2020 Scrapbook Calendar

We had our kitchen redone in November of last year and it took about 5 weeks to finish.  Whew!  Working out of a sink in the powder room downstairs - cleaning plates and pans, let alone the time without a stove or microwave, etc. was extremely exhausting.  The finished product is well worth the work, but it messed up much of my crafting so that I'm way out of order in my projects starting this year.  I was behind in December and it continued throughout January.  Thus, I am sharing these photos of my scrapbook calendar a little late this year.

This will be my eighth annual post.  Previous years are found here:

2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2017
2019

Previous years utilized the Basic Grey calendar kit - oh how I miss those kits and their wonderful papers, embellishments and designs.  So classic, I'd make each of them again today.  Now, I'm stuck using my own ingenuity.  Not saying I don't have ingenuity, but there's something delightful for occasionally using a kit created by someone else.  They always had my own interpretation and charm.

Since I was behind this year, I decided to shop my stash and pull out embellishments that were in the stash from previous projects.  If you tune into our blog often, you'll recognize some parts and pieces from previous projects.

This mama of two finds that as the years move forward I am not taking as many pictures.  I also find there are more of my husband and I together than there has ever been.  Changes up the calendar slightly, but I still love making them and don't expect to stop anytime soon.

Thanks for sticking with my on the picture heavy post.  I appreciate each and every visitor and look forward to a crafty 2020.

A Special Tribute to My Grandma - A Gift for My Grandpa

As I posted earlier this week, I have made it a tradition to create a scrapbook calendar for my grandma as a Christmas present each year.   I always make one for my immediate family and one for my grandma.  Since my grandma passed away this year, I debated whether to make one for my grandpa - who would appreciate it, but not nearly as much as my grandma.  When I found a pile of old photos of my grandma, I decided I would make an extra special calendar of the photos of my grandma.

A 1970s Christmas photo - my grandma and grandpa taken by one of the kids - poorly done, but remember how you got the picture you got and didn't know until you developed the photos much later?  This photo makes me laugh, so I included it right at the start.

A very old photo of my grandparents - early 1960s...

My grandma as an infant...1929 or early 1930

It is hilarious how many photos were taken at the Continental Divide.  This one of my grandma is classic.

My grandma and grandpa with their kids.

My grandma, grandpa and my grandpa's mother (my great-grandmother) with their four girls.

My grandma and Aunt Betty circa 1944 which would make my grandma around 16 or 17 years old...  She was a pretty girl!

I couldn't resist including this photo of my grandpa immediately after the war - 1944 or 1945.

My aunts and uncles - all six kids.  Top left to right - Beth, Sue (my mom) and Nancy, then Bobby, Kenny and Becky in front.

A very snowy photo at the Continental Divide - my grandparents again!

My Uncle Keith (my grandpa's brother, Beth, Nancy, my grandma, Sue (my mom) and my great-grandpa Frank (my grandpa's dad).

One last Christmas Photo.  You probably can't see my grandpa's face in the darkness of the photo, but we laughed heartily - it looks as though it was a long Christmas....  I loved making the album and my grandpa enjoyed and will enjoy the calendar for long time to come.  It was a pleasure to make and I hope to have opportunity to do so in the years to come as well.  Time seems to pass quicker as I get older, yet time seems more precious than ever.

My Annual Scrapbook Calendar

This will be my seventh post.  Previous years are found here:

2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2017

In year's past, I used the Basic Grey calendar kit.  Sadly, Basic Grey has gone out of business so I no longer get the pleasure (and help!) of using their kit. The pictures are from the previous year so they end up being a condensed scrapbook of sorts and I always cut them out of the binding and put them into a scrapbook at the end of the year.   I always make one for my immediate family and one for my grandma. 

Sadly, my grandma passed away this year.  I decided to make one for my grandpa - an extra special version with pictures of my grandma when she was young.  I'll share that later this week as I have multiple pictures to edit and get posted.  Today, I'm sharing photos of the calendar I made for my family.

I'm hoping that I can continue this tradition, even though my grandma has passed on.  My daughter, Katie, made one for herself this year.  I decided to let her retain her privacy and am not posting here.  But, it give me hope for our future!

Happy New Year!

Contagiously Crafty Runs in the Family

My daughter decided during Christmas break from college that she wanted a calendar for her dorm room.  I think the original thought was that she wanted to me buy her some calendar on the shelf during a shopping trip.  We're used to her purchasing tricks, having spent 18 years (she couldn't form full sentences on shopping trips until she was over 12 months old...) distracting and correcting this habit.  So I responded - "Hey,  I have one of those calendar kits at home (leftover from 2014...) that you could use to make your own calendar with your own pictures."  I followed up my response by pulling the kit from the stash and placing it strategically on the island in the kitchen.  She quietly began putting it together and I thought to share her final product here with you.  Bear with me and all the pictures for another post this year...

This kit is from Basic Grey - a now defunct manufacturer.  This project made me miss them, their design and creativity more.  Any funkyness to the photos are the fault of photography - Katie's or mine.  The pages are fantastic in person and will be a nice hello from home or her friends as she will be away at school for a large portion of 2018 - her first since last fall was her freshman semester in school.  Like mama, like daughter...

for Katie