Write. Click. Scrapbook.

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Good morning! We are Lisa and Marnie and we are so happy to see you today! How is your summer thus far? We are having a fun summer and hope you are, too!

Today, we have teamed together to bring you some "friend"ly fun!

Between us we have four little ladies, and spend lots of time watching them play. One of our favorite things is how quickly kids make friends. All they need is a playground in common and they are friends. Done. So we figured we have lots in common (making layouts, buying scrapbooking supplies, taking lots of pictures, making time for our hobby, not to mention we are Sound of Music sisters...) so we should just become friends.

(Did you notice that you have many of those things in common with us, too? More on that later...)

And isn't it always more fun to play with a friend? Our playground stretched from Ontario to Ohio and included three games.

 

I Like You, You Like Me.

Rules of this game? Find a layout you love from your friend, and let it inspire you. Or copy it exactly.

Lisa:

I was inspired by the most recent layout on Marnie's blog, "Crazy!". I loved the design, colour scheme, and short little lines of journaling. (I also covet her daughter's dress, but that's a different story.)

Here's the layout:

I kept pretty true to Marnie's layout, using this recent photo of my hubby and me. I used journaling strip stickers from Creative Imaginations that have been in my stash for years! Of course, I had to add bling, too. I love me some bling.

 

Marnie:

The hardest part of this was choosing just one. I love so many of Lisa's layouts. I spent hours pouring over her pretties but this one stopped me in my tracks.

I knew just the photo to use. But then I remembered how my computer crashed one day and took with it 5 months of my (un-backed up) baby's life. (I'm not ready to talk about it more than that yet. :( ) So rather than copy Lisa in every way, I replaced the nape of the neck shot with some eyelashes instead!!

I loved the design so much that I stuck to it v.e.r.y. closely. Why mess with perfection?

 

LET'S SHARE TOYS.

Rules of this game? Pick some scrapbook supplies that you both have and love and make a layout.

Lisa:

Marnie and I both love the "Hello Sunshine" line from American Crafts, and since we each had it in our stash we decided to each make a layout with this line. I took some of that yummy patterned kraft paper, then embellished with paper lanterns-- some are stickers mounted on paper, and others were cut out of another sheet and mounted on foam dots. This set of Sunset stickers is one of my faves, too, in this cheery green shade:

 

Marnie:

I am such a sucker for patterned paper. This line sang to me with its sky blues, tipped umbrellas, and clouds. Oooh, American Crafts is so good to me!

ps. Did you hear the news that Amy Tan has a new line coming out with American Crafts? Due in July. I can't wait!!

 

We Have Things in Common

Rules of this game? Create a layout using three common denominators.

Lisa:

We decided to pick three non-product items: (1) a black and white photo, (2) handwritten journaling (3) the journaling prompt, "Something I love you about you right now..." (from the list of 13 Everyday Journaling Prompts that Ali Edwards recently posted on her website). 

Like many scrappers, I find Ali so inspiring. Her blog posts constantly bring me back to scrapping the whole story, and really thinking about my journaling. In this case I wanted to capture my daughters' relationship right at this moment. I often hand write on my pages, so that was comfortable for me-- I just searched my stash for some ledger paper, in this case from My Little Shoebox-- to create a journaling block.

Since the photo was black and white, I had license to pull out whatever colours struck my fancy. I took some brand new "Floral Lane" from Pebbles Inc, drawing inspiration from the flowers on the girls' sunhats. From there is was just a hop, skip and a jump to this layout:

 

Marnie:

Remember how this was a three item list? Three items. That's all. And then I ran out of photo paper. Which means I don't have a printed photo, which means that I had to bend a rule. Knowing I couldn't use my own handwriting, I tried to find a font that represents my handwriting well. (Remember that giveaway yesterday? One more reason I need to turn my handwriting into a font!! Darcy might have a new customer soon! Oh, and do you think I could sneak Emily's and Monika's handwriting in to be made into fonts, too? Oooh, tell me how much we would ALL love that!!)

Back to the game...

Ali, my brilliant friend, you made a great list. I am hoping to make 13 layouts this summer: one using each prompt. This challenge with Lisa takes care of number 7.

I love how a common starting point can lead to such different ends. I also love that we were each so true to our own styles.

(Just as a little aside, it took me many many years to not covet the layouts of others and to realize that mine had their place. (Similarly, it took me a long time to stop wanting to look like my friends. Have you seen Lisa in a dress? She is an absolute knockout in a dress. My favorite? Her yellow one. She even looks great in dresses she repurposes herself! On the other hand, dresses are a laughable affair for me. I must stick to skirts. But when I add in a colorful cardigan, it's all me.)

Lisa's layouts are like her dresses: snazzy, dressy, and perfect for her. Mine are simple, dressed down, and reflect me well. I love that I have learned to appreciate my friends for their sense of style, be it fashion or scrapbooking, and know that the differences are worth celebrating, not coveting.)

Back to game 3, I do love how quickly this layout came together. I knew what I needed and got right to it. I am so much faster when I have boundaries and a friend urging me on!! I hope that you will find a friend, or be ours, and make your three item layout!!

 

What a fun playdate we had. Remember when we said that you have some things in common with us? We really meant it. So feel free to jump in! Play along! We would love to see your layouts on Flickr!! If you do post, please leave us a link in the comments so we can be sure to see it!

And for the future, if you ever have a scrapping girl crush, email her, and tell her. Chances are it will be just the icebreaker needed to make a new playground friend!!

Happy Friday! Don't forget to visit tomorrow to see who is hosting tomorrow and to learn if you were the lucky number!

Challenge thyself

                                                                                                                                                        If you're anything like me, you tend to stick to what you're comfortable with when designing your layouts. (I'm sensing a theme here, first journaling, now this.) It's certainly easy that way, but it's also easy to get in to a rut. It could be page size, photos, how simple or complex your pages are, technique, or what type of embellishments you use. We do what we know, what we're good at, what we like.

