Most would consider a sunny day as optimal for taking great photos of family, however, living above the 49th parallel, that would restrict the subject matter of a scrapbook to a few days between May and September and, because of the position of the sun, some time before 10 a.m. or after 4 p.m. That may be an exaggeration, but it does illustrate the need to expand your horizons when considering themes for your photo shoots. There are not many who don’t remember the images of the Ice Storm of ’98 and, for those who lived through it, it is an event that has become one of the stories that is told over and over again at family gatherings. The layout is the weather! The neutral colours in the patterned paper mimic the grey of the skies. The vellum icicles "hanging" from the top of the page resemble the ice-laden trees in the photos.
Though ice may be the "terrible beauty" of winter, rain and snow are also part of the season. Your first thought might be, "Who would bother taking pictures in the rain?" All we need to do is think of the fun children have playing in puddles in their bright yellow raincoats or the colorful display of tiny umbrellas gathered together in the schoolyard. Both are excellent opportunities to use your camera to take advantage of the contrast between a grey day and the exuberance in the play of children.
We have to be prepared to capture moments as they happen. For last years Santa Claus parade it poured and poured and poured. The spirit of the season prevailed, however, and with helmets and umbrellas for protection against the elements, the show went on. It certainly gave a new meaning to the term "floats". "Don’t Rain on My Parade" became the theme song of the participants and the title for the layout. The traditional colors of red and green worked well for the page given the bright red of the fire trucks and the green of the grass and trees. To incorporate the weather in the layout, a polka-dot background paper was used to mimic the drops of rain and the title - predetermined by the day - was arranged in a "wave" pattern. The disappointment on the face of "Rudolph" is an image that is reminiscent of the day. 
The more traditional look of winter is associated with bright, sunny days and freshly fallen snow inviting children to fall on the ground frantically waving arms and legs to make snow angels or gleefully grabbing handfuls of snow to throw at unsuspecting playmates. Capturing on film, the thrill on the faces of tobogganers on a perfect winter day, dictated the mood and palette of the layout. Coordination of the blues of snowsuits, the whites and blues of the landscape and the brown tones of the toboggans and the trees was easily achieved with the use of the SEI papers.
The weather is a constant in our lives. We can use it to evoke memories of smell, sights, sounds and emotions associated with an event and consequently, relive the experience through the pages of our scrapbooks. So, "We’ll weather the weather, whatever the weather, whether we like it or not." (Children’s verse)
