And just like that, summer is over. Crazy how that happens, isn’t it?
I saw down on the weekend and spent about an hour putting together the August pages in my year-long memory keeping project based on my Scrapbook Your Year online class. I really love this simple collection of photos and a handful of words to show me what my year looked like.
Number of Photos Taken in August: 497. More photos this month than last, but honestly, most of those were either numerous shots of cards or scrapbook pages that eventually got deleted from my library. Once I culled them down, the number for the month was 233. I take a ton of shots for blog posts that involved crafty stuff, so this always skews the photo count higher at first.
Number Used: 26
The title pages is just a few shots that I love from the month, each month. And the photo of my girl in the lower level is her attempt at a Collin Kartchner earlobe grab. Collin, who has the silliest Instagram account in the land, has used that silliness to raise well over $1ooK from his followers to give directly to those who lost everything in Harvey down in Texas. That photo of Aidan reminds me of how much good is out there. Note: Collin is still raising funds and still helping folks in need. Please follow his story and see how you can help! To see a news story about what Collin and his wife, Liz, are doing, click here.
Highlight of the month? Cole’s haircut. Am I right? I have to tell you guys, this kid has saved me SO much money over the years by choosing Great Clips over a swanky salon, and last year, he got ZERO cuts. He also buys all of his clothes at the Goodwill, too. He’s a thrifty one, that boy.
If you’ve followed me since the olden days, you’ll remember my daughter’s childhood best friend, Nicolette. We recently got together with their family for dinner. And yes, that sound IS the bullet train plowing through my heart, Inception-movie style.
And that wraps up the month. Aidan heading back to school for her last year as an undergrad. Dan starting to prepare for his new job as a 6th grade teacher. Cole preparing to start his senior year. And me, well, you know me.
To see past completed books and learn more about how I approach my year-long project:
2015 (similar to the style I do today!)
2016
You can learn my system! Click on the image below for details on my self-paced e-course!
And last but not least… the Quarterly Sale is on at Designer Digitals! While the templates for Scrapbook Your Year are exclusive to my class, you can find very similar designs in my shop! Click on the image below to check out my collection!
carlajinAR says
love it! You make it so manageable looking!
Cathy Zielske says
Thanks, Carla! It’s the system! Easy peasy Mac and Cheesy!
Marian says
Ok, Cathy. I signed up for class this year, because I really wanted to get a handle on scrapbooking the family. My kids are all older and so there are not a lot of cute pictures, school events, etc. I have not made one page yet. I don’t take as many pictures as you do either.
So where do I start? Is it still doable??? Help!
Cathy Zielske says
Hey Marian! YES it is do-able. Quick question: have you watched the class videos yet? That sort of walk you through things? You don’t have to do four pages a month! But you do have to start by getting organized in your digital library! Then you can see how many photos you have for each month. : )
Marian says
I watched the first two back in January, when I signed up. So, I will go back to the videos and watch them again. I’ll check back with you later this week and let you know where I am. My goal was really to scrapbook 2017 and then go back to other years. Ok, here I go….
Gina says
Love this approach. It does get overwhelming with all the photos.
I also love your letters to your senior idea (as I have one). He is in week 3 so I’m thinking I could still do this. What kids of things do you write about as the weeks go on? I’m afraid I’ll just draw a blank once October rolls in. And trying to take a photo of him every week? Hmm.., “Mom, what are taking a picture of now?” Or I get a hand…
Cathy Zielske says
I mix it up. Sometimes it’s going to be advice to him for life. Sometimes it’s going to be just the facts of the week. And other times it will be reflecting on seeing him and who his is becoming. : )
I also figured it doesn’t have to be a picture of him every week. One week, I’ll probably shoot a pic of his drum kit (which just got bigger over the weekend with a second kick drum). I might shoot his bedroom, which he keeps surprisingly clean. I might take a photo of his backpack. Or I might just take a pic with the sound of my iPhone turned off that he doesn’t know I’m taking. 🙂
Don’t stress on photos. This type of a project is a gift from parent to child, whether they know it know or not.
Maureen says
I’ve been watching your book come together this year and after falling off of the PL bandwagon in April of this year, I am really thinking that your way of doing a yearly album is how I am going to try ours next year. We have done PL consistently since 2009 (I don’t even know if PL was around back then but our PL type books start with that year) and quite honestly, I am burnt out on pictures of our dinner and every little thing. The remainder of this year and then really starting next year will just be monthly recaps and full layouts of the “bigger things”, which definitely leaves free time to catch up on the vacation albums and of course card making! I really like how your book is coming together and cannot wait to dive into this format for 2018!