This is my layout number one for National Scrapbooking Day 2012! The link to the challenge site is up top. Here are some details - I love the sparkles on some of the eggs - this was an Easter / spring paper from the Dear Lizzy line a few years back. I made the yellow striped banner by using a square punch to make the indent in the paper ribbon (a clever trick I saw on Pinterest). The letters are from Pebbles Inc. and I've had them in my scrapbooking stash for years; and the scalloped paper is from the old Sassafrass Lass paper line. All old stuff, but I think the colors make it look fresh. What do you think?
Allison, age 8, had a much more creative take on the circle circle dot sketch:
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This is a kit I made a while back based on a Counterfeit Kit Club Challenge - I made the kit, I think I made some pages, but its been a while since I've done this; so I wanted to revisit the idea of a home made kit club. This time, I wanted to take a short cut to the kit-making process. So I came up with an idea to make an easy kit, its not earth-shattering or anything, but I haven't tried this process before. (read on)
I haven't been to Michael's Craft Store in a long time, but I got a chance to go after work tonight and The Snapsot Stack by Die Cuts with a View caught my eye. The colors include black, white, aqua, red, lime green and yellow with some text and beige mixed in; it also includes journaling spots, triangles for banners, borders, and polaroid frames as well as some other elements that can be used as embellishments. There are 48 papers on patterned cardstock, there is two of each pattern. I'm going to challenge myself to make 24 layouts with this stack. I'll add in stuff from my stash, especially my Quickutz and Sizzix die cuts, odds and ends from the Smash line, and journaling spots from Project Life I'll post pictures as I complete them.
Tell me, do you subscribe to kit clubs, make your own kits or do you "not" do the kit thing?
Welcome to Day 22 of The Hunger Games Scrapbooking Challenge!
(Hunger Games Spoiler Alert): Today's inspiration comes from District 11's tribute, Rue "small and meek, you wouldn't assume that she could last long; but her knowledge of trees, plants, and hiding keeps her alive. She warns Katniss about the tracker jacker hive, and they later become allies. She is later murdered by the boy tribute from District 1, Marvel. Rue has dark eyes and is of African decent. (The Hunger Games wiki)
Today is the release of the movie The Hunger Games and my 8 year old daughter wants to see it and I'm on the fence about when I should go to see the movie to avoid the swarms of teenagers and whether I should bring my daughter.
I've told her that its PG13: She's OK with that.
I've told her there's lots of kissing: She says she'll cover her eyes - my kids still think kissing is yucky.
I've told her there is blood and guts and killing: She says she likes that sort of thing. (hmmm. ok.)
What I'm most worried about is when (spoiler alert) Rue dies. From the reviews I've read it seems like they have toned down the blood and gore and violence - for a movie all about teenagers killing each other.
My 8 year old girl is more comfortable with picking up creepy crawlies than her big brother, is always the one who wants to see it when something is bleeding, and is someone who gets the bigger concepts. Haunted Mansion is her favorite ride at Disney's Magic Kingdom. She seems to genuinely want to see it.
If you have seen the movie, PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT to let me know whether an 8 year old who is comfortable with guts and blood could / should see it.
Ok, back to the scrapbooking challenge, the SCRAPBOOKING THEMES we can take from Rue include: lullabies, singing and music, tree climbing, birds, and little sisters.
Lullabies: This layout incorporates a couple of the songs I used to sing to my girl when she was a baby:
And here's another of my sweet baby girl:
Birds or Boobs: This page was about whether the chamber would support the bird sanctuary or the breast cancer reconstruction charity:
Angry Birds & Geocaching:
These next two layouts are about me and my own little sister over the years:
If you want to play along, please leave a comment with a link to your scrapbooking layout or project inspired by the themes of The Hunger Games. If you've seen the movie, please leave a comment to let me know what you think and how kid appropriate it is - Thank you!
If you'd like to support this blog, please click on through to one of the above bird scrapbooking affiliate links. Thank you!
Welcome, Welcome, to Day 21 of The Hunger Games Scrapbooking Challenge! Today we are taking our inspiration from Effie Trinket! She is the highly made up picker of Primrose's name in the reaping ball on The Hunger Games movie trailers. She is the one who says "May the Odds be Ever in Your Favor!"
