Greg's 40th Birthday Book

Wow, has it been almost two weeks since I posted? I've been busy helping me Mom with her summer art show, the Art-A-Fair in Laguna Beach. I've been painting cabinets and getting her jewelery on display cards. Busy, busy.

I thought I would post the pages from the book I made for my brother Greg's 40th birthday. I couldn't think of anything cool to buy him, and so I came up with this idea, which I think is so much better and much more personal. Well, the book was a hit and he made sure to show it to all his friends. The scrapbook class I took in New Zealand really helped with putting it together.

Basically I took old photos of Greg and in Photoshop, put his head or face into some pretty cool images. I got these from magazines and the internet. A couple of them are real, like "Motocross God," (he really did race and win trophies in this) and "Family Man." Wouldn't we all like to fantasize about being someone else for a day?

If you click on the photo, you can get a closer look.

Scrapbooking: not for the faint of heart

Now I know why people get addicted to Scrapbooking. This array of color and pattern is just about to send me over the edge into sheer creative ecstasy.


Scrapbooking is a challenge. First, there is choosing the paper and colors. Aye-yi-yi, the possibilities! This rack is only one of many in the shop and they all look this 'kid in a candy shop' good. I can't possibly absorb it all, but I desperately want to. Maybe I should wallpaper a room in my house with all the different sheets? Antz, what do you think?

Second is the page layout. The teacher is quick to show us many amazing layouts done by past students and themselves. How do they do it? But when it comes to making my own amazing layout, it can be frustrating. I struggled with mine last night, but finally came up with something I thought to be relatively pleasing.


It *is* really neat seeing my wedding photos come to life in a colorful, tidy layout. When it is done, it will be something fun to look through (hopefully for anyone, not just us). Our wedding really was special and it deserves to be preserved this way and shared!

This wedding quilt page is not done yet, but shows the results of my layout efforts last night. It needs text and embellishments. A short text description will be written on the red square; in Scrapbooking this is called "journaling."

Sometimes I am overwhelmed by my own creative thoughts. So many ideas come hurtling at me, I can't possibly do them all. I am grateful though. What if I were bored? At least I am not that. My biggest mission is to sift through all the ideas on focus on just a few. That is really my biggest challenge.


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