Inspiration from Nancy

 Last year, Nancy posted a tutorial on her blog about making a vacation scrapbook. Or should I say an EASY vacation scrapbook? Because that's what this is. When I saw Nancy's scrapbook (see picture at left), I just knew I had to make one of my own. Too often I come back from vacation with hundreds of pictures and, as much as I love scrapbooking, if I'm behind on my scrapping (as I often am), the last thing I want to do is get even more behind by scrapping every single one of my vacation pictures.

from my Toronto vacation album:
a 4x6 photo page next to a regular layout

Enter Nancy's idea, which you can read more about here: pick 10 of your favorite photos and print those out as 8x10s. Those 10 photos will be the focal point of 10 12x12 layouts. For the rest of your photos, print them out as 4x6 and place them in 4x6 photo pages. (I bought American Crafts 4x6 photo pages, which fit six photos front and back, at Michael's.) Those pages will go in between the 10 layouts in your album. It doesn't matter if some of the pictures are vertical instead of horizontal. It just means you'll have to turn the album to view these pictures, but is it really that big of a deal when you think about how much time you'll be saving? (And if you have left over 4x6 photo pages, which I did, you can use those in your other albums. I'll talk about that later this month.)

Also, instead of using a post-bound album, Nancy suggests using a D-ring album (which is sort of like a binder). It's easier to add and rearrange pages, which makes the whole scrapping experience easier, and these albums don't cost any more than a post-bound album. I purchased an American Crafts D-ring album at Michael's.

In order to keep the album consistent, Nancy used the same composition and papers/embellies on each of her 10 layouts. I purchased a travel-themed scrapbook kit in order to have my layouts look the same. Do whatever works for you. The main thing is to keep it simple. You've got tons of pictures from your vacation and if you want to get them all in an album, this is a really easy and fun way to get it done. You don't have to overthink this. Just keep it simple and get it done!

For more info on making an album like this and to see more of Nancy's pages, visit her blog and read her tutorial. And while you're there, check out more of Nancy's blog posts. She's got a lot of inspiration to offer! And don't forget to share how Nancy inspired you in the comments. We'd love to see your layouts (or shots of a vacation album)!

Come back to Cook Scrap Craft on Friday if you like ice cream!