Do you have teens who do not like to be in photos? Do you have teens who are spending a large part of their lives away from you and home? Do you still desire to capture your everyday family life? Do you still want to tell the stories of these years, of their stories, and of the family's? Well I do, and have been finding more and more creative ways to do so, so thought I will make a post based on these :)
- Focus on a day or two spent together
For April's project life, I did a page focused on the Anatomy of two great days. These were two days we were able to spend together as a family, so definitely worth capturing!
- Choose a theme based on what we do, love, like, want... That does not require photos of the said teens if these are not available (smile)
This month's theme is Currently Loving, Pursuing, Dabbling...
- Capture conversations, both serious and funny, especially those which only your family will know the inside joke!Like this page I did - I love it!
- Capture everyday moments that occur frequently in your home, like my boys playing computer games, chatting over breakfast, walking to the bus stop, waiting at the bus stop - nevermind that these are very commonplace photos - that's what our lives are made up of! Which is what I did for my P365 (a photo a day) pages for April
(Credits: SimpleGirlScraps_WITL2012, VickiStegall-Beatrice-Words-Hello, VickiStegall-Beatrice-flag, aprilisa_TheView_alpha, amywolff_giddy_ampersand_doodle, amywolff_giddy_stamp_lovethis, jbarrette-everydaymoments_papertab, justjaimee_lyttmab_together, kaye winiecki_halfthere_paper, valorie webber-queenofhearts)
(Credits: TDD_MLAH_WZ_Cluster4, TDD_MLAH_ehansen_Paper2Grid, Tracy Martin-MissingYou-confetti, Yin Template 380d, lauren grier-always-doodleframelines, lauren grier-always-glitterdots,
lauren grier-always-thisiswhereiwanttobe, pink reptile designs_chunkycrochet alpha)
- Pick a current photo and let it lead you - throwback to the past, look to the future, same time or place across the years - anyway it goes!
I realised lately that I have more and more photos of the boys from the back, and that spurred a page reminiscing...
Journaling reads: We have so many pictures of you where we only have your back views. It's because you are now always walking or running ahead of us. In those early years you used to walk behind or with us, now you are taller and faster, and we know it is just how it is, you are about to spread your wings and take off! Off you go then, into the Lord’s arms we trust you, and into this great adventure of life. Know that we are always behind you!
(Credits: journal carsd from Amy Tan's Plus One, HAPPY by Vickie Stegall, heart doodles from playful by Pink Reptile designs, Digital PL template by Scrap Anges)
- If there was a special occasion or an outing then of course scrapbook it - like this day we spent at the Aquarium - Believe me, the boys were there with us! See they are in the second photo from the bottom right - we managed to snap them without them knowing, haha!
How do you scrapbook your life with teens? Do share!
Digital verus Physical Project Life
You probably noticed this month's PL pages were all digital. I had been concerned that I will soon run out of space in my small home apartment to store the physical PL albums (even though mine fit in one album a year), and also have been attracted to beautiful digital PL pages especially of my friend Jenny (see her pages at
Family Bees), and kept wondering if I would like it, so Jenny suggested I try it. Well I found it quick and easy to pull together, and I could use all my digital stash, but I do miss handwriting on journal cards, and will also miss being able to insert physical memorabilia, but the final verdict will be when I see how they look printed out. So, no taking the plunge yet!
Hawaii Pages
These Hawaii pages are all from our day at the Pearl Harbour Historic Sites. The boys know a lot about the Pearl Harbour attack, and Ryan especially is a buff at WWII history, so this was a really awesome day for us. We spent the entire day there, and it was coincidentally also the 71st anniversary of the attack on Dec 7 when we visited. So there were veterans, ceremony and much to make it so memorial!
(Credits: Paper_Woodland_GinaCabrera,,chain_mdl_laboheme, alpha_paulakesselring_schoolalpha)
(Credits: ViVa_SaldeMar_paper, amy wolff_goseedo_solid paper, michelin martin scribblenewsalpha)
(Credits: jkneipp_trulymadlydeeply_paper, alpha by karah fredricks, wheel by
Studio rosey posey-lifetime)
(Credits: Paper_Black_Wood_GinaCabrera, elledesigns_pink paint splatter, michellin martin_artsybitsvday_metal, sahlinstudio_subtlestampalpha)
More Inspiration
I have lots more inspiration to share!
Lovely, precious layouts from Hannah Hurey:
Thanks Hannah for sharing your beautiful layouts and family photos, you scrap with minimal embellishments like me, focus on the photos!
And the amazing travel layouts of Christie Stearns:
Remember Christie with her out of this world travel layouts? Well she outdid herself again with these Venice layouts. She is the one who inspires me to blow up a photo and use it as the background! Thanks Christie!
And of course I have a template to share. It's based on the Aquarium layout.