I don't imagine there are many on Team Effie, but there was something about her that I liked despite her being outwardly despicable. For me, I felt like maybe she was just misunderstood.
Effie reminded me a bit of my first year of highschool, a time when girls are desperately trying to fit in. A time when I was labeled a "freshman airhead cheerleader" or at least that what the upperclassmen mean girls called us. My BFF Katie R. and I would then pretend to be completely dumb and have ridiculous conversations like we really were freshmen airhead cheerleaders and then we'd giggle ourselves silly; but really, this was just a clever and fun defense mechanism we devised because some of those girls calling us names we would have looked up to. Highschool - ahhh the lessons of conformity and breaking the rules.
Since then I've always had a soft spot for girls who are a bit misunderstood like Legally Blonde's Elle Woods and Clueless's Alicia Silverstone - what was her name, Cher? Its the whole "don't judge a book by its cover" and you don't know a person "until you've walked a mile in their shoes" thing. And it is fun to get all dressed up sometimes right?
{That's me from a couple years ago when we had a Pirate Themed Murder Mystery Party at our house - so very Capitol right? I even wore hair extensions and was the Queen of something.}
While reading the books, I always wanted to know a bit more about how Effie got her job. Was it assigned to her?, did she seek it out?, was she just playing her part in fear of what would happen if she messed up?, and did she secretly have a crush on Haymitch? Something I loved about the way Suzanne Collins wrote her characters was that all of them were shades of gray, none were black or white. So while Effie seemed like the worst of the worst in the superficial department since she was from The Capitol, I couldn't help thinking there was a little more to her under the surface and under all that make up.
Spoiler Alert for the Hunger Games: Effie Trinket: The District 12 escort, who was happy and bubbly. She wore many different colored wigs and helped Katniss and Peeta get sponsors in the Games. She constantly bickered and argued with Haymitch. Very proper, she hated it when people did not have proper etiquette. Katniss was shocked when she found out Effie was a rebel. (source The Hunger Games wiki)
Scrapbooking Themes Inspired by Effie Trinket Can Include:
1. High School
2. Conformity
3. Misconceptions
4. Glamour Shots
5. Hair & Makeup
6. Winning the Lottery, and
7. Ettiquette.
Here are some of my scrapbook pages that fit those categories:
High School Dating: From The Quarterback to the (dare I say it) Comical Nerd. (20 plus years later: P.S. I love nerds. And P.S. The Quarterback turned out to be an amazing guy too. Much admiration for both of these guys.)
Ahh the glamour of a Disney Princess - here is my daughter with my BFF from highschool Nancy's daughter - on their way to learn the lessons of appearance and glamour and what's real:
And on excess in general, so very Capitol, here's a page of mine from 2007 - before the recession. P.S. I still have most of this stuff give years later, and that clock still hangs on the wall in my scrapbooking room, it says "Scrap Happy - Think Big" in hot pink letters, an otherwise serious clock got glamourized, I love that.
If you make a page inspired by The Hunger Games Scrapbooking Challenge - please leave a comment with a link. The movie comes out tonight at midnight - who's going?
If you wish to support this blog, please click through to the affiliate links - and check out The Hunger Games Nail Polish collection, wall decal and triology boxed set!
Here are links to the You Tube Videos for The Hunger Games Scrapbooking Challenge:
I thought I'd put them all in one place. I haven't watched them myself but I might take a look while I do some scrapbooking later tonight. Or maybe I'll just make some more without looking. More videos are coming soon.
Welcome Scrapbookers, to Day 17 of The Hunger Games Scrapbooking Challenge.
Today we are focusing on the stylist Cinna, played by Lenny Kravitz in the movie, for our scrapbooking inspiration. You do not need to have read the book to play along, but the book is pretty awesome and the movie will be out very soon, so you might want to check them out just for fun.
