what have I let myself in for !!!!!!

[seatrout]

I am in serious trouble !!!!!!!!!!!

I asked my eldest grandaughter if she had any idea what she would like for her 18th birthday present next March ... and ....

she wants a scrapbook (photobook) chronicling her life so far with layouts of her, her sister, and her 4 cousins since they were babies.

OMG !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have scrapbooks going back that far but only started doing digi pages at the beginning of this year.

I have been looking through what I want / should put in and really think that 6 months is not long enough to complete this.

That will teach me .

[NatalieKW]

Tell her maybe for her 21st birthday! :) At least you know she loves your work!

[seatrout]

Tell her maybe for her 21st birthday! :) At least you know she loves your work!

That's true .. quite a compliment really. I'm gonna have a go and see how I get on anyway

[Amy Carey]

four words for you. Templates. Are. Your. Friends. :P

[hollyxann]

Templates!

And why don't you just do as much as you can now, print just the pages...not in a book, buy a book and then add to it as you get pages done?

[origami]

Templates!

And why don't you just do as much as you can now, print just the pages...not in a book, buy a book and then add to it as you get pages done?

You know, the awesome thing about digital scrapbooking is that you can do just this. Buy a scrapbook and work on the pages, adding to the book as you get it done. When you get it completely finished, if you want you can have a professionally bound book created. And I agree, templates, templates, templates!

[Nikki Epperson]

And you can watch for FWP quickpages!!!

Good luck!

[nun69]

I just did this for my daughter{18} and I started last October and am still not done...she has seen it, but knows I am still working on it :) and I agree TEMPLATES are your friend :)

suggestions:
do the more recent stuff first
do yearly reveiws {2 page spreads}
do special events{graduation, prom, holidays and birthdays in particular}
and then anything else you can get too :)

I also did somethign like this so I wouldn't have to scrap every school year :)
https://www.sweetshoppecommunity.com/gallery/data/569/06_30_11SamThen_NowWeb.jpg (https://www.sweetshoppecommunity.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=196344&ppuser=2887)


and here are a few others I have done as well :)
https://www.sweetshoppecommunity.com/gallery/data/569/1993InReviewWeb.jpg (https://www.sweetshoppecommunity.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=190337&ppuser=2887)
https://www.sweetshoppecommunity.com/gallery/data/594/06_16_11GraduationWeb.jpg (https://www.sweetshoppecommunity.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=190031&ppuser=2887)
https://www.sweetshoppecommunity.com/gallery/data/608/2003HawaiiWeb.jpg (https://www.sweetshoppecommunity.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=188278&ppuser=2887)
https://www.sweetshoppecommunity.com/gallery/data/545/05_09_11Disney2007.jpg (https://www.sweetshoppecommunity.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=184816&ppuser=2887)

[seatrout]

Love the idea of a spread of school years - rather than a page per one. That will save me loads of time.
I am an avid Cindy's template fan so I agree .. it will be templates all the way.
Thanks for the ideas x

[rach3975]

I agree--that's a wonderful compliment, and she must be a very special teenager if she'd request that kind of present.

I'd start with a plan that has a reasonable number of pages. So for example, if you plan to make 5 pages a month for the next 6 months you need to figure out what the most important 30 pages are. If you create a plan and stick to it, I think you can finish it by her birthday. No, it won't have EVERYTHING, but there will be enough for a good look back at her life and family. I'd do:

Yearly pages--if you use calendar years rather than by organizing by age, you can include a photo of each of the people she requested for each year. Include a photo of her birthday on each one, too.

A couple pages for family pictures.

A page about hobbies, sports, or stages that covers major things she was into throughout the past 18 years.

A then and now page for each of the people with their personality, family stories you want to share about them, etc.

A few pages for significant events or holidays

A few pages with messages from them to her on her 18th birthday

Good luck!

[MamaBee]

oh how fun!! It's really nice that she wants this! If she doesn't live very far away, it might be fun if she came and helped a Saturday - picking out photos and just hanging out with you and you two work on this... :)

[marlathrall]

What a sweet request! Like everyone else, I say use templates and just scrap the really big moments, your favorite pictures, etc. Scrap whichever ones make you excited first and you will get through it in no time...

I'm actually kinda working on this for my whole life. I'm going to take it slow though and just scrap old pictures as the mood strikes. Good luck.

[TheHybridMess]

four words for you. Templates. Are. Your. Friends. :P

this. exactly. Janet has her Scrap Your Heart Out 2 Album in Penny Candy. It has 45 templates in it.

[seatrout]

oh how fun!! It's really nice that she wants this! If she doesn't live very far away, it might be fun if she came and helped a Saturday - picking out photos and just hanging out with you and you two work on this... :)

That would be lovely - I would really enjoy that but unfortunately she lives about 4 hours drive away. I also think that we would just spend loads of time looking at photos and gossiping and no time actually deciding anything !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!