Sketches on Wednesday Challenge

This is for the sketch given on Wednesday at Apron Strings Designs Blog.  I have been so focused on my School Years Album, that this felt good to take a departure and do something else.

Here is the sketch:

From Nuts About Sketches

And here is my take:

May Days with Family

In May we had a lot of visitors, and this spread captures some of the highlights.  I still have to do my journaling!

Made from the February 2010 Smaller than a Breadbox Kit, Cosmo Cricket - The Boyfriend.

Saturday Challenge

I actually had some time this weekend to scrapbook, and it felt so good!  I thought that I might get to all three challenges this week, but I only had time for two (so far!).  This is for the Saturday Challenge at Apron Strings Designs Blog.  It is also another spread for my school years album.  I'm having so much fun with this!

From my School Years Album

I used my stamps from The {Stamps} of Life by Stephanie Barnard for the titles. I actually went back and used this same format for all of the titles.  They are looking good!  The word represents the theme of the year. 

School Years Project Post 1

I have been in education for 19 years.  Over the years I have saved my class photos, faculty photos, memorabilia and other items.  It seemed overwhelming to know what to do with it all.

A few years, at a cropping retreat I ran into a teacher who was working on her school album.  She had narrowed it down to two spreads for each year, and kept the format the same.  At that point I knew that this is what I wanted to do as well.

I bought an album (we r memory keepers, red leather, three ring).  I filled it with pages, and kept place holders for each year.  Over the last two years I have stashed things in this album, sorted photos and tried to find all of the photos for years past.

Still, I didn't know what I was going to do with it all.  I needed a plan.

Finally, about a month ago, I decided to design a sketch that I could follow and get started.  I looked through old magazines for inspiration, and I finally felt that I knew what I wanted to do.  I was going to create two, 2-page layouts for each year.  The first spread would be for group photos, including class photos, faculty photos, or any all-school photos.  The second spread would be for other candids and memorabilia. 

Here is the sketch that I drew:

Sketch for school years album

Here is a sample from my first year teaching.  First, the group photos:

Faculty and Class Photos 1991

 

For this spread, I will use school theme papers.  I have been collecting for the past few years, knowing that eventually I would do this album.  Unfortunately, for this year I do not have the names of the faculty.  I wish that I had done a better job of labeling the group photos.  Overall, it's pretty good, but not great.

For the second spread, I plan to use cardstock in the school's colors.  Then, a primary type patterned paper that is torn and used on both sides.  Finally, I will create what looks like a file folder for the right hand side.  I will include a photo with me and some of my students each year (make sure that I am a part of this album!), and the rest of the space will be for journaling.  The file folder is also a pocket to keep other photos, cards or memorabilia inside.

Here is a sample from my first year:

Some photos from my first year 1991-1992

So far, I have four years done, and most of the paper ready for the other years.  The fun/hard part is picking 6-8 candid photos to use.  Lots of memories along the way.

I have not completed any of the journaling, but I figure that is something that I can add (probably via computer) when I am in the mood to write as opposed to create.

I hope you enjoyed!