Cinna - Katniss' stylist. A sly and witty man, Cinna is clever with his fingers and even smarter in his mind. His incredible designs for Katniss help her popularity with the audience. He's the most normal person Katniss met that was from the Capitol. Katniss's stylist, who risks his life to turn the wedding dress President Snow forced her to wear into a mockingjay outfit. He is captured at the beginning of the Quarter Quell. It is believed that he died during interrogation. (source The Hunger Games wiki)
So the inspiration we can take from Cinna for scrapbooking inspiration is most obviously fashion, costumes, and wedding dresses. You might also take inspiration from him for themes of fire, secrets, and helpers. I'm taking the easy route and going with fashion and costumes, as in Halloween costumes:
Cinna also makes wedding dresses in Catching Fire, so here's a layout I made about the Royal Wedding last year:
And here's one more layout about dressing up a favorite doll:
The Scrapbooking Challenge based on Cinna of The Hunger Games is to create a layout about fashion or costumes or wedding dresses. If you do make a layout, please leave a comment with a link.
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Welcome Scrapbookers to the Rebel District 13 of Panem, land of The Hunger Games:
If you haven't been reading The Hunger Games, here's the scoop on District 13, a district of Panem that was supposedly destroyed by the Capitol during the first rebellion; said to be uninhabitable, the ruins still smoldering from the toxic bombs dropped on it. However, the district actually agreed to pretend to be dead in exchange for the Capitol leaving them alone. Its industries were mining graphite and nuclear science/technology. This is the reason that the Capitol agreed to leave them alone. In Catching Fire, Bonnie and Twill tell Katniss of the mockingjay that is always seen flying across the corner of the screen when the Capitol is supposedly televising new footage of District 13. The ruins are always smoldering, the same news reporter is talking in front of the rubble. The Capitol never shows the current state of District 13, instead always replays old footage. Bonnie and Twill believe that there is a civilization living underground. At the end of Catching Fire, Katniss learns that District 13 is the base for the new rebellion. District 13's leader is President Coin. In District 13, citizens are on a strict schedule everyday printed on their forearm, it shows the specific activity, and time showed in 24-hour time. Activities include meals and other activities are the Command, where citizens of 13 write down what they want changed or added to the schedule. The schedule depends on the age. If you are a teen, you go to school where you study classes on history or other subjects. If you are old enough to work, you work in the kitchen, or the hospital. During the day, you are arranged a strict 30 minute down time with family. People are not allowed to have outside pets, as a precaution. But in a exception established by Katniss Everdeen, she asked for permission for her younger sister, Primrose Everdeen, to keep the small tom cat named Buttercup she took care of in District 12. Buttercup is let outside to find food, but his comings and goings are strictly controlled. Katniss also requested special hunting time. President Coin accepted, but stipulated that she could only hunt within a strict 2-mile radius for a time span of two hours. She could only hunt with Gale Hawthorne, use the catch for the District 13 kitchen. They each had a GPS attached to their ankle, and if they ran away, they would be executed. (source The Hunger Games Wiki).
I wasn't sure how I would interpret this district so I searched for "rebel" in my photos which are organized in Picasa and all of the photos taken with my Canon Rebel came up. Last night was the actual premiere of the movie with lots of paparrazzi and cameras flashing. So I thought I'd FOCUS on picture taking for this challenge.
This is a 12x12 scrapbook layout I made about being the one missing from the photos because I'm usually behind the camera:
This 6 photo 12x12 layout highlights my picture taking in the mirror trick
This next one photo 12x12 layout features a favorite photo of my daughter taken with my Canon Rebel:
Ok and one more one photo 12x12 layout featuring a photo taken with my Canon Rebel:
Ideas for Hunger Games Scrapbooking Challenge For District 13:
* Photography (Canon Rebel) or Picture Taking in General
* Wearing Uniforms
* Strict Schedules / Routines / Your Planner Calendar
* Pencils (graphite) / Homework / Taking Tests
If you make a layout, please leave a comment with a link. There is a Flickr "The Hunger Games Scrapbook Challenge" Group if you wish to upload your layouts there.
If you wish to support this blog, please click through to check out the following affiliate links:
If you are thinking about a DLSR, the Canon Rebel is an awesome pick. If you already have a Canon Rebel, the 50 mm lens is an afforadable and amazing add on.
Welcome Scrapbookers, to The Capitol of Panem from The Hunger Games.