But sometimes, it's good to step out of our comfort zone and try a new style or technique. I challenged four WCSers to do just this, and here's what they came up with.

Keshet is not a stamper, but for this challenge she decided to break out the stamps and see what happened.

While I have a nice-sized stamp collection, I don't actually use my stamps very often! I tend to use premade embellishments more than ones I create myself, and I'm never sure how the stamping will actually turn out on my layout. I found with this layout that I can actually use stamps much more freely if I cut them out and place them on the layout--that way, if I don't get a perfect image the first time, I won't sweat it! To create the stamped clouds on this layout, I used Studio Calico stamps that coordinate with Fiskars cloud punches to stamp and then punch out my clouds. I love the homespun charm they add to my layout, and with no stress, either! I look forward to trying stamping again soon now that I'm learning how to make it work for me.

12x12 | Materials  patterned paper (KI Memories, My Mind's Eye, Cosmo Cricket)+ stickers (Sassafrass, American Crafts) + stars (Jenni Bowlin Studio) + buttons (My Mind's Eye) + stamps (Studio Calico) + ink (Ranger) + pen (Marvy)

Celeste challenged herself to try misting on a layout, something she'd been hesitant to do.

I have been resistant to misting ever since I had to do it for an article in Simple in 2008. I am not a fan or anything messy or imprecise, so you'll rarely find me using paint or ink. I've been known to say "I'm not a mister." I took the easy way out here too! I put my paper in a box and squirted just a couple times to get a little on the background paper. The box helped me with the mess and after I sprayed I rolled a paper towel roll across the cardstock to sop up the excess (less mess). This kept the paper from warping another one of my fears! I think the ink gave some texture and interest to my page - a bit of fun perhaps. I plan on trying it again - maybe next time with a mask.

 

For Donna, it's rub-ons. Yet she just couldn't resist these Studio Calico rub-ons.

I took Amy's Bits and Pieces challenge a couple of weeks back and I did so mainly for the rub-on part of the challenge. I don't really know why, but I just hardly ever use them. Because of that I hardly ever buy them anymore either - I have to be really tempted by the design. I tried to resist these days of the week rub-ons from Studio Calico but they got me in the end! Since a lot of what I tend to scrapbook is our everyday lives I figured I'd have a good chance of using them. For this page I just collected lots of my favorite shots from this spring so far. I hope I never forget these simple everyday moments. It's a huge part of why I scrapbook.

 

Amy tends to stick with flat embellishments on her pages, so for this layout, she challenged herself to use thick embellishments Bonus - she made them herself!

The "outside my box" thing I did was the flowers. I love this look but it makes me deeply anxious to have something that thick on a layout—so I've never done it before. What I discovered is that making the flowers was really fun. It let me dig into my stash of fabrics for patterns I couldn't have found in paper. Will I make something this thick again? Not often (because I'm still not certain how well it will fit into an album!) but yes, absolutely sometimes! (PS, I made the flower by cutting wavy strips of three different fabrics. Each strip is narrower than the next one. I sewed a gathering row of stitches---just the longest stitch your machine will do---gathered them, and then formed them into circles. I also broke out my glue gun to put it all together. This is also outside of my comfort zone, quite literally, as I always manage to burn myself when I use the glue gun. No exception with the flowers!)

12x12| Materials patterned paper (Echo Park) + alphabet stickers (Webster's Pages, American Crafts) + fabric scraps + buttons + fonts (LD Free Sprit, Missed Your Exit)

If you're feeling up to the challenge, try a supply or technique you've been avoiding on a layout. You might find a new go-to technique!

insert witty title here

Hey there. Erin here, along with my oldest daughter, Emma. While looking for a photo for this post, I realized I don't have a recent picture of just me. The one I had been using was from two years ago. Which is probably why last time I hosted, I used (sometime awkward) pictures of me as a child. I guess it is time for a new picture, but until then, it's pictures of me with my kids.

When I signed up to host this week, I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do. None. Not even a sliver of an idea in the back of my mind. And when I don't have a cohesive week of ideas to post, I just go with whatever I can come up with that seems interesting. At least interesting to me. And hopefully to you.

I present to you my week of things that are sort of related, but not totally, so we're just going to go with it. Also known as a random week of posts. Which is pretty much how my mind works anyway.

Today: Scrapbooking your childhood with a twist

Tuesday: Getting your kids involved in more than just the story. (See, sort of related.)

Wednesday: Digging deep with your journaling.

Thursday: give.away.day.

Friday: Creating outside your box.

Saturday: Right now - a random list of ideas, things, and uselessfull stuff.

When I was thinking about topics for this week, I kept coming back to a stack of childhood pictures I have. Some of them have gone in to a mini-album, but there’s a lot more that I need to do something with. I started looking through them, I realized how many pictures are similar to ones I have of my children either in pose, event, or memory. The one that stuck out the most was of me and my childhood friend, Lynette. We were inseparable. She lived behind me and we grew up like sisters. My daughter Emma has two friends who live near us, one across the street and one a street behind us. Which led me to this page:

 
8.5 x 11| materialscardstock (Paper Company) + patterned paper (Basic Grey) + flair (American Crafts) + letter stickers (American Crafts) + border punch (EK Success) + font (Calibril)

I love this page; it brought back so many memories while working on it. I had never before thought of my friendship with Lynette in comparison to Emma's friendships. I look forward to seeing how Emma's friendships with Caroline and Bree develop as they get older. I fully intend to have the same open-door policy my mom had - the girls will be welcome here any time.

Francine created a layout using a photo of her son to compare their childhoods.

I got the idea for this page as we were walking back home from the park one day and had to stop to let the tram pass. It struck me just how much Kieran's childhood is different from mine! The title Citadin is French for city-dweller.

