Tag Archives: memory keeping

Appreciating and documenting traditions (and a challenge!)

Learn to appreciate and document your traditions with these four questions.

Here in Singapore (and Asia), we’re celebrating the Chinese New Year (also called the Lunar New Year) this Monday. And for the next fifteen days after. So places and stores have been buzzing with activity and excitement as everyone makes preparations for the New Year.

I didn’t always appreciate or fully understand our traditions for the Lunar New Year. In fact, I even thought they were rather routine and annoying at some point in my younger years. Through the years, gaining an understanding of Chinese traditions and the meaning behind them has brought my appreciation of Lunar New Year to a whole new level as I start to soak in the festivities for myself.

But this year, I find myself having a brand-new appreciation for the customs and cultures of one of the biggest Chinese holidays ever, as I share them with my students and help them to understand this holiday.

While it’s easy to take traditions for granted, sharing my cultural traditions with others has made me pause and consider the traditions we’ve had for Chinese New Year for as long as I can remember. Because the thing about traditions is, you never know when they might change.

So this year, I’m taking extra notice of the traditions we have, the things we do, the food we eat, the places we go and everything in between.

Here are some things I’m thinking about as I go about my celebrations and visitations this year:

  1. Notice the yearly traditions. What are they? Are there many traditions?

Think about the details, the little things, the things that you don’t realize or notice are traditions, but actually are, because you would miss them if they weren’t there.

What food do you eat? Where do you go? Who do you spend time with? What do you do?

  1. What do you like about these traditions? Which traditions make you excited? Why do you like them?

Some of my favorite traditions include our color-coordinated outfits and our annual  DIY family photo shoot. And I love them for how they document our lives each year. Getting to visit family and friends I don’t see very often also gets me excited for all the catching up we get to do.

  1. What would you change about your traditions?

As with many things, there are some traditions you don’t like and would rather change or get rid of altogether. What are they?

  1. What new traditions would you like to start for these holidays?

There are seasons of life and some things come and go. Some traditions might work in one season, but may be unrealistic for another season. It is absolutely okay to change some traditions, do away with others, and come up with ones that are brand new just to suit the season of life that you are in.

While I don’t foresee any new traditions this year, I’m sure that there will be new ones once we move into a different season of life.

Although I may not necessarily enjoy all the cultural traditions, I definitely appreciate the values that our traditions embody and being able to share them with others gives me a deeper appreciation and better embracing of the things and traditions that make our culture unique.

CHALLENGE YOURSELF:

So now here’s the challenge – however you decide, write down your traditions, photograph them, art journal them, scrapbook them – just document them in a way that you can look back on them in twenty years and appreciate the traditions for what they were and all that they encapsulated for you at that point in life.

For me, I’m documenting our Lunar New Year traditions this week. For you, that could look totally different (depending on where you live) and you could document some seasonal traditions or holiday traditions instead.

Who’s joining me?

Project Life | Creating a spread within one hour

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As much as I’d like to spend all my time documenting (and then creating more!) memories, the reality is that I have way more documenting to do than I have time for (at this point).

So while I am tempted to spend hours on a spread to make things perfect, I am often much better off at least documenting my memories in a quick and simple way, than waiting to make the “perfect” layout and never getting it done.

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In this month’s post for the One Little Bird blog, I shared how I challenged myself and created a Project Life spread within one hour, all with four simple steps.

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I loved how this challenge forced me embrace imperfection, that “done is better than perfect” (in this case), and to make quick decisions.

Be sure to check it out here.

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Welcome to February, friends.

Let’s roll.

What you need to know about documenting your year

What you need to know about documenting your year

Have you decided on how you are documenting your year? If you’re anything like me, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the incredible number of available options, especially when you’re trying to make a decision (I laid out twelve options here).

With SO many documenting options nowadays, what it really comes down to is just making this whole memory keeping thing work for you.

Before I shared my 2016 memory keeping plans on the blog last week, I actually ran through various options in my head before settling on pocket scrapbooking because it’s what works for me now. But really, there are plentiful options to choose from.

