!

One Month at a Time: May 2010

Debbie Hodge — Tue, 04 May 2010 12:26:56 +0000

by Tami Taylor

Look for “One Month at a Time” on the 1st of each month in 2010. Tami Taylor gives you a sketch and prompts for getting monthly memories scrapped . . . “one month at a time.” Tami Taylor is a busy mom, teacher at Get It Scrapped! and the owner of Scrap This Kit!

I tried. I tried to play Ali Edwards A Week in the Life, but lasted a day before I forgot to keep my camera with me. Let’s be honest, even if I had kept up, an SD card full of photos of me hanging out on Get It Scrapped doesn’t a mini-album make.

If you tried and did better than me you probably have more photos than you need for your One Month at a Time layout. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t do too badly. When the weather got nice I was able to take Zach and Keagan out to play. That’s always a fun scene for practicing my camera skills! Since we moved, it’s been even more fun because we actually have a yard. If you know anything about Vegas, you know yards are hard to come by.

I can’t say enough how much I enjoyed just ‘wasting’ time with my boys. I may not have accomplished much from my to-do list but I can definitely check off “Play”. My favorite was playing with Zach’s pirate ship in our pool.

Here’s a sketch for scrapbooking your April activities. Download the sketch in a pdf with measurements. Download the layered template for digital pages.

I wondered if I should be upset by all the unfinished business I have from April. I decided that was ridiculous. None of those things is so important to waste time or energy stressing over. In that moment I thought of the book The Happiness Project (yet another “I tried”). I got the book because Debbie talked about it and it sounded like something I would enjoy. I did enjoy it, and completely enjoy the message. Other members have the book and we even have a forum. I may not be as in depth as others reading and exercising the books ideas, but it has played a part in my life since I got it. I think of one thing each month to work on or try. Last month, in my “I tried” month, was a focus on not sweating the things that didn’t get done. I’ve had months where things don’t get done, but before I’d spend too much wasted time and energy worrying about what will happen because I didn’t finish these things. April was a good month. I can honestly say there isn’t anything I didn’t get done that matters. (Don’t quote me on that when I get fined by the HOA for my dirt patch yard.)

This month, I’m going to pick something a tad on the cheesy side. I’m going to think of the word “maybe” whenever I’m asked a question. (Get it? MAYbe?) It may not be the answer I give, but I want to remind myself to keep an open mind. No quick responses, but a moment of pause to think. I get in the habit of saying “no” so much; I honestly forget that sometimes it’s ok to say yes. Letting Zach have one piece of candy before dinner isn’t going to ruin his appetite. It will make him think I’m the coolest mom in the world, even if only until he sees what’s for dinner. Letting Austin have 3 friends crash at our house for a video game marathon may not work out, they may wake Keagan. However, they may not. I won’t know that unless I say yes.

This leads me to challenge you. What is something that you may want to work on? Have you read The Happiness Project? If so, come share your thoughts and experiences in our forum. In the month of May, challenge yourself to work on one thing. Before you feel too sorry for me and all my unfinished business, remember the layout above means I’m all caught up scrapbooking 2010 One Month at a Time!

If you’re ready to get April done, get clicking!

And . . . . don’t forget to be keeping track of May, with these prompts and ideas of things to capture this month.

Download pdf with May prompts and ideas.

One Month At A Time: April 2010

Debbie Hodge — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 00:56:07 +0000

by Tami Taylor

Look for “One Month at a Time” on the 1st of each month in 2010. Tami Taylor gives you a sketch and prompts for getting monthly memories scrapped . . . “one month at a time.”

Spring is nature’s way of saying, “Let’s party!” ~Robin Williams

March is over, spring has sprung, and you’ve stuck with me for the first quarter of 2010. It does seem like just yesterday I was challenging you to do a title page! I lost you when I said spring sprung didn’t I? Yes it is spring, officially, brighter days ahead, soon I promise! Let me tell you, I am more than ready! I have truly missed the sun, its warmth and the emotional uplifting it brings. Check out Michelle’s layout. Even without reading the journaling I know she lavished in the sun when she could.

Here’s the sketch for the month:

Click here to download a pdf with the sketch.
Click here to download zipped file with layered template.

Our family has definitely been hit with cabin fever this last month but at least we are finding ways to burn off some of that energy. It seems our family has jumped on the fitness train. It isn’t just me heading to the gym. Both of my older boys have started working out at home to a program called P90X.

Since I am in charge of grocery shopping, we are all eating better. I’ve cut back on several ‘bad’ foods and have filled our home with healthier options. It received some disgruntled comments at first, then I decided get them in the kitchen more. As any mother of multiple children knows; where one goes, the rest follow.

