Kiss and Tell Scrapbooking

Dec 5

December Daily - Day 5! 

The left page I'm going to use for Christmas card photos that I recieve from friends and family.  That picture is of my college roommate's kids - and I'm pretty sure the last time I got the Christmas photo card she only had 2 kids - so call me Donna or link up to me on Facebook ok?  I miss you.

I have decided it is ok for me to make more than one page per day if I am so inspired, which most of the time I seem to be.

I made both of my photo collages in Picasa:

I took these photos after yoga class when I got home - so they are in my bathroom - I don't think the fellow yogis would enjoy photos during the hot Bikram Yoga; I used a self timer app on my iphone and did not adjust the quality of the photos at all so they are a bit yellowish because of the low light and no flash.  Standing Bow Pulling is my favorite pose - when I printed out this photo collage for my December Daily book, I added text onto the collage, just like I did on the Mac in front of the computer collage.

Here is my shorter than yesteday but still on the long winded side Ustream video of making my December Daily & Project Life entries for the day.

 

I was on the Simple Scrapper live chat for a bit tonight & here is the awesome Brickle recipe (which appeared in the St. Petersburg Times) that I was talking about:

DD 4 / Add On

I made a one pager (the left page "Clear the DECK the Halls" for my December Daily album yesterday, December 4th but it didn't include a lot of journaling or story so I felt like I wanted to add on a page.  I used it to do some journaling about my daughter - both what she did on the 4th and also her general personality and likes / dislikes at this age.

Ok, that's better.  On with December Daily.

P.S. I just came across the most amazing December Daily Cigar Box project - you can see it here: http://artscrapandmore.blogspot.com/2011/12/december-daily-version-boite-cigars.html.

I absolutely love this idea and it reminds me of the way my grandmother kept her photos but this would include embellishments and descriptions - but it would still allow the viewer to find a treasure box and then rifle through it.  I LOVE THIS.  LOVE IT. 

December Daily: 12/2/11 & Improvisational Comedy as applied to Scrapbooking & Whacking Fiskars Border Punches

December Daily - Day 2:

and more and more pages in December Daily and we're only on December 2nd:

I made some ustream videos while working on Project Life and December Daily - these videos are not how to videos and they are not, probably, particularly interesting.  However, if you enjoy background noise chatter about scrapbooking while you are scrapbooking, then you just might dig them.

Project Life & Time to Get Back on the Weight Loss Wagon:

 

December Daily - Day 2 - Part I:

 

December Daily - Day 2 - Part II - and how the concepts of improvisational comedy can help you find your flow in scrapbooking and any creative process:

 

P.S. My son listened to that last video and got a huge kick out of me whacking the Fiskars Border Punches - he giggled for 15 minutes - which sort of proves my point about being fully committed is what makes you funny  and the mistakes are what make you funny in improvisational comedy or awesome in scrapbooking - its the imperfections that are the awesome part.

Here are some links to some of the supplies and resources I used in these videos:

 

Project 365 - Trying to Edit

Hello, My Name is Katie and I have a tendency to go on and on if allowed to talk without bounds or write OR BLOG! or scrapbook, so Project Life is challenging me to edit down the week.  It is hard because I keep wanting to add more stuff about each day, especially more pictures.  My first week I did add and extra 8.5x11 page protector because I felt like it was a special and eventful week, but this week, despite it also being special and eventful - which I have a bit of a feeling that I'm going to feel that way about every single week! - I am limiting myself to the two pages allotted.  Today is Thursday.  Here is what my week looks like so far:

And I have two days left and I didn't even include much of today here - although more of today did make it into my December Daily Album.  Most of the advice I see online about keeping up with a Project Life Album is how to come up with ideas for each day - but I seem to have the opposite issue - too many ideas and stories.  Does anyone else have trouble editting themselves down?

December Daily Album Base & December Daily Number Tabs & Why the Cropodile is the most awesome scrapbooking tool ever.

 

I made a ustream video to show how I've set up the bases of my December Daily Albums; yes, albums - plural - I need to figure out which one I'm actually going to use .  Actually I think I'm going to transfer all the pre-planned pages into the brown one and then use the red one for the finished pages, so there's my system.

Here are some photos of the December Daily albums right now:

I tried to keep them general and neutral enough so that I could do anything with them.  I have several free printed numbers and I'm not sure which I am going to be using yet.  Here are the links to the adorable free printable numbers for December Daily:

1.  Free Printable Journaling Cards with Numbers 1-31 for December Daily from Creativity Prompt:

2. Free Printable Whimsical Numbers 1-25 from 4shared:

3. Free Printable December Daily Circle Tags with Numbers 1-25 and Half Circles by Alyssa's Scraps:

(for some reason the image above came out too wide but the tags print perfect circles).
 
Highlight Reel:  The Adventures and Story of My Most Favorite and Resilient Scrapbooking Tool:  The We R Memory Keepers Cropodile & the Cropodile II.

