One of the July projects is a SMASH Book
style album, and I decided that it was the perfect opportunity to get started on the summer mini album I'd been wanting to make for a while. You see, some people might get stressed out over design team assignments, but I use them as motivation (and an excuse) to sit down and make the things that are on my to-do list anyway (on that note, Julie Kirk has written an awesome series on her blog, Tips for the Design Team Curious, that explains everything you ever wanted to know about design teams, including making them work for you).I decided on a 4x6 format for my book and grabbed a couple of tabbed dividers
for the front and back. I used two of my favorite papers- the map from Studio Calico's Documentary line and the gorgeous woodgrain "Bridesmaid" pattern from Crate Paper's Portrait line (I may or may not have purchased a half dozen more sheets of this...) for the cover. And I can't even begin to tell you how in love I am with those little woodgrain mini alphas from Sassafras.
The embellishments and almost all of the inner pages are made from supplies in the Sweet Peach July kit (speaking of design teams). I found that I had a bunch of scraps left after making my layouts this month, so I cut several 4"x12" strips, then cut those into 4x6 pieces to make my pages. It's all bound together with a set of binder rings, and I fully expect to have to "upgrade" them to a larger size as I add more to the album.
I opened the album with Juice's annual concert at Bridge Street's Concerts in the Courtyard series. Even though it was in early May this year, it's still our unofficial summer kick off event.
I decided to throw in a couple of photos from a football game I shot. I know nothing about the sport, but getting to shoot from the sidelines has taught me an awful lot about photography in difficult settings.
I just had to add in photos from a dinner at Wintzell's Oyster House. We're such Groupon addicts now and are trying a lot of different restaurants that we've never been to before, and I predict a lot more pages like this one will be added to the album as the summer goes on.
The opposite page documents the "shoemageddon" that happens in the bedroom quite often. I change shoes a lot during the summer- shoes for running and weightlifting, sandals for walking around the Botanical Gardens and working in the yard, and the shoes that I have to wear to that pesky thing known as my job.
The Botanical Gardens are also likely to be a recurring theme in this album as we like to visit every couple of weeks, and I never go without the camera in tow.
Obviously I'm not keeping up with this album in real time- I figure as long as I take photos and get them blogged (my way of getting the journaling down and making sure I get the photos edited), the assembly part will be there as I have time for it. I'll be sure to share updates here as I make them!