Kiss and Tell Scrapbooking

Our 1st Art Journaling Class and a Full Circle Moment.

Did I learn anything new?  Nope.

Am I glad I went? Oh, Yes!

I took my 8 year old to an art journal class at our local scrapbook store, Whim So Doodle, yesterday. 

When I was her age, my Grandpa Allen used to drive me to Saturday art classes, she is so ready for that sort of thing.

I had a full circle moment with modern scrapbooking.  Back in around the year 2000 - it might have even been earlier in 1998 or 1999, I'm not sure but maybe since I got married in 99 - I went into a small local scrapbook store here in St. Pete near the mall.  The store no longer exists.  I remember lots of patterned papers, Mrs. Grossman's stickers, frames and paper embellishments that were sold one by one etc. There were some sample scrapbooks in the back of the store.  I mentioned to the clerk that I have been doing this sort of thing with magazines since I was a kid.  She gasped and quickly told me how completely wrong it was to use magazines because they weren't acid free - and now I can say blah-blah-blah - we've all heard that bit before; but back then I felt like maybe this scrapbooking thing wasn't for me.  I do remember going home to check up on my albums from high school.  They were in magnetic albums and full of magazine clippings and they looked totally fine, seriously.  Maybe a few of them had yellow around the edges of the album pages, but the magazine clippings were vibrant and my pictures looked fine too.  A few years after that I tore apart my magentic ablums to "save" them.  I sort of wish I didn't do that now.  I also wish that lady's comment hadn't felt like such a personal attack, but somehow, at that time, it did. 

So fast forward to yesterday and my daughter and I packed up our 90 weight watercolor paper pads, that I made smash book style at home; and our tackle boxes of watercolors, pastels, glue sticks, patterened papers, and OLD MAGAZINES!!!!  I was amused that our first assignment in class at the scrapbook store was to cut up old magazines and make a collage in our art journals.  Um, right. 

With the exception that I was using watercolor paper instead of magnetic albums, it could have been 1986.  It was fun to revisit an old friend - cutting up magazines - I'm pretty sure 99.9% of girls in the 80s did this at one point or another, whether it was to make something to decorate your locker with or it was to make a cool birthday card for a friend or even - gasp - to make an art journal (except we didn't call it that back then) - if you had a subscription to Seventeen Magazine - I'm betting you made something along these lines.

It was fun and there were familar faces in the class - sort of a loose sisterhood of scrapbookers.  I should really get out more so that I could remember everyone's names better, I am so horribly bad at that.  But I "know" these women, I should get out and hang out with them more.

That sort of energy was exciting.  My daugther picked up on it.  While taking a trip to the ladies room she said "I LOVE THIS!!" and she went on and on in a very fast excited voice, a more grown up voice, one that means she's seriously loving this - sort of like the vibe she gets when she watches Victorious or Jessee or those pre-teen types of shows; A sort of "this is new and I love it" feeling. 

"Can we come back tomorrow?"  she asked, reverting to her knees together bouncing up and down with her hands in prayer position stance.  "Oh honey, they don't do this tomorrow but I will sign us up for next month."  I said.  "Next MONTH??!!"  Totally unacceptable she let me know.  I offered "we could do this at home, we have all the supplies."  "BUT ITS NOT THE SAME AT HOME!"  she said.  She is right, there's something about being around other people doing the same thing.  I think I will sign us up for some art classes at the art center and we'll be back down to the scrapbooking store next month for more art journaling.

If you'd like to support this blog and stock up on some art journaling supplies, please click through to one of the affiliate links:

How to Art Journal with Scrapbooking Supplies

I love scrapbooking. I am busy.  I also love art.  I am busy.  There is only so many things I can do.  I have to choose.  Somewhere along the way I decided I didn't have enough time for art.  I've resisted art journals, even though I secretly know I would love it.  I've been afraid it would steal me away from what I'm up to already.  Its a temptation I've been resisting (and not the paint kind of resisting).

Are you a scrapbooker like me who just doesn't want to open the pandora's box of art journaling because you are afraid of the time, space and supplies you'll need to add it to your already full plate?  I am.   But Here Goes:

I think maybe I've stayed away from paint because when the kids were small whenever I pulled out paint it quickly turned into a giant and fun, but giant mess for me to clean up so over the years I think I've been less motivated to get out the paints because of small children's short attention spans and the seriously quick way kids and paint can get everywhere.  My kids are a bit older now and I think my daughter would really love some art classes and for me to pull out the paint on a more regular basis; she's been in the paint on a daily basis for at least a month and she's been really good about cleaning up after herself.  So maybe its time to get back there to art or at least dabble a bit again.