The journaling is in the envelope and says: Walking home with you from the park one day we had to stop to let a tram pass, and it struck me how very different our childhoods are. I played at the beach, you play at the park. I took the car or walked everywhere, you rarely take the car, but use the metro and tram. I ran around outside in the garden, and you have a narrow balcony. I was surrounded by trees and grass and blue sky, and you are surrounded by buildings and streets and a grey hazy sky. Sometimes I wonder if we are doing you a huge disservice, but when I see how happy and joyful you are anyway, I remind myself that this is just a different way of living, and I make the effort to ensure that you do see tress and grass and blue sky (and even the beach!), whenever possible.

So for today, I challenge you to look at your childhood photos in a different light. What similarities or differences are there between your childhood and your children's? Think friends, where you lived, your activites, school, pets, how you spent vacations, personalities. The possibilities are endless. Scrapbooking your childhood photos this way is a win-win-win: you get your childhood photos scrapped, photos of your children scrapped, and you might discover something you have in common with your child that you hadn’t thought of yet. 

I'd love to see any pages you create this week in our Flickr gallery!

 

Use Your Stuff: Deconstruct your Collection

It's that time of year: right now, the three scrapbook stores closest to me seem to get in some new line of supplies weekly. It's absolutely thrilling to stop by and see new items. My love of making layouts grows with each glimpse of never-before-seen paper, ribbon, stickers, and alphabets. (You know I have a hard time resisting the alphabets!) The appeal of the new: It's something that most scrappers succumb to. In the face of fresh supplies, our affection for what we already own (that we previously loved just as much) diminishes. Of course, I do buy some of the new lines—but only what I know I will use. I manage this by way of a recent epiphany.

 

Scrapbooking isn't my only craft; I'm also a quilter. And my scrapping epiphany actually comes from quilting and from reading quilting blogs. Quilters are just as interested in new fabrics as we scrappers are in new supplies, but they're far less likely to only use new stuff. They mix in their old fabrics in with the new; they save nearly every scrap to work in to some other quilt. A fabric isn't just used once—you'll find it popping up here and there in many different quilts.

 

Maybe this is because fabric is expensive—at least $10 a yard for the good stuff. You don't want to waste any. But if you do the math, fabric, by the inch, costs about the same as patterned paper. (One yard of fabric is equivalent to about 12 pieces of 12x12 patterned paper; if you pay .80 cents per patterned paper, you're spending $9.60 on a "yard" of paper.) Or maybe it's because you tend to purchase bigger pieces of fabric. But really I think it's simply a different way of looking at supplies. Quilters see their stash as a resource, the place they "shop" from first. The colors and patterns, no matter their age, are simply a medium used to create texture and shape. New stuff is worked in with old stuff to make something that's both useful and beautiful.

I think we scrappers tend to look at our stash as collections. This makes it harder to use our stuff because using it feels like deconstructing the collection. So, instead of shopping our stash, we buy new stuff—and then add it right into the collection. It's a tough cycle to break! When the new stuff comes out each six months or so, your "old" new stuff—what you bought a season before—loses some of its appeal. There in the scrapbook store (or looking at images online), it's easy to become swept up in the "I must have this NEW thing" reaction and to buy only because it is new, not because it will be useful for you. Plus, dare I say this: there's something about using the new stuff that helps you feel like you're in the club, the one that's also using everything new.

 

The only way to overcome that reaction is this way: use your stuff. I know...I might just be repeating myself. Haven't I been saying that all week? Yes! But something magical happens when you deconstruct your stash. You find yourself making things you love with supplies you love. You come to understand which products work within your design approach and which ones don't, which helps you resist the lure of the new. When you're consistently using your stash, the temptation to buy only what is new clears away. You can see your purchasing options in a simple light: I know I will use this, I know I won't use this.

 

You might even find there's a powerful little thrill in saying no to something new. You can acknowledge the beauty of something while still knowing it won't work for you—but only if you know what works for you! The rest of today's post will focus on the skill of knowing what to say no to, and what to say yes to.

 

Creative Energy

Pull out the same older album you browsed through yesterday, when you were looking for trends. Today, don't simply look at it—read it. Give yourself some time, maybe a half hour or 45 minutes, and read as much of your journaling as you can. Think about the stories you've put down, stories that now are much less likely to be lost. Laugh over the little things you might have forgotten if you hadn't written about them. Savor the details that have changed in your life. Remember how it used to be?

 

Next, pick one of your least-favorite layouts in this album. If you were given the assignment to redo this layout, what would you change? What products would you use? What extra details would you add to the journaling? How would the layout redo change the memory you preserved? 

 

Close the album. Put it back on the shelf. Now, ask yourself: what is more vivid, the stories and the photos, or the products you used? For me, there is nearly always a positive memory attached to the making of a layout. It's a sort of memory layer: the memory of the layout's creation on top of the memory itself. But what makes me the most happy is knowing that the stories themselves are preserved, paired with pictures that help illustrate the experience.

 

When you look at your albums in this light, the products you use start to lose their importance. You begin to realize that there are a million different ways you could make a layout with the same pictures—but only one memory you are preserving. The products can enhance (or even detract from) the photos, but they can't change the memory itself. That is what endures.

 

An even more powerful exercise, if you can manage it, is to find someone who doesn't scrapbook to look at one of your albums, and then get her to talk about her reaction. This person could be the subject of your album, or someone else. Anyone who has an interest in your life. You'll notice that her reaction is different than a scrapbooker's would be. As a non-scrapbooker, this person will notice the stories and the photos first, the products second. I realized how profound our written stories are one day when my dad, who has Alzheimer's, spent an afternoon reading my albums. (You can read more about that day here if you're interested.) He was an artistic person, but he never once commented on any embellishment or title treatment or anything else scrap-related. Instead, it was the stories that mattered to him.

 

Your stories are the things that matter, too.

