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.
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Now we are off for another adventure - more on that soon.
Last summer we went to Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral for the 4th of July weekend, it was a week before the last shuttle launch. My husband is a huge fan of all things space so he was interested, I was happy to see all the Star Trek stuff since my Dad and I used to watch together; we got to try surfing (much harder than it looks), and spent a nice weekend away together.
I made a scrapbook mini book while on the trip - it is 65% finished so I add to it now and then. Last night I added some of those map die cut letters to the front of the album:
Since I included so many pages, I have put the vacation and anything "space" themed in the album - like Buzz Light Year Halloween Costumes, toy rocket ships, and even 4th of July Photos so the album is broader than just one vacation:
I have dozens of photo albums and mini books that are "in progress" and I'm totally ok with that since I like the idea that I can go back to it and add as I feel like it; but I don't feel obligated to finishing. Is that weird? How about you? Do you finish your mini books? Do you feel like you NEED to finish or are you ok with having mini books that are "in progress"?
This page made with the Polaroid Frames from the DCWV (Die Cuts With a View) "The Snapshot Stack" is part of my "Book of Awesome"; a 6x10 scrapbook album from American Crafts.
I have a few of these three ring binder mini albums and have used my Brother P-Touch labeler to designate their categories: "Autobiography in Years"; "Book of Awesome"; and "Quotes I Love." I keep these close by my scrapbooking desk so I can add pages whenever I get some inspiration for these mini books; I also keep some home made mini books, photo albums, and 9x9 albums handy for when I want to scrap in different sizes or in particular themes like travel.
Here is my 6x10 inch page titled "3 Ski Trips 2012" with the DCWV Polaroid Frames:
I created the die cut letters with my Quickutz die cutter and a ski catalog that I picked up on one of the trips; and I glue sticked and stitched the die cut letters on the page.
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Welcome Scrapbookers to the 26th day of The Hunger Games Scrapbooking Challenge Series:
Note: We're almost done! I've planned 31 posts or a month's worth. I'll pick this challenge up again near the time of the release of the next movie Catching Fire.
The Hunger Games Quote: "I wish I could freeze this moment, right here, right now, and live in it forever." Let's interpret this as scrapbooking contemporaneously or the present day, scrapbooking the here and now. There are several ways to do this, most of them are ideas from Creative Keepsakes and Simple Scrapbooks:
Project Life (Becky Higgins):
A Week In the Life (Ali Edwards):
December Daily (Ali Edwards):
30 Days Hath September (Stacy Julian):
That was such a silly day, I'm glad I took the time to record it. My kids love to hear funny stories about themselves when they were little and pages like this are their favorites.
I've also seen projects by Ali Edwards for a Day in the Life; Stacy Julian has also done "May Everyday"; and I think Becky Higgins has something about Project Lifetime which encompasses someone's entire life - which is not present day scrapbooking but it kind of expands out these time based scrapbooking projects.
If you'd like to support this blog and learn more from Ali Edwards, Becky Higgins and Stacy Julian, please click through to one of the following affiliate links:
I finished my SNL (Saturday Night Live) Mini Book last night. That means I concepted it, put it together and finished it in one day. Short deadlines are good in the world of improvisational comedy and can be a useful tool in the creative process of scrapbooking. Here is the finished album:
I'm uploading the wrap-up video to You Tube now and should have a link up shortly. Ok, got it and here it is, Ta-Da!
I'll post another blog entry with link ups for lists of the principles of Improvisational Comedy.
I took an intro to Improvisational Comedy class last summer with Toby Martini and while taking the six week class, I had a spark of creativity that went beyond the class, learning the principles of improvisational comedy didn't necessarily make me funny, but it gave me a new way to think about my creative process and applying these principles to my process of scrapbooking has been a revolution for me. I am more prolific than ever, in October I made 40 layouts in 7 days and last month I made 60 layouts. Making a million scrapbook layouts is not the goal. Being more present and authentic in my creative process and product is. Telling better stories is the goal. Spending less time on stuff that doesn't matter is the goal. Spending more time on what makes my heart and soul sing is the goal. I'm there and I want to share.
