Scrapbooking is such a rush, and while it takes time and effort, it’s totally worth it. The constant, flowing ideas are always surprising, satisfying, and lead to the most wonderful results. I’m referring to the creative process, which starts with a plan, but is ever-changing based upon inspiration and opportunity. I’m excited to share with you my results of the Make Every Moment Count Michaels Blogger Challenge:

This is, obviously, the cover, which began as a blank slate. Throughout the scrapbooking process, I decided to add song lyrics as captions on each page. This way there was a fun puzzle-like description, which is only clear to the giver and the recipient. I did the cover last, which I would definitely recommend. Once the rest of the book was complete, it dawned on me to use the song “These are a few of my favorite things” to title the documented adventure.

Materials:

• Ribbon
• Photograph
• Assorted scrapbook paper
• Printed phrases on white computer paper
• Tape runner

The instructions are really self explanatory. I simply backed each sentence with a larger rectangle of patterned scrapbook paper. To adhere both the ribbon and the paper, I used the tape runner from Michaels.

Below you’ll see all of the pages. I decided to make each feature two pages to allow for larger details and more photographs. You’ll see that each page has a different method for spelling out song lyrics. I thought it was really fun to come up with these various methods.

Above you’ll see the adorable boat from the sticker set I purchased. To cut out the letters, I used a machine that I bought at Michaels years ago. I’m sure they have something similar now. It’s almost like a printer; it’s incredible. There was no exact science for making  the photos appear as though they were from a film strip; just a lot of rearranging and cutting until it was perfect.

I love how fun this page is with the different patterns of scrapbook paper. Michaels has such a wonderful selection. I also used the fun foam letters to embellish this party page.

This is one of my favorite pages. I edited the photographs so they would be black and white. It’s simple to do this with any photo editing program on the compter. I then printed out the phrase in a font that, to me, resembled graffiti. I cut the edges haphazardly and then used chalk to scuff it up a bit. I wanted to portray the rough vibe of the New York subway.

I thought that featuring one photograph in a line of many was the perfect opportunity to use the circle punches. I again used the film strip idea, but with a stand-out photo. I punched out a large circle, a smaller one, and then cut the photograph into an even smaller circle. This created a nice framing feature that draws the eye.

I had so much fun documenting this amazing vacation. Thank you Michaels for the opportunity to capture these memories in a crafty and vibrant way! Hopefully you can pull some inspiration from these scrapbook layouts I created.

If you could scrapbook one event in your life which would it be?