 

Smart Shopping

This week, if you've done all the creative energy exercises, you've gone a long way towards understanding what you really do use on your layouts. Take that knowledge with you when you shop for scrapping supplies. Ask yourself: am I drawn to this because it is pretty, because it is new and interesting, because I recognize it as something I will use? Sometimes the answer to all of those questions is affirmative and I count that as an emphatic yes! I can buy this!

 

When I am faced with all that new product, I try to focus my questions even more:

• What do I already own that's similar? Is this different enough to justify the purchase?
• Is this similar to something else I've already used often on a layout? Does that similarity mean I'm more likely to use this new thing (because it's worked for me in the past) orless (because it feels repetitive)?
• Does this fit into the reality of my scrapbooking or the image of what scrappers are supposed to use? This question helps you think about why you want to buy this new product. As an example: I am consistently drawn to chipboard letters when I'm looking at new stuff. But when I'm actually scrapbooking, I tend to get frustrated by chipboard. Inevitably it doesn't stick (if self-adhesive) or the process of altering it is too time consuming. I know that most scrappers love chipboard. I love it too, in theory; I love it on other people's pages. But in the reality of my layouts, I don't use it that often.
• How will this product help me to tell a story? I find that last question to be the most clarifying. It lets me see the new products in a different light. Maybe a saying on a sticker reminds me of a story I haven't told yet, or of an experience I'd like to write more about. Sometimes color can evoke memories, or textures. Sometimes it is a shape—a leaf can remind me of how summer feels, even in the middle of winter, and spark the desire to scrap a summery story.

Organizing

On my scrapbooking desk, I keep two baskets. One holds the tools I use on nearly every single layout: adhesive, small scissors, big scissors, my favorite snap-off knife, and black pens in various thicknesses. The other holds my most recent purchases. I keep all my new stuff right where I can see it because it makes me more likely to use it. I want to use my new stuff quickly not by virtue of its newness or because I want to belong to the club. Instead, it's so I don't add the new products  to my collection. If I try to implement the new—by working it in with the older stuff—right away, it doesn't get collected. It gets used.

 

Once I've used the new stuff in that basket at least once, then I sort what's left (the sheet of stickers missing a few letters, the rest of the brads, some scraps of patterned paper and half a yard of ribbon) into the appropriate drawer or box. This has an added bonus: it lets everything mingle together. Once I've tossed a handful of, say, paper flowers into my flower drawer, I forget who made it and when I bought it. Instead, when I open that drawer, I just see a resource: a bunch of flowers.

 

Use your Stuff Tip

When I do take the time to alter chipboard, I always love the results. Here are some of my most-used tips:

 

• If I'm altering with patterned paper, I nearly always paint the vertical edge first, with acrylic paint. Some of the paint will, of course, slop over onto the top of the letter or shape. Before the paint dries, I place the patterned paper right on top of the paint, then smooth it down. As it dries, the paint adheres the paper just as well as any glue, and I can skip the gluing step altogether.
• If the chipboard shape I'm using is self-adhesive and reversible, I alter the back side. This doesn't work, of course, for many letters (like F, G, L, and R), but it will work for some (like T, A, and V), and most shapes can be altered this way. I peel the backing off and then start sticking stuff down right on top of the adhesive, which is easier to work with than wet glue. Then I just glue the piece down on my layout.
• If you are in desperate need of two chipboard shapes, but you only have one, try peeling that one piece into two. Most chipboards are thick enough that they can take this abuse! The resulting two pieces might need some sanding or paint to look presentable again (make sure to peel carefully!), but you've solved your desperate plight.
• Although it seems like it would be too thick, chipboard can be sewn. Use a denim needle and a wide stitch length; sew slowly so your needle doesn't break. You also might have to adjust the tension, too. It looks nice when you're finished though! 

 

Use Your Stuff Daily Challenge: Mix old and new

Working with whatever type of product or medium you want, incorporate at least one botanical shape (flower, leaf, grass, tree, etc), one narrow rectangle, and one curvy shape (paisley, fleur-de-lis, swirl, wave, etc). Try for a mix of old and new supplies.

Celeste made this layout using the suggestions in the challenge:

 

I love this layout—the colors, the products, and, mostly, the journaling. I think the products do exactly what products should: they draw your eye to the photo and create a mood that enhances the story.

Here's mine:

 
(Did you see that!? I used some chipboard!) Here is what I mean about mixing old and new. The yellow patterned paper (from Echo Park's For the Record line) is a new one I bought just a couple of days ago; the brown pattern is about a year old, the big flowers are somewhere in between, and I've had some of the small flowers for years. But when I opened up my flower drawer, I didn't look for new. I looked for what worked with the layout I had in mind.

Now that my week is over, I'm really, really hoping some of the tips and exercises I've shared will inspire you to use your stuff, too! 

Use Your Stuff: Bits & Pieces

Before I wrote this post, I accomplished a task I’ve been needing to do—and dreading—for years: I decluttered my desk drawer. The drawer in question is the short-but-deep middle drawer of one of my favorite treasures, an antique desk I inherited from my grandpa Fuzz. Inside it is where I theoretically keep all my metal bits and pieces, but really it was crammed with a hodgepodge of stuff I hadn’t had the courage to work through in far too long.

Mixed in with empty bobbins, printer cartridges, and packaging, long-lost sewing machine parts, a house key, and Jacob’s library card were three (yes, three, I’m ashamed to confess) divided boxes with metal bits: eyelets, brads, charms, chains, and corners. Grommets and hinges and ribbon pulls and even a few little buckles. Plus the various tools you’d need to use all that metal on a layout or two. This mess was only sort of organized. If by “organized” you mean it would only take me, say, ten minutes or so to find exactly the brad I want to use—then, yes, it was organized.

