Storytelling With The Rainbow Scrapbook Kit | No. 5
As I was thinking through stories I might want to tell using the Rainbow Scrapbook Kit I kept thinking about doing some kind of garden/yard documenting project. I enjoy gardening the same way that many of you enjoy memory keeping as a hobby and I've never really documented a complete growing season (usually I tell a few stories here and there and share images + words in my Instagram account).
I considered grabbing a blank 6x8 album but then opened up the notebook I used to tell stories last summer and knew right away that a notebook was going to be the way to go for this project.
As I flipped through last summer's notebook I remember how much I enjoyed using that to document some of my summer stories. I love that it's something I can hold in one hand and something that can be used for simply taking notes as well as creating more "crafty" spreads documenting the story of my yard in 2022.
I grabbed one of the Art Of Noticing notebooks we offer (the ones in the shop right now are yellow) and decided to dive right in and ended up creating four different spreads that you'll see in the video and images below. I also created another Around The Yard digital word art circle that you can download here.
Let's dive in to the video to see how this all comes together (I'm so excited to add to this over the growing season):
Here's a look at how these spreads turned out:
When I'm working in one of these notebooks for the most part I am building on the pages that are already available in the album. That means sometimes I'm adding pattern papers or photos or embellishments or typed up journaling or handwritten journaling.
For the first page in my Yard Notebook I wanted to do an introduction - it was also a great time to dive into my stash and see what I have from past projects that would work well for these kinds of stories. I actually ended up with a little pile of things I know I want to add for upcoming stories and that made me super happy.
When you first open the notebook I added three of the vellum circles from the Rainbow Kit and on top of each I added an embellishment including a chipboard circle, a pleather circle, and a plastic butterfly from The Great Outdoors Collection last year.
On the second page I adhered one of the pattern papers from the Rainbow Story Kit. On top of that I added a vellum pocket + tag (an add on from last December - definitely planning to add more of those to this project) and printed my intro journaling directly onto the tag (see more about that process in the video).
On top of the vellum pocket I added a chipboard piece from the March 2022 Stories By The Month™ kit (great colors in that one that work really well with the Rainbow Scrapbook Kit) and some chipboard phrases from my stash.
For my journaling I used the repeated phrase "It's where I/we..."
On the back of the tag I added the remainder of pattern paper from one of my other projects this past week.
The grosgrain ribbon added to the tag is from this set.
After my intro spread I dove right into my first story. My yard almost always begins again with daffodils.
For this first spread I decided to pair two photos with some handwritten journaling. I love that these notebooks have this framework already printed inside - it allows me to choose if this is a good structure for my story or if I want to cover it up and do something different. Love the options. The large photo is 4.25 inches x 8.25 inches and the second photo is 3.25 x 3.5. The photos are adhered into the notebook using red line tape.
On top of the long photo I added a patch I've had in my stash for a long time from the Design Story Kit. On top of the second photo I added a plastic month abbreviation (this was a recent subscriber add on option). My plan is to incorporate those plastic months into this notebook as a designator for each month.
The second story I wanted to tell was some basics about the tasks I'm currently embarking on in my yard including planting some new bare root roses and building new raised beds from Vego Garden.
In Photoshop I set up a canvas that was 4.25 inches wide x 8.25 inches tall and collaged my three photos. On top of those photos I added three fabric numbers (recent subscriber add on option).
In between the two pages of this spread I decided to add two cards from the March 2022 Stories By The Month™ Kit. These are adhered together with a small piece of folded cardstock in the middle that allowed me to adhere it behind the long page of journaling (see the video for more details).
As I started thinking about the kinds of stories I want to tell monthly in this notebook I think I'll have a lot of fun using pieces from the Stories By The Month™ kits.
In Photoshop I took one of the digital March 2022 Stories By The Month™ cards and adjusted the size to 4.25 inches across and used the clone tool to carry the same color down the 8.25 inch canvas. I loved being able to add a much longer story onto the same design as the 4x6 card from the kit.
On the back of the inserted card I added the March Gratitude card and plan to incorporate that card each month.
Love that I can add to that as the month goes on.
