Untraditional Patriotic/Military Scrapbook Layouts

I simply don’t do them very often. I don’t know why.

I don’t know if I’m treasuring those few photos I have of J in uniform,

keeping them to myself, scared i’ll “ruin” them by scrapping them.

The few I have done are not traditional. No camo, no red white and blue in the usual sense. 

Here’s an older layout that i just LOVE. I miss seeing those boots at my door!

This one uses the “army green” color, but also damask and scrolls.

You don’t have to use “girly things” only on girly layouts. 

this is the most themed/traditional fourth of july page i’ve done.

 i love red white and blue.

this one has touches of stars, red, white, and blue.

but also butterflies. see a theme here? haha

this one gives me a lump in my throat. i remember how scared i was when i made this.

it is indeed possible to use “camo” photos with bright colors.

here i used red, pink, and green.

and yes, i used lace. but it’s okay. it conveys the moment 

just as i want to remember it.

this one uses red, white, and blue but in a traditionally “feminine” pattern. swirls and damask. the yellow ribbon says a lot without having to use too many words, i think. and you can’t really tell but there is a rhinestone star pinned through the bow.

touch of camo with the scenic route paper around the photo.

sometimes converting military photos to black and white works well, you can use them with more papers.

this is one of the very first military pages i made. this page probably contains my all time 

favorite journaling. 

this one also has touches of r/w/b.

but like  most of the other layouts, i don’t limit myself to just those colors.

and a new one i did this weekend:

I used a star to do the “i”. there is a lot of r/w/b on this layout but i also incorporated green with the label stickers.

I need to do more layouts like these. I realize they mean much more to me than many of the other layouts I make. 

It really is all about telling stories and recording precious moments. Well, duh. I know this isn’t rocket science. But sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in the cool thing to scrap/use on your pages. How much stuff you can get on a page…how intricate the page can be. What everyone else is doing.

 It’s just not about that with me. The pictures and the story are what it’s all about to me.

I love new things just as much as the next person. Don’t get me wrong. I love them, and I love playing with them.

But down the line, no one is going to be saying oh, look at that product! or…”look at that technique!!”. i hope with all of my heart that someone will be treasuring the story. Sometimes I lose sight of that, that’s all. 

Thanks for listening to my rambling. I hope you all have a beautiful day. xo