I’m not that into April Fool’s Day, but I do love a good giggle. This seems like the perfect time to share some funnies I’ve been collecting. 😃

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for March to be over! We had a crazy month full of injuries and sickness and I’m excited to turn the page of the calendar and start fresh with April. I am looking forward to doing my roundup. It’s just become part of my routine and I’m so grateful for that. I can look back at any month since I started doing roundups in January of 2006 and find information on what our lives were like at any given time. It’s very useful for memory keeping and often helpful in many other ways as well. If you’ve never tried a roundup, how about making this the month you start? ☘️

I’ve been meaning to write a post about this for awhile now because this is one thing you need to keep in mind when creating a photobook. If your photos are close to the edge of your layout, they might get cut off in the “bleed” section of photobook printing. This post does a nice job of explaining about bleed.

This is important - I don't want you to think you need to have a perfect or even a great month to do a roundup! February of 2019 was a really hard month for our family, but when I write out all the things we did during the month and put that with some photos, I feel happy. I remember the good times and I celebrate getting through the month. I love being a memory keeper, even when times are tough. Taking pictures and writing down memories helps me remember what matters. My life is meaningful. My people matter. ❤️

For the past 13 years, I have done a simple little exercise at the end of the month that I call a roundup. This has been the most useful memory keeping tool I have ever used.

At the end of each month, I will be posting a reminder graphic to help prompt you to take a few minutes and gather your memories from the month. It’s easy and so worthwhile!

Here’s your February reminder ❤️

Whenever I run into a great online resource, I always get excited to share it with my readers here. I was checking out the Shutterfly site recently and I found this wonderful page of photo ideas.

I started designing in 2006. My first shop was at A Cherry on Top where I sold word art and idea files. I soon moved into designing papers and elements as well. I also sold at The Digi Shoppe and Natural Scrapbooking Designs (both are closed now). I took a break from designing from 2009-2012 while I focused on writing and scrapbooking, and later came back to it as mainly a template designer for a few years. I later added on pocket cards, printables, and some paper packs. I can’t seem to get it out of my system! I currently sell my products in my own shop at katiethecreativelady.com

I finally got around to trying Chatbooks and I think they are a fun way to create easy photobooks from your Instagram feed. I wouldn’t use them as my main form of memory keeping, but they now have a place on my shelves and in my heart.

I could use a good laugh right now, how about you? Let’s enjoy some funnies as we head off into the weekend!

I’ve decided that I really can’t go very long without some digital art journaling. It really does feed my creative soul. It’s funny because the style I use for art journaling is very different than the one I use in my general scrapbooking and even in my designing. Maybe that is why I need it so much.

My January roundup is all finished. How about yours? It’s easy and will only take a few minutes so don’t put it off any longer. 

At the end of January of 2006, I started doing a monthly roundup to recap what happened in the previous 31 days. Thirteen years later and I’m still doing this simple little exercise each month! This has been the most useful memory keeping tool I have ever used.