"The Capitolof Panem is a fortress city where the wealthy and powerful people of the nation reside. Not only are The Hunger controlled from this point, but so are the twelve (previously thirteen) districts. The Capitol is a dictatorship run by President Snow before his death. Located in the northwestern section of the former USA, seemingly in the Rocky Mountains, it is known for its lamb stew and hot chocolate. The Rockies acted as a natural barrier and proved useful for the Capitol, allowing their air forces to bomb the rebels attempting to invade the city. Style and fashion are very important to the aristocratic citizens of the Capitol. It is common for them to tattoo and dye their bodies, as well as undergo plastic surgery to alter their appearances such as whiskers, dyed skin, talons, tattooed breasts or faces, some have gems implanted in their skin; they frequently wear wigs in a multitude of colors. The other districts think the Capitol residents are both different and odd. Partly because the districts (other than District 1) have no sense of fashion. In order to have a good time at a party and eat as much as they want, Capitol residents drink a special liquid that causes them to vomit, thus providing room for more food. The residents seem oblivious to the fact that, although they go through lots of food and still have plenty, many of the district's residents are starving. The food Capitol residents eat is extremely rich. The people who live in the Capitol speak with accents; their voices are high-pitched, their jaws barely open when talking, and the ends of their sentences going up as if they're asking a question. They have odd vowels, clipped words, and tend to hiss the letter "s." The exception to this is Cinna, Katniss Everdeen's stylist during the 74th Annual Hunger Games. Capitol residents treat The Hunger Games as a highly anticipated source of entertainment, and take pride in betting on the tributes for bragging rights if they happen to sponsor an eventual winner. The more blood and fighting there is in the arena, the greater the entertainment for the Capitol. It is also observed that they are unhappy about the victors being thrown into the arena once more for the 3rd Quarter Quell because they have grown attached." (source: The Hunger Games wiki)
To translate The Capitol to Scrapbooking:
1. Theme of Capitol & Total Control: I used a old quote from our Family Words File and some old pictures of my kids taking over the world. The Quote reads: "The Whole Entire World! I overheard Mac saying this to Allison while they were playing: "Ok, now where was I and what was I doing? Oh yeah, I was taking over the whole entire world!" Go get 'em boy but use gentle hands and heart OK?" "You two used to play pretend all the time around 2008." "Just tonight, Allison came downstairs after her shower with underwear on her head!"
2. The Colors of the Capitol: I used colors that were overly bright and busy and there was a lot going on on this patterned paper, from Me and My Big Ideas I think. On top of the already busy patterned paper, I stamped circles and journaled in some of them. I also added stamped arrow signs to draw attention to the journaling.
Scrapbooking Challenge based on The Capitol from The Hunger Games:
1. Take the Theme of Control and adapt it to a scrapbooking page. This doesn't have to be "taking over the entire world" control, it can be more quiet - like taking control of your own daily schedule to allow some "me" time in there or some time for scrapbooking.
2. Use Overly Bright Colors and Overly Busy Patterned Paper. If you are like me and have lots of patterned paper in your stash, this shouldn't be difficult. However, what can be difficult is drawing attention to the photos and journaling and not letting the overly busy and bright paper overpower the main subject of your page, I think I did a fairly good job of this by using a mat for the photos and printing the journaling on white paper to let it stand out.
If you make a page, please leave a comment with a link. There is a Flickr Group called The Hunger Games Scrapbooking Challenge where you can post your pages.
If you wish to support this blog and get your Capitol Gear on for The Hunger Games movie premiere later this month, click on these affiliate links:
Welcome. Welcome Scrapbookers to District 1 of Panem, Land of Luxury. District 1 is one of the wealthiest districts of Panem. Its primary industry is manufacturing luxury items for the Capitol. Some of them include diamonds and most likely other precious gems. It seems that names in this district are names of precious items, which may be a reflection on their "glamorous" nature and demeanor. Children in District 1 seem to take pride in competing in the Games, and are among the group of tributes that band together to pick off the weak, called the Careers. Katniss also notes how their costumes are always the best. (source wikia)
Psssst - Hey Scrapbookers: If this is your first time here, The Hunger Games Scrapbooking Challenge Series is a way to use different aspects of the popular trilogy and upcoming movie The Hunger Games as a jumping off place or theme generator for scrapbooking layouts. Every day, we translate one of the Districts of Panem into the starting point for scrapbooking projects, the themes can be translated literally or very loosely. It is just a fun place to start because sometimes the "starting" place in scrapbooking is the hardest part, this is just a fun way to make starting a bit easier.
