I’m really excited to share my newest video tutorial with you! It’s all about how, when, and why to use standard size (8.5x11) templates for scrapbooking and other projects. I also show how to change this size into a square layout and how to use 12x12 templates to create letter size pages. I hope you find lots of inspiration and fun ideas from watching!

There are many scrapbookers who love a rectangle page format - meaning a standard 8.5x11 paper size. These types of layouts fit in binder-style scrapbooks and are very versatile. Many love this size because it’s easy to print at home. While I’m usually a square scrapper (12x12 or smaller size), I also love having the option for letter size scrapbooking. I especially used this format when working with my kids back in our homeschool days. There are so many options for this size of page and now I have some standard size templates in my shop!

I finally got my September roundup done! I usually do this no later than the first week of the following month, but I got behind due to our early Thanksgiving celebration + a tiny bit of laziness. I was determined to keep up my long-standing habit (haven't missed a month since January of 2006!) and I'm so glad I took the time to get this done!
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You don't have to do your roundup in layout form, but that's how I love to do mine. I love combining the memories, news, photos, and moments of the past month into a page that can go in our family photo books.

Want to learn more about how to use digital embellishments like flowers and washi tape? I put together a brand new tutorial to celebrate the release of my Color Stories embellishments and it’s available to watch now here in this post or on my YouTube channel.

With Digital Scrapbook Day on Saturday and my new releases, I almost forgot that today was the last day of the month! I’m so glad that the roundup habit is such a part of my life, that I literally can’t forget it. I love jotting down our memories and taking some time to close out the month before I move on to the next one. So let’s roundup September and get ready for a great October!

My daughter and her husband adopted a cute little golden doodle last year and named her Piper. This dog is so very loved! She has brought so much joy into their lives and my daughter couldn’t wait to throw a dog party for Piper and all of her dog park friends.

Not to alarm anybody, but as of today there are only 100 days left in the year! That means if you have certain projects you want to accomplish this year, now is the time to get going on them. It’s also a great time to start your holiday shopping a little early this year as experts are projecting that there will be shortages of many items, including toys.

For me, this is a great reminder to check in on my creative projects and goals and evaluate what I want the rest of the year to look like for me and my family.

The first day of Fall is on September 22nd this year. That also happens to be my daughter’s birthday and she is one of those ladies that lives for Autumn. It is my favorite time of year as well and I love the cozy feeling of slightly cooler weather. I’m lucky to live in a place where we are nearby to many canyons full of trees with changing leaves.

I also like the more settled feeling of Fall. With kids back in school, most people are on more of a regular schedule. Of course, this year isn’t exactly normal or settled in any way - but I guess we can still find ways to appreciate the season. Here are some fun links you might enjoy:

August 2021 was an unusual month (aren’t they all now?) full of tough news in the world and a few fun getaways for our family. We attended the Utah Shakespeare Festival after missing it last year for the pandemic. They required masks for indoor plays and we mostly saw outdoor plays. It still felt odd to be in such large groups.

Jeff, Alex, and I traveled to Hawaii and went to the island of Lana’i. We had an amazing trip there and we felt lucky to squeeze it in right before the Hawaii Governor asked tourists to stop their visits until the end of October. Everyone in Hawaii was really great about wearing masks. and the state of Hawaii has very strict protocols about requiring vaccines. We felt much safer there than we do at home in Utah.