Fall Inspiration

I love fall. I think it's the most awe-inspiring season, and it's all ready that time of year. My drive to work this morning was so beautiful, with all the Larches turning and the magnificent colours of fall appearing all around me.

Because we were so struck by the colours and beauty of this time of year, my husband and I chose to get married in early October. With so much beautiful scenery in the background and the inspiration I see from the colours, I still found it a daunting task to get the photos in a scrapbook. We're celebrating our second wedding anniversary this fall, and I'm just starting to scrapbook the wedding pictures.

I think I saw the stack of photos (1000's of them, seriously) and was just overwhelmed. Where do I begin? How am I going to make this album so special and do these pictures justice when they're capturing such a momentous occasion?

Recently, I decided to not worry so much about order and to try and leave the stress behind and just remember why I do this. I love to scrapbook. That's my thing. I love the outcome and the memories that would have gone forgotten, but are captured forever in the pages of my (numerous) albums. Why would I cheat my wedding memories from that kind of preservation?

So, I started. I am not working in any order, just choosing my favourite photos and going from there. I've done about 6 pages so far, and I'm really enjoying it. In fact, I tend to put aside other projects to work on it. And guess what? It looks great. Sure, I'm probably taking a little more care with these layouts than I have with others, but I'm still just having fun and creating a keepsake that I as well as my husband and our family will cherish for generations.

Sometimes, I think we get caught up in the commercial aspects of scrapbooking and forget about why we started in the first place. I love that I have a hobby that makes me sit down and really think about how great my life is. Everyone should have that luxury.

If you're worried about scrapbooking the big stuff, don't be. Flip through your old scrapbooks and see just how many memories you captured that would have been long forgotten by now if you hadn't scrapbooked them. Take a chance. Jump in and really remember why you scrapbook.

Focus on photos

Sometimes, the simplest way to update your layouts is to work on the main element... your photos.

Make sure you always have your camera ready and try to capture people, places or experiences in a new or interesting light. If you have a digital camera, it's easy and inexpensive to snap multiple photos and disgard those which don't turn out.

Here are a few from a recent trip to Lake O'Hara that I love:

Try to avoid taking the standard, all in a line family photos, mix things up and your pictures will look more natural.

I find that changing the angle of your photos makes them a little more interesting. Try looking at things from a different perspective, above, below, through things, etc. And take lots!!

Just have fun with it and don't be afraid to experiment!