In Improvisational Comedy, one of the first principles you learn is to be present. To listen to what your scene partner is saying and to respond to that, not to be thinking about what you are going to say next, but to be listening and then just opening your mouth and saying whatever pops into your head. Improv Business Consultant Marcia McGilley of Limelight Presentations says "I've also been a stage actor in plays, infomercials and 'improv' comedy shows. Improv is short for 'improvisational.' That's a fancy word which means thinking on your feet. No scripts or lines to memorize, you just say whatever pops into your head in a given situation. Improv was great training for real-life situations in business and consulting. I know how valuable it is as one of your communication skills."
This principle of being present, listening and saying whatever pops into your head can be applied to the process of scrapbooking. Think of what that little voice in your head is saying or what is on your mind or heart right now. What has you worried or excited or experiencing any heightened emotion right now. Listen. It is there. Scrapbook about that. Don't pre-plan it. Don't write it down in a list of things to scrapbook later. Just scrapbook it right now with what you have available to you right now. Even if that means it won't be as awesome as you think it would be / could be with better photos, better embellishments, or better more thought out writing. Chuck all that planning out the window. Remember the Nike ads? Just do it. Right Now. You have 15 minutes to spill your guts on the page. Don't edit. Be real. Say it (write it down) before you think much about it. Don't worry about grammar. Don't worry about anything that you think it should be, just go with what it is, what is in you that wants to get out. Listen. Listen and then Go!
Here is an example of what I mean by Listening to What Your Heart is Telling You, Being Present, and Being Improv about how you respond to that in a scrapbooking kind of way: (Hey - ppssst - blog reader - You can skip over this part or skim it - as I am a bit "improv" in my description - in other words, I am long winded - I'll highlight some important stuff). Today is Valentine's Day, I intended to make a scrapbook page about Valentine's Day or at least the theme of love. I started the page yesterday in anticipation of today being Valentine's Day - check yesterday's posts for the videos in which I made that and other projects. But, this morning when I woke up, I was thinking about Saturday Night Live and about the Grammy's Music Award Show, about Whitney Houston's death and about how Paul McCartney did the last number at the Grammy's; about how music and certain songs can instantly take us to a time and place and bring back memories; and about how the show Saturday Night Live also does that for me. When I see or think about an SNL sketch, I am also reminded of the time in my life when I first saw it. For example, the Coneheads and Gilda Radner bring me back to the 70s when I used to spend Saturday Nights at my Grandma's house watching the Barbara Mandrell Show, Love Boat and Fantasy Island, and then if I was still awake and Grandma would let us, we'd watch some Saturday Night Live, I don't remember it too specifically, but I knew it was cool. In the 80s I can remember my friends in AP Calculus Class (my most hated class), imitating Dana Carvey as the Church Lady - "Now isn't THAT special?" In college I used to spend the weekends with friends who were married with very young kids and we loved Kevin Nealon "I'll Pump (clap) You Up" and Mike Meyers in Wayne's World - I'm pretty sure Dana Carvey was in both of those sketches too (without googling it I think I'm getting his name right). When I first met my husband and we were dating, we'd often watch SNL after dates and that one night in August 1997 or 1998(?) when we turned to NBC at approximately 11:43 (so we knew SNL had started and we were on the right channel) and we were horrified that they were trying to do a sketch about Princess Diana being in a car accident and then slowly realizing it wasn't SNL, it was real. And now, my kids and I love Andy Samberg and his SNL shorts like Lazer Cats and Space Olympics. The show has been a constant in my life. It is like an old friend who knew me way back when. I am reminded of the different people I watched the show with depending on the sketch and when it aired. There are Deep Thoughts, like the ones Jack Handy used to do (miss those): 1. How powerful it was when Paul Simon sang The Boxer with the FDNY behind him right after 9/11 - I still get a little teary just thinking about how deep the emotion was at that moment; 2. How tender Chris Farley was when he did the awkward interview of Paul McCartney and he asked about whether it was true when McCartney sang "The love you take is equal to the love you make" and how Paul McCartney closed last weekend's Grammy Awards with that line and how the Beatles and Rolling Stones and U2 and Madonna have been musical constants and all have been on SNL (well at least members of the Beatles have been on the show). Music and this long running show of Saturday Night Live have been a constant in my life as I was born in the 70s and that show started in 1975 when my parents got divorced and that show has been the backdrop to my Saturday nights for as long as I can remember. If I never scrapbooked about something as random as seemingly random as Saturday Night Live, my story would be incomplete; but more importantly, if today, when I took time to scrapbook, if I didn't scrapbook about Saturday Night Live because it was on my heart and mind, whatever else I did would have been forced and not as real, it would not make an impression on me; whereas if I scrapbook what I am passionate about right now, chances are in 20 years when I look back at that page, I'll be taken back to today and that page will be a better memory trigger for me of time and place, like when you hear an old song, than if I hadn't been present and listened and then scrapbooked using these improv principles. Improv will make the memories more authentic and real. There will be more of me in what I create. I think this goes beyond scrapbooking; improvisational comedy principles can be applied to any creative process.