The last spread I did for now is one that documents some of my yard goals/thoughts/focuses for this growing season.
I used one of the 12x12 pattern papers from the Rainbow Scrapbook Kit as the background (cut it to 8.5 inches wide x 8.25 inches tall and then in half again for each page of the spread).
On top of the pattern paper I added these tags that I've had on my table for months. They have been waiting to be used to tell a story and today was the day! I love how this turned out.
On top of one of the tags I cut a piece of Grafix Plastic to the same shape and added a title using the Gold Puffy Alpha Stickers. I also used eyelets to add a little "something" to each of the tags.
SUPPLIES
- Rainbow Scrapbook Kit
- Epson XP15000 Printer
- Red Line Tape
- 6 Hole Punch
- Rolling Date Stamp
- Staz On Ink
- Corner Rounder
- Tiny Attacher
- March 2022 Stories By The Month™ Kit
- Art Of Noticing Notebook
- Eyelets
- Crop A Dile (for setting eyelets)
- Gold Puffy Alpha Stickers
- Number Tags (past kit/add on)
- Fabric Number Stickers (past add on)
- Vellum Envelope With Tag (past add on)
- Plastic Months (past add on)
- Ribbon
- Plastic Butterflies
- We R Memory Keepers Hole Punch
- Grafix Plastic Sheet
so Awesome! Ali we totally need a gardening kit!!! Like the outdoors one but for us gardeners!!!
I agree! I’m kind of surprised there hasn’t been me yet.
Yes!!!! This would be amazing.
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Love how you're using so many of the kits together. It's great! What is the font you used on your intro page?
It's Typewriter Condensed. Love it!
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This will be a treasure for years to come! Love how you've arranged every page. I am hoping that when I take the Canva class later this year (still finishing up a few other projects) that I will learn to size photos and start printing at home too :)
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Thank you for the word art. I am having trouble though. It’s not downloading as separate files as they usually do. It’s a picture with two different sized circles/text.
It's just a one page PDF with the circles already added (vs. an individual PNG).
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This is such a happy little notebook and you’ve just begun! Love the bright colors! Regarding the tape runners: mine used to come in a red box of 4, red and white case on the tape runner itself. My latest order from Amazon (same scotch runners) came in a black box of 4 and the runner itself has a clear case. Otherwise the same runner but I don’t think the refills (no case) will be compatible. I hope you get some figured out soon! I did laugh when you talked about all the staticky red plastic pieces all over 😬😉
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I've loved the videos all week. We love the products, and it's always so great to see layout and story ideas for them. It's such a boost to get me to use the products (instead of hoarding them like I tend to do). Thank you!
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Am I doing something wrong downloading the "around the yard"? It will only save as a wepb file.
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THIS IS SO AWESOME!!!!!!!
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Spring has sprung!! This was just the pop of color and freshness I needed today. Thank you for sharing all the how-tos!
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Love this so much! I did a summer TN inspired by you last summer. It was such fun! I think those tags were August stories by the month last year? Fun!
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I love this so much and am so inspired after watching the video. Definitely pinning these ideas for later! I wish there had been more inspiration for last years quarterly kits. They were filled with so much good stuff but I struggled coming up with ideas on how to use the products.
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Love it! Just wondering what the rainbow sweater is that you're wearing in the video?
Hi! It's a sweatshirt from PJ Salvage: https://www.pjsalvage.com/products/rclwst2-oatmeal
Love it!!
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Love this. If I had your garden, I would totally make a notebook about it. I look forward to following along. ❤️
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Cannot EVEN begin thinking gardening as we have 5" of snow that just dumped over the weekend. BUT, I am going to do a TN for Spring. I did one for Summer and Fall last year and loved it! Yours is SO cute!
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I love this. I am starting my own around the yard notebook now. I am looking forward to seeing how my garden evolves/changes throughout the year. I can’t wait to use my rainbow kit with it as well. Ali it looks beautiful and very engaging.
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This is amazing, Ali. I love.it!! The colours are perfection.
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If anyone was curious on where the numbers tags came from, they were an add-on on for the Ampersand kit/ Color scheme for August 2021 SBTM kit.
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