No Paperkins in Use Yet.

Crazy I know.  In my mind Paperkins were always in use when I first started scrapping.  I guess they didn't come around until my second or third year of scrapping.  Little did I know when I first started what lie ahead.  Oh Paperkins how I loved you.  

A couple of weeks ago Mandie posted some of her first layouts on her blog.  I thought I would copy her and share mine.  It seems I had it going on back then.  Not.  Frances Meyers' kits were the big rage when scrapping first hit the market.  I was all about owning it all.  Archiver's didn't exist.  I know!  Imagine that world.  Scary.  Deckle scissors were totally to die for.  Mrs. Grossman controlled the world of sticker sneezes.  It was the cave man days of scrapping and we all stunk and were full of bugs.  Sorry if I offended anyone.  That's reality. 

So for me first came Nick.  He is now 13.  This is him now:

And because he will rarely allow me to take photos of him.  Here's the only other current age photo in existence:

And now his first layout:

We will call this the controlled sticker sneeze.  I have long been a supporter of using up everything out of a package.  I guess it all started with Frances Meyers' heart stickers and die cuts.  I love that I was creatively balanced back then.  I still am.  It's funny to see all the similarities from the beginning to the end.  It seems I have always been a minimalist. 

You have to love when Fiskar's first came out with their "corrugator".  It made the waves more realistic and when you placed a sticker pail in the hands of the photo baby it even got more true to life.

I was way into stamping when I first started scrapping - even had a monkey stamp to go with the monkey suit.  I was into sewing, too, much to the dread of this little boy.  There wasn't a costume I didn't make.

This kid will need therapy some day all based on enforcement of wearing costumes.  What is more cute than sewing a snowman costume and bringing the costume clad kid to Proex for a professional photo shoot?  Nothing.  Everyone that day pinched his chubby cheeks - meaning face, not behind.  I would have stopped the butt pinching.  That is just not right.  According to this layout, I have now discovered computer journaling and brass stencils. 

More costumes.  More stamping,  More Frances Meyers. More placing "fake" items in the hands.  When you find something that works it seems you stick to it.  Yikes.

Let's fast forward.  This is the layout that I discovered you can use up many photos and make a layout look super cute.  I mean....you can never get too much Nick, right?  Maybe you can.  It kind of looks like the Octo-Mom birthed multiple Nicks.  Yikes.

Honestly, I don't cringe when I see these old layouts.  I don't even want to re-do them.  They are what they are.  I do; however, get a good laugh over my techniques.  But I wasn't alone.  That is what everyone was doing and like I said we all stunk.  the most important thing that happens when I look at these layouts is good memories and smiles remembering Nick as a little dude.  When shoving him in a costume was even attemptable.  It's not going to happen now.  The kid can wrestle me to the ground.

Later I will share Jake's first layouts.  Honestly, you will not want to miss his frog costume layout complete with giant lily pad.  It is creative genius!