So how are you going to decide on your best option? Here are five things to consider (in no particular order):

  1. Cost

    What is your memory keeping budget? Is it something you are able to spend money on this year? How much do you want to spend on memory keeping supplies? The cost of documenting can be as little as a notebook from your stationery store, or as much as a fancy scrapbook album with all the extra frills – you get to choose.

  2. Supplies

    What supplies will you use? How readily available are these supplies in your area? Would you have to spend an exorbitant amount on shipping? Do you have supplies that you want to use up? Or are you starting from scratch?

    You don’t need a ton of supplies to start documenting, so choose a method/system that fits the supplies you have or are willing to get.

  3. Lifestyle

    What roles do you have? Are you a homemaker? A student? A working adult? Consider your lifestyle and schedule, and choose a documenting option that is realistic, but also inspires, excites, and sparks your creativity.

  4. Storage space

    Since I live in an apartment, storage is something I constantly need to consider, whether it’s space for my supplies or for completed albums. If you don’t need to consider space, then maybe the sky’s your limit! Otherwise, you may consider going smaller or documenting sans albums.

  5. End goal.

    As Stephen Covey says, “Begin with the end in mind.” What do you want to achieve with your scrapbooking? How much detail do you want to document? Having clear goals will eliminate certain options and clarify others.

It’s never too late to start documenting your year – I’m remembering to not let those precious memories slip by me!

Leave a question or comment, and let me know what your considerations are when decide on how to document your year.

Project Life 2014 | week 18

Use one kit for one spread to save time in your Project Life documenting | Amelia Writes

Week of: April 28 to May 4, 2014

What happened this week: Made some homecooked meals, went running, and spent Labor Day at USS (our favorite!).

Left side

Use one kit for one spread to save time in your Project Life documenting | Amelia Writes

Project Life 2014 week 18 | Amelia Writes

Use a plain tag to help your sentiment pop!

Tip: Use a plain tag as a background to help your sentiment pop!

Vellum + wood veneer embellishment

I love Nutella and couldn’t help snapping a photo upon spotting an entire shelf of Nutella at the grocery store.*insert heart eyes emoji*

Right side

Use one kit for one spread to save time in your Project Life documenting | Amelia Writes

Simple embellishments for Project Life

Techniques used: Aside from stamping, stickers, and the occasional wood veneer embellishment, I kept things super simple this week. Easy and done is my motto these days.

Thoughts: I used cards from one kit (Amy Tangerine’s Plus One mini kit, in this case) to help my spread come together very quickly. I love how using one kit can take out all the guess work of having to match and color-coordinate cards. I also love the blue-green hues in this spread!

Who’s still working on spreads from 2014?

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Project Life is a memory-keeping system created by Becky Higgins. I’m embarking on this year-long project to document all my memories in 2014. You can see my other Project Life posts here.

All the Memories | how I started memory keeping

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Since we’ve been talking about memories and memory-keeping over the past couple of months, I thought I would share my story of how I started scrapbooking and memory keeping. It isn’t a grand or dramatic story, but it’s what I remember about this part of my creative journey.

When my siblings and I were growing up, my dad was the memory keeper in our family. He was the one who consistently took our photos, printed them and organized them neatly in photo albums. This was back when everyone still used film cameras and printed pictures. He put the “scrap” in scrapbooking by literally using paper scraps to make our amazing baby albums that each of us immensely treasure today (there are three of us and we each have at least one!). Because of him, we are now able to pull out those family albums and laugh, reminisce and remember all those memories from back in the day.

Those were the initial stages of any exposure I had to the idea or concept of scrapbooking and memory keeping.

The first time I remember making a real scrapbook album (ie. 12×12 spreads) was when our family first came back from a trip to Australia in 2005. We had purchased some patterned papers from the Australian K-mart while we were on vacation and collectively worked on the album together as a family to document our trip after we returned. This was before I even knew about acid- or lignin-free products. All we wanted to do was to get our photos and memories recorded.

Then in 2007, my dad brought me to our local scrapbooking store and together, we learned about scrapbooking basics. After our conversation with the owners, my dad very promptly (and generously) bought me my first set of scrapbooking supplies of acid- and lignin-free glue and paper that day.

And I haven’t looked back since.

Thus, my journey in scrapbooking and creating 12×12 layouts “officially” began. For a season, I also loved making mini books and have a basket-full of them now.

