Easter Booty

I like photo albums, but scrapbooking is so much better. Not only is a lot more fun to do, but it's all about telling a story instead of just showing a photo. Our family photo album from 1980 includes a picture of me (age 8) and my sister (almost 5) wearing pink pajamas, pirate hats, eyepatches, and bandanas, posing with our Easter baskets. Just the photo - no explanation. There is little chance that anyone alive (besides the two of us and our mom) knows why we're dressed as pirates for Easter. This layout, which I titled Easter Booty, tells the story. 

Easter Booty (affiliate link)

My grandparents had discovered cruising in the 1970's and absolutely loved it. They talked about it all the time, which convinced my parents that they should try a cruise. In 1980, they went with friends on a Caribbean cruise over spring break; Kari and I stayed with her godparents. Our parents missed us while they were gone (at least, that's what they told us) and brought us back souvenirs, including the pirate garb that the cruise ship gave them. They gave us our souvenirs on Easter morning, which led to the photo of us posing with our Easter baskets, dressed as pirates. 

I made this page for the Grab Five challenge at A Cherry on Top. We had a list of 15 supplies or techniques and had to pick five of them to use on a page. Despite it being a very simple page, I ended up using six of the 15: the color green, at least one photo, patterned paper, washi tape, at least two stickers, and journaling. 

Here's a closer look at the photo. Be sure to notice the random dog bone sitting in front of me. I still have (and use) that Easter basket, by the way. And I still have the pirate stuff. 

Yo ho ho! Happy Easter!

Southern California Road Trip

Today's layout documents the road trip that Steve and I took in January 2025. It was inspired by the Numbers challenge at A Cherry on Top. We could choose odd (1, 3, 5, 7) or even (2, 4, 6, 8), then had to use those numbers of elements on the page. 

Southern California Road Trip (affiliate link)

My page is even. There are two patterned papers, a four word title, six word label stickers, and eight photos. Even with eight photos, there are a lot of memories that didn't make it onto the scrapbook layout. I am so glad to be documenting our travels here on the blog in addition to in the album. Together, they help me remember all the wonderful places we've been and the fun times we've had together.

Cards with Fall Puns

I'm not really into puns, so when I saw that one of the National Scrapbook Day challenges at A Cherry on Top was to make a project featuring a pun, I wasn't 100% sure if I even had any supplies that would work. But once I started looking through my stash, I found a fall collection with puns. I used them to make these two cards. The fox says, "Falling for you" and the squirrel says "I'm nuts about you."

Cards with Fall Puns (affiliate link)

Steve loves puns, so maybe he'll get two unexpected greeting cards in the fall. Or I might just donate them. Either way, it was a fun challenge and I enjoyed the opportunity to work with fall colors.

First Flight

When I was cleaning for National Scrapbook Day, I came across a pair of black and white photos taken at the airport in 1972 when I was a baby. I'm with my parents in one picture and my maternal grandparents and uncle in the other. I suspected that the pictures were of my first flight, which I thought would be a fun topic to scrap. I checked with my mom; indeed, I took my first flight in September 1972, at 6 months old. Unfortunately, the reason for our flight was not a good one. 

My dad had gotten a call from his brother: their mom was hospitalized following a heart attack. My parents packed their bags, loaded 6-month old Cindy into the car, and drove 800+ miles from our home near San Francisco to Seattle. My parents dropped me off with my mom's parents, then visited Dad's mom at the hospital. We stayed two days. She seemed to be recovering well, so we drove back to California so Dad could get back to work. Grandma Jones died right after we got home. My first plane trip was from Oakland to Seattle so that we could attend my grandmother's funeral. While I wish my first flight had been for a happier reason, I'm glad to have documented this story. 

First Flight (affiliate link)

I entered this page in the Choose a Sketch Challenge at A Cherry on Top. As you can see, I included the basic elements of the sketch, but tweaked a few elements to make them work better for this page. 

These pictures are, by far, the oldest ones I've ever scrapped. I have more than enough recent photos to scrap, but I'm inspired to occasionally go back to pictures from my childhood and tell some of those stories. I'm particularly interested in learning the stories I didn't know, like the story of my first flight, and getting those into an album.

2025 Christmas Card Layout

I like to include our family's Christmas cards in my scrapbooks, but I struggled figuring out how to deal with this year's card. I ended up treating the card like picture frame and "hanging" it on a split background. My page was inspired by the Half-It Challenge at A Cherry on Top.  

2025 Christmas Card (affiliate link)

It's a really simple page, but I'm ok with that. The title and journaling that I would normally put on a layout happen to already be on the card itself. Into the album it goes!