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!
Digital PL template by Scrap Anges
- 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)
Last month I I did a page with the theme: Currently Playing, Watching, Talking About
This month's theme is Currently Loving, Pursuing, Dabbling...
Digital PL template by Scrap Anges
- 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!
Digital PL template by Scrap Anges
- 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)
Templates : The respective templates are found in the store.
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.
Thank you so much for another great template!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! :)
DeleteThanks so much for the lovely template! :)
ReplyDeleteGlad you like it!
DeleteThank you for sharing - I love that you've shared other people using your templates too. Fun to see! I've been struggling with using PL for the physical size as well. Your digital pages are beautiful too!
ReplyDeleteI know, the physical size is hard to keep up, I really love it, but if I keep going, I won't have space to keep them all! Well, it's a tough decision, but I don't have to decide yet :P
DeleteLove your layouts and your approach to scrapbooking teens, thanks for sharing. I had to laugh because I also have a picture of the 2048 screen ready to scrap with a trip we recently took where my 14 year old got all his older cousins and his uncle hooked on that game. I've been playing a bit too - it's addictive!
ReplyDeleteYes! Honestly, this 2048 has got me totally addicted, I might need to delete it soon, it's taking up too much of my down time, lol!
DeleteThank you for the insights and the wonderful template!!!
ReplyDeleteGlad to know these 'insights' are appreciated, thanks!
DeleteThank you for the template...and for your ideas on scrapping teens who are reluctant to have their photos taken.
ReplyDeleteYes I'm almost 'sneaking' pictures nowadays, without them being awares.. the plight of a die-hard scrapbooking mom of teens :)
DeleteYay for digital! :) I was just thinking today that I might get all my pages for this year printed in a photo book, even though I’m also printing out the individual 4x6s/3x4s for my physical album. Having it out and open all the time has been wonderful, but it would be nice to have a copy for each of the boys. I don’t know… They’ll probably go off to college, and think, “What am I going to do with all these photo books??” But, maybe their future wives will appreciate it! ;) The journaling for your “back view” page made me tear up! So precious. The inspiration pages are great too! Love that long family photo on Hannah’s first page, and Christie’s “The Grand Canal” page is just stunning! Thank you for sharing, and thank you for the new template too! :)
ReplyDeleteDecisions, decisions! Well, we are spoilt for choice, it is a happy problem! I too think in future it will be more their wives than my sons themselves who will be interested in these scrapbooks, now I wonder why we think that, hahahaha!
DeleteGreat tips for scrapbooking teens. My boys are both teens now, so I totally understand! Thank you so much for another great template!
ReplyDeleteYay for teenage sons and their scrapbooking moms! So happy you understand :)
DeleteThank you so much! I LOVE your templates and your layouts. So inspiring!
ReplyDeleteHere is a post by photographer/blogger/project lifer, Heather Johnson, about how she decided to do a hybrid approach. She makes her primary project life pages DIGITAL using the PL templates, then she prints out an puts it in a 12x12 page protector. Then she puts any extras (memorabilia, etc.) into PL INSERTS of various sizes. Here is a very good post on that technique: http://hgjphotography.com/digital-project-life-2013-how-a-digital-girl-embraced-physical-inserts/
ReplyDeleteOf course that doesn't totally solve your space problem. Another idea I have heard is to take a PICTURE or scan the memorabilia so you can put it into the digital page, print out your book at the end of the year. (The throw away the memorabilia if you can bring yourself to do it! :-)
Yin, I love your blog and have you bookmarked and visit you often.
Thanks Rhonda! I checked out Heather's hybrid pages - beautiful! And so much fun, because of all the different sizes inserts she uses. Something I have been doing with my Bi-monthly layouts too, I print them out as 12x12 and insert into my PL too. So this might totally work. But yes, the space problem...sigh. But perhaps as the boys grow up and go off to the army or university I might be able to squeeze two years into one PL album ?? That's tough on so many levels! haha, shan't think of it till I cross it :)
DeleteThanks for coming by and sharing!
Hi Yin! What a wonderful post! This season is not easy, is it? After reading your post, I felt inspired to actually blog...first time since the post about R's dad. I highlighted your templates...they make my scrapbooking so much more fun and 'doable'. Hugs!
ReplyDeleteHi Tracey! Always love hearing from you! My fellow mother of teenagers :) though you have two more younger ones to cushion the impact :) Off to your blog now!
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