In 2012, I started hearing more about Project Life and contemplated jumping on the bandwagon, before I eventually decided to take the plunge. While I finally made the leap, I never quite made it through my first year. Discouraged, I didn’t continue in 2013. But I decided to intentionally document with Project life in 2014 and I loved it. (Confession: I’m still working on finishing my 2014 album, and still need to start for 2015 – but I’m getting there!)

Sure, there have been times where scrapbooking has taken a backseat when life has taken over and the inspiration has run a bit low. But this creative/scrapbooking/memory-keeping part of me runs deep and strong and I reckon it won’t be going away any time soon.

Through the years, my family has supported my paper addiction, enduring all those seemingly unending hours in the scrapbook store as I perused and ooh-ed and ahh-ed over all the paper goodies.

As much as I love how mind-blowing this digital age can be, there is nothing is quite the same as actually holding printed photos in your hands and flipping through a handmade album full of memories.

I’m so grateful for the opportunity to start memory keeping and be a memory keeper because I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Are you a scrapbooker/memory keeper? How did you get started? I’d love to hear your story so let me know in the comments!

Missed the other posts in this series? You can catch up on them here:

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All the Memories is a blog series talking about all things memory keeping – from memory keeping ideas to answering your questions. This is the year to get those memories documented!

Project Life 2014 | week 14

Don't have enough photos to fill up a full two-page spread? Use printables and journaling cards for all the blank spots!

Week of: March 31 – April 6, 2014

What happened this week: Nothing much, really. I actually struggled putting this week together because I was sorely lacking on the photo-front.

Here’s a little secret about this spread: I actually printed the printables wrongly, so they ended up being smaller than a true 3×4. Because I didn’t want to waste perfectly good printables (and ink!), I just added a border of patterned paper/cardstock to the filler cards. I actually like how it pulls the whole spread together and gives it a different look from the usual.

Yay for another one of those mistakes that worked out pretty well after all (:

Left-hand side

Don't have enough photos to fill up a full two-page spread? Use printables and journaling cards for all the blank spots!

I also punched out some elements from the original 3×4 cards to fit my spread, like that “One for the album” circle and scallop shape in the top right corner, as well as the “2014” circle and scallop in the bottom right corner on the right-hand side.

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Right-hand side

Don't have enough photos to fill up a full two-page spread? Use printables and journaling cards for all the blank spots!Ameliawrites-PL2014-week14Ameliawrites-PL2014-week14

Techniques used: Not having enough pictures ended up letting me use lots of One Little Bird designs in this spread. Completely serendipitous and I love it.

Thoughts: While I initially struggled to put this week together, I ended up being able to play around with lots of paper which was so much fun to do.

Pressing on with 2014 and so grateful to still be able to document things from almost a year ago.

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Project Life is a memory-keeping system created by Becky Higgins. I’m embarking on this year-long project to document all my memories in 2014. You can see my other Project Life posts here.

All the Memories | 10 embellishments for pocket scrapbooking

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A couple of weeks ago, I shared my favorite tools for memory keeping.

So today, I’m sharing my favorite embellishments that I use in my Project Life albums.

There is a huge variety of embellishments that you can include in your albums, but these are my favorites – the things that I find myself gravitating toward and using constantly week after week. The thing about embellishments is that you don’t need them for memory keeping, but they’re nice additional touches that make the pages extra special.

Although things have been a little slow on the Project Life front recently, I’m excited to see whether my tastes and style will change in the coming months as I continue to work on my album. (Yes, I’m planning to actually get it done.)

So in no particular order, here we go!

10 embellishments for pocket scrapbooking:

1. Washi tape

This is a long-time favorite embellishment. I even made some DIYs with it (see this and this). It’s cute and functional in attaching memorabilia or other papers.

2. Enamel dots

These add the perfect pop of color and dimension to any spreads.

3. Wood veneer

I love using these raw, so many different shapes, so much variety.

4. Paper clips

These are perfect for attaching memorabilia without damaging them, or creating flaps for additional information.

5. Stamps

Roller stamps, rubber stamps, date stamps, clear stamps – I love the variety and versatility of stamps and use at least one form of them in every spread.

