As crazy and hectic as summer can be, it offers a much needed time to recharge and reconnect. We made a summer bucket list last year, and it proved to be a great way to shake up our usual routine and to get us out and exploring some of the fun our city has to offer. I recorded that list with a two page layout at the end of the summer, but wanted to capture out adventures in a mini album this year.
As I set out to plan the album, I knew it needed to be quick and easy. I didn't want recording our summer activities to become a burdern, and I didn't want it to take any time from enjoying them. I came up with a formula that will let me add new pages to my album in the time it takes for the boys to track down their goggles and towels so we can head to the pool.
I started by gathering my supplies together. I chose a WRMK 4x4in album - this small size is so fun, and I've been looking for an excuse to pick one up. For the inside of the album, I'll be using the Studio Calico Penny Arcade Scrapbook kit - the colors are perfect for summer, and I love the idea of limiting what I use in this album so I'm not getting hung up on choosing product. I also printed out a sheet of Hello Forever labels - I'll be using these to caption the photos in my mini book.
Even when I'm doing a quick & simple mini, I love to spend a little extra time on the title page. It's the first thing you see when you open the book, and it will set the tone for everything else you add. I used one of the 2x2in page protectors and added confetti punched from the kit papers to two of the pockets, then finished the other two with a floating metal circle embellishment and a tag left over from a set of In A Creative Bubble Printable. You can peek through this page to the next one, and it's a great invitiation to keep turning the pages to see what comes next!
I wanted to start this album with our summer bucket list. I typed it out on a sheet of paper, and am marking our completed activities by stamping with Color Theory Ink and a clean pencil eraser. I used the cloud mask from the Penny Arcade kit and Gold Brilliance Ink to make a piece of patterned vellum to layer over my list.
Now the inside. SIMPLE SIMPLE SIMPLE. These are the pages I'll be adding over the summer, so I wanted it to be crazy easy to add to it. Each page is a 3x4in photo and a strip of patterned paper, with a label to add a caption. I've added some small embellishments - stickers from the kit, little accents from printables - but these are entirely optional. I tend to have a messy desk, and when I'm working on projects like this I tend to add in bits and pieces that are laying around. It saves me from having to put them away. ;)
And that's it. At the end of the summer, all of our adventures will be in one place. If I don't get photos for everything, or don't have room for all of them, I'll just mark them off on the bucket list page. Some of the longer stories from this summer will go in my Project Life® album, but I'll be scaling that back to the bare minimum as well.
If you take on capturing your summer, I'd love to see it!
