Old, New, Borrowed, COOL! with Kelly Goree!

Hello, everyone!  Welcome to May and a very special installment of my "Old New Borrowed Cool" series. I know I say that every month is special, but I hope that when I explain further in just a bit that you’ll agree this time the term is very well-used.

As always before I get started I want to recap once more about the premise for this blog series. Each month I'll bring you a new post that incorporates something OLD from my stash, something NEW that I might have just picked up and something BORROWED from wherever I can get it to create something COOL to share with you! It's as simple as that!!
 
But as I already mentioned, this month’s installment is very different. The old, new and borrowed are well outside the realm of what we’ve done for the first few months of this series. But because in the US this is the month to celebrate mothers and our relationships with our children, I couldn’t have come up with another project that would be more perfect to share with you then this one!

You see, this past month I had the huge pleasure of working with my middle son on a school project. Before I go further let me preface it with a confession: when I had all boys I pretty much gave up on the idea that I would have a child that might want to memory keep or scrapbook with me. I hate to admit just a gender-biased idea, but I really figured that they just wouldn’t be interested. That was a big mistake. HUGE. Imagine my surprise when my son brought home a long list of things he could do for his 3rd grade project and out of all of them, he picked a scrapbook so that he could do it with his mama. (I may or may not have choked up right then.) I realized at that moment how special his request was and I wasn’t about to let him down.

Turner and I organized his project. We looked up information on bluebirds (his topic because we had monitored them as a family) and we planned. We picked the album together, the papers together and we worked…together. And I admit I probably went a bit overboard for a project for 3rd grade, but you know what? I didn’t care. We were doing it together and I was too excited to reign myself in. And when it was all done the pride and accomplishment for the both of us was so special. He practically danced to school with his little book to present his class all about bluebirds. And I couldn’t wait for him to get home to tell me all about it. We made so much more than a book that week. Turner and I made memories. And really, isn’t that what it’s all about?
 
So with all this in mind, this month's selections were:
 
OLD: Some of my favorite papers from BoBunny and my last 6x6 BasicGrey album.
NEW: BasicGrey What’s Up alphas and element stickers.
BORROWED: The very cool idea from T’s teacher to create a scrapbook as a school project (along with a few pictures from the internet featuring bluebirds!)
COOL: This adorable Bluebird mini album and wonderful memories with my son!

Supply List: BasicGrey album, chipboard alphas, chipboard sticker shapes, alpha stickers, element stickers BoBunny Ad Lib patterned paper, Bazzill Cardstock, Hero Arts Stamps, Berol Prismacolor colored pencils, Fiskars circle punches, Zig pen, Uni-ball pen

My challenge to you this month is to make something crafty with a child. Create something – anything – just to be doing it together. I promise you, you won’t regret it and you’ll both have the best time doing it.  Happy Mother’s Day, everyone.

And don't forget to join us RIGHT HERE on Saturday!  We are starting at 7:00 a.m. and going all the way to midnight with a post every single hour!  Challenges, tips, tricks, techniques...and prizes of course!!!  Do not miss it!

Comments

[Queen Mary]

Kelly, what a clever idea and cute little album! My husband teaches elementary school and in 4th grade here in VA, we learn about the Civil War -- he always had his kids keep a scrapbook as if they were living during the war years. One year a kid brought in a whole Creative Memories album! Great stuff!

[Becky fleck]

Oh Kelly, that album is just precious!!

[Renee VanEpps]

Oh how sweet!!! That WAS a great idea and so awesome your son chose to do the scrapbook with you! It turned out beautifully :)

[Judi Church]

Kelly, what a lovely prologue to your project. My daughter had a son 18 months ago, and one of her first worries was the same as you---nobody to scrap with. I just love your story---and the album. It's beautiful!! A+ for sure!

[Marlene O]

My almost eight year old grandson lives eight hours away but when he comes to visit, I generally find him in my craft room at 6 a.m., happily working with paper. He loves making cards so that is something we often do together. Think he will be ready to start scrapbooking soon. We are currently working on a dragonfly science project by mail. When we go to look after them in early June, I will take my Cricut and a lot of crafting supplies and tools to have there for him to use. Yes, I too thought it would be only granddaughters who would be interested.

[Aly Dosdall]

awesome project and challenge kelly!

[Jeannine H.]

I was lucky to have the same opportunity with my teenage daughter 2 years ago. The students had to read a biography and present on the book in class afterwards. I helped her with a scrapbook and it was a bit hit. The teacher asked to keep it to show sutdents in the next years but she did not want to part with it!

Your project is very cool but very touching as well.

[Kathy]

Oh, this is so fabulous, Kelly! Not only the cute album and bright colors, but the wonderful story!

[Eveline van Heijst]

What a wonderful mini scrapbook.
Eveline.

[Shannon Miller]

Loved that scrapbook you did with your son!! I think boys like to do things like that more than people often realize and are so proud when they see the final product.

[Tina Campbell]

Wow what a fantastic memory to always have! Love it! The project turned out so cool!

[Rosann]

What a fantastic idea! I'm sure that it will always be a special memory for your son.

[Brenda B]

Fantastic project...I'm sure your son was very, very proud to share such a wonderful project. I can relate to the 'gender bias' thought. I too thought my son had given up on creative projects, however, he really surprised me. For my birthday last year, my 12 yr old son, gave me a very special gift. He made a scrapbook page and in the journaling wrote that it was just the first page of many and that he wanted to start an album we could BOTH work together on...I cried. We've added several pages and I have a blast working with him. He has come up with some very creative ideas for pages.

[Barb in AK]

What a great project for you and ds!
Can't wait to scrap with you on NSBD :-)

[Kim Thomas]

What an awesome project you created with your son. I'm sure he'll always remember it. I would have been choked up too. That's the good stuff. TFS :)

[Megan Smith]

Super cute mini!!

[Dorina D]

What a great project with your son. I think you choked everyone up with this story. It's so special,

[Jude]

You are so lucky to have shared this experience. I envy you.

[[email protected]]

Beautiful story....I love to stamp with my grandson
And I hope he continues to enjoy crafting with Nana

[jacquie veach]

What an adorable album you made with your son! Precious memories! That is what scrapping is all about :)

[TracieClaiborne]

Fabulous - as always!!!! I love how you incorporated his writing into the project. I know you will treasure that for years to come. I would love to know who makes the cloud paper on the front!