I tackled the eldest son first. He was eager to help with dinner. Soon after dinner became an organized chaos. The older boys and I prepare dinner with the younger two standing at the counter on their stools and putting things in bowls (or their mouths). The highlight of this wonderful family activity was when I spent less than $5.00 on some ready-to-use pizza dough. Everyone was in charge of rolling out their own pizza crust and topping it. Austin even got brave enough to try tossing it! It was a fabulous memory that I am thankful I took the time to make. It would have been easier to just call and have delivery, but I wouldn’t have the memory of my husband and oldest son trying to show off their pizza tossing skills.

I leave you with this simple challenge. Try something new with your family and friends. I am very passionate about our family eating dinner together each night. We have family movie nights and even family game nights. They are all fun in their own way and I wouldn’t trade them, but I am glad I added something new to the mix. So spend an evening cooking with your kids, invite your friends over for a murder mystery party or just have a wine and cheese tasting night with the girls. You make the memories, and we’ll scrap them One Month at a Time!

P.S. Check out what bizymoms.com has to say about cooking with your kids.

Here are prompts for capturing your daily life in April. Download pdf: April photo & journaling prompts.

One Month At A Time: March 2010

Debbie Hodge — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:36:28 +0000

by Tami Taylor

Look for “One Month at a Time” on the 1st of each month in 2010. Tami Taylor gives you a sketch and prompts for getting monthly memories scrapped . . . “one month at a time.”

Did you love the month of love? Did you wish it was Leap Year? Did you know February used to be the last month of the year? Did you think you’d be quizzed just to get inspiration for scrapbooking One Month at a Time?

No worries, no tests for this. It’ll be as short as the month itself!

Up first the sketches:

Click here to download a pdf with the sketch.
Click here to download zipped file with layered template.

This month was different than most months for me; my dad flew in from Michigan. His visit was as entertaining to me as it was for him. My dad has only been to Vegas twice. He’s a ‘small town’ guy so seeing him in the big city is quite comical. He points at everything we drive by that looks interesting to him—which means he has his finger sticking up almost the entire car ride.

This visit we headed off to the Hoover Dam and did a little tour. I’ve been to the Hoover Dam a few times, but on the way back we decided to explore this scenic lookout. I had never bothered with it before, just another one of those “next time” things to do. Well am I ever glad we stopped. It was such a breath-taking site to stand on the side of a mountain and look out at the lake. All of the boats, a slight haze, and the silence from everyone added to the peace and serenity of the spot.

Between this and Jane’s Street Where You Live, I’ve realized that there is a lot of Las Vegas I haven’t seen yet. This is now my hometown and I loved exploring it that day. Are you wondering what my point is? Well, it’s simple. Get out of your house and go take a drive. Go see something new in your area or revisit a place you haven’t seen in awhile.

You’ve already read above about my dad’s visit, so I’d just like to use this space to point out Keagan’s fantastic expression that I caught on film. That’s his “I’m-getting-mad-you-keep-taking-my-photo” face. Priceless.

Perhaps the desire to hit the road and explore is affecting everyone these days. Terry is looking forward to her first trip in her new Winnebago Vista this next month. She’s just gotten it and shares the photos of her new baby in her February 2010 layout.

I’ll leave you with a few sites to help if you’ve got a hankering to explore.

Road Trip America is a great site for planning a road trip—with forums to talk to others who are road-trip enthusiasts.

Byways is a site for finding those off-the-beaten-path scenic byways.

Roadside America is a personal favorite of mine. It’s a fun site for finding unique sites to see—like the world’s largest ketchup bottle.

Here’s a fresh worksheet to help you drum up ideas for March so that you can get scrapping your 2010 “One Month at a Time!” Click here or on the worksheet image to download a printable pdf.

One Month at a Time: February 2010

Debbie Hodge — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 07:21:25 +0000

Look for “One Month at a Time” on the 1st of each month in 2010. Tami Taylor gives you a sketch and prompts for getting monthly memories scrapped . . . “one month at a time.” On January 1st, Tami shared prompts for photos and journaling. Now she’s got a sketch for January and examples of how she and GIS Member Linda Bizjak (LarkensNanny) documented January as well as prompts for February.

by Tami Taylor

Documenting January

Ready for the first monthly layout? I will probably say this each time but it feels like the month flew by. Did you get a lot of photos? Did you decide on that one photo you’ll use as your motif for 2010? Are you wondering how to fit a month of life onto two pages? It’s easy. I promise!

Here are your January sketches:
January 2010 PDF format
January 2010 PSD file

And here are a few helpful pointers:

Remember this is a summary of our month. You needn’t include novels of journaling for every photo. You just need to show a quick view of what happened during this month—perhaps intrigue someone to want to see or hear more about how January went. (Though in my case, it’s more to give them enough to not ask since I don’t have any of the events scrapped individually.)
Remember: when selecting your photos, do not overthink this. You overthinkers know who you are–stop it.
Remember this sketch or any sketch is just a guideline. There are no “Must use as drawn” commands. This sketch can house at least 8 photos and be stretched to accommodate up to 12 photos easily—even more if you want to split areas.