This layout was inspired by Shannon Tidwell's Memory Keeping Monday Scrapbooking Challenge on the Two Peas site; the challenge was to use a stamp. She used a mason jar stamp, repeated the image several times, and added glitter and journaling to each jar. I wanted to use a stamp that I could jouranl inside of and I remembered that I had a Jenni Bowlin stamp that I bought at my local store Whim-So-Doodle and I bought it at the full price of $4.00 and that I haven't used it yet - so this page seemed like the perfect opportunity to use this luxurious stamp.
Journaling: I don't value fancy cars or jewelry or fashion. I love free time and travel and adventure and good food. I don't particularly love shopping for clothes but I love that Allison has a passion for it. Lists: Stay home days. Walks on the beach. Time to scrapbook. Bedtime stories. Singing in the car. Craft Store. Bar Harbor. Boone, North Carolina. Durango, Colorado. Padanaram, Mass. London, England. Atlantis, Bahamas. Home. Sushi. Habenero Tabasco. Moose Tracks Ice Cream. Extra Wasabi. Dark Chocolate. Lobster. Skiing. Stand Up Kayaking. Bikram Yoga. Getting a Massage. Bubble Baths. Hammock.
Scrapbooking Challenge: Make a scrapbook layout or mini book about your luxury items and leave a comment with a link.
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Next up is District 1 Luxury. I'll be working on the scrapbook project for that tonight, watch for the post tomorrow. After that we'll visit the Capitol and District 13, then we'll explore other themes from The Hunger Games. I'm applying a concept from improvisational comedy to scrapbooking here - its called "piling it on" -where you keep with one topic or category until you think you can't think of anything else and then you keep on going. The Improv Games associated with this concept is called "The Minister's Cat" {Click Here to Watch Scrooge Play The Minister's Cat - it is quite ridiculous}. So like Scrooge's peeps and their party games, I'm going to stick with the theme of The Hunger Games until the movie's release. Thankfully, the movie is releasing at the end of this month, I'll be hosting a ustream close to the movie premier, time and date for that to come sometime soon.
In the meantime, if you wish to support this blog and get yourself all decked out in luxurious accessories from The Hunger Games for the big movie premier, check out these affiliate links:
So get your Katniss on and put a dish of milk out for Buttercup because we're staying on The Hunger Games for a while.
Welcome Scrapbookers to District 2 of Panem: Land of Masonry and Peacekeepers in what would have been the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
Hey. Psst. I got a comment recently from a scrapbooker who said she "couldn't figure out" what I was trying to do with The Hunger Games Scrapbooking Challenge Series. So I guess I should explain a bit: I find that when I start with a theme for scrapbooking, I can translate the theme into all sorts of different scrapbooking pages and projects. The theme gives me a starting point. I recently discovered The Hunger Games and read through the triology in less than a week and I am highly anticipating the movie. Since the imaginary dystopian world includes many districts and themes and characters, I thought it would be fun to use The Hunger Games as a theme or a jumping off point for scrapbooking inspiration. You are welcome to join in and translate the themes as closely or as loosely as you wish. There is a Flickr Group for this challenge if you wish to play along - here is the link to The Hunger Games Flickr Group.
District 2 of Panem is the place where Peacekeepers are trained, and where the weapons are manufactured, but originally specialized only in mining and stone cutting. Publicly it's presented as the nation's stone quarries, just like District 13 was known for graphite mining. District 2 children are raised with a warrior mind-set and most of the Peacekeepers are from District 2. This district was the only one not on the side of the first rebellion, and after the attempt failed, were rewarded by better treatment from the Capitol, and better living conditions for their citizens. District 2 is in the Rocky Mountains, near the Capitol itself. The district is made up of many small villages, each based around a mine. Although the district is allied with the Capitol, due to their preferential treatment, the quarry workers suffer as much as any other district, not being excluded from the annual Hunger Games that take place. (source Wikia).
