Scrappy Challenges...
to show you how quick&fun&easy it can be!

Because I have SO MANY MANY photos from the Summer to both organize and put into scrapbooks (remember that huge pile of envelopes I got in the mail a few weeks ago?), I have been working on them some everyday (in between laundry, volleyball, softball, and eating!).

I'm so proud that I've actually gotten a lot of them put into albums and onto scrapbooking pages, and I thought I'd share a few of those creations with you.

It's so cool that a few of them also go along well with some challenges I did from some scrapbook blogs. I loved the challenge that Lain gave for September over at her blog; she challenged everyone to do a Summer-themed page, but it needed to use at least three photos and take 30 minutes or less. That's the kind of challenge I like, because it means it will be done quickly! And, yep, this one took almost no time whatsoever. Find three pictures of Sydney that I LOVE from the Summer, glue them straight onto the page, add some paper stips, and then cut out the journaling block from a paper pack. I love how it turned out! (You can click on any of these images and see them larger.)

And then I had to get started on the many other photos from the Summer...namely the HUNDREDS I have from our trip to Ocean City, Maryland. This is an introductory page I did of the pictures we have from the beach, and this one actually goes along with a design challenge from Unpubbed. You had to use Jude's sketch as inspiration, so I did and came up with this page...

And then here are just a few of the other pages I've done over the last few days. I LOVE these pictures of Delaney in her Supergirl cape at my parents' house! Of course, I HAD to scrap those!

And then, I am still catching up from WAY back at the beginning of the Summer! Here is one of the pages I did that's dedicated to our Mother's Day celebrations.

and then from one of Summer get-togethers with my best friend for 25 years (yikes!), Angela...

And then I wanted to share my NEW way of organizing and scrapbooking, which has really gotten me excited because I can see that it will really streamline the process and help me get a lot more photos into my books.

I take a TON of photos throughout the year and sometimes it can really be overwhelming when you think you have to scrapbook them ALL. So, I have come up with this new technique I'm planning on using from now on.

I will be combining traditional scrapbook pages with altered album pages, which will look something like this...

Basically, I am taking my 4x6 photos and putting them into sheet protectors designed for photos only. You can also use the slots to add embellishments and/or journaling, like I did on the pages above.

And then you can combine these sheets of individual photos with a scrapbook page alongside it, like I did here...

I REALLY like this concept because you can see how easy it is to get all of your pictures in an organized plus, and also do scrapbooking with it. I'm doing this for my Summer 2008 album and it's amazing how quickly it's going...and yet how I also feel creative during the process.

I also am a big fan of mini scrapbooks and how much they also streamline the process. I am currently working on two separate albums from Delaney's World Series win (one for me, and one for her).

Thanks for indulging me today with some of my scrapbook stuff. I hope maybe it's inspired you to do some yourself!