I am so jealous

[kb7496]

of all you gals that have girls! Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore my boys, but I want to scrap with pinks and purples and flowers and girlie things! I've seen some less-typical boy looking pages in the gallery, but when I try that with my boys... well, I just can't do it. I have a hard time even using pastels near easter, unless it is in blues and greens!

I think I've got every "boy" kit in the store, any other suggestions?

[echogirl]

I'm with you. I have 2 boys and one girl. The girl los are easy peasy. The boy los are so much more work.

[ValerieP]

When the boys grow up-you get to scrap girlie-well you can now if you scrap about you!

[lesvrolyk]

I have a couple ideas that might help. Try getting away from just using kits. Buy a couple of paper packs, like Katie's Kraft papers or Anna's Upcycled papers or the Notebook papers are totally cool too. Shades of brown are a great background on which you can splash some color and still stay totally masculine. Also, go for some elements that might be on the border between girl/boy. I love Katie's new Junkyard Garden. Even though they are technically flowers, they are metal elements and, I think, work great for a boy's page. I also use a lot of stars and hearts of my son's pages. I love him, so plenty of hearts can not be considered girly there. I find myself using Anna's templates a lot too. I love the photo masks to give everything a grungy feel.

Now if you just really want to scrap a girly page, you could always scrap one about yourself! There are the All About Me challenges on the blog which have great ideas for pages. You should also feel quite free to scrap a pink page with flowers when the photos include your boys and yourself or their grandma or other ladies in their lives. I think female pets can be included in that! My son has never complained to me about too many flowers or too much pink when he looks at his pages. He focuses on the photos and journaling and doesn't seem to much care about the rest anyway!

Just some thoughts...I think it's getting late and I'm talking too much!

[Jen D]

I was going to say the same thing... join the All about me Challenge and GIRL IT UP!!!!

[Kayleigh]

I use flower papers on my boy pages ... like that last one i posted. Its not pink so i figure its ok. I guess he may not think so in the years to come.

And i was going to say too about the AAM pages!

[LoriS]

Take it from someone that has two girls.... You always want what you can't have.... I see Kayleigh's LO's of Spencer and i just wish... (and it's so hard.. and sad.. because conceiving isn't the easiest.. and that doesn't even guarantee a boy, right??? Cuz when you have 2 girls, doesn't the odds of having a third one go up that much more??) Anyway, maybe getting a bit too personal... but Yes, girlie LO's are fun... but that's what i have.... i don't buy boyish kits... (saving money, right?) because i don't need them... my girls are girlie girls... (i wouldn't have it any other way though.) I know i'm on the other side of the fence and you always think the grass is a bit greener on the other side... but like my husband says... "You just have to be thankful for what you've got."
On a lighter note..... I'm with Jen!!! Do LO's about yourself!!!! Or your garden or whatever~! Got any neices??? :-)

[Jen D]

Originally Posted by LoriS

Take it from someone that has two girls.... You always want what you can't have.... I see Kayleigh's LO's of Spencer and i just wish... (and it's so hard.. and sad.. because conceiving isn't the easiest.. and that doesn't even guarantee a boy, right??? Cuz when you have 2 girls, doesn't the odds of having a third one go up that much more??) Anyway, maybe getting a bit too personal... but Yes, girlie LO's are fun... but that's what i have.... i don't buy boyish kits... (saving money, right?) because i don't need them... my girls are girlie girls... (i wouldn't have it any other way though.) I know i'm on the other side of the fence and you always think the grass is a bit greener on the other side... but like my husband says... "You just have to be thankful for what you've got."
On a lighter note..... I'm with Jen!!! Do LO's about yourself!!!! Or your garden or whatever~! Got any neices??? :-)

Ya never know... I have two girls and a boy =)

[FlowerGirl]

I totally agree. I have 3 boys but now and then I have to borrow pictures of my niece.

[muddygirl]

I feel your pain, boys are definatley harder, and I too would love to buy more flowers and butterflies, pinks and purples, but I just have to make do with AAM pages for now.

[sarahbcmc]

I want girls too!!!

[katrinak]

I live in a house of boys (including the dog and the bird). I have one word.

Kraft

[Shannamay]

Now, how did I know you were going to say that Katrina!!!!
Les had some great ideas! When I want to embellish a more masculine page I will often go for katies hinges:
Hinge Pack - Digital Scrapbooking Elements DesignerDigitals
and all her ledger cut out shapes are not too girly and you can clip paper to them too:
Ledger Paper Pieces: Leaves - Digital Scrapbooking Elements
Ledger Paper Pieces: Flourishes No. 02 - Digital Scrapbooking Elements
and her vintage buttons have some great little boy images:
Buttoned Up: Vintage - Digital Scrapbooking Elements DesignerDigitals
ok - someone shut me up now!!!

[dugarner]

At this stage in my daughter's life, I find it easier to scrap for my toddler son. My daughter has grown out of the little girl stuff, though she's still into pinks and purples. I am at a loss how to capture her personality with the supplies I have . . . so we all have some kind of dilemma, I'm sure!

Though I must say, my friends with boy(s) say they are grateful to have boys because girls are so much more complicated. I guess we all have our crosses to bear. I am thankful beyond measure to have two children---never thought we'd have more than just our daughter---and so these frustrations only provide a fun dimension to the story. But they are frustrations nonetheless!

It just means we have to keep buying . . . keep buying . . . there are too many enablers on this site!