 My We R Memory Keepers Cropodile is my favorite tool; I loaned it to my husband and he left it outside after he did some "work" on our office building.  That Cropodile survived outside for more than 2 months of Florida weather.  In the meantime of waiting for my husband to return my Cropodile, I bought the Cropodile II for making altered mini books out of old hard cover books.  I love both of these tools and I think I'm putting the original Cropodile on my Christmas list so we have one at home and one at the office.  Here is the link to the awesome Cropodiles that I love so much I want to marry:

I don't actually have the We R Memory Keepers Crop-A-Dile Corner Chomper - but Pssst.  Charlie: honey, if you're reading my blog - maybe this would be a good addition to standard bottle of Calvin Klein Eternity perfume I ask for every year - here's the link to that too, just in case you forget which kind I like:

I can never have enough of that perfume - I love it and I'm currently out. 

December Daily!

In the scrapbooking world, December 1st has come to mean the first day of December Daily. 

Side Note on Scrapbooking as a Subculture:  I went to a business ladies morning tea yesterday - in a real tea room with crumpets and everything - totally adorable - and I we were talking about New Years Resolutions and I told the ladies about the One Little Word concept and the Learn Something New / New 52 concept and how I know these things from my scrapbooking hobby and we got into a discussion about how scrapbooking is a whole other world with its own customs and language.  There was another self proclaimed "closet scrapbooker" there so we instantly bonded over scrapbooking.

Ok, so Scrapbookers - you know that December 1st means you've got to make a decision - are you going to do December Daily this year?  Maybe you've do it religiously every year?  Maybe you've tried to keep up with it in the past but fell off the wagon mid-month?  (Like Me).  Or Maybe you've never tried December Daily?   Even though I typically start the project with lots of gusto and loose steam midway through and then somehow regain it towards the end, I love participating in December Daily. 

Ali Edwards, who created the concept of December Daily and has vast resources on her blog, wrote a post recently that I really love about December Daily - click here for ideas about writing stories for December Daily.  For me, this is the go-to post for ideas and I even jotted them down on a list and posted them up on my board in my scrapbooking room - I scanned it in so I could share it with you. 

Rather than using my list (which you are perfectly welcome to do if you wish), I recommend you go to Ali Edwards's site and look through that post and then jot down the list yourself - do it by hand and I think you will remember it better than if you just copy and paste it, just try the handwritten list even if you don't like your handwriting, I think it "sticks" better in your brain and when you look at it it means more.

The two albums in the picture are 8x8 American Crafts.  I stocked the brown one with very neutral Christmas themed papers and I stocked the red one with bright and happy colored Christmas themed papers; I'm not sure which one I will be using yet; and I might use both and then consolidate them into one album at the end.  I'm just not sure yet.  I plan to post updates to this blog often in December so we'll see.

Here is an Amazon affiliate link to the American Crafts Albums I am using (the red and the brown) and I added a link for another 8x8 option with the American Crafts Modern Albums - I have several of these in 12x12 and some in a 6x10 format that I love - but I think that the customizable feature of these albums would make it work perfectly for December Daily:

If you want to use something you already have instead for your album:  I am planning to make some videos of my previous December Daily albums and in the past I have used the shells of very old magnetic photo albums with the magnetic photo pages removed and my own pages inserted - I'll have more on those soon.

 

Project Life - Nov. 20-26, 2011

It is my first official week of Project Life.  I ordered the Becky Higgins's Style A Page Protectors and the Amber Edition Core Kit and I have it all set up in the album and it is so exciting to have my first week completed!

This past week was seriously eventful  {Allison's birthday, the Awesome Octopus 8 Under the Sea Birthday Party, putting up the two Christmas trees and decorations and outdoor lighting, building doll beds, Thanksgiving dinner, and Cub Scout Camping!! All in one week!  } so I added a 8x11 photo page holder for extra pictures. 

I know there was a sale on the Project Life supplies on Amazon this past week but I think I missed it.  I was considering buying another kit to backtrack.  I started the Project 365 concept back in January but fell quickly off the wagon.   I'm thinking about how to do a year wrap up with that album, but I'm not really sure whether I am going to.  I'm not feeling all that motivated to do it, but maybe if I just make a traditional type scrapbook layout for each month.  I'm just not sure.  I am in the Project Life Community at Big Picture Classes, but haven't spent much time there, maybe I'll check the comments for recommendations about whether to try to backtrack or not.  But so far, I'm loving how easy the Project Life supplies makes doing this project.

Hey blog readers:  Do you do Project Life?  Please comment with any tips for maintaining this project - I'm hoping that I can stay on the Project Life wagon.

