Art Studio: Preserving Childhood Memorabilia

Do you have handmade cards, artwork, or notes from your children that you have thought about incorporating in to your scrapbook? There are many ideas out there for doing this including photographing or scanning them and using a pocket or envelope in a page protector for safe keeping. With my large family, I try to be selective about what we save out of all of the school work, art work, cards and letters.  I choose the highlights from every year and STILL end up with boxes and boxes of memories! Once they go in the box, I know I have them, but they are put away out of sight where they do not get looked at again for years-maybe not until we move or have some other excuse to be sorting through stored items. Why not bring them out in to the light on a layout instead? As Becky Higgins says, "Scrapbook with the end in mind"- the enjoyment your family gets looking through their albums.

In this layout I wanted to preserve this heart shaped handmade Valentine my daughter Leah, 15 gave me for Valentine's Day.  All of my kids are artistic in some way-they dance, sing, act, play musical instruments, and draw, paint, and even sew. Sometimes its the little things without all of the fanfare that impress me the most- their little drawings all over the house, costumes they design for 'dress up', and other things that might go unnoticed. In this case, my daughter slipped in to my art corner and made this little mixed media heart and I couldn't be more proud of her! So I made it the focal element of this layout, with a recent picture of her at this age. 

This month the Clique Kits gals are working with Amy Tan's Cut & Paste collection as the spotlight of a kit put together by Erica with exclusive embelishments made by Lacey. I hope you had a chance to join us for the Blog Share on February 21st- if not you can find it here.  I used this adorable journaling card made by Lacey with fabric she stitched to a blank lined card. To use it in this layout, I stamped my daughter's name and added a painted background for my journaling that picks up the organic wood like feel of the log she is sitting on in the photo.

Isn't that little red flair perfect?  Three things you will find on just about every one of my layouts right now are flair, washi tape, and sequins. This is one reason the Clique Kits gals decided to make washi tape, flair, and sequins a regular part of our monthly kits when we go public! One advantage to having our exclusive flair is this: When I buy a package of flair, there is usually only one or two of them that I really like- and the rest go in to the circular file. When they are designed specifically for the kit I know I will use 'em up!  

One of my goals for the year and scrapbooking with Clique Kits is to get the most out of my supplies, and be able to use up and enjoy my stash. I believe that most paper crafters today are looking for ways to simplify, and to save time and money without compromising the results or the creative outlet provided by the craft. For me, subscribing to a monthly kit is the perfect solution! We would love it if you wouldjoin us on this journey! Subscribe today to reserve your space.
-x Gia