[LoriS]

I love reading everyone's stories!!!!
Yes, Sarah... even at 2 and 5, girls are complicated... drama, crying, feelings get hurt... and now even my 5 yr old is "so over princesses"... (disney anyway) They change their interests ALL THE TIME! Alot of my friends with little boys like what i do with digital scrapbooking and say it would be the scrapbooking they would do if they did... but they say with boys, you just don't scrapbook because boys don't care when they get older... I told them i disagreed!!!! Photos in 4x6 albums is what they do. I want our/their memories preserved in a special way!!! I wonder if when i am older i will remember the pages that took longer than the others?
Thanks, Jen!!!! We'll see what happens, i guess... Who knows???

LoriS

[dugarner]

Originally Posted by LoriS

. . . but they say with boys, you just don't scrapbook because boys don't care when they get older... I told them i disagreed!!!!

I disagree, too! I hope some ladies with older boys who appreciate their scrapbooking can chime in to encourage. My son, who is only 2, absolutely loves my books. He has dog-eared my animal book I did 2 years ago. Almost every night he takes it off the shelf, opens it, and names all the animals.

I think kids aren't going to know what they'll appreciate---a man can appreciate scrapbooking as an art form just like he can appreciate good food, or a house well decorated, or a pretty dress. Just because we embrace a traditionally feminine hobby doesn't mean it's not admired and appreciated. It's part of what makes us who we are, and your sons will love all those parts of you when they're older, and mature enough to understand how deep that love runs.

[katrinak]

My husband repeatedly says he wishes he had a record of his childhood like Ian has. I think he may not care about what it is embellished with, but definitely just wants the stories+photos.

(I secretly love that I'm the only girl in the house. Always good to be queen )

[Jana Morton]

I have two girls...ages 6 and 4 and one boy who is 2. I have to say that I enjoy scrapbooking him more because there is WAY less drama...when I get the camera out, he doesn't change what he is doing...the girls roll their eyes and start doing something else so I don't feel like I capture them as well at this age...it was different when they were little but there was still more drama with them at the age of 2 then there is with him. My kids LOVE to look at their books and they do frequently which always makes me feel good. It is fun to read everybody's take on this.

[Denise Gormish]

Well, I have two girls but the pink/purple/girlie layouts are confined to myself and their grandma. My girls would not be caught dead in pink/purple/girlie and don't like it when I do the rare pink/purple/girlie layout about them. I have to stick with blue and green despite having girls.

So...a girl does not necessarily equal pink/purple, flowery, girly layouts.

Suggestions? Pink for yourself. Or travel pages. Embrace red. And think of all the money your saving on not having to get those girl kits.

[dorah]

My niece had a baby girl in Sep so I get my girlie fix scrapping her. Some day she probably won't like all the laces and frills and pinks but for now I can just pile them on. Otherwise I would have to do all that to my AAM pages. Everybody needs a little pink now and then.

[kb7496]

You all are so great! I do think I'll attempt some of the AAM challenges... that sounds kinda fun!

Lori and Sarah--I agree with you! My boys love looking at their scrapbooks. My husband loves looking at them! Now granted, they don't care quite as much about the embellishments as I do, but they prefer my books to just looking at pictures. They like the journaling and story-telling. In fact, my oldest is now starting to say, "Mom why don't you do a page about...." Cracks me up!

[Carol Elliott]

Originally Posted by LoriS

I love reading everyone's stories!!!!
Alot of my friends with little boys like what i do with digital scrapbooking and say it would be the scrapbooking they would do if they did... but they say with boys, you just don't scrapbook because boys don't care when they get older... I told them i disagreed!!!! LoriS

I disagree as well. My kids go boy-girl-boy, the oldest in college, the youngest a freshman in high school. My boys could care less, they tolerate me because they know how much I enjoy it. Although they do tell me what they don't like (which is about specific pictures, not any of the scrapping itself - granted I am pretty simplistic in my scrapping). But I know when they are older they will be glad for those memories, especially once they start famililes of their own.

[mymalloryboys]

Even my sreen name shows that I am surrounded by boys and they LOVE looking at their scrapbooks. Ages 8, 6, and 22 months. They study their pages and yes, there are flowers and sometimes pink on their pages, but they really don't mind. They look at the page as a whole - they look at the story - they are not as detailed oriented as their mother so I can get away with slipping in things that I like - even if they are not considered boyish. They keep my purpose for scrapping in the right place. It's about the memories and the documentation - not the buttons and bows!!! ( I still long for a baby girl), but if not - maybe I'll have grandgirls one day!

[mungerre]

I started scrapbooking when my twin boys were born - and I was already noticing how much easier it was to pick out elements for girl pages. I was very happy to have a girl next! For my boys, they tend to either be simpler or have lots of animals, toys, or shapes on them rather than flowers. I love Katie's graphic pop items - the graphic pop layered template is very nice and I've used the circles from it for lots of layouts.

[maureenreynolds]

I never scrapped when my chicks were small but I know the girlfriend of one of my son's likes what do about him now. I have never been a pink fan and by the time my one female child wanted pink, it was hot pink and BLACK. I painted her door black.

[b2halter]

As the mother of a grown son who just received 4 volumes of his life finally scrapped 2 years ago, I can tell you that boys DO care that you scrapped their lives. They might not care while they're little, but they care later. And I used lots of primary colors and plaids on Ryan's scrapbook pages. (You can sneak in the pastels in those plaids.)