Three Scrapbook Layouts Inspired by Counterfeit Kit Club & Studio Calico

I am so intrigued and inspired by the Scrapbooking Blog: Counterfeit Kit Challenge - finally  there is a way to make your existing scrapbooking supplies feel fresh and current.  I am an avid scrapbooker but I am not currently on any design teams nor do I have any current publishing hook-ups.  {Hint: That means I'm open to any opportunities & love to scrapbook & can whip up a page pretty quickly - I did all three of these last night}.   In other words, I don't have a way to get new scrapbooking supplies for free right now.   While I love seeing the new scrapbook product reports from the recent CHA, I don't necessarily feel the need to go out or get online to buy them.  

Fact is, I already have a lot of scrapbooking supplies.  Lovely stuff, sure its not newly relased, but the vast majority of my scrapbooking stash is still pretty cool - I purged the die cut teddy bears and super cutesy stuff from the late 90s a long time ago.   So, I don't really feel right about buying more supplies when I already have so much from being a scrapbooker for the last 10+ years.   But, the "new" scrapbooking supplies always have their allure - they look fresh and fun to play with and sometimes seem irresistible.  Which is where the Counterfeit Kit Challenge site solves the scrapbooker's dilemma of having a large stash of scrapbooking supplies but still wanting the latest and greatest - the Counterfeit Kit Challenge finally offers a way to use your existing supplies in a way that feels hip and trendy and new!  

I did make a scrapbook kit but didn't take a picture of it.  What is more exciting to me is that I made a bunch of pages inspired by the Studio Calico Design Team, take a look, here they are:

1.  Fall 2010:  This 8.5x11 scrapbook page was inspired by The "Love" Layout at the Ginger Grace Blog.  I made the collage in Google's free photo software Picasa.  Even though I pulled a bunch of 12x12 papers for the Counterfeit Kit Club Challenge, I pulled all of the papers in this layout from my scraps bin instead of cutting up my 12x12 paper.  I am feeling quite thrifty about this page. 

 

2. Almost April:  Another 8.5 x11 Scrapbook page, this time inspired by April Foster's 2 Weeks Layout which also happens to be Studio Calico's Sunday Sketch of the Week.  When I started this page, I again went to my scrap bin rather than the papers I set aside for the Counterfeit Kit Club Challenge and when I was looking for something aqua blue, I found a scrap of Karen Foster Calendar Months paper with the month April on it; since I was scraplifting someone named April, I pulled it.  Then I remembered some thoughts I've had recently brought on by the flyer I found recently on our front gate:

 

That's right, last year our home actually won the Beautification Award, there was a ceremony and everything.  Actually the ceremony was on the very long side and Allison did and said some funny things during the event so I remember it quite well, I actually remember it like it was not all that long ago - I was thinking - It couldn't possibly have been one year ago already.  So the idea behind the page became about how time flies and 11 months can pass in the blink of an eye.  What's more is I remembered that I did the Ali Edwards Scrapbooking Project "A Week In The Life" during the week that we received the award last year - so I pulled out that album yesterday and flipped through it - cementing my astonishment about how time goes so fast.  Scrapbooking helps to freeze that time so at least I can look back and remember all the details.  Unlike April Foster's page which had about 8 vertical strips on the bottom, I used just 4 - a wink to the four seasons of the year and that there is four in our family. 

 

P.S. I actually put the scrapbook layout on the backside of the Beautification Flyer so that it sits in one page protector in my album - so the inspiration for the page is automatically connected to the page and the Beautification flyer is automatically going into the scrapbook instead of sitting around in a "memorabilia" bin and chances are getting lost or tossed at some point.

3. The third scrapbook layout is another 8.5 x 11 page, but this time in landscape rather than portrait orientation.  I was inspired by  Maggie Holmes' Love Your Laugh Layout because she featured a boy in her layout and I feel like lately I've been scrapbooking my girl more than my boy, so this inspired me to make a page about my son using recent photos.  These two photos were the most recent - I took them a few weeks ago - quickly in the car circle - as he was explaining in great detail all about how me made this ceramic mask for me. 

 
Its hard to tell from the photo of the layout but the pattered paper in the background is beige with large light beige circles - above it just looks white.  I used the scanner for these three layouts and sometimes I think that the camera works better even if the alignment of the layout isn't perfect.

Three things about this layout in retrospect:  1. If I used a 12x12 sheet, I would have had more white space which probably would have been more pleasing to the eye; but the 8.5x11 layout fits into smaller albums which is a plus.  2. The cluster of embellishments in the lower left feels a little too forced to me - like I put too much there, but it was fun to use up some scrapbooking do-dads anyway so I'm ok with that too.  3. I need to print some pictures soon - I intended to print every Friday this year but its been almost a month - I need to get a print order in soon!  I need my photo fix!

That's all for now folks (my kids have been watching Bugs Bunny lately).   Thanks for looking & let me know if you are doing the Counterfeit Kit Challenge - I'd love to see some other layouts inspired by this idea & the Studio Calico March Kit.  Please leave a link!