Around The Yard Notebook | April 2022

As we get close to the end of April I wanted to take some time to add a few pages to my Around The Yard notebook. 

I started this notebook in March as a way to document what's happening in my yard. I love the idea of using notebooks for specific themes (during my Storytelling With Stamps series next week you'll see me start a new one for some everyday life stories). I'm primarily using the Stories By The Month kits for this project along with a lot of full page photos. 

You can see the beginning pages in this notebook here.

If you'd like to see more about memory keeping in notebooks check out this video: Telling Stories In Notebooks. 

Let's dive in to the video: 

Here are the completed notebook spreads: 

Back in March I established a couple design foundation formulas that I've decided to continue as we transition from one month to the next. It's likely that I'll need to start a second notebook sometime this summer as I imagine I'll tell stories in here through October (the tail end of the majority of the things I grow here in Oregon). 

Having a couple spreads that repeat a design removes some of the guess work out of creating my pages. To start I used the simple foundation that's built into the Art Of Noticing notebook and added in a full page photo (4.25 inches x 8.25 inches) along with a second photo sized a little smaller than the outline square. I used a Uniball Vision Elite pen for my journaling and added a chipboard embellishment from my stash on top of the plastic abbreviated month. 

The next spread features a full photo spread (sized 8.5 inches wide x 8.25 inches tall and cut down the middle). In between the speed I added two 4 inch x 6 inch cards from the April Stories By The Month™ kit which are adhered back to back and include a small folded piece of cardstock in between. That small piece of cardstock is then adhered to the back of one of the photos in order to create a new page. 

On the back of the pattern 4 inch x 6 inch card I added the 3 inch x 4 inch April Gratitudes card (love that this is a card included with the kit each month). 

The next spread features a full page photo and two additional photos that are 1/2 page. I used cards and a chipboard piece from the April Stories By The Month kit to create an additional page insert. Washi tape added along the bottom covers up the .25 inch left over. 

On the back of the April card is a daffodil photo and another journal card from the kit. I adhered the photo and the April circle pattern card back to back with a small piece of cardstock in between that was adhered to the back of the "current pieces of the story" card (same technique I used above). 

I can't tell you how much I'm loving having a home for these flower photos and getting some of these details of the flow/rhythm of the seasons in my yard. 

The last spread I put together for this month includes another big photo cut in half to go across both pages but this time I created a vellum pocket with journaling on top to hold some of the new plant tags. 

I started this by typing up my journaling and printing it on vellum (I use this printable vellum). After looking through my stash of printed vellum I came across a floral design from Heidi Swapp (here's a similar one to the one I used) to use on the back in order to create the pocket. I adhered both pieces of vellum together along the flap edge (the part that gets adhered behind one half of the photo) before running it through my sewing machine on three sides to create the pocket. 

When setting up my journaling I left some space (a tab) in order to add some gold puffy stars (these are from last year's December Daily® Star Mini Kit).

I loved making this into a pocket to hold these plant details. 

That vellum is so great! I also added a label sticker on the photo to designate the location where I plan to plant pumpkins again - that was one of my most favorite things to grow last year. 

Also a quick heads up that starting next Tuesday I've got a 9 day Storytelling With Stamps series to share with you here on the blog + YouTube. I had so much fun playing with the new stamps we recently released in collaboration with Laura Wonsik. You may have seen some images of these projects in the newsletter this week - next week's posts will include my process videos and additional images. 

SUPPLIES

• Art Of Noticing Notebook
• April 2022 Stories By The Month
• Heidi Swapp Floral Vellum (similar)
• Yellow Label Stickers (similar)
• Epson XP15000 Printer
• Corner Rounder
• Sewing Machine
• Scrapbook.com Rolling Adhesive
• Gold Puffy Stars from December Daily® Star Mini Kit
• Slick Writer Pen
• Heart Pen from Write Story Kit
• May 2022 Stories By The Month™ Kit Tabs
• Printable Ink Jet Vellum