two of my favorite things

If you've spent much time on this blog, you know that I love to read, and that I read a lot. I am not exaggerating when I say that I can not remember a time when I was not a reader. It's just something that has always been a part of my life.

So whenever I get a chance to combine reading with other things that I enjoy...well, I jump on it. Rewind to a couple of months ago, when Wendy Smedley contacted me and wanted to know if I would like to participate in a book-themed scrapbooking project. I didn't even have to read the details...um, HECK YEAH!

Each of the participants created a two-page spread (multiplied times the number of participants in the project) and then Wendy bound them all into albums. Each spread had to contain a photo of the participant, as well as something reading-related. Some people wrote about their reading habits; others included their reading lists for the year, reading stats, top 10s, and more. Here's what I came up with:

I just got my bound album this week, and I have enjoyed looking through it so much. It's a great mix of traditional, digital, and hybrid layouts; plus, I've really enjoyed getting the new book recommendations and finding out more about the reading habits of my friends.

I thought I'd give you guys a look at the album. Make sure to keep on reading, because I've got a great idea I want to share with you at the end of this post. Here's the front of the album:

Angie: blog | Goodreads
I love how Angie's layout was numbers-driven; the stats were a fun and interesting approach.

Beth: blog

Beth's picture was great (I want bigger bookshelves) and her design was simple and graphic. Really eye-catching text.

Elizabeth: blog | Goodreads

I am not playing favorites (really, I'm not!) but I ADORED the pennants Elizabeth put on her layout (made from scanned book covers -- I think I might have squealed when I saw them) and her journaling is really my favorite. 

Jill: blog | Goodreads

I love Jill's layout very much too -- the star theme is a perfect choice, her photo is ADORABLE(!!!!! -- which means more squealing might have been involved at this point), and I covet her handwriting.

Kelly:

Kelly's page had a great collage feel to it, and her colors were awesome. Plus, I found some new must-reads on her 2009 list.

Lisa: blog | Goodreads

Lisa did a GORGEOUS digi page, and I'm going to admit, her journaling really makes me want to give e-readers a chance...my curiousity is definitely piqued.

Wendy: blog | Goodreads

Wendy decorated both the front and back of her pages (why didn't I think of that?). I love how she used three different categories to break down some of her favorite reads; I'm definitely going to check out some of her dystopic fiction choices.

This was a great project to participate in, and ever since Wendy approached me with the idea, I've been mullling over a couple of additional ideas that combine books and scrapbooking.

I would like to start a series of scrapbooking challenges here on the blog that are inspired by the books I love. It could be a book that I'm currently reading, or one of my all-time favorites. It might be a mystery or thrilled, a children's picture book, a YA fantasy novel, or a nonfiction book. Each blog post would talk a little bit about the things you love about the book, and then you'd list 3-5 challenges inspired by the book. One might be a journaling challenge, inspired by a scene in the story. Another might be a text challenge or a color challenge, based on the book cover. There are so many different ways to use books as scrapbooking inspiration.

But I don't want it to be all about me -- I want YOU to be involved as well. I can't do all these challenges myself, and I don't want to do them all myself. So if you LOVE to read and you'd like to come up with a challenge to contribute, leave me a comment and let me know. You can leave your email address in the comments and I'll contact you with more details, OR you can email me at audneal at gmail dot com to find out more. I'm excited about this project, and I hope you are too!

Comments

[Jennifer]

reading + scrapbooking + challenges = count me in ;)

[Tea]

Two of my favorite things too. Love the idea and would love to participate.

[Elizabeth]

AAAARGH! Another lost comment from this morning when I forgot to do the Captcha thing... anyway. I love, love my book--this has been one of my favorite collaborations in some time! Love the idea of more challenges, too.

You might notice that I also receive nerd points for doing my pages during the Winter Olympics; my gold, silver, and bronze books for 2009 are highlighted. Nerd.

[aud neal]

I wondered what the highlighted titles were -- assumed they were your top faves but didnt pick up on the fact that they were gold, silver, and bronze. LOVE IT!

[Stefanie]

I'd love to participate too! I'm all about the books!

[Mary Shaw]

Audrey, I think I might be able to handle a challenge or two. I'm an avid reader, and I LOVE these pages!

[melanie O]

Sounds interesting - would love to hear more.

[catlvr4]

Love the idea and would love to participate in some way.

[Amy M.]

I love this, Audrey! As a HUGE book lover myself, I think this is a fantastic idea :)

[wendy smedley]

So glad you liked it, I keep looking at mine. Please do some challenges and I would love to support you however I can, besides participating. Let's do this again in the near future.

[Susan]

I would love to know more about the project Audrey! I ADORE reading. I am like you and cannot remember a time I didn't love to read. I even read while I'm drying my hair!!
I'm a decorater at DHD and have loved working with your products so to do something else with you would be so fun :)

[northcarmen]

I would be very interested in being involved. I'll definitely be watching for the challenges, and if you need any more contributions to the idea pool, feel free to contact me at [email protected].

Carmen Pauls Orthner.

[jill]

This is the post I was coming back to, making comments all the way ;) I'd be interested, although my skill set is not as strong on the scrapbooking side as on the reading side. Still interested though ;)