My Smash Books

Smash books are all the rage right now. You may have heard of them.

But what is a "smash book", exactly?

It's a way to capture memories and life moments, channelling the very roots of what scrapbooking used to be: people making simple memory books, stuffing them full of memorabilia, photos and mementos. Of course, scrapbooking has taken its own art form, so the idea of smash books is to get back to that quick and easier way of capturing what is going on in your life. You can write down anything that's in your mind, stick in photos, cut up a magazine or catalogue and glue in things that really speak to you or that you want, or place ticket stubs, flight itineraries, and more! The possibilities are endless.

K&Company have a wonderful line of smash books and coordinating products that you can order online or buy at Michaels. Of course, you could always make your own as well from scrapbook kits, office supplies, and whatever else you fancy. I was starting to make my own smash book inside a new journal I had received as a gift, but then I went to the new Michaels that had opened up by the North York Centre and found some K&Company stuff on clearance!

I ended up with the orange Simple folio for $5.99, then later went back and found the yellow International folio for $4.99, plus some extras. Woohoo!!! I love how each folio has a different cover and a totally different theme inside; it makes me want to collect them all! They've even released a bridal folio.


You can leave the covers as is, or you can decorate them to your heart's content. As you can see, I started tracing the design on Simple's cover, and I'll probably add some cute fabric flowers or something as well. Each folio comes with a dual-ended pen/glue stick.

I want to share some of my pages with you! Some are unfinished, but I'm having a great time :)




The only two pages I've done so far in the International folio, and they're not finished. I glued in my plane tickets and itinerary from when I flew back to Canada to land as a resident. Good memory indeed! :) The rest of the pages are all in the Simple folio.






Virtually anything can work as a pocket to hold cutout words, drawings, photos, and tidbits. I love to use teabag wrappers for this purpose! :)















And each folio has a pocket in the back where you can store stuff!



Check out my growing Smash Corner by my computer :) The painted boxes hold lots of little odds and ends to use in my books.


Like I said before, the possibilities are endless! Make your smash book your own! There are no rules, no limits. Mine are a mix between memory-keeping and journalling. You can go your own way :)

Blessings,
Mary