Because here’s the thing: the only metal objects I really ever use on my layouts are brads. Everything else feels too heavy or thick or potentially layout-damaging for my design aesthetic. As I sorted out my metal issues, I thought about trends. How they come and go in the scrapbooking world (as elsewhere, of course), how they influence not only what we buy but what we feel—about the layouts we make and where we fit as scrappers. It’s a delicate balance: we want to fit in and have the same fun everyone else is having while we also stay true to ourselves.

I was completely untrue to myself with the eyelet topic. I liked the look on other people’s layouts, but I hated setting them and never could get them to look right. Maybe I liked all the tools—that little hammer was irresistible. Maybe it was the eyelets themselves, the neatly circumscribed hole begging to be tied with something cute. But really: I bought eyelets because everyone else was buying eyelets.

(I was not 15 when I did this.)

You’d think I’d know better. I do now as I sit here, sorting through my metals. Here’s proof: I put every single eyelet—even the cute silver flower ones I’ve been holding on to now for a decade or so—into my discard box. The tools for setting them are also in there. In fact, I narrowed down all my metal options from three boxes into just one—and there are still two empty spaces in that box. I feel empowered and free; I’m also certain I still own far too many brads. But at least I know what I have and can find them, which is exactly what is needed so I can use them.

Today’s post isn’t only about brads & eyelets & charms. It’s about all the little bits and pieces that make layouts outstanding. Journaling cards and die cut shapes and ribbon and rub-ons and yes, even brads and eyelets and buckles. Everything that isn’t paper, cardstock, or lettering supplies.

Creative Energy
Today, think about your reaction to scrapbooking trends. How have they influenced your layouts in the past? How do they continue to shape your process?

Pull out an older album—one you worked on about five or six years ago. Flip through the entire book, focusing just on the trends you followed. (By “trend” I mean a technique or a way of using supplies that is or was new, innovative, unseen.) Do they trendiest layouts feel dated now, or do they pass the time test? Jot down a quick list. Put a check mark next to the ones you stopped using but still like. Cross out the ones you know don’t fit with your current design style. Then ask yourself: how could you implement one of those trends on one of your upcoming layouts?

My list included: dry embossing, hand drawn titles, eyelets (yep, I did use a few!), water coloring, chalking, faux metal letters, fibers (anyone else remember fibers? That is the next drawer I need to conquer!), color blocked papers, sanded edges, doodled designs (I am horrible at doodling!), and burned paper edges. One of the techniques I still like is dry embossing, although I don’t do it very often. (I can only shake my head at the burned paper edges which have, of course, smudged everywhere.) I did, however, find all my dry embossing templates when I cleaned out that drawer, so I think the technique will show up soon.

The point of this exercise is to help you think about what you like, rather than what the current trends say you should like. Jack Kerouac said that “great things are not accomplished by those who yield to trends,” and I think that applies to scrapbooking as well as it does to writing. The great thing you accomplish through scrapbooking is sticking down pieces of yourself alongside the pieces of your subject. This doesn’t mean you can't explore and play. It does mean that it is OK—more than just OK—to do things that you like, not because industry trends told you to, but because you like them. 

Smart Shopping
In the realm of trends, it’s tempting to buy everything all at once. Instead, try to take it in small bites to see if you really like the trend. If you have a scrapping friend, consider going halfsies on things you can split up (like eyelets!) or sharing tools. If you shop at a scrapbook store, ask if they have a sample you can try before you buy. Or buy the very minimum. Here’s the kicker, though: when you get this new trendy supply or tool home, use it. Use it quickly! Don’t let the creative energy that builds over the new thing dwindle. See if the new trend is something you can incorporate into your style. Ask yourself: is this a trend that will pass, or will it become a staple?

Organizing
decorative brads  (by which I mean the larger brads, with images, that come stuck in those white foam rectangles): I tend to buy this kind of brads with a specific purpose for one or two of them, and I buy the coordinating paper or letter stickers. After I’ve used the brads I bought the package for, I take the rest of them out of the foam rectangle and sort them. The small, plain ones go with the rest of that color of brad in my (one!) metals box. The other decorative brads all get dumped into one central box. That way, I can see them out of the “context” of the rest of the coordinating items, which means I can see different uses for them.

ribbon: most of my ribbon is organized in small drawers, based on colors. But I buy long lengths of my favorites (black, white, pink, and shades of blue), and these get flung over the clothes rod that’s still in the closet of my office. They stay much less wrinkled this way, and plus: they brighten up that little corner of the room.

small, flat pieces: I have one central basket where I toss small things like punch-outs, rub-ons, and journaling stickers. Sometimes I do have to hunt through this basket to find exactly what I’m looking for, but during the hunt I usually find something I’ve forgotten about, too. Riffling through your products is an excellent way to spark your creative energy!

Use Your Stuff Tip
journaling spots/stickers/labels/cards: confession: I almost never use these for journaling—I have too much to say and can’t fit it all in that little space. But I also love the structured space you find on a journaling product. I use them quite often as the background of my title. I line up as many as I need—not all from the same manufacturer—then layer the title on top. Or, try buying multiples of the same journaling card (three or five) so you have more space to write your story.

brads: I keep a thumb tack in my box of brads. It will stick through almost everything—even chipboard—and makes the perfect size hole to slip your brad into.

rub-ons: one of the best things about rub-ons is their seamability. (That is not a real word, but it should be!) This means that if you pull the rub-on covering up too soon, while some of the design is not yet rubbed on all the way, it is simply a matter of matching up the edges and then seaming it back together by continuing to rub. It also means it’s easy to combine two different rub-on designs. They’ll look like they belong together because the seams just rub together.

 Use Your Stuff Daily Challenge

Make a layout that uses the following bits and pieces: one die cut or punch out shape, two journaling tags, shapes, or stickers, three pieces of ribbon, two rub-ons and one brad. Alter the number of items if you want, but try to use each of the products.

And here are some challenge layouts from the WCS collective!