Since I just returned from beautiful and amazing Durango, Colorado and that is the location of District 2, I'll be taking my inspiration from the location of this district in Panem.
I made a photo collage in Picasa and typed in this journaling: "Now I Know What John Denver Meant when he sang Rocky Mountain High. I found myself singing the lyrics "coming home to a place {s}he's never seen before." I was so moved by the beauty of these mountains and the solitude I found in the snowy trails. I had visions of uprooting our family and transplanting us in Durango, Colorado. I fell completely in love with this place. Charlie was not as convinced, he liked the vacation and made a lot progress in his ski lessons, but made it clear that he's a Florida Boy. I do still hold out hopes for a vacation rental property."
I printed the photo collage on an 8.5 x 11 sheet and trimmed it just a bit and backed it with patterned paper. No embellishments. Just words and photos and a bit of background. I did add a zig zag stitch for a little visual interest. Simple. And Done.
P.S. I know there's a misspelling in my scrapbook page and the print quality is not the most awesome; but I'm still calling it done!
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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:
Today's stop takes us to The Hunger Games' Panem's District 4: Fishing: I'm going to make this post short and sweet, here are a bunch of layouts about fishing:
Welcome, Welcome, Scrapbooking Dystopian Fans to Panem District #7 Lumber,
First, you simply MUST watch this silly song about Lumberjacks from Monty Python:
This will get you in the appropriately silly mood to record some lumberjack and lumber related memories just like we did during our stop in District 10 Livestock. So watch the song and then sit down at your computer or with a pen and paper and record at least 10 random memories, which may or may not be funny, about lumberjacks, lumber, the forrest, and/or trees. You have to come up with at least 10. My bet is that you could probably come up with 100, but stop at 10 ok? And then come back for more District 10 Lumber Scrapbooking on the Kiss and Tell Scrapbooking Blog.
Here's my layout with three pages of 11 stories about lumber, trees and lumberjacks:
Ok, so you've got your 10 lumberjack memories in hand right? If you don't, do that now. Really. Do it now. And THEN you can read the rest of the blog entry for today. Trust me, just do it right now if you haven't already, it does not have to be full sentences, it does not have to make sense to anyone except you, but you do have to go through an remember and write down 10 memories about lumber to get the improvisational comedy concept of "piling it on" or the improv game "the minister's cat".
If you wish to support this blog and learn more about scrapbooking and improv and read the The Hunger Games (if you haven't yet); please click on the affiliate links:
P.S. Here are my 11 stories about lumberjacks:
Eleven Real Life Lumberjack Remember When Stories:
1. I went to high school in Bangor Maine where Paul Bunyan, legendary giant woodsman, stands as a symbol of a great era, the 1800s when Bangor, Maine was acclaimed "THE LUMBER CAPITAL OF THE WORLD!" I remember the Paul Bunyan statue from when I was about 5 and went to Bangor to the circus; I remember the Paul Bunyan statue from when I was about 15 and used to climb up and sit on the feet with my friend Lizzy Dean; I remember the Paul Bunyan statue from when I was about 25 when I took Charlie to see Maine and we had our picture taken in front of the statue; I remember the Paul Bunyan statue from when I was about 35 (or technically 41) when I brought the entire family to Maine and showed my kids this statue. I have a wooden Paul Bunyan that its in my kitchen as a reminder of my hometown.
2. I not only can sing the Monty Python version of the Lumberjack Song, I also remember a song about Lumberjacks from summer camp - the one about My name is Jan Janson, I come from Wisconsin... and it goes again and again and again, when I sang it for the kids they both begged me to stop - maybe we should start using that one in the morning to get them out of bed! I used to watch Monty Python on Bangor’s PBS station late at night with my BFF Missy Woodbury and I’m pretty sure we used to sing the Lumberjack song and laugh our heads off until we fell asleep.
3. My Grandpi had 600 acres of mostly woods in Calais on River Road and we used to walk through the forrest when I was a kid and there was one tree that had a nail in it with a metal bucket hanging from the nail this was the tree near a natural well and I think maybe there was some sort of old fashioned pump that you could pump and fill the bucket up with water and get a drink, just in case you were a thirsty lumberjack I’m guessing.
