I finally started my scrapbook

[mrsbornkuntry]

I've been posting alot of questions, trying to learn as much as I can before I got started and I finally just broke down and tried it. I did my first page a few nights ago and tonight I did 3 pages (although one still needs journaling). I'm okay with how they turned out, the only thing that I didn't like is that alot of my letters are handwriting. I used stickers, too, but I'm out of printer ink and waiting impatiently for it to arrive (I ordered it online), but I didn't want to wait to start since I finally had an idea of what I wanted to do.

I decided on chronologically so I started with a "Home is where the Army sends us" page, then a page from our first year with the kids wearing pieces of his uniform. Then I started on his away time, first a 30 day training. My next few pages will be Bosnia, that's going to be hard to do without him here for me to ask questions, I may have to save the journaling for after he sees the album. It's going to span 9 years.

I'm really excited now, and now that I've gotten started I realize that I didn't buy nearly enough paper or embellishments (do you ever really have enough?), so I'll have to do some more shopping soon. Thank-you everyone for your help.

 

[Kim1964]

Congratulations!! Isn't it fun? I just started in January, and completing my first couple of pages was a real thrill for me. Keep up the good work.

 

[Lisa]

Good for you for starting! I feel the first page of every new album is the toughest. It sets the tone for the rest of the album and of course we want all our albums to be perfect. I've long since come to the realization that life isn't perfect so why should my albums be.

Keep us posted on your progress.

 

[pjlla]

Glad you got started...... for some reason the first page and the last page are always the hardest!......................P

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

YAY!!! I'm glad you dove in and started. I hope you have fun! And if you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask!

ETA you may want to ask DH to do some journalling. If he is gone and can get mail just send him some pre-made tags to fill out and mail them back to you. That way you know they will fit one the page but some of them are in his words and writing.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

ETA you may want to ask DH to do some journalling. If he is gone and can get mail just send him some pre-made tags to fill out and mail them back to you. That way you know they will fit one the page but some of them are in his words and writing.

I like that idea, but the album is a surprise for when he gets home so I'll have to wait until he sees it for him to do it. I can intentionally leave room for him to do that, though.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

I like that idea, but the album is a surprise for when he gets home so I'll have to wait until he sees it for him to do it. I can intentionally leave room for him to do that, though.

After I typed it I thought Oh isn't this a surprise. But it would still be nice to have his writing.
How are you going to ask him questions without him getting suspicious? Is there anyone around that was in his unit that could tell you some stuff?

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

After I typed it I thought Oh isn't this a surprise. But it would still be nice to have his writing.
How are you going to ask him questions without him getting suspicious? Is there anyone around that was in his unit that could tell you some stuff?

There really isn't anyone around that I can ask for the older stuff, but he has alot of memorabilia left from each deployment. Luckily he was never gone for more than 6 months (he kept having to come home early because our ds was diagnosed with leukemia). He is a packrat so he has kept EVERYTHING, all of his orders, every single leave request, all kinds of stuff. And I wrote descriptions on the backs of the pics he took when he got them developed so I think I'm pretty well off. Plus we've been married for over 11 years and I think I can phrase things without him getting too suspicious, I can just say "when you were in Bosnia did you do such and such like you do where you are now?".

I did get nervous today, we were talking on IM and he asked me what his amazon password is and I said he didn't have one, he just uses mine so he asked for mine and after he logged in I thought "oh, no, I hope he doesn't check the orders and see where I ordered the scrapbooking bag, think fast, what can I be scrapping?" He didn't mention it, but we did just take a Disneyland trip so that was going to be my cover.

I realized last night that I would need some different colors, I'm already getting tired of working with green and khaki, so I picked up some cardstock to use for mats. I also picked up some more letters (I thought about stamps, but I was at Target and didn't see any that I liked) so I got some stickers and when I went to the register they were on clearance for .74 .

And one more bit of luck, I finally got ink for my printer so I'm going to spend this evening reading up on the "downloading fonts" info in the sticky.

Thanks for all of the support, I think this is an addiction, I'm already starting to think about what I want to make for my next album, lol.

 

[Alison Wonderland]

Yes, it is an addiction..............

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

This is a good site for fonts and they are all free, so they are even better.

http://www.momscorner4kids.com/fonts/

Yep it is an addiction! LOL
You better whip together a DL album incase he wants to see it!

My DH is a packrat too. Our basement flooded last month so as I'm drying paper I found all sorts of Navy stuff. Papers, dental records.You name I have it. Even our moving manifest from when we got out. That was 13 years ago!
Sorry to hear about your son. I'm glad they let DH come home. That has to be tough trying to be there for your unit and your family. DH was on subs so when he was gone that was it, no contact until they came home. It was not an easy life for either of us, but my dad was military so I knew what to expect.

So what colors did you end up getting? I need to do some Marine pages for our Heritage albums and I'm not sure if I want to go with camo colors or something else.
Good deal on the stickers! Target tends to clearance their Scrap aisle frequently so you should be able to get some good deals there.