I signed up for an art journaling class next weekend, I signed up my daugther too.  We are both excited.  My mind is already full of ideas about how I can use my scrapbooking supplies in art journals.  Face it scrapbookers, we seriously already have most of the stuff.  I'll dip my toe in and report on my art journaling journey. 

Tell me, do you art journal?  How do you mix it and/or keep it separate from your scrapbooking?  I would love to hear from you.

 

P.S. I'll have a winner on the 200,000 blog hits soon! 

P.S. Hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day!

 

$76 Scrapbook Yard Sale Haul Video

Whoo Hoo !  It was the Scrapbooking Yard Sale at Whim So Doodle Today and I made a HAUL VIDEO!  Here it is:

 

$20 for an art class next Saturday for me and my daughter to take together!

$28 for 5 paper packs (6x6):Heidi Swapp Sugar Chic; Heidi Swapp No Limits; Crate Paper Story Teller; Studio Calico Take Note Collection; & Amy Tangerine Sketchbook.

$26 for 4 organizing bins; 4 mini books; 4 packs of embellishments; 4 packs of Theresa Collins journaling cards;  one pack of metal clock faces; one acrylic stamping block; one Creative Memories paper trimmer; and one piece of 12x12 Studio Calico patterned paper;  PLUS an assortment of Barbie garden pots, presents, shutters and hats for my girl. 

And lots of fun conversations with scrapbookers and art journalers.

What a lovely Saturday Morning.

*

Now we are off for another adventure - more on that soon.

 

 

How To Get Back in the Creative Zone for Scrapbookers

How to return to your creative zone after a vacation or hiatus:

I've been away from my scrapbooking desk for about 2 weeks, this picture was taken on the plane during my scrapbooking on vacation frolic. I'm back home now and I have some time today to get creative but I'm not warmed up.  Instead of spinning my wheels and wasting a lot of time, which I have totally done more than once, I want to get right back in the creativity zone.

Here are 10 links to creativity warm ups - lets see if any get my scrapbooking mojo back  in gear:

1. Drawing Warm Up Exercises by Category.  I think this exercise could be translated into a nice grid scrapbook page highlighting one category of thing. I just might try that.

2. Left Brain-Right Brain Warm Ups  Dance, Draw, Juggle, or Play the Color Game.  Hmmm.  Ok.  I do think sometimes its good to play some peppy music in the scrapbooking room to get things going, nothing too distracting, just something with a fast beat.

3. Find Out What Kind of Creative Type You Are.  I took this test but I think I didn't add them up correctly or something because I was the worst kind of creative and I just don't buy that.  My results were: 1. C, 2. A, 3. D, 4. A, 5. C, 6. C.  So I had had A=2, B=0, C=3, D=1.  Then following the math instructions I did A-B = 2; C-B = 3; D-B = 1 for a total of 6.  Then I wasn't sure what to do with the uppercase /lowercase thing but I think I was an "acd" or else I did it wrong and I'm a "ACD" so either I'm not at all or totally creative.  If anyone "gets" how this test is scored, please clue me in and leave a comment.

4. How To Be Creative.  This is a very visually appealing slide share and the maker of this one has several good one to check out.  Here are the tips in short:  1. Seek Widely.  Seek Deeply.  Steal Ideas. 2. Talk to Strangers.  3. Do Not Be Afraid to Fail.  4. Keep Dreaming.  5.

5. Creative Drawing Exercise with Both Hands.  There's some trippy music and this video is a bit mesmerizing but the exercise looks like an easy warm up, something that looks like it belongs in an art journal.

6. Simple Scrapper's Reclaiming Your Creative Mojo.   I like #5  Play with Your Supplies.  I often use this technique and make what I call "half-baked" pages that I come back to later and add the photos and the journaling to, making the base of the scrapbooking pages often gets me going and later makes scrapbooking much faster.

7. Busy vs. Meaningful Scrapbooking.  Nettio discusses her desire to give up on the scrapbooking obligations like Project 365 and push her creativity.  Good food for thought.  But remember, sometimes it is good just to "get busy" just to get the creativity going, but the busy feeling should be one of play not obligation, I think this is what she means.

