Ten Years Later

Capture a decade in a single layout

Now that the New Year’s hoopla is fading into the days of auld lang syne, we’re left with one big question—what do we call this new year? Twenty-ten or two thousand ten? As late as November, National Public Radio reported that the question of what to call our current year was still a matter of debate between such date-conscious parties as the U.S. Olympic Committee, political candidates, and automakers. I propose an easy solution: let’s call 2010 a terrific opportunity to document our last ten years!

Whether you decide to highlight personal growth, evolving trends, or your favorite books of the last decade, now is the perfect time to preserve details that will become a treasured record for future generations. (And yes, one day you’ll look back at these past ten years and wonder what you were thinking when you chose your hairstyle or clothes—there’s just no escaping it). Here’s to the first ten years of the 21st century, not to mention the third millenium!

Growth

Supplies:

alphabet (photogenic kit by aneal at oscraps.com and chunk chipboard red by Katie Pertiet at designerdigitals.com) • patterned paper (Katie Pertiet graph note paper at designerdigitals.com, lark quickpage by paislee press at oscraps.com, plainpaper1 by fudgegraphics) • date stamp (Jennifer Pebbles skinny date label at twopeasinabucket.com) • 8 x 8 digital page by Autumn Baldwin

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In only one page, Autumn captured the essence of growth throughout a decade by selecting two photos that illustrate just how much one family can change in ten years! It’s fun to see the physical change in her family, but she also manages to sum up an important lesson about love in just a few lines. Her journaling serves as a reminder that sometimes a concise approach can carry the most meaning.

Lessons Learned

Supplies:

digital papers (KI Pop Culture polka dots, Katie Pertiet notebook paper) • Delicious, Bebas, Chitown Script, Saru’s Flower Dings, and 2Peas GG Love Me fonts • 12 x 12 digital page by Candice Palmer

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Ten years is a lot of time to learn life lessons—you could easily list a hundred or more. Candice focused on a lesson most precious to her in her role as mother these past ten years: that time is fleeting, and when that’s put in perspective, nothing else matters except being mindful of that fact. Try considering the biggest lesson you’ve learned in the last decade, or make a Top Ten list of lessons—either way, your reflection will serve as an inspirational reminder for the next ten years!

Same and Different

Supplies:

LDJ Noodge and Arial fonts • 12 x 12 digital spread by Marnie Flores

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Marnie took a “then and now” approach to the last ten years but added a twist: not only did she chart what has changed over the last ten years, but also what remains constant. It’s really a Venn Diagram in disguise! This format is easily adapted to many page subjects: try featuring a newborn photo of a child paired with a current picture, then use Marnie’s approach to highlight how circumstances and age will change, but personality traits often remain the same.

Pieces of the Whole

Supplies:

cardstock, letter stickers (American Crafts) • rub-on (October Afternoon) • butterfly accent (Jenni Bowlin) • buttons (Creative Imaginations) • brad (BasicGrey) • 12 x 12 page by Jennifer Wozab

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Jennifer cleverly created an equation of all the things it takes to make up ten years of a life. Note that not all of her list is filled with sunshine and light. It’s OK to include more than just the happy highlights of a time period; otherwise, the equation would be unbalanced. A page like this offers the opportunity to use seemingly unconnected, favorite photos from the last decade. The overall effect is a portrait of a rich, balanced life.

Timeline of Events

Supplies:

frames (Apple) • Helvetica and Chunk Five fonts • (note: page created in Apple’s Pages) • 11 x 8½ digital spread by Elizabeth Dillow

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Close-up view of left page (click image to read journaling)

Close-up view of right page (click image to read journaling)

As a former history teacher, I love timelines! Timelines easily create order out of a potentially overwhelming amount of information, and they make it simple to track change and growth. Breaking the 2000s up into individual years made it far easier for me to remember some of the highlights and details of the last decade. I stuck to an easy, bulleted-list format, which was a quick way to corral my copious notes.

Is a decade just too big to think about?

Then take it a year at a time! With help from A Year in the Life: Scrapbook your year in 24 simple layouts, you’ll be able to focus your efforts on the most important memories of a past or current year—and capture 12 months in as fast as a single weekend (depending on how quickly you scrapbook!). This exciting, 30-page eBook was written by the Write. Click. Scrapbook. collective, which counts all five of the above designers among its members!

Save $2.01 on this eBook to celebrate the year 2010! This special is for Scrapbook Ellaments readers only (that's you!). If you don't have your copy yet, click from this article to buy your copy of A Year in the Life: Scrapbook your year in 24 simple layouts and enter coupon code YEARLIFE2010 at checkout. Hurry! Offer expires January 13, 2010.