Heather Leopard: 2013 Family Memories Album

I was contacted through email last fall by Melinda from Scrapkit Studio asking if I'd be interested in guest designing. I took one look at her kits, and said YES! I really like the concept she has going. She pre-cuts all the paper to fit the album so you don't have to, everything coordinated beautifully and all you have to do is assemble it. It's really great for all levels of scrapbooking - you can assemble yours using the instructions she includes in the kit so it's easy breezy to whip up OR you can do what I did and just create your own album from scratch.

She sent me the My Everyday Life 2013 chipboard album. It's filled with Pebbles Seen & Noted goodies. I just love the rich colors. The kit includes chipboard, cardstock, pattern paper, Simple Stories Snap sheet protectors and tons of embellishments. Take a look at what I created:

Family Memories 2013 Cover

I covered the front of the chipboard album with the grey chevron paper. I like how the rest of the colors pop on the grey. I also added some Mr. Hueys white mist to grunge it up just a tad. The grey and the red twine were also added from my stash.

Inside Cover and Front Page

These first pages are really an introduction to the family as of today. I plan to add a note about our family and possibly my hopes for the coming year. A you can see, I'll be adding a family photo. The hello 2013 is something I added to the kit, it can be downloaded for free from Simple Stories.

I thought I'd share a close-up of my front cover. I had so much fun creating this word collage. It kind of, sort of reminds me of subway art. The only downfall is that it used up all my words from the sticker sheet but I think the reward is worth it.

Right now, I am planning on using our highlights each month and making this a 12 month book. I've set it up that way but I didn't add any months to it yet. That way, I can see how it plays out. You'll see empty spaces for photos or more empty spaces on cards. I plan to embellish it even more once I have my photos.

Here are the rest of the pages:

These are set up to be my January pages. The top right says to do today. I will be adding a photo of myself, maybe by myself or maybe with the hubby & kids. I'll add the Celebrate sticker from the sticker sheet to the photo because it's my birthday. It will then read, To Do Today: Celebrate!

My hubby secured backstage meet n greet passes to go see my favorite band, Matchbox Twenty, in January, so I set these pages up like this to document the whole thing.

This spread is for February. The front pages will talk about my love for our kids.

The back pages will be about my hubby & I!

In March, we start to get to warmer weather, more time spent outside, lots of memories to be made:

April showers bring May Flowers

June, July, August are HOT! September starts to cool off but just a tad!

Then comes October!!!

We're celebrating our girl's birthdays in October. One on the 1st and the other on the 27th!

Lastly is November and December!

And of course, the final page and the back cover.

I'll be wishing my family a great life in 2014 & beyond as we prepare to welcome the brand new year.

I even have pages, stickers and embellishments leftover that I'm holding on to because I know I will need them as I begin to fill in this book with all our photos.

I hope you enjoyed what I did with the kit! You can see the Melinda's version of the kit on the Scrapkit Studio blog. My supplies are listed below (I added additional elements that I had already in my stash - twine, washi tape, foam pop dots, ribbon, additional sentiment papers, etc.)

Supplies from My Everyday Life 2013 kit:

3 - die-cut chipboard pages, 7" x 9"
6 - sheets of Pebbles' 'Seen & Noted' patterned papers, die-cut to match the chipboard pages
12 - sheets of Pebbles' 'Seen & Noted' color cardstock, die-cut to match the chipboard pages
2 - packages of Pebbles' 'Seen & Noted' accent & phrase sticker sheets
1 - pad of Pebbles' 'Seen & Noted' 4x6 cardstock journaling cards
1 - package of Pebbles' 'Seen & Noted' cards & pockets
1 - package of Pebbles' 'Seen & Noted' adhesive labels
1 - package of Pebbles' 'Seen & Noted' masking tape stickers
12 - Simple Stories acrylic page protectors
12 - acrylic page edge strips to protect cardstock binder ring holes
12 - page edges to cover the acrylic page edges strips
1 - die-cut paper pocket
assorted grograin ribbon, bakers' twine, plastic button, cardstock flowers, die-cut numbers for title, 1 binder clip
2 - 1-1/2" binder rings