8. 7 Ways to Beat Scrapper's Block.  I like #2 Take a Scrapbooking Challenge.  I often use this as a way to get started, I like the challenges over at Two Peas.  I miss the sketch challenges at Sketchy Thursdays.  If you know of good scrapbook challenge sites, please leave a comment with a link!

9. 3 Things Amy Counts On To Get Her Scrapbooking Mojo Back.  Amy says she likes a clean slate workspace.  I like this too, but I typcially clean up my space after every session so when I get back to scrapbooking after a hiatus, I have a clean slate.  Sometimes, I need to mess it up a bit to get my scrapbooking mojo back.

10. Scrapbooking Inspiration on Pinterest.  I've been trolling Pinterest lately for scrapbooking inspiration, for me it has taken the place of scrapbooking magazines and I love that it is as handy as my iphone.  I love to randomly pick a scrapbook page on Pinterest and "scraplift" it.  It gets things moving in my scrapbooking world.

If you'd like to support this blog and get more scrapbooking inspiration, check out these affiliate links:

 

 

 

Scrapbooking on the Go

I am Scrapbooking on vacation with a home made smash book & a composition book & recording my feelings while in a place via videos & posting onYouTube.

I'll have more on my vacation minibooks soon!

Celebrate the People You Love & 10 Ideas for Mini-Books!

10 Reasons Why I Love You Mini Book:

I'm taking Stacy Julian's Twelve Class at Big Picture Classes and this week focuses on People You Love, the audio message from Stacy this week focuses on a Simple Scrapbooks mini-book called 10 Reasons I Love You.  Several years ago, I actually won a few of these mini-books at the National Scrapbooking Day crop my local scrapbooking store, Scrapbooking in Paradise.  I love making mini books but haven't made one in a while, maybe I'll make a few before Valentine's Day.  Here are 10 links to Mini Books I have Made.

1. 10 Reasons I Love My Husband Mini Book (This is the Simple Scrapbooks product that Stacy Julian was talking about in this week's Audio for the Twelve Class).

2. Home Made Thankful Mini Book

3. Turning Old Hard Cover Books Into Scrapbooks

4. A Day In The Life Mini Book

5. Autobiography in Mini Book (One Page Per Year)

6. My Life In Three Words Mini Book

7. My Daughter's Mini Book Incorporated Onto A Scrapbook Layout

8. December Daily Mini-Book

9. Board Book Mini Albums

10. Metal Mini Book

It looks like its been about 5 years since I did this type of album for my husband, maybe I'll make another one.

Want more mini books?  Check out these links:

Scrapbook Layout Inspired by Jared Andrew Schorr

One of the Triggers for Stacy Julian's Twelve Class is a piece of art by Jared Andrew Schorr called "Keep Your Head Up"; It is a colorful picture of dinosaurs which he makes by cutting paper.  Inspired, I started on making one of the dinosaurs when my kids kept coming into my scrapbooking room telling me the other one was lost and I had to go find them - then one would lead me to a giant pile of pillows and covers and I had to look around the room until I finally found the pillow pile on the 5th or 6th guess and then the hidden one would pop out.  We did this little routine about 6 or 7 times.  While they kept coming in they saw the dinosaur making and they quickly wanted to join in the fun.

I think Allison's pterydactl really adds to the effect and I will definately remember making this page.  {WOW - I just did spell check and I actually got pterydactl right on the first try!}

Journaling:  "These photos (in the layout) were taken in 2007.  That's five years ago now and I can remember when you two played "pretend that" all the time and now you both have your friends so you don't play together as often but just tonight you played "I can't find Allison" and she'd hide under pillows and Mac would encourage met to find her just like old times.  And while I made this page you two came in and made dinosaur drawings for me.  I love you - Mommy 1/8/12."

 

Looking Forward to 2012 - My Year of HOPE

I am looking forward to 2012 and my year of HOPE.   Hope is my "one little word" for 2012.  The Quote inside the O is "Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.  Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.  BEGIN IT NOW." - Goethe.  I'm a big fan of beginnings so even though this quote does not include my word, I included this quote in my word because it describes how I am feeling.  I like this quote too: "To change one's life: START immediately.  Do it flamboyantly." - William James.  I think I'm going to print out that photo large for my December Daily Album - I still need to finish that up and wrap up Christmas.  I am also a fan of taking down the Christmas decorations relatively soon after the big day.  Maybe tomorrow I'll do that, I'd like to have it done before New Year's Eve.