4. My Dad had about 1000 acres of woodland just outside of Bangor and he won all sorts of Tree Forestry awards for being a very environmentally sound tree farmer, I have the plaques in my law office now. Sometimes I make a lame joke to clients that we waste a lot of paper because my law school professor J.J. Brown always used to say "paper’s cheap and time is short" - I think he was trying to convince us L1s of the brilliance of only writing on one side of the paper because it would be easier to read later on; so my story to clients is that even through our law office has been paperless since 2002, we still have and use a lot of paper - but karma wise I’m OK since my dad was an environmentally sound tree farmer. I don’t really think anyone gets this story, but my mind always goes there when the client comments about how gigantic their files have gotten - we are paperless in that everything gets scanned in and we have a fantastic client profiles software management system that I completely love and allows me to work from anywhere including from home and vacation and even my iphone!; but we still keep paper files and I usually have the staff put the physical files on my desk for client meetings and generally they are huge, like at least a foot or two tall of paper. Seriously, so it just kind of seems funny that we consider ourselves to be paperless with all that paper.
5. When we lived in Calais, Maine when I was little, the town next to ours had a paper mill and the whole town smelled really, really bad and I was always so happy that we didn’t live there and I only had to hold my breath for about 2 minutes while we drove through that town on the old Airline road on our trips to Bangor.
6. When I was a teenager and living with my Dad and he owned all that land, he insisted we go out to the land to cut down our Christmas tree; we always ended up with a very Charlie Brown tree and we didn’t axe it down as you might imagine, he’d bring a hand saw. Once, when I was about 16 and was dating David Q, he said he could solve my Christmas tree problem and we drove out into the woods and found a giant tree - just like the Griswolds did in Christmas vacation and we chopped it down with an axe and then realized it was about 4 or 5 times longer than his little Subaru so we chopped off the top of it and tied it to the roof and hauled it home. My first Christmas in our house with Charlie, we had a real live tree and I decorated it with spray painted and glittered sea shells and pine cones, it was also when our black lab was a puppy and he kept trying to eat and/or hump the tree and it was a mess and at about 2 pm on Christmas Day that year, I hauled the tree, ornaments and lights and all, out to the curb in front of our house and vowed to never, ever have a real live tree again. We’ve had a fake tree ever since and I’m totally OK with that; someone usually sends us a Maine wreath as a Christmas present so I still get the smell of home without the giant mess or driving out to the woods.
7. My family came to America in 1706 from Scotland; Wallace Finlayson was in shipping and he landed in Portsmouth, NH on my birthday, June 6th in the year 1706 and he quickly moved up to Maine but continued in shipping, he or maybe his son is rumored to have been captured by Pirates and never seen again. His son or grandson, William Penn Fenderson and/or Nathanial Fenderson had a farm in Maine and one of them went into town one year with the harvest and was never to be seen again, it is rumored that he sold his crop, left his wife and kids high and dry, and he went out to California for the Gold Rush and that his descendants got into the wine business and now have some connection with Reunite and Mad Dog or Thunder something rott-gutt wine. Even though our family has been in Maine for over 300 years and it was once the lumber capital of the world, I don’t think any of my ancestors were lumberjacks, but the men in the Fenderson family always wore plaid shirts on the weekends - which maybe a lumberjack thing but could also have been a Scottish thing, anyway, they looked like lumberjacks and spent lots of time in the woods.
8. When I was a teenager and lived with my Dad and he was single, he used to date a lot of different women. His favorite kind of date would be to take the lady to dinner - one time he brought a lady to 7 or 8 McDonalds around the Bangor Area to get a free Chicken McNugget when the nuggets finally came to Maine, and afterwards, he brought her out to the land which he was very proud of; I remember distinctly him telling me about this date afterwards and telling me that he couldn’t figure out why she would never take his calls afterwards. And then he’d add the bit about how he "clubbed 7 porcupines to death with a stick" while he was on this woodland date; and then he’d add how it was environmentally sound to kill the cute little porcupines because they liked to eat a ring around the bark of the trees which would kill the trees and he was trying to grow the trees. I’m sure whoever that lucky lady was still tells this story about that weird guy who brought her on a date to McDonalds and topped it off with killing porcupines. Weird.
