Dave.

Dave will be the connecting theme of the following layouts.

See, first of all, remember that two week long road trip that spanned 7 states? Dave drove every second of it, and pretty much planned every minute of it. What did I do? Zip. Zero Zilch. Just like the layout says. (This layout, BTW, comes from a Cocoa Daisy sketch challenge.)

Now, this road trip consisted of lots of fun spots, and many historical ones too. Some examples include, Fort Donelson, The National Civil Rights Museum, and Gettysburg. The beauty of going to these places with someone like Dave, is that he knows everything.  It's very informative. (And this layout was done with the help of a sketch from The Studio Challenges.)

So, two layouts and three cheers for Dave!

I Played Around a Bit with Cards

Oh, this darling summer that is coming to a close...I worked really hard this summer at just keeping the creating going, even as my supplies dipped low, and inspiration was even lower. To help push past those low points, I played around with card making for  a few days. I didn't worry too much about the results, and I used up some scraps.

September is a season chock full of Jewish holidays, the first of which is Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year. Thus, I made some New Year's cards:

I cannot believe how much easier it is to photograph cards than layouts!

Layouts to share

Here are two more layouts from our road trip that tell two different driving stories. Both of them make liberal use of Cocoa Daisy's August kit, as well as some items from older kits.

I'm sure everyone loves pictures of their kids sprawled out and passed out (not literally) in the back of the car. And the journaling here is short and sweet, about all the items that made those hours and hours and hours in the car more bearable: iPod, iPhone, PSP, GPS, and dramamine.

This one is based on a sketch from Cocoa Daisy. I did have to give props to the man who drove all those miles, and planned every activity in between. I did nothing really but help pack, and do laundry.

August Take Twelve Layout

Here she is:

When it comes to Take Twelve I've discovered that:
1) The photos always end up in some variation of a grid.
2) If I print my photos above 2 inches, I make a two page layout.
3) With so many photos, I usually use a solid colored, neutral, background paper.
4) I like to work with square photos.
5) I like my people photos most.
6) There is almost always a moment of discontent, when I first sit down to make my layout: How, oh how,  on earth can I fit 12 photos into one layout, without making it look like all my other Take Twelve layouts?
7) It usually works out in the end.

What patterns have you noticed in your Take Twelve projects?

Remember to link up your photos here, for a chance to win a spot in Elisha Snow's photography class over at Big Picture Classes.

Check out the rest of the Take Twelve team!

Elizabeth Dillow

Van Nguyen

Margie Scarpignato

Janette Kincaid

Monica Bradford

Jennie McGarvey

Lisa Day

Valerie Bishop

Amy Prior

Stephanie Medley-Rath

Angela Gutshall

Lisa Ottoson

Take Twelve Photos

As I mentioned, Sunday was a little stressful, since Max needed to come home from sleep away camp, due to his injured hand. It's a four hour drive, and we don't have a car. We were told by the camp that he "should" be able to get a ride home, but the details did not get settled until late in the day. Sitting with all that uncertainty, made it difficult to take photos, but I did my best with whatever camera I had handy at a given moment, vaguely hoping that it added up to 12 at the end of the day, but not too worried if it didn't. Take Twelve is about recording life, and sometimes when life is happening, you can't take pictures. The last row of pictures actually happened after midnight, and are technically from August 13th, but it was still the same day to me. And more importantly, MAX CAME HOME!

