I often hear from other scrappers that they have run out of photos to scrap (yep, you heard that right, that can happen although never to me LOL) or they have run out of page ideas. Often the milestone events get scrapped such as birthday, graduations, holidays, etc but there are so many other moments to photograph and scrap about. Also, the focus doesn’t always have to be on your photo, you might scrap a page without a photo, choosing instead to focus on telling your story, your thoughts, your ideas. For this page, I snapped a few pics with my iphone of what I had for dinner. It’s a simple recipe so didn’t feel the need to type out the instructions but this page will remind me that I do love this casserole and will go into my food album. Food pages are a great idea because as the years go by, our health and eating preferences change, so it’s fun to look back on what you used to eat.

Another idea that has a lot of possibilities is to take random photos around your neighborhood, when you are out running errands, going shopping, travelling there and back and, again, you don’t need to bring a big DSLR if you don’t want to, just bring a little point and shoot or use your phone camera. I have a small mirrorless Sony camera that easily stores in my purse and I carry that with me often so I can grab quick shots with a bit better quality than my iphone (although I’m not knocking that camera by any means, it does a pretty good job). My hubby and I were driving down the highway in Bellingham, heading back from an afternoon at the casino. I snapped a pic through the windshield as we were driving.

Take photos of things that have an impact on you, positive or negative. Maybe your favorite sweater shrunk in the wash; take a pic of it and scrap about it. I love to scrap about my personal items. I took photos when we went to the store to buy a new big screen TV; also when we went to buy a new fake Xmas tree last winter. I took an iphone pic of my pile of clothes that I will wash and fold to put in the luggage for our trip in a few weeks. Here’s the page I created with those pics. I journaled about the preparation for the trip and the excitement I’m starting to feel.

We all have lots of “little moments” that make up our day and we all have hopes, dreams, fears and opinions which are great page topics you can explore. Have fun with it and head over here to check out the fun August challenges that you can participate in. Happy scrapping everyone!

Rae is part of the creative team at The Digital Press. She’s a photographer on the west coast of BC, Canada. Passions include chocolate, reading thrillers, watching Netflix and Hulu, scrapping and hanging out with her family and Taz, her Labradoodle.

Hi everyone! It’s the start of a new month, and that means a new crop of challenges in the forums here at The Digital Press. Each month we create a series of blog posts and challenges that correspond with one word. This month, we chose the word EXPLORE.

“Explore” can be interpreted many different ways and we would love to have you join us as we investigate these different aspects through our scrapbooking.

I personally gravitated towards the “Don’t live the same year 75 times and call it a life” word art. So I was thinking about reflecting on the past year of my life, and thinking about goals that were achieved and what needs working on for the next year.

So, what about you? Will you take some time to reflect on the past year of your life and see what you liked and would like to change? I’m hosting a challenge over on the forums at The Digital Press and I hope you will come play along! Check it out at The Drawing Board: Challenges. See you there!

About the Author: Amy is a wife and mom to three from Ontario, Canada. She’s always been interested in scrapbooking, but didn’t try digiscrapping until 2008 when she received PSE for her birthday. By then she had 1 year old twins and a baby, so the thought of just playing for 10 minutes, hitting save and walking away with no mess was extremely appealing! She’s been hooked ever since. She loves being the memory keeper in the family, loves taking photos, loves telling the stories. She’s also excited to know that these memories are recorded for her grandchildren to enjoy someday!

My Dad was born and grew up in a VERY small town in northern Arizona. Until a couple of years ago, I had no idea how my family ended up there, or even how my Grandparents met.

My Grandpa moved to Tucson in the 1930s – his Grandfather had died of tuberculosis and the family doctor recommended that his Grandma and Mom, who both had the disease, move the rest of the family to the dry Arizona climate for health reasons.  My Grandma’s family moved from Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl.  They packed all of their belongings into a truck and drove west on Route 66 until they ran out of money in the tiny town of Williams, Arizona (it’s very Grapes of Wrath).

My Grandpa and his brother owned a small construction company, and they were working out at the Camp Navajo Army Depot when he met my Grandma, who was working as a Secretary in one of the buildings.  As they say, the rest is history!

A scrapbook layout with some of my family history was definitely needed – I thought The Road Ahead by KimB and Digital Scrapbook Ingredients was perfect for this story.

I love all of the family photos from Williams – the annual Rodeo, the old buildings in town, my dad in an adorable bow tie and jeans, my Grandparents on their way to church, or my aunt and the family’s dog.  And my Great-Grandparents even make an appearance (off to the left) – one of just a few photos of them still in existence.

It is fun to think about the “what ifs”.  What if my Grandma’s family had made it farther west?  What if my Grandpa never moved north for work?  My dad (and my sister and I) wouldn’t exist!

We’d love to see your layouts – join us in the forum!

About the Author:  Kacy is a member of The Digital Press Creative Team.  She’s an Environmental Engineer living in Arizona with a cranky, pudgy, but insanely cute calico kitty.  She enjoys scrapbooking, crocheting, dancing awkwardly to electronic dance music, Grumpy Cat, cupcakes, Stephen King books, and men in kilts.