I got a chance to escape family time for a few hours this afternoon and went out for sushi with extra wasabi and hot tea and then to a home goods store and then to the craft store.  Total Bliss.

I spent about $12 at the sushi bar and another $12 at the craft store.  I bought a bunch of star Christmas ornaments with my word "HOPE" on each one, I put one on my key chain and plan to use the others in OLW type projects. 

I also took a look around the craft store for what else was on sale, what was new, and what had the word "hope" on it.  I quickly decided that my word "HOPE" was not a cursive word and was not pink or purple; my HOPE is yellow green or aquamarine blue and it is in bold letters - probably capitals but not necessarily.   My HOPE is bold and shining and bright and strong.

I got out the paint and made use of some of the Christmas cards we received this year:

I made a little over a dozen of these HOPE cards and I'm going to tuck them away in my Twelve Class Bin to use in my Big Picture Classes in 2012.  Click Here to See My "Twelve Class" Bin.

I'm all signed up for Ali Edwards' class at Big Picture Scrapbooking and I also signed up for Stacy Julian's Twelve Class; Cathy Zielske's More More Eat Well and for Katie Nelson's Round-Up.  So excited and hopeful (wink) about all of these.  I am planning to take some art classes at the local art center too, I stamped HOPE right on the course catalog.

Please leave a comment and let me know if you are signed up for any classes at BPC or anywhere else, what do you want to learn in 2012? 

 

December 12

December Daily: Day 12:

No Photo Collage in Picasa today - not even a single photo! 

The left side of this is from the 11th - we had a big weekend with lots of activity and photos. 

But today was Monday and December 12th was all about words - specifically the Christmas carol lyric "Let Your Heart Be Light" since I started the day with a post about The Happiness Project for the December Scrapworthy Lives Blog Hop; and since we had "One of Those Days" (which is the title of one of our favorite books by Amy Krouse Rosenthal - see below for a link to this and other awesome books for you and your family):

"December 12, 2011.  Monday.  Today was sort of One of Those Days, but it started out with the December Scrapworthy Lives Blog Hop for the Happiness Project and of course I did my post at the last minute.  The song lyric "Let Your Heart Be Light" was the subject of my post and it played in my head the rest of the day through involved meetings, a business lunch, and the phone ringing all afternoon.  Then the kids were uncooperative and unfriendly and I decided to lay down the law and we had a family meeting with the point being that to have a Merry Christmas, we need light hearts."

RECOMMENDED READING:

 

Christmas & December Daily - In Progress Over the Years - Mini Books

This Basket contains Christmas scrapbooking mini books that are in progress - some of which I started in 1998! 

 

Still in my December Daily Frenzy:  I made a ustream video about the several Christmas Mini Books and December Daily type minibooks that I have started but not finished - and how I keep track of these in progress albums over the years and how one of my books is a 20 year project that I started in 1998.  If you don't finish mini books - do not fret!  It is ok to pick up where you left off last year - really - it is ok!  I like to scrapbook Christmas during Christmas and most of the time when I put the Christmas decorations away I am also ready to stop scrapbooking Christmas so I put away the pictures and supplies too; I show how my system allows me to go into full effect with the Christmas scrapbooking when I am in the mood to do it - Tis the Season; but when it's over, its over and it is nice to have a system of being able to put unfinished projects away without feeling at all guilty about not finishing because there is always next year.

These are my punches - which are probably about 10 years old - and which I still use almost every time I scrap - the smaller circle is a bit tweaky - but I still recommend these basic and very useful and versatile tools - I used these punches to cut the circle numbers, cut the notches and round the corners of these Christmas Mini Books.

If you don't have circle punches or corner rounders that you love, check these out - I have the Fiskars one in a scallop circle - so the regular circle is on my Christmas list.  I'm also linking some Chrismtas Paper Pads that are so useful in making the types of mini-books I love to make - I would love to buy more Christmas paper packs but I seriously have too many already, but if I needed some these are the ones I would get.  I also happen to think you can never have enough 8x8 albums so I'm linking a few of those in Christmas styles and the very same CHRISTMAS MEMORIES BOOK that I started in 1998 and it will go through 2018!  It is seriously awesome.

 

I couldn't find the exact 8x8 Chistmas Album that I have but if I were buying now, I might pick one of these (above); and that first red Christmas Memories Book by Lynn Anderson is the one I have, but the others look like they do the same type of thing and the Christmas Journal actually goes for 25 years!  That is so cool!