Anyway, in the morning, Sam went swimming with a friend. Dave and I partook in our Sunday morning ritual of coffee, pastry (not pictured- homemade lemon squares), and the New York Times wedding section. Later in the afternoon, Sam and I went out and did some back to school shopping. It was a nice, relaxing outing, where we weren't in too much of a rush, we were well fed, and we were actually out to buy things, which is way more fun than, "no, we're not getting that" trips. Sam even said, "I like these days when we just walk around." The trip to the comic book shop was just for browsing, though, as it often is. After all that walking, Sam was tuckered out as we waited for the bus, so he plopped himself down on the sidewalk. The evening was quiet, and Dave and I stayed up waiting for Max. I was scrapbooking while Dave worked on his laptop, and watched the latest episode of Breaking Bad. On the one hand, I like to know what's happening in the show. But it is way too violent for me, so I often have to leave the room. Dave sent me an email when the kill-y parts were over, and it was safe to return. Max came home at 2 am, and he must have been happy to be back, because he didn't even mind when I told him it was the 12th (well, the 13th) and I started clicking away. 

That's the end of my story.

And now for the good part: Link your photos or layout  here, by midnight EST on August 18th, for a chance to win a spot in Elisha Snow's workshop, Get Great Photos with Any Camera. 

Good luck. everyone!

Today I get to share this:

I might have mentioned once or twice or a thousand times that I love to use sketches when I scrapbook. So, I am excited to be part of this team. There are new sketches revealed on the 15th and 30th of every month...perfect for keeping your scrappy mojo going strong.

What, What's that you say?

What, What's that you say?
You say today is....
The 12th today!!

Yes it is. Time to get out those cameras and take 12 photos.

I'll be honest, today will take a little while to get into  the picture taking groove. Max is away at summer camp, and he fractured his wrist. So we need to get him home early. In the history of medical emergencies, this is not huge. Fractures heal, he is not upset or in pain, he has a ride home, but it is hard to feel in control of the situation when he is far away. I will feel better when he is back home.

But maybe a nice photo walk will be relaxing.

The Superman House-a page and a half layout

Oh, did this layout kick my buttocks. It all began so easily with my photo, and some embellishments. Whatever I had left from my Cocoa Daisy kit, and those My Mind's Eye borders worked perfectly.

And then. Then, it took me hours of trying to figure out how to fit my journaling onto the page. See, I had a lot to say about visiting the house where Jerry Seigel, the creator of Superman, grew up. Ultimately I realized I would need another page, and I settled on a 6"x12" page. I kept thinking, "But that just is NOT done." Which is true. It is not usually done on traditional layouts, but I think I like the way it turned out. And I definitely like the way 6x12 pages look and feel in albums.

So why was this house so interesting? First was just the story of getting there. We drove through a lot of Cleveland to reach this house, and the drive was just fun. Lots of joking around in the car. Then there was the confusion about whether this was a museum, or just someone's house. That question was answered when the owner of the houses came out to tell us about it. He just lives there with his family, and one day the city contacted him, and told him about the history of his house.  So, now he lives in a home with Superman paraphernalia in the window, where strangers come and take pictures. I just adore that little human interest piece of the story. And, finally, I just love that this was a place where some kid lived, and that kid grew up, and imagined a character, and people everywhere still know that character. They still write stories and make movies and TV shows about him. Furthermore, with Superman, the genre of superhero comics was created. How awesome is that?

The Bigger Picture

I really like telling little stories, and capturing small moments. In fact, I would consider it a strength of mine. Like here, at Fort Donelson, I captured a few photos of Max. It was late in the day when we visited there, it was hot, and while it we were all interested in the site, we were also interested in getting to our motel for the night. So at that time, Max was giving me his, "I'm not smiling for the camera" face. As I snapped away anyway with my, "this is our family vacation, so I am still going to take pictures" mindset, I made a joke. I don't recall what I said, but it's okay, because what matters to me is that I can still make Max laugh. 

Thank you Sketchabilities for this sketch.

But now I would also like to capture the bigger picture of our vacation. Where we went, what we did, and what we thought about it all. This is a bit more slow-going. But, I've been plugging away anyway, and here's what I got. It's about Mammoth Cave, and conquering my claustrophobia to join the family in the two hour cave tour. Two hours is a long time to be in a place without doors,in my opinion. I was very proud of myself when I was done. (And so glad to be in the big, green, luscious OUTDOORS.)

Coming up next: The Superman House