Here are 3.5 videos that you can find on YouTube about the process of applying improvisational comedy principles to scrapbooking and my actual process:
1. Watch as I use improvisational comedy principles in my scrapbooking creative process:
I use the principles of improvisational comedy for my video making too - I just press record and talk, there is no preparation and I say what is on my heart and mind, I am in the present moment, not thinking about the next thing I'm going to say - this is improv - it isn't always funny or interesting - but it is real and the more real you are, the better it is in an improv way.
1.5 Here's my improv fix for the 20 minute video that wouldn't upload to YouTube - This is The Middle (which is also a great show by the way) - I tried to get it to a point where there isn't too much overlap - but it is not perfect - it is improv! And just ask Seth Godin about how he feels about shipping when it is not completely perfect - I'm pretty sure he'd say ship it. So here's the fix:

2. Here is part 2: (Darn it! There is a gap between #1 and #2 so I'm going to upload a 1.5 to bridge the gap).
3. SNL Mini Book Cover & Applying the Improv Concept of Using What You Have and Getting It Done Now:
If you are interested in learning more about applying the concepts from improvisational comedy to scrapbooking or to any other part of your creative process, please leave a comment and/or email me. I am working on some projects that will expand on this concept and I need some guinea pigs.
Meantime, if you wish to support my blog through the Amazon Affiliate Program, you can check out these books and Paul McCartney's new album, Kisses on the Bottom (which sounds like an improv concept of "taking it the wrong way") that dropped today:
Sing it Paul: "And in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make. "
I think you you can substitute the word love for memory keeping or the creative process; in other words, what you get out of your scrapbooking or memory keeping hobby is what you put in to it - so put good stuff in OK?
We've been making scrapbooking videos with the iPad:
Heads Up! Valentine's Day is Tommorow! No, I haven't done anything yet. No, I'm not worried about it. Here's why:
A few years ago I had a blog post about how I don't like to buy Valentine's Day cards here is the link to that post (#2) and other posts about Valentine's Day and improving your marriage by scrapbooking:
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).
I keep a 9x9 mini album titled PLACES WE GO. In this album, there are 20 page protectors and I try to limit it to a page per trip or concept, it is not full and I expect to work on this album over time. The pack of ski receipts will go behind this page when the album gets more full.
This trip in 2009 was a dream come true for me - it was the first time I (who was raised on snow) was able to show my native Floridian son snow and he loved snow and skiing. The mother-son ski trip has become and will continue to be our annual tradition. It is awesome. We are planning to hit a new state every year and we have a family goal of seeing all 50 states by the time my daughter graduates from highschool - meaning within the next 10 years.
Thrifty Supplies: Very old DCWV Snow paper from a stack from 2005ish, equally old journal spot stickers from Building 19 that I bought when my Grandma died back in 2007, NC stickers from the scrapbook yardsale, and Basic Grey Paper also from the scrapbook yardsale. So this page was also well under a dollar to make.
Why does finishing December Daily seem like Mission Impossible - I technically only have two more days - but it seems like a really gigantic job. I'm hoping to put it - and my kids - to bed in the very immediate future.
Meantime, I did add a fluff page after being inspired by Katrina Simeck's Blog Post Winter Staycation, I actually copied and pasted her post and then put in my own words but the structure is the same. Easy and done. Here it is my take on this idea:
I did the page in word perfect (yes I prefer word perfect to word) and printed it out on plain white cardstock and glue-sticked a Christmas card (blue) to the left side of the page, and on the B side of that page, I just stuck a bunch of random stuff that was on my desk.