Today's Entry in my BOOK OF AWESOME

 
My "One Little Word" this year was AWESOME.  It was a little sarcastic but also a lot genuine.  I wanted to make everything I could more awesome.  I even started a BOOK OF AWESOME inspired by the The 1000 Awesome Things Blog & Book. 

 
So today, while I was folding laundry and looking out the back window, I noticed a large pod of dolphins.  Minutes later, I was on my kayak in the middle of them making eye contact for quite some time with one of the momma dolphins - she was checking me out to make sure I wasn't bothering her baby while she taught him to herd fish.  Standing there on my kayak, mostly excited, but a tinge fearful that momma dolphin would not approve of my proximity, I made a mental note that I would immediately make this page as soon as I got back to the house.

 
For many reasons, this has indeed been my year of AWESOME! And I'm reminded on a daily basis of all the awesome things in my life to appreciate and be thankful for. 

Happy October :)

 

Repurpose Old Retro Books into Smash Book Scrapbooks

Repurpose your old books into scrapbooks that will actually fit on regular bookshelves.

 
Benefits of this idea:

1. Use old stuff to make new stuff.

2. Free to very affordable.

3. Use up some of your scrapbook supply stash.

4. Have scrapbooks that will actually fit on your regular bookshelves without having to make a trip to Ikea!

5. They are quick and easy to make and are adorable (obviously).

 
Credit for this idea absolutely goes here to the Nerd Nest:  Click Here for the Nerd Nest Awesomeness!

Here's another video showing how I turned a retro home decorating book into a smash book scrapbook:

 

Here's the link to the ustream video in case that box above doesn't work:  http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/17267387.

Are you making these groovy albums?  Share your pictures and/or links in the comments.

Home Made Mini Scrapbooks / Smash Books

I listened to the Paperclipping Roundtable about minibooks {Link:  Making Unique Mini Books - Paperclipping Roundtable Podcast } today and am in LOVE with the books done by Megan of the Nerdy Nest Blog {Link: Megan's Awesome Mini Books from Hardbound Books - Completely Awesome! }.  So I made one of Megan's awesome mini books from a hardbound book - I had the perfect book that I've been waiting to use for just such a project - {I'm so in love with these!} and did a ustream video while making it:

 

Here's the link if that doesn't work (and yes its flash so you probalby can't watch it on the iphone):  http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/17257842.

Then I did another ustream video sort of a show and tell of several of my home-made minibooks, take a look:

 

And here's that link in case the above doesn't work:  http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/17258760.

While most of the time I make 12x12 or 8.5x11 scrapbook layouts, I do enjoy the mini book and find that I most enjoy them when I'm not concerned about finishing them - when they are more of an ongoing work in progress over many seasons.

Do you make home made mini books or have some links to other awesome mini book ideas?  I'd love to see them - please share in the comments.

After Ally borrows my iPhone

After Ally borrows my iPhone I find stuff like this in my photo gallery - apparently she knows how to save her work. Perfect Valentines Day Surprise !

Sent from my iPhone

Home-Made Christmas Present Idea with Photos: Scrapbooking Project with Old Fashioned Slide Show Carousel

 
This is what I'm working on right now & here's why:

My Grandfather had 20+ Photo Carousels full of slides from his travels to Europe with my Grandma Grace.  Most of the photos were of the sites of Europe so they are sort of interesting, but now what we are all more interested in is pictures of my Grandparents and our family.  I've inherited all of these Carousels.  My aunt and I occasionally get out our old fashioned slide projectors (we actually have 2 and they are a bit tempermental so its good to have 2 because neither of them works consistentenly well).  But my issue with the Carousels is that the boxes are big - probably about 12x12x2 so they take up a lot of physical space.  My other issue is that my Grandfather's Carousels are nostalgic and sentimental for me so I sort of can't bear to throw them away (gasp) or even part with them.  And my family hasn't shown any interest in wanting them. 

 

This past weekend, I went to an antique show and I picked up three carousels for $1.00 each so while shaking my head at myself, I bought them and figured I could play with them and not feel bad if I played with them and ruined them somehow since the ones from the antique show don't hold sentimental value for me. 

 
This is what I've done so far with one of them - I've just added a paper tag in each of the slide slots (or most of them - I see one in this photo that's empty).  I'm planning to add photos & words & stuff & give them away as Christmas presents for family members.  I've ordered a bunch of wallet sized photos & will be picking them up today & I'll show more of my progress with this project soon.