Hey everyone, it's Laura Vegas here with you today! Now that both of my girls are older (almost 16 and 18), one of the things that I find myself missing the most is the ability to get photos of them easily. If any of you out there have teenagers that love getting their photos taken, and do so willingly and without bribes, I would love to know your secret!
For the last few years, it's gotten harder and harder for me to get photos of them. Which in turn gives me a lot less photos to work with when it come to scrapping. Which then means I'm scrapping less layouts that I used too, and documenting less about their lives. I do think, that in some ways, it's a natural progression. They're not little kids anymore, doing cute and funny things, without a care in the world if mom snaps photos of them doing whatever it is they're doing. But after all these years of photographing them, and telling their stories, it's hard to have less options as they grow up, right?
Supplies: Patterned paper – My Mind's Eye; Sticker – My Mind's Eye; Wood veneer – Studio Calico; Mists – Studio Calico; Die cut machine – Silhouette; Font – Old Remington
While my girls aren't fans of me pointing my camera at them very often these days, I know that they both take tons of photos with their cell phones. I try not to ask very often, as I know they won't want to share all of those photos with me, but every now and then I will ask them to share a few photos with me. When Alyssa was home from college for Thanksgiving break, the girls snapped off a whole bunch of photos on their phones while waiting to head out for our Thanksgiving dinner. At the time, they shared one single photo with me. And I was forever grateful! I've asked a few times since then, if I could get a few more photos to go with that one lonely photo. And finally, months later, I caught Sarah in a good mood, and she sent me about ten photos, no questions asked!
I printed out every photo, because quite honestly, I was just excited to have new photos of them! I finally decided to include just three of them, even though I wanted to use them all. They might all look slightly the same, and yet they're all different at the same time, showing off their goofy looks and funny personalities.
I kept the design of this page pretty simple, letting the photos take center stage. I went with my go-to, favorite supplies: lots of patterned paper, a large die cut title, machine stitching, and a few simple embellishments. Clean, linear, and simple.
So, if you're like me, and are struggling to get photos of your kids/teens these days, see if they'll be willing to share some of their own photos with you. I use the "mom needs some new photos to scrap with" line, and occasionally it does work ;)
~ Laura Vegas
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Awesome LO Laura!! TFS!
I am in the same boat only with grandkids! They are getting older with not so many photo ops but they still love Nana’s annual scrapbook as a family archive. Love your scrapbook style – all about the people not the embellishments. Beautiful!
What pretty girls! Awesome layout and so glad that they shared some of their photos with you!! My sons are 25 and 27 and still don’t like their photo taken!
Wonderful page! I love these fun, silly, photos and it’s so awesome that they were shared from your girls’ own devices! The colors are fantastic and I adore the stitching and the great title!
For me, my daughter (going on 16) and son (going on 14) both have been unhappy with me doing layouts of them from any age and posting them on my blog, for my DT, etc. (probably because I scrap everything – the good, the bad and the ugly) so I’ve cut back on pages about them and have been scrapping more about me. I have plenty of photos that are stored in photo boxes that need a home from my/our life before they arrived, so I’m cutting down on pages about “them” and focusing more on “me” or “us” (my hubby and I – and we’ve had 28 years worth of adventures, so there’s lots to scrap about!) I’m not giving up on scrapping them, but I am giving them a bit of breathing room. I hope it works. I really want to scrap the current stories while they are fresh in my mind but they aren’t as comfortable, so I may need to just make sure I journal about current life and scrap about days gone by!
Best of luck to you! Teens are such an interesting bunch. They definitely keep me on my toes!
Love this page! And I hear you about difficulty getting photos….I am taking my adult daughters and grandkids to Disney to get some great shots this summer! Much easier to get there than here!!!
Laura, I love that you were able to get pics of your girls! We have our kids download their pics onto our computer (to backup their pics, we tell them!), but sometimes it’s not so easy getting teenagers to cooperate. ;) When I see selfies of my daughter, I get excited because it’s just so HER (along with all of her friends, of course!). Great layout, and WTG capturing these moments.
I agree, my daughter does not like photos of herself and often I have a big hand in front of her face.
Love your layout.
Sounds exactly like my daughter!! She’s forever taking photos. Sometimes I get her to email me from her phone, other times she’ll download from her camera to my Mac then I get real lucky!! Beautiful layout :)
With two sons hundreds of miles away at college I have switched to scrapping about my husband and me. I got tired of asking for pictures. Yours are just perfect. Persistence pays off sometimes. Beautiful layout. I have always liked your style!