Donna made this sweet layout about her son:

 
She used all of the challenge suggestions, but found the rub-ons the hardest. "I almost never use them," she told me, "but, I also never buy them anymore. I sort of learned that I'm not a rub-on girl and I've changed my buying habits accordingly." This sort of realization—and the change in shopping—is just what I am talking about!

(if you're counting, the die-cut is the small yellow button, the two journaling blocks are the sticker that is underneath the title and the circle die-cut that is in the lower left-hand corner, the three pieces of ribbon are up at the top of the layout, the two rub-ons are a piece of rub-on stitching that I cut in two and are at the boundaries between the green and yellow or green and blue pp and the phrase "It's all about the memories," and the one brad is the little owl)

Here's Monica's layout (again with the shoes! I love this pair, too!)

 
I love how she used all the products but still worked in plenty of white space!

(counts for Monika's page: die cut is the dress pattern, the journaling tags have journaling on them, the 3 pieces of ribbon are the butterfly print, the ball trim and shipping twine wrapped around the dress pattern die cut, the rub-ons are the zig-zag stitch on photos and at bottom right of cardstock and bracket shape, and the brad is by the ruffle)

And my stab at it:

 
Every once in awhile I go all-out and use a ton of product on a layout...these pictures felt like they wanted a lot of stuff!

(the punch out is the word "sun," the journaling tags—I used three—are under "warm spring sun," "sipping soda," and "grandpa's flowers," the three ribbons make the border, the two rub-ons are in the bottom corners, and the one brad is the word "play")

And, last but not least, today's card (I am happy to report I didn't have to make any extra cuts to make the card—it's completely scrap-made!)

 

So! Do share: is there a trend you wish you hadn't spent so much on?

 

Use Your Stuff!

 
Welcome to the second day of spring! It’s cold here in Utah, but yesterday one of my daffodils bloomed, so I’ll take that as a sign that it will eventually warm up. My name’s Amy Sorensen, and I’ll be your Write Click Scrapbook hostess this week. 

Before I get to this week’s topic, I need to share just a little bit of my scrapbooking philosophy with you:

1. Parts of your creativity get tied up in the products that you buy. You know that feeling when you’re in a scrapbook store (or at an online scrapbooking site, however you shop) and you find it, the piece of patterned paper or length of ribbon or sheet of rub-ons that you absolutely love and must have without further delay? Your mind hops around with excitement over just how you’ll use it. Then you bring it home and carefully file it away—and it gets lost in the enormous amount of other similarly-loved product. I think that absolutely-loved, must-have-now supply keeps a hold of that creative excitement you first felt; I think it stays there, with that product, until you use it or give it to someone else.
2. Too much product hampers your creativity. Quick: look at your stack of green patterned papers. How many choices do you have? Once you reach a certain amount (and I’m not sure what that is, to be honest), your creative energy is drained by considering potential choices. Having too many options becomes overwhelming instead of inspiring. (If you want to read more about this idea, you can do that here.)  

Those two scrapbooking philosophies bring us to this week’s focus here at Write Click Scrapbook: using your stuff. The goal is to energize your scrapping creativity by shuffling through your supplies— moving some of them out of your scrapping space altogether (donate them to someone else) or out of your various bins, drawers, and scrapping cupboards and onto layouts.  Every day there’ll be a creative energy exercise; these will ultimately help you use your supplies more and shop smarter. I’ll give you an organization tip (because if you can’t find the supply you’ve got in mind, you can’t use it). Plus there’s a daily challenge that relates to that day’s product focus. I hope you’ll play along! 

Today’s topic: patterned paper

Creative Energy Exercise
Flip through the last 15 or so layouts you’ve made. (If you’re anything like me, they’re still sitting in a pile, waiting to be stuck into albums.) Pay attention: how do you use patterned paper? What prints, patterns, and colors are most common? How did you use the papers—the entire sheet as a background? Cut or punched into strips, squares, circles, or other shapes? Layered on top of or below other things? As a background for something else like a photo, title, or journaling? Is there a brand you used more often than others, or a brand you buy often but didn’t find on your recent layouts? What patterned-paper techniques are your favorites? Make a quick list of how you’ve used paper lately.

When I did this with my last 19 layouts (the ones waiting for an album to call home), I discovered something surprising: 12 of those have patterned paper for a background. Before doing this exercise, I would have told you that I rarely use patterned paper as a background. The manufacturer I used the most was Fancy Pants and the technique I used most often was cutting my paper into layers. I also back a lot of my titles—made with solid-colored letters—with patterned paper. 

Once you’ve made your list, grab one container of patterned paper—one that isn’t your largest or favorite. Sit somewhere you can spread out. Keep in mind the list you just made, which gives you a great idea of papers you do use, break your pile up into two: keep and discard. As you make these piles, try to keep in mind what you’ve just figured out: what patterned paper do you NOT use? It might be a specific brand or it might be a pattern. For example, in the store I am drawn to checkered patterns, but when I’m actually scrapping, they almost never “feel” right. I use organic shapes and stripes more. Depending on the size of your stash, try to put 5-10 sheets into your discard pile. Put your discards into some sort of box and keep it handy—you’ll use it throughout the week.  Add that category to your list: patterns you don’t use. 

Smart Shopping
The list you created in the creative energy exercise gives you an idea of what supplies you shouldn’t buy more of. Take it with you when you visit a scrapbooking store so that you don’t forget. For example: I tend to buy a lot of one manufacturer’s paper—but I really don’t use it all that often. When I go into a scrapbook store armed with that knowledge, I can admire that manufacturer’s paper without buying much, because I know the likelihood of me actually using it is small. 

