Almost Ready for Baby

I'm getting close to finishing my nephew's baby book, it won't be too much longer. We are not planning on seeing his Mom and Dad prior to the birth so I thought I would post the first couple layouts of the book so that Dad (Jamey) will know which pictures he is responsible for taking on the first couple of important days. Catherine I hope you like the layouts so far :) Sorry about the low quality photos but with it getting dark so early now that fall is in full swing, it is hard to get enough light for taking pictures.

A layout for pictures taken throughout the pregnancy.
A layout for pictures taken while getting ready for baby (i.e.: decorating the nursery).
A layout for pictures taken the day the baby is born.
A layout for family pictures taken with the new baby.
A layout for pictures taken the day the baby is brought home.

A Must Have

We all have those days when our creativity seems to be missing. For me, I always turn to sketches to start the creative juices going. I recently purchased this book called Page Maps and I am absolutely in love with it.

It's quick and easy to use and I love the fact that it lays flat so that it stays on the page you chose. The portable "Deck of Card" sketches are great to cause I throw them in my bag and take them to work so I plan out a layout on my lunch break if I want to.

I used to think using sketches were cheating but I have quickly found that they are a great inspiration tool. Some times I follow the sketch to the T and then there are times whenI switch things up like turn the sketch on it's side or upside down or embellishments to make it my own. I find it's very helpful when I feel I am blocked.

They also have a website and if you sign up for their newsletter, once a month they will send you their mothly sketches for free. http://www.pagemaps.com/

An Ingenius Idea

As I stated yesterday, I have the daunting task of sorting through the hundreds of photos I took while overseas. Well, I was talking about this with the owner of my local scrapbook store and she recommended this great product that makes scrapbooking a lot of photos easy and fun. Unfortunately, she doesn't carry it so off to Goggle I went and guess what I found it! I ordered it immediately and I can't wait for it to be delivered! This is what I bought (on top of a couple more items that shall remain nameless), it's a 6 Up - 4x6 Inch Photo Sleeve.

You can fill each pocket with a photo and then maybe leave 1 or 2 empty. Then in those empty spots you can cut a piece of cardstock to 4x6 and write your journaling on it and embellish it anyway you like, just like this example I got from Becky Higgins' blog. It will be way more economical than doing a layout for each photo. Just think about it 10-12 pictures per 2 page spread ... that's pretty awesome. I am still planning on creating reqular layouts that will be intermixed with these 6 Up pages. i think it will turn out really cool. Once I get the package delivered you can bet it won't be long before I am doing a post showing you just how cool it is :)