Our Top 10 Mini Scrapbook

I made this 8x8 scrapbook for my husband Brad as we were about to move from CA to NM for our wedding anniversary, but it would also make a thoughtful Valentine's Day gift and we're all thinking lovey dovey thoughts anway, so I thought now would be an appropriate time to share it. Then you might be able make it in time for your anniversary, as it takes some plannig to put together.To decorate the cover, I added metal adhesive letters that represent our first initials and added a rub-on & sign between them. I tied ribbon around the front cover and added a metal and plastic charm. (I was trying hard not to make it too girly.)The title page is simple, just two torn pieces of paper and hand drawn stitches - this was before I even owned a sewing machine to neglect for a few years ☺. Plastic, sticker, and metal eyelet charm letters make up the title. A dedication page with a picture of Brad and a personal message and a table of contents are the first few pages.

The bulk of the book is comprised of a series of personalized top ten lists. Each section begins with a title page and a listing of the top ten, followed by either a page or double page spread highlighting each memory on that top ten list.
The first list was our top ten wedding memories. To date this is the only way I've scrapbooked our wedding photos, so these are especially sentimental to us.That's followed by our California top 10, as California was where we began our married life and began making memories as husband and wife.

With the exception of the wedding section, each section's pages all follow a design scheme that made it really easy for me to finish all ten memories quickly. I had a lot of journaling to do so I represented each memory with just one photo so I'd have plenty of room for recording what we did and saw on each of our adventures traveling around our adopted state for this section. I am not sure where I got the layout ideas from, but there's a good chance they're from Simple Scrapbook magazine. I like how this format forced me to chose only our very favorite pictures, it's nice to have them all in one place.At the time I created this scrapbook we'd been together almost eleven years, when you included the years we dated. The third section was our top ten memories during the entire time we'd been together and included such highlights as our first kiss, prom, planning the move to NM, and Brad getting his PhD from UC Berkeley.

The last two sections were created with almost no pictures. For the top ten things I love about daily life I used stickers as icons that represented some of the things I love about just living day in and day out with my dear hubby. Like how he takes me to The Olive Garden, even though he hates it, when I am stressed after a tough day of teaching. Or how we spend way too much time browsing at the downtown Barnes & Noble, oh how I long for the leisurely Friday nights sitting in the cafe with a magazine and a coffee with Brad! The last section was done without any pictures at all. I attached a strip of patterned paper to the inside margin on both sides of the double page spread to give it some decoration, but that top ten of ten things I love about you is a simple list of the traits and quirks that I love about Brad.

This was a real labor of love from the planning of each top ten, to choosing the pictures to include, and designing each section. I even left some pages in the back to update it later with our top ten about life in NM. Haven't done that yet, but I think since a certain someone was born in Santa Fe that one will also be very special. It is a very special keepsake that we both enjoy looking back at and reminiscing about how far we've come from that summer before senior year in high school when we met. (Even if I look at some of the design and cringe now.)