Summer Fun

[Independence Day, 2007]

As Independence Day approaches, my family is planning our usual shinding by the lake. It's a very traditional 4th of July celebration including kids, burgers, swimming, sunshine and fireworks. Having the 4th fall on Friday this year will give us a chance watch the fireworks in PR, and have the rest of the family join us at the lake for the day on Saturday. Getting organized for what has become an annual event, got me looking back at the scrapbook pages from last year.

[Floatie Fun, 2007]

Last year we had great weather - sunny, but not oppressively hot - that had everyone glad to be at the lake. My favorite memory was looking out at the lake and seeing the floatie garden that grew there. Not only was the meal potluck, but so were the water toys. We dotted the lake with an exciting array of floaties from the simple noodle to the giant orange spider.

[Meanwhile...Back at the Beach, 2007]

Sometimes I get so caught up in scrapping my pictures in chronological order that I lose track of the fun memories that the pictures represent. Everyone really wants to see the pictures right away instead of waiting six months. To help with that, everyone has been pretty good about posting photos as soon as possible online for others to browse and enjoy. I love that there are others who are way better photographers than I am sharing pictures that I didn't get on my camera. It's immediate gratification while still riding high on the joy of the events. And I get to choose from lots of different pictures for my scrapbooks.

However, I usually scrapbook six to eight months behind the event. The gap in time allows me to think differently about the the design and palette for pages. I spent lots of time this January scrapping these summer pictures. I was far enough from the event that I didn't feel compelled to use the traditional red, white and blue for these. I actually had great fun with the oranges, yellows and pinks that I used in Floatie Fun and Independence Day.

Since I usually just have Olivia pictures, it was such great change up to have so many cute kid pictures to work with. The fresh and excited faces of the babies, boys and girls at play brought a sense of action and motion to the pages that made them a joy to work on. Not to be left out, I did manage to create one review of the day with only Olivia. I am her mommy after all. Using the preprinted paper for Summertime Fun made it a quick page to complete with the added touch of the giant metal arrow brads that Kit couldn't wait to get rid of. (OK, she literally threw them across the table at me like they burned her fingers. Thanks, Kit! One woman's trash is another's treasure.) The focus picture of Olivia in the pink hat was my favorite from the whole weekend and was taken by Gary. Outstanding photo; thanks, Gary!


[Summertime Fun, 2007]

We also knew from a recent retrospective of Char pictures that there just were not enough pictures of Char with the girls. Looking back at Emma with her long hair in darling braids, I wonder how adorable her new short haircut will look in pictures this year. The floral paper was heavy, almost a cardstock. I used a craft knife to cut out the petals and use them as an overlapping frame for the title card. Simple, but I really liked the effect.

[Auntie Char, 2007]

Once the family gathering came to a close, there was still plenty of weekend fun. The next day the kids found lots of stuff to keep them busy before hitting the lake again. The pink Barbie Jeep got a work out. Little Max learned to drive - not really from the best drivers, but at least some of the cutest in Driving Lesson. Later Kris gave rides on the quad - no driving lessons required.

[Driving Lesson, 2007]

[Quad, 2007]

Kris and Kathy talk about their memories of the Logging Camp all the time, but this was my first time to this northwoods historic hot spot. The design for this page is a total scraplift. I just happen to have the right sized pictures for the layout. It was also my first venture into covering chipboard with paper for the embellishments. I liked the way the chipboard adds just a little dimension and flow to the layout to guide the viewer across the page.

[Logging Camp, 2007]