Organization
How do you organize your pattern paper? I used to keep mine organized by manufacturer, because I wanted to keep like things together. Then I reorganized by color. I keep all of, say, my purple patterned papers in one drawer, and all of my purple embellishments (letter stickers, rub-ons, and other stuff) in the drawer above it. When I did this, I discovered that my pages became a bit more visually appealing. Color organization helps me to see more potential in my scrapbooking supplies because now, it’s not a Basic Grey patterned paper, or a Christmas-themed one. It’s just a piece of red pattern. An added bonus: it’s really easy to clean up after making a layout.

This brings up a question, though: those pesky double-sided papers. Nearly every manufacturer makes them now. Which color do I organize by, the back or the front? For me, I nearly always organize by the back side, but that’s because I am nearly always drawn to the back sides of papers. They’re usually more subtle or with a smaller print, and that fits my design approach much better than a large print does. (It also means the backs of my layouts are usually gorgeous!)

 Does the way you organize your patterned papers work for you, or do you spend lots of scrapping time just looking through your stuff? How could you change your organization so it works better for you?

 Use Your Stuff Tip
Before I put away the supplies I used for a layout, I make a card with them. It really only takes about five minutes to craft a card, but only if your stuff is already out. If you use the left-over bits from your layout, they’re already color-coordinated so you don’t have to search for anything. You might not even have to cut anything, if you’re lucky! I make thematic cards if the layout I made also had a theme (so, obviously, a birthday card with a birthday layout) or more generic cards if the layout didn’t have a theme. With just a few minutes, you simultaneously use more supplies and ensure yourself an ever-ready pile of cards.

Just to prove that this is the simplest way to make cards, I’m including a card each day, along with the daily challenge. I used these sketches from Kim Hughes’s site to help me with the card designs. 

Use Your Stuff Daily Challenge: Patterned Paper

 Pull out your drawer/file/box/bucket that holds your least-favorite color of patterned paper. Riffle through the entire pile, just to remind yourself of what you have. Pull the bottom three sheets. Use at least one of these on a layout. Put the sheets you don't use on the top of your pile, so you'll see them the next time you pull out that container.

The way that supplies stack up in their containers (older stuff on the bottom) can become a sort of archeological dig—you move backward through your own shopping experiences. Don’t let the age of a supply deter you from using it, though. If you still love it, put it to use and release that stored creative energy!

In scrapbooking, as in life, red is my least-favorite color. So that’s the drawer I pulled out. Then I found a photo that would work with the paper—in this case, it’s a picture of my daughter, Haley, sitting on the stairs on Christmas morning. Since I’ve already told the story of that experience, I told a completely different one. The bottom paper in my red drawer was this flocked-flower one from We R Memory Keepers:

 

Since Celeste makes a lot of digital layouts, she didn't literally dig through a bin of patterned paper, but she did push herself to use a color she doesn't use very often:

 

Lisa also took the challenge. She discovered that she loved these forgotten papers:

 

For today's card, I printed the word “happy” three times at the same time I printed my layout's journaling. Then I just inked the edges of things, stamped the white card (this floral stamp is one of my favorite and most-used stamps), cut out the flower from the last little scrap of paper I had, and assembled:

 
If you take the challenge, make sure to share your layout somewhere—leave a link to your blog on the comments, or put it in the Write. Click. Scrapbook. flickr group. Or, share what you learned with the creative energy exercise. See you tomorrow!

 

…Tied Up with Strings

Brown paper packages…are you humming along? For the last piece of inspiration, I chose packaging. These days packaging is complex and so many great designs find themselves on the outsides of product or even in how the products are put together. The inspiration piece I chose is this cupcake box. I found this piece once again using Google Images. It's amazing what you can find there if you take some time to scroll through the results!

 

I loved the type work, the colors and the geometric design of the cupcakes. You could even just pull out that cupcake patterned paper you’ve been meaning to use! So many parts of this package design could be used on a page. I love how everyone’s take on it is so different.

I just loved the kraft (adore kraft, it's the neutral pantyhose of the scrapbooking world - have I said that this week?) and the bright circle tops of the cupcakes. I chose this bright and playful kit from Fee Jardine over at Sweet Shoppe. I’ve been playing with making digital paper look like it is underneath in a cutout (tutorial here) so I gave that a shot; I think it gives it a little dimension just like the cupcakes in the box.

Karen Grunberg took a different slant on the inspiration piece. She says, "This layout incorporates all of the bright, happy colors from the packaging. Yellow, orange, pink, blue, and green. I love bright, happy colors combined together just like the cupcakes in the inspiration piece!"

Monika Wright chose to use the cupcakes in the box as her inspiration for this layout...

She says,"Isabella adores reading and Nancy Drew is a fave. On this day, she put on her "sleuthing" outfit for a trip down to the barn to feed the kitties {her job}. The colors of the cupcakes were used as inspiration for the various flowers and I even used some seed beads from my jewelry-making stash to mimic the sprinkles on the cupcake with the purple frosting. I used book pages and scrunched them, since the theme of my layout has to do with reading, and the scrunched flower layers reminded me of cupcake liners. The flower made with my scallop punch is wrapped with baker's twine {www.thetwinery.com} and adorned with a rhinestone brad. Isabella is all girl, is all about dressing up and loves flowers, so this layout is something that screams, "Isabella!"

Elizabeth Dillow played along as well. I adore the large photo on the left hand side of her page which reflects the colorful cupcakes on the inspiration piece. She kept the kraft on the right, added a photo and white lettering also on the inspiration piece.

 

Packaging is everywhere. Take a look in your cabinets, at the grocery store, or head in to Google Images and search on packaging. You’ll be amazed at what you find!

I have a page to share from the Flickr gallery from the Sketch/Template Challenge. It's by LisaCT and it is based on the sketch. I love the photos of her as a little girl on the beach. The best part is the first photo where you can see the cars in the background! It reminds me to not always get so close and save some of the background details for historical purposes. Thanks so much for sharing your page Lisa.