(Some may consider stamps as tools instead, but since they aren’t actually essential to completing a Project Life album and you’re pretty spoilt for choice, I would consider them as embellishments.)

6. Inks

Again, there are many different types and so many colors to choose from to pair with the stamps.

7. Chipboard shapes

Like enamel dots, chipboard shapes are pretty flat but still have enough dimension to keep things interesting. And lots of options too!

8. Die cut pieces

Whether I die cut my own shapes or purchase them, I love customizing die cut pieces for my spreads.

9. Stickers

I especially love alpha stickers, but the American Crafts Remarks sticker books are a lot of fun too.

10. Sequins

When I need the perfect touch of bling, sequins are my go-to.

What are your favorite scrapbooking embellishments? Tell me in the comments!

Missed the other posts in this series? You can catch up on them here:

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All the Memories is a blog series talking about all things memory keeping – from memory keeping ideas to answering your questions. This is the year to get those memories documented!

All the Memories | Making time for memory keeping

Short on time for memory keeping? Here are five ways to make time for it.

I love creating and memory keeping. But I’m at the phase in life where I constantly feel like there’s so much to do but so little time.

With how busy I am nowadays, I feel like memory keeping and creating always end up neglected at the bottom of my to do list, and it gets lost amidst another more pressing deadlines. So I can totally relate when friends lament how they don’t have enough time to rest, let alone do any sort of memory keeping.

But then I find myself feeling restless and itching to create when I haven’t made anything for awhile.

So unless I choose to make time, I won’t get round to creating for awhile.

In an effort to be more intentional with memory keeping and creating this year, I came up with a list of ways to fix my lack of creating and to make time for creativity and doing the things I love.

5 ways to make time for memory keeping/creating:

1. Set aside a period of time for creating every day.

This might be the hardest one for me, since time (actually the lack thereof) is the biggest obstacle for my creating and memory keeping. But I’m starting with at least 10 minutes a day. Then as time permits, I’ll spend more time creating.

2. Make your supplies easily accessible.

I tend to have an “out of sight, out of mind” mentality when it comes to supplies. But having my supplies easily accessible and readily available reminds me to use them whenever I see them.

3. Have a place for creating.

Sometimes, having to take things out and put things back can be a hassle and kind of puts me off from creating because of all the trouble that it takes. I currently don’t have much room in my house for a specific creating spot, but I’m exploring my options. For now, I will likely get a tray to keep all the supplies for the projects I am currently working on.

4. Look for someone to keep you accountable.

Last year, #letscatchuponprojectlife helped me to get out of a rut and back into memory keeping. Ask one or two of your best creative friends to keep you accountable in this area. Big things happen when you make yourself accountable.

5. Just do it.

It’s always easier to make excuses or procrastinate. But whatever it is, just make time for scrapbooking/creating/memory keeping. After all, if there’s a will, there’s a way!

Expanding creative energy helps me to create more. So I’m planning to try out these ways and be more intentional in memory keeping and creating this year.

How do you make time to create and document memories when your schedule is super busy? I’d love to hear how you do it!

Missed the other posts in this series? You can catch up on them here:

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All the Memories is a blog series talking about all things memory keeping – from memory keeping ideas to answering your questions. This is the year to get those memories documented!

All the Memories | 10 tools for memory keepers

Essential tools for any memory keeper

As a memory-keeping system, Project Life can be as simple or as complicated as you need or want it to be. Becky says it’s as simple as just using an album, pocket pages, and a core kit with your photos. But as a scrapbooker turned Project Lifer, I still like to mix things up and add a creative aspect to my memory keeping.

Since we talked about using pocket scrapbooking to document memories last week, I thought it would be apt to share my favorite memory keeping tools which I use when doing pocket scrapbooking.

Aside from my camera which is (obviously) what I use to capture memories, here’s a list of my favorite essentials, the tools which help me to get stuff done. This list is different from my list of favorite embellishments, which I’ll share in another post.

Essential tools for any memory keeper

Top 10 tools for Memory Keepers:

1. Paper trimmer

Like what a trimmer is supposed to do, I use this to trim my photos and Project Life cards. I have the EK Success Cutterpede trimmer.