9. When I was dating Charlie and his parents had a house in Georgia, they used to have to cut down the Georgia pines since they’d blow over easily in a storm so my husband and father in law know their way around a chain saw. Charlie also has a song that has something to do with lumberjacks and is played on chainsaws, he relayed that song to the kids this morning but I’m guessing he’ll play it for them tonight so they get the full effect.
10. I grew up with Pine Trees and since I moved to Florida its been Palm Trees. I get nostalgic when I walk through a forest with lots of pine trees, it reminds me of my Dad and childhood and funny stories about trees and lumberjacks and home.- Katie 2/29/12 (leap day)
IMPROV CONCEPT OF EMBRACING YOUR MISTAKES: I forgot to include an 11th story on the computer journaling so I wrote the 11th story on the layout.
Here's the text from #11 which is included on the front of the page as though spoken by that nervous little skunk - hoping my dad wouldn't mistake him for a porcupine:
#11. Hey Psst. If you see Bob Fenderson "tromping around" in the woods up there in Heaven, make sure NOT to point out the porcupines, better to ask him about the SECOND LARGEST BAROQUE TREE IN MAINE, that will get him going for at least 2 hours; just ask my Tom K., the dad of my highschool sweetheart who remembered the STORY about the BAAARRROOKE tree when I paid a surprise visit to Jefferson St. while I was in Bangor, Maine for my 20th High School Reunion - it was so funny to me that he remembered. K 2/29/12
Welcome to the Hunger Games Scrapbooking Challenge District #9 Grain!
I wasn't exactly sure where to go with the inspiration of "grain" so I looked through some of my older layouts and found themes of cooking, growing, and selected some layouts that just seemed to have a "grain" color. I'll explain each of the layouts and hopefully it will spark something for you to play with so you can create a scrapbooking layout or project inspired by District #9 Grain.
The two top Layouts have a theme of sunrise and sunset - grain farmers kind of live by the sun right?
1. Saturday Morning: I gathered random bits from the foods we eat on Saturday Mornings and included them as part of my page. We don't normally eat a lot of grain products, but if you eat waffles or bread or other grain based products for breakfast, that could be a good topic for a page.
2. Yum. Yum. Extra Yum. The title is inspired by a page in the book Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal - it is one of our favorite bedtime stories. I also included a photo collage of pictures about food in our house - everything from shopping, to cooking to eating and family celebrations.
Here are 9 more layouts that are loosely associated with District #9's Grain Industry:
1. Mac: Backyard Treasure: This layout includes a lot of grain colored patterened paper. I used a square punch on random bits of scraps and then cut them on the diagonal to form the triangles and put them into a pattern. (This layout was based on an original design team page created for Jenni Bowlin's line at this past CHA 2012)
2. Mr. Sunshine & The Night Owls: This layout includes photos of us in our kitchen and is also a nod to the idea of how farmers get up early.
3. Love You: This is another layout that was based on an original design team page created for the Dear Lizzy line from America Crafts from this past CHA 2012. Again, the colors in the patterned papers look a bit like grain colors and the overall page looks like a sunburst.
4. Wasabi: The subject of this page is the green spicy Japanese horseradish - which I absolutely love - but the photo includes sushi rolls made with rice, which I'm pretty sure is actually a grain!
5. Yum Yum Yum! Here's another cooking based page, I used part of the packaging from a Barbie toy for the large Baker Barbie embellishment on the page.
6. October: Here's another grain colored page - and I'm pretty sure that farmers harvest their grain crops in the fall right? So I'm calling this one a grain based page too ;)
7. The Farm: This page is actually about a farm and I know corn isn't technically a grain - but we did do the corn maze for the first time and the hexagon/octagon die cut shapes bring to mind busy bees and being productive in a farming kind of way.
8. Grow: This page could have been included in District 11 Agriculture, but I didn't get it in that post, so I'll include it here - it is about plants after all.
9. My Hero: It is not obvious from this layout, but this photo was taken at Dunkin Donuts - which are made of grains, right?
Ok, so I kind of called it in today; but if you have a GREAT GRAIN IDEA for District #9 please leave a comment or post a link to your project, I would love to see it!
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