Things I LOVE (and Hope You'll Love, Too!)... Part I

Hello, friends!

I decided that for a little while, I'm going to take some time away from giving you tutorials and instead start a little series I'd like to call "Things I LOVE."  This post will be part one!  I hope you don't mind.  :)

I have a very adorable one year old daughter (if I do say so myself... haha), and I'm a photographer.

In an average week, I probably take close to 500 photos... (not all "print-worthy," of course!)  That being said, you can probably add up that with my thousands of photos (with most of those prints still in the bright orange Shutterfly envelopes... just hidden in decorative boxes to keep my place from being a total eyesore) and a very active little lady, who as of recently decided she's only a once a day napper {yikes}, I have very little time to put together the lovely scrapbook albums that I dream up in my head.  In fact, in the past year I've finished 2... <let me type that out again> TWO pages in her baby book.  The rest of the photos are either hidden in pretty boxes where I also keep my hopes and dreams of having time to make even a 3rd or 4th page, or they are in basic slide-the-picture-in-the-slot photo albums.  Nothing wrong with that, of course, but I really just enjoy putting my creativity to work, and it's very hard to find the time these days.

And then...I found the solution!  It's not perfect, and it may not be for you, but I think I've got it all figured out, for at least some of us.

The Smash Book.  Please watch this video and tell me you're not intrigued.

So, what's the big hype about K&Company's Smash Book's?  I had to find out.

Here is the Pretty Pink Smashfolio, which is by far my favorite!  A. It's pink.  B. The pages are oh so cute!  Let's have a look:

Honestly, there are some pages that I find so adorable that I almost don't want to cover them up with pictures or clippings.  Chances are, I probably won't!  :)

I also have the "Doodle Red" book that is pretty fun, too!  Here's a peek at a couple of those pages:

You can also separately buy some fun little embellishments they make for "smashing" purposes, too.  I personally like the Smash pads that come in many versions including Special Occasions, Family, 2 Of Us, Travel, Entertainment, and even blank pads.  These are fun to use if you're at a loss for ideas or need a little push to get your pen flowing.  I like the "2 Of Us" pad when I'm wanting a fun space to write little memories I have with my husband.  The Entertainment pad has pages with things such as music playlists of the day.  Each page is perforated nicely, too.  Just rip, write, and smash.  :)

"A Dream Day Together" from the "2 Of Us" pad

"My favorite memory of us" (2 Of Us)

"My favorite things about you" (2 Of Us)

"Great blogs and sites" from the Entertainment pad...
You can write 3craftasticsisters.blogpot.com on this page if you'd like.  ;)

If that's not good enough, consider the folders you can put on the pages to stash loose items.  My personal favorite is one that looks like jean material with the words "So cute I wanna put it in my pocket" written overtop.  There's also Smash tape... I just looooove the black tape with white polka dots.

Each book comes with a clear removable vinyl cover, and a black pen with a convenient glue stick on the opposite end.  They sell other colors of pens separately, but I'd personally just use regular colored ink pens and an Elmer's Glue Stick instead of spend the money.

I plan on using my pink Smash book to make an easy scrapbook with my daughter's photos, and my red one to fill up with the fluff that runs through my head all day.  In another week or two, K&Company is releasing the new line of Smash products that include a wedding album and a baby book, plus new kinds of tape, embellishments, expanders, etc.  I'm pretty convinced I'll be suckered into the wedding book.  ;)  I think I'm going to brainstorm ideas of what you might want to use this for.  Off the top of my head, I can think of a really fancy planner/organizer, a recipe book, or a place to keep craft ideas (kind of like Pinterest in a book!)... Can you think of any?

The fluff from my brain book.  ;)

Dare I say it?!  Yeah you know what?  I will.  I find these books to be... Smash-tastic.

Happy Smashing.

{ok, now I'm really done.}

-MB

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