Linda effortlessly fit 11 photos on this page by splitting the 10” x 3” spot and a 4” x 3” spot. Just looking at this layout, Linda’s photo selections show her January was full of heart and home. To read the journaling, click on photo and you'll be taken to this layout in our our challenge forum.

Personally, my challenge is not dealing with too many photos but too few. I didn’t pick up my camera enough. If this is you as well, look to the internet.

I grabbed a photo of our local newspaper from http://www.newseum.org/ (fantastic fun site that shows images of the front cover of daily newspapers from 75 countries). You can also grab photos from public domain sites such as http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/ (these are royalty free, stock images).

Remember to have fun with it. It will show on your layout.

Looking Forward to February

Here’s a worksheet for February, with ideas and note-keeping for documenting your February on one layout. Download pdf with prompts and sketch.

Download and print February's prompts.

Go grab your camera and your scissors and get to cutting! Together, we’ll get 2010 scrapped One Month at a Time.

One Month at a Time: Prompts for Scrapbooking January

Debbie Hodge — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 14:27:17 +0000

Look for “One Month at a Time” on the 1st of each month in 2010. Tami Taylor will give you a sketch and prompts for getting monthly memories scrapped . . . “one month at a time.” Here, you get a sketch for a cover page to this year of monthly memories as well as prompts for photos and journaling to take and keep throughout January. On February 1st, you’ll get a sketch for those January memories and prompts for February.

by Tami Taylor

Scrapbooking Monthly Memories

At the beginning of each year, I look back at the previous one and resolve to do better in regards to my memory keeping. Each year, I scrapbook and capture events, moments and random aspects of my family’s life, but if I’m being honest I rarely manage to capture how our life is as a whole.

Perhaps it is inevitable that life happens and scrapbooking is put on the back burner. Sometimes (though much more rarely) it is just slow, and there is not a lot to ‘report’ in my scrapbooking. Either way, I feel my life is not being captured completely. Aren’t the lulls and periods of chaos what should be captured?

This year I have made a promise to myself to get the whole picture recorded, and I’m asking you to join me in this endeavor. Whether you’re a seasoned scrapbooker or interested in learning how to scrapbook, this is a great place to start.

Each month I will challenge you to capture the previous month of your life. I’ll provide a sketch and a worksheet to help you capture the next month. At the end of 2010, we’ll have a title page, 12 2-page layouts and a closing page. These pages can stand alone as their own 2010 album, or a mini album. You can also choose to incorporate them into your regular album as I will be doing.

Here is my first challenge to you: Make a 2010 Title Page.

Tami's cover page for her One Month at a Time album

Even though I will be putting my pages into my regular albums as a snapshot of each month, I want to start the new 2010 section with a page letting my viewer know the year has changed.

When considering your title page, think of images that you can use throughout the year. We will be doing a closing page for 2010 as well, so when choosing your image think of something that may change through the year. For example, if you decorate your front door it would be a fantastic opening focal point to show the door bare. Each month as you decorate you can take a shot of that door to show off your decorating skills. If you aren’t big on decorating, you can showcase how the shoes standing by your door change from boots, to tennis shoes, to flip flops, and back to boots. Do you collect anything? Take a photo of your collection. Then, as you acquire new items, you can showcase them on your pages. At the end of the year, you can show a closing shot of your collection and see how it grew. Other ideas are, of course, children as they grow so quickly, pets, a tree in your yard, your kitchen table and the meals set upon it.

On my title page above, I chosen our pool thermometer as a focal point. It’s our first year with a pool in Las Vegas and since weather is always a topic when Las Vegas comes to mind I thought it’d be fun to capture the life of the pool thermometer. I also wanted to capture how much my kids change through the year so I opted to change the top corner of the sketch into a grid of my boys. Finally, I wanted to include random facts about 2010, so I added in current prices and information that I think would be interesting decades from now.

Now that my title page is done, I’ll use this handy worksheet to help me with ideas and note-keeping for my upcoming January layout. Download pdf with prompts and sketch.

Click here to download pdf with prompts and sketch.

On February 1st, I’ll post a sketch for you to use to scrapbook the month of January and a new worksheet to help you keep track of February. In the mean time, join us in our online scrapbooking community at the Get It Scrapped Forums and share your progress and pages. You can post images in the our Get It Scrapped gallery album.

So what are you waiting for? Go snap a great photo for your title page. Together, we’ll get 2010 scrapped One Month at a Time.