And yes, those Christmas Barbies have sung "Deck the Halls" about a bazillion times and Miss Ally Lu Lu came in to the scrapbooking room another bazillion times to have me sew pink Kleenex into sleeping bags, pillows and other room accessories for said Barbies - I really should have taken a picture of that too - ok, I just took some - (I wonder if there is a reaction to December Daily of taking less than normal pictures in January - we'll see). Presenting home made Barbie pillows and Barbie Snow Park complete with real snowman and sled and Barbie Fishing Pool with homemade fishing poles, etc:
I made a "This is your life" Album for my 91 year old father-in-law as a present for Christmas. He doesn't read this blog, so I think I'm OK posting this before I give it to him. Here is a show and tell video about the album that incorporates photos and his autobiography:
Here are the Picasa collages I made for the depiction of his autobiography:
Here are the Picasa collages I made for the end pages that run 2001 - 2011 with twelve photos on each page:
Now I'm going to wrap it up and put it under the tree!
Monday was a Work Day for me and today is supposed to be a Play Day but I'm thinking it is probably going to turn into an Errand Day - we'll see. For Monday's Page, I printed out the office Christmas card that I finally did yesterday, they are sending them out in the mail today; I used my office calendar as part of the background; and I used American Crafts letter stickers and my 8x8 American Crafts album still has plenty of room for the rest of the month.
Today I am on the lookout for easy quick Christmas crafts to do with the kids, if you have any links please leave a comment!
Friday, December 16, 2011 - The Last Day of School - turned into a Slumber Party which turned into Saturday, December 17, 2011 Breakfast for six and a day of Geocaching Adventures. We topped it off with Mr. Popper's Penguins which is the most delightful movie.
Here is a picture of each of the 4 pages for December 17 { Note to Self: Maybe just make one page a day? }
These would make great Christmas Presents if you are last minute shopping:
I still have so much shopping to do before Christmas!
I've had my Ocean Kayak Pelican Sit on Top Kayak since 2007 and it is so stable we have never capsized despite variations of kids and dogs who have been its passsengers. I love it and Mac loves his little kayak too - although pretty soon we're going to need to move him up to the next level since his carries a max of 130 pounds and he is a growing boy.
Our family officially grew by one sweet little girl today. It was Adoption Day for Lily! We met her last Christmas and fell in love and she looks a lot like Cindy Lou Whoo and we love her so much. Lily is now officially my great-niece but we just call her "cousin". Allison is especially happy that she has a girl cousin who is a bit younger than she is. I wasn't able to attend the adoption ceremony because of a doctor's appointment for my son, but my daughter and husband took pictures and reported back on this very happy occasion. I did text in Google Picasa over the photo that Charlie took with his iphone - I printed it out at 5x7 and I think it is awesome!
We love you Lily.
P.S. Here are some scrapbooking projects I did over the past year about Lily:
1. Here is the "After" Photo enhanced with a Photoshop Elements tutorial in Ella Publishing's Boot Camp:
2. Immediately after meeting Lily at Christmas last year, Allison decided to give her "baby" toys and even her beloved Cinderella Sippy Cup to little Lily.
3. This next page was one that Allison made for Lily, also very shortly (ok immediately) after meeting her. It says "I Love You. by Allison" and "I AM SPECIAL." because she wanted to make sure Lily knew just how special she is. Allison even put a little ribbon on the top so that Lily could hang it on her wall.
4. And for a brief tiny moment when we learned that my niece might not be able to adopt her, my family asked the question "What If" we were her plan B or C. We had all fallen instantly in love with this little girl. Thankfully, Lily is exactly where she is supposed to be.
Still Going! Here is my December Daily layout for the 13th - the focus was the school concert and I was going to put a title "concert" on the bottom of the left page but couldn't find letters the right size, so I just left it simple.
I also made another Picasa photo collage page using one photo from each month of last year - the sticker's are from the Becky Higgins Project Life - Amber Core Kit.
P.S. Ali Edwards did a page about taking her daughter to the Nutcracker and she included a picture of their shoes, I made this page after my post on December 13 and added it in to my December Dayout Album but hadn't posted it, so here is my December Daily Day 13 Layout about how my daughter picked out new shoes because she wanted them to be exactly like mine:
I left a bunch of blank space in the actual album and might later sew in some clothing tags from Christmas presents - when I do that I'll post an update.
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