 

and here's another page by Tara McKernin. She used the template and this month's Digi Files kit to create her page. Love the colors here and the great texture of the background!

Thanks for playing along ladies!

If you play along later, please post your layouts in the gallery. I'd love to see them and leave a little praise for you.

One last thing before I go. A HUGE shoutout to Marnie Flores and Elizabeth Dillow for all they do every day to keep this little slice of simple running. Two very amazing and inspirational ladies who I am thankful to call my friends! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! (Should I add a few more exclamation marks!?!) Also, to my talented Collective team members, thank you for contributing your talent to my hosting week. You are all so very inspirational!

And lastly, thanks to all of you for your comments and participation this week. I hope you had as much fun as I did. Until next time, keep crafting!

 

It’s All About Me – Really It Is!

I know that I should journal more on my pages and I know that I should include myself more. I never know what to write about myself though. Enter the journal prompt. For today’s challenge, go over to the Creativity Portal  and grab a prompt. Then create a page around the prompt. You don’t have to use the prompt on your page as a title or even in the journaling. You could use the prompt to inspire something different. For instance, one of the prompts is about selecting a Christmas tree as a child. This could inspire you to scrap a childhood holiday memory or perhaps a layout about your current Christmas tree traditions. You don’t have to journal about yourself either – the prompt might just as well apply to someone else!

I chose the prompt, “Can you accept yourself as you are?” I had my son take a few photos of me (double chin and all!) and selected a photo. Then I added some journaling about how I have to do a better job with this! This kit from Jenn Barrette over at Sweet Shoppe Designs was perfect for this prompt.

The Collective took on this challenge as well.

Jody Wenke chose the prompt, "Did you have a favorite pet as a child? Did it have a name? What memories are connected to it? " How adorable is that photo of little Jody with her kitty, Stomper? Jody always does a phenomenal job adding interest to her titles. I love how she added the little mouse below the M in Stomper and how she used three different fonts for her title.

 

Amy Sorenson chose the prompt, "To me, the sound of childhood is... She has had this photo of her son, Jake, on the swing set hanging on her scrap room cork board for years now. When she read the prompt, she immediately heard the squeak of swings. She said, "---maybe because most swinging happens in the summer, and summer is definitely a childhood staple, but that image was so strong I knew it was the one!"

 

Remember to upload your pages in the Flickr gallery. I’ll be heading in there this evening and grabbing a few to highlight tomorrow! Until then!

In Living Color

There are loads of places to look for color inspiration. You can use ads, clothing, paint colors, interior design websites, fabrics, art  – almost anything really. There is even a site called Colour Lovers that will allow you to create custom palettes and also provides palettes that others have created for inspiration.

Creature Comforts  offers a feature called Inspiration Daily  where colors from the photo are made into a palette. You can achieve this effect with your own photos by visiting the Color Palette Generator and uploading a photo. The Generator will take colors from your photo and create a palette.  Simply upload a photo, hit create, and you will have tons of colors plucked from your photo.  

Another huge source of color inspiration for me is scrapbooking product. One of the reasons you love a line of paper is probably driven by color. You can use the colors in a line or a digital kit to inspire your color choices. I chose a kit by Jen Martakis over at Two Peas in a Bucket called Date It to create this inspiring color palette.

 

I cheated and used her kit to create my page!  I just love the kraft with these colors.

Kim Morgan used the color palette in her font work. I love how crisp and clean this layout is. She's inspiring me to pull out the white cardstock. I think I miss using white!

Cheryl Overton used the color scheme to create this fun layout of her son wearing a pink hat. I love how she added the pink to the color mix so successfully!

I hope you’ll seek out some color inspiration from some of the sources I mentioned. If you decide to take on this palette, feel free to use only a couple of the colors or even just one. The color does not have to be exact – any hue of the colors above will work! Remember to share your work in the Flickr gallery. Come back tomorrow for our giveaway day - a chance to win a seat over at Masterful Scrapbook Design!

Let’s Be Madmen…er Women

One source of inspiration that I frequently turn to is advertisements. The beauty of ads is that professional graphic designers create them and with that professionalism comes creativity, knowledge of the principles of design, and often times really inspiring pieces. Ads are all around you – on the TV, on the computer, and in magazines. I tend to look for them online. I found the inspiration ad below by typing “Print Ad” in Google Images. It’s that easy!

 

This piece is interesting. It has a lot of different pieces and parts to it. I decided to focus on one element of the page. The black hexagons sprinkled around. I used a digital template from Janet Phillips at Sweet Shoppe Designs to create the page.

 

The members of the collective also took this ad on and came up with a bunch of different ways to use the ad.

Paula Gilarde took the title and the clouds/sun from the ad and incorporated them into this page.

Ann Costen decided to use the circles and the tiny grid design is mimicked in her background paper choice.

Lisa Ottosson took the title and type treatment and used them on this gorgeous page about her daughter.

I thought this ad would be difficult to interpret literally, but look at this layout from Marnie Flores! When she sent it to me I gasped! It incorporates the colors, shapes, typography, the foreign language and the ink even mimics the blobs on the page. Amazing! The best part was the comment in the email Marnie sent me. "I feel like one of those Project Runway peeps pushed outside my comfort zone, but not necessarily unhappy with where it took them." Love that the ad pushed her a bit!

Here are some other ways you could interpret the ad. You could…

• Use a misty purple or blue background.
• Create page with a chart or graph on it.
• Create page with a large circle or circle wedges.
• Create page that uses a background stamp like the grid design on the ad.
• Create page that uses concentric circles.
• Create a page that has similar colors.
• Create page with an underlined all caps title.
• Create a page with odd shaped tags on it, much like the scattering of hexagons on the ad.
• Create a page that documents what you were doing on October 1^st.

The possibilities are really endless when using ads for inspiration. I’d love for you to play along. Upload your layout to the Flickr gallery and I’ll share a few pages from the gallery on Saturday.