I needed this. A For Me Album.
This one's just for me.
So, I'm in a phase where I don't love making 'traditional' layouts. I love PL. I love mini-albums. And I'm overwhelmed by the size of traditional layouts.
I talked a little bit last week about the memory-keeping struggle I've had over the past few months, where the big picture stuff was just too overwhelming, and I wasn't having a fun time of it. Fortunately now I'm feeling like its time to get some of that big-picture stuff documented again.
I wanted a space that was more of an art journal meets mini album meets small format project life -- where I could just grab a photo, tell a story, and decorate it with pretty paper.
I wanted something for me. A place where I can try new techniques. A place where I can use a favorite product, knowing I'll return to it again and again. A place where I can just put all my Instagram selfies on a page, and just not care about any one else's opinion.
I also wanted a creative space to go to when my Studio Calico kit got here -- I have been an SC Scrapbook kit subscriber for more than six years, and while I still LOVE the kits, I haven't wanted to make traditional scrapbook layouts in a while, and I think that held me back from using the kits to their full potential.
BTW -- The Designer Gallery over there is one of the most inspiring places on the web. They take papercrafting to the next level, and I love seeing the amazing things I can do with these supplies. I pull it up on the iPad when I'm playing around with the kit for instant inspiration.
So here I am, with a desire to document myself a little more deeply -- but not really sure how to go about it. Serendipitously, I got a shipment of shop product from Simple Stories that I ordered at CHA. By far my favorite supplies of the entire show.
So here's what I came up with.
Simple Stories snap album. It has a ton of pages inside and a variety super high quality page protectors.
8x6 pages -- it's like little layouts.
I like that I can make double page spreads and not feel like I'm creating a wall mural.
I like that I can add some pocket pages when I want to.
I like that I can treat it like my own scrapbook-supply art journal.
I want this album to be a creative refuge for me -- so I'm keeping a little box of the Simple Stories supplies in their own separate area. That way if I'm ever just feeling in the mood to get something down on paper, I can get started ASAP. I'll definitely be supplementing with my Studio Calico kit, and whatever other fun products I get my hands on -- but it's nice to know that I've set myself up to be able to create whenever I want -- I can even pull my album and this little basket and go sit on the couch while we watch a movie or catch up on the DVR.
I fell in love with the super bright colors, clean lines, and easy to use stuff. This was my absolute favorite thing of all the things at CHA -- I had to bring in as much of it as I could. It's called DIY and DIY Boutique -- its all about the basics: bright colors, clean lines, kraft, labels, stickers, etc. It also has really awesome page protectors -- perfect for instagram photos.
Here are the supplies I have in my box:
Simple Stories SNAP Album
Simple Stories Page Protectors
DIY Stickers Icons, Labels, Letters
DIY Clear Stickers
DIY Card Foundations in Basic, Office, and Kraft
I'll be adding to this album whenever I want to retreat into my own head and play with pretty paper. I think there will be a lot of K&J layouts in here -- I think I'll be able to journal a little more openly than in a regular Project Life album.
The Details
(click on each photo for a larger image)
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