The One with Scrapping Jane's Monthly Photos

One day I look forward to every month is the 28th. Why? Because that's when my baby girl Jane is another month older! Before she was even born I went to JoAnn Fabrics and picked out 12 girly and fun yards of fabric as backdrops to photoshoots I wanted to take every month leading up to her first birthday. I'm proud to say I've kept up with my monthly goal so far - we're up to 9 months! And what are photos for if not to be scrapbooked? One of my very favorite topics to scrap is my children and their milestones/accomplishments. I hope one day they'll love looking through their albums and seeing their first time eating rice cereal, first steps, monthly updates, travels, holidays, and such.

So, every month on the 28th, I select one of the fabrics and choose a frilly dress and matching accessories to go with the fabric. If I happen to have a certain scrapbooking line that I want to use, I even go as far as to coordinate everything together! Please tell me I'm not the only one who does this! Once I have the fabric and her outfit chosen, I tape up the fabric to a wall outside in the shade and plop Jane on the fabric. As she's gotten older she's become more and more mobile and distracted so I have to keep the photoshoots brief and just take as many pictures as I can before she gets antsy or grumpy or both. Having her big brother Fox there to entertain her or a fun toy gets me a few extra seconds of cooperation!

Once the photos have been snapped I put the camera card reader in my computer and select my favorite dozen or so pictures to edit and eventually scrap. Then I'll compose a blog post of all of her growth stats and latest and greatest accomplishments from the last month. I send the photos to Costco.com to print, along with a few other photos I need printed that I want to scrap, and pick them up a few hours later.

When it's time to sit down and scrap the photos I pull products that match the fabric backdrop and Jane's clothes. Like I said, sometimes I pick the scrapbook line first, but usually I coordinate from the photos afterwards. I love to use lots of doilies, jewels, pearls, and frills on these monthly layouts of Jane. The frillier the better I say! Then I open up my blog post and try and include as many of the details in the journaling as I can. Sometimes I handwrite the journaling, sometimes I make it on a typewriter - whatever I think goes with the nature of that particular layout.

Here are most of Jane's monthly layouts so far:

ONE MONTH by Paige Evans

Supplies: Cardstock, patterned paper, stickers (bird, borders, feather, hearts, letters), die cuts (branch, journaling spots), sentiment stamp, pen, adhesive: American Crafts; Die cut background paper, spray mist: Studio Calico; Doilies: Dollar supply; Ink: StazOn; Punches: Fiskars (decorative corners), Marvy Uchida (scalloped circle); Sewing machine: Brother; Thread: Coats & Clark

2 MONTHS by Paige Evans

Supplies: Cardstock, patterned paper, patterned vellum, brads (epoxy, fabric), wooden epoxy button, burlap bow, stickers (bird, borders, feathers, heart, label, leaves, letters, number, sentiments), chipboard (arrow, bird, leaves), stamps (date, heart border), pen, adhesive: American Crafts; Doily: Wilton; Ink: StazOn

JANE AT 3 MONTHS by Paige Evans

Supplies: Cardstock, patterned paper, patterned vellum, brads (epoxy, fabric), buttons, stickers (border, flowers, heart, label, journaling spot, leaf, letters, number, number border), chipboard (arrow, flowers), date stamp, pen, adhesive: American Crafts; Doilies: Wilton; Pearls: K & Company; Sequins: Pebbles; Pinking shears: Fiskars; Scalloped scissors: Provo Craft; Border punches: EK Success (scalloped), Fiskars (fan); Typewriter: Smith Corona; Sewing machine: Brother; Thread: Coats & Clark; Ink: StazOn; Spray mist: Tattered Angels

JANE AT 4 MONTHS by Paige Evans Supplies: Cardstock, letter stickers, date stamp, ink, pen, adhesive: American Crafts; Patterned paper, flashcards, journaling spots, labels, pennants, sentiment die cuts: Elle's Studio; Pearls: Pebbles; Sequins, jewels (flower, star): Craft supply; Jewel chain: Pink Paislee; Doilies: Wilton; Spray mist: Studio Calico (brown), Tattered Angels (gold); Gold pen: EK Success; Decorative corner punch: Fiskars; Die cut machine (Cameo), doily die: QuicKutz; Sewing machine: Brother; Thread: Coats & Clark

JANE @ 5 MONTHS by Paige Evans Supplies: Patterned paper, stickers (arrows, "@", doily, flowers, heart, letters, number, sentiments), stamps (date, day of the week), adhesive: American Crafts; Pearls: K & Company (flower), Recollections (dots); Jewels: Recollections; Sequins: Craft supply; Lace trim: Hero Arts; Doilies: Wilton; Ink: StazOn; Spray mist: Tattered Angels; Punches: American Crafts (lace border), Martha Stewart Crafts (butterflies); Typewriter: Smith Corona

6 MONTHS by Paige Evans

Supplies: Cardstock, patterned paper, gold foil paper, buttons, ribbon, chipboard (chevrons, tree), stickers (branch, flower border, letters, number, "today"), date stamp, adhesive: American Crafts; Paper clips: American Crafts (heart), Studio Calico (with felt bow, with fabric pennants); Stickpins: Making Memories; Doilies: Wilton; Bow: Crate Paper; Heart punch: Martha Stewart Crafts; Sewing machine: Brother; Thread: Coats & Clark; Typewriter: Smith Corona; Ink: StazOn; Spray mist: Studio Calico

8 MONTHS by Paige Evans

Supplies: Cardstock, patterned paper, wooden buttons, chipboard (canvas letters and number, doily, flowers, heart, word label), crocheted doily, stickers (epoxy heart, puffy heart), date stamp; adhesive: American Crafts; Sequins: Pebbles; Jewels: Recollections; Spray mist: Studio Calico; Pen: Uni-Ball Signo; Ink: StazOn; Corner rounder: Fiskars; Sewing machine: Brother; Thread: Coats & Clark; Die cut machine (Cameo), doily die cut (Silhouette): QuicKutz

Once I have Jane's 12 monthly layouts made I haven't decided if I'll put them all into a special album or just keep them in her chronological album. I plan to make a final layout with one photo from each of her monthly photoshoots, just like I did with my son Fox, to culminate in a final hoorah!

FIRST 12 MONTHS by Paige Evans

Supplies: Cardstock, patterned paper, tearaway strip, epoxy brads, chipboard label, tags, pen, adhesive: American Crafts; Baker's twine: The Twinery; Stickers: American Crafts (foam numbers), Cosmo Cricket (mini alphabet), Making Memories (numbers); Spray mist: Studio Calico; Circle cutter: Martha Stewart Crafts; Punches: Fiskars (corner rounder), Martha Stewart Crafts (pinked circle), Marvy Uchida (circle)

I hope you are inspired to scrap monthly photos and document the milestones in your baby's lives!