2. Cutter Bee scissors

This scissors is incredibly sharp. Since I don’t have a Silhouette (it’s on my wishlist though!), this Cuttlebee is my lifesaver for cutting whatever I need.

3. Tiny Attacher

I used a regular stapler for the longest time. But I’d heard so many good things about the Tiny Attacher that I finally decided to take the plunge when my local scrapbook store had them in stock. And I love it. It can staple through (almost) anything (including wood veneers!) and it’s so easy to use.

4. Punches

These give me the perfect circles in various sizes. The squeeze punches from Fiskars are my favorite, but I also have one from American Crafts which is also good.

5. Corner rounder

So far, my spreads have a mix of square and rounded corners. But when I decide that I want rounded corners, this is super handy.

6. Project Life cards/core kits

In addition to photos, Project Life cards help me to fill in the gaps and give me a place to include all my journaling.

7. White cardstock

I purchased a whole stack of these and use them regularly for printing my weekly title cards and digital cards.

8. Zig pen/Sharpie

These are my go-to pens for journaling and adding text to my photos.

9. Printables

Although I have one core kit and several mini kits, I love using printables from Paislee Press and One Little Bird, which add another fun element to my spreads. I also like using free printables that I find online.

10. Adhesive

Each has a different purpose, but I generally use glue tape for photos and paper, glue dots or liquid glue for smaller elements, and foam dots for dimension.

While you obviously don’t need all these tools to document or be a memory keeper, these are my personal must-haves. These go-to tools definitely help me to get the job done a lot quicker and more efficiently, leaving me with more time to create memories for documenting!

What are your must-have tools for memory keeping? Let me know in the comments!

Missed the other posts in this series? You can catch up on them here:

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All the Memories is a blog series talking about all things memory keeping – from memory keeping ideas to answering your questions. This is the year to get those memories documented!

All the Memories | Documenting with pocket scrapbooking

5 good reasons why you should document with pocket scrapbooking

I love making memories. I love documenting. I love being creative.

And I love that pocket scrapbooking combines all three elements together.

Like I mentioned in this post, Project Life is my method of choice for documenting memories nowadays. But whether you call it pocket scrapbooking or Project Life, I love so many things about this method of scrapbooking.

5 reasons I love documenting with pocket scrapbooking:

1. It’s fast and easy.

That’s the way pocket scrapbooking is supposed to be anyway. Sometimes, I might over-complicate things, but I can always go back to the basics with no problems at all – just slip photos into pockets, write journaling, and I’m done!

2. It lets me be creative without being overwhelmed.

With the various pockets and spreads, I can be as creative or as simple as I want. Pocket scrapbooking lets me channel my creative energy without taking up too much time or making me feel like I have the impossible task of memory keeping. And in the end, my memories still get documented while I’m being creative (yay!).

3. It lets me document consistently.

Because I have an album to fill and weekly spreads to create, pocket scrapbooking motivates me and keeps me accountable in documenting life, even the seemingly trivial and unimportant stories of our every day.

4. It’s flexible.

If a system isn’t flexible enough to meet my needs, then the system doesn’t work. But here’s the cool thing about pocket scrapbooking: You and I can use the same system in a completely different way that is unique for our needs. It’s all up to you, so just decide and choose what works best for you.

For example, while everyone has their own strategy for documenting (weekly/monthly/by events), I choose to document weekly because I love the consistency and regularity of that. Also, it’s just less confusing for me to do weekly documenting. But even if I change my mind and decide to document monthly instead of weekly, I can switch it up with no problems at all.

This also means you can also choose to go all paper, all digital or a combination of both (hybrid). Whether you use 12×12, 9×12, or 6×8, size is completely up to you too.

Whatever works for you, pick that.

5. It focuses on the things I love.

In the end, I love pocket scrapbooking because it combines everything I love (making memories + documenting + being creative) into one fun big project.

And I couldn’t enjoy it more. Enough said.

Are you using pocket scrapbooking to document your memories? What do you like about this method?

P.S. Still not convinced? I also liked this post on pocket scrapbooking.

Missed the other posts in this series? You can catch up on them here:

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All the Memories is a blog series talking about all things memory keeping – from memory keeping ideas to answering your questions. This is the year to get those memories documented!