Scrapbook Saturday or How Could I Possible Get All This Done?

I recently found a whole Saturday to get away with my scrapbooking supplies loaded in my car and head over to my local Archivers for a 12-hour scrap marathon. The despair that comes from walking by the half-finished scrapbook page day after day in my work room became too much for me to handle, so I was forced to take action. It wasn't difficult to convince a couple of friends that this day just had to happen. (So sorry to K. who really paid the price for her scrapbooking obsession and ended up in the emergency room instead the scrapping room. It is a fear that many of us have - outsiders shaking their heads unable to understand how any one person could possibly have that many "craft supplies" in their car. Even though the car was damaged, her supplies were recovered without loss.)

Unpacking my scaled-downed supply pile was great motiviation. I was able to jump right in and start working on my prepped pages. I had spent the last few months selecting pictures, matching papers, ordering the left and right pages, and finding sketches, and now I was going to actually get down to business. It was fantastic!

It was such a great  day. I was able to put together all of my Christmas pictures. I have my new commitment to completing the journaling, and it was a motivator to try my handwriting a little more. I never did break out the Cricut. The lack of electrical outlets in the workroom made it more of a hassle than I needed. Instead, I was able to make use of my letter and sticker stash. Except for the glitter white letters for the "Snow Fun" layout that I had to buy while I was there. Sometimes you just have to give in to the call of the store.

I seemed to have lots of two-page layouts, but it was probably because the holidays seem to generate so many pictures. I did complete a page that is unusual for me: a one-page layout with only one photo - nothing more fun that the Thanksgiving centerpiece.  Besides, there tends to be no really interesting pictures at Thanksgiving in our family - mostly of food.

Thanks to all you who have been visiting - I hope you have been enjoying my layouts and projects. 

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Winter Slapped Me in the Face or Don't We Fondly Remember Fall?

I am not a real winter fan. I know that living in Minnesota and not finding the natural joy and beauty in the snow, ice and "crisp" fresh air of winter (which lasts from November to April, by the way) will probably be deemed a life mistake in my memoirs someday, but not having real, lasting snow until after Christmas and not seeing the first below zero air temps until the middle of January is A-OK in my book. Waking up this week in the morning darkness (thanks, daylight savings) is bad enough, but having the temperatures at -12 degrees with a chance of warming up to ZERO by the afternoon was a slap in the face from Old Man Winter. So I retreated to my scrapbook table with a cup of hot cocoa, got myself organized, and looked at pictures of warmer days. Memories of the cool and colorful days of autumn help take the sting of serious winter off my face. Remember the pumpkin patch? The corn maze? The giant chicken? The Halloween with out parkas and snowpants? (Wait...giant chicken?)
I dug in and committed to scrapping my way through fall. Here it is--giant chicken and all! I did make a promise to complete the journaling on each page before moving it to my album. There are whole years where the journaling is still blank - no matter what my great plan is, the journaling doesn't get done if I don't add it right away. Take that Old Man! Just wait until I start browsing last year's summer photos -- that will melt the ice cube you have for a heart!
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SVG Files or How My Cricut Needs a Friend

[Stars and Stripes-the title was a great free SVG file that perfectly with this page]

I remember standing in line at the scrapbook expo in the convention center after digging through the bins of die cuts. At the expo the die cut paper piecings were fifty cents to a dollar. They came in various sizes and fit every occasion and holiday. I left with a bag filled with pumpkins, ghosts, bubbles, leaves, fireworks, and strawberries. It was the only way to get those multi-layered of embellishments. Some even came with their own sequins.
[Lemon Slices-the two layered lemon slices seem simple, but this SVG file adds just the right element of monochrome texture]

With the Cricut came the chance to make all of our own letters, and when the cartridges with the various paper piecings came out, I had the same reaction as I did with the fonts - why do I want to spend $40-$80 for a single theme? I usually only wanted one or two of the images. That is why one of my favorite discoveries in the marriage of Cricut and Sure Cuts a Lot is the little extras I can create with the SVG files. [Giant Strawberry-this multi-layered strawberry was a little putzy, but a nice homemade change to the purchased die cuts I have used in the past. It also allowed me to select the shades of red that best fit the page rarher than being stuck with someone else's interpretation of "strawberry red."]

There are so many great SVG files available both free and for purchase online. These pages show some of the free files that I found at SVGCuts.com. They have great packages to purchase and always a few freebies to tryout. They also have helpful video tutorials for those of us using the SCAL with the the layered designs for the first time. The designs are clean and simple.
[Happy Birthday- with so may fall birthdays, I was happy to find a few different titles to choose from.]

Other sites for free SVG files:

1. SVGCuts (my first find and still my favorite) http://svgcuts.com/blog/
2. Tu J's and a Taco http://tujs.wordpress.com/
3. SVG Shop http://svgshop.com/blog/

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Kickin' It Like a Girl or Why Are There Only Three Types of Karate Paper?

Having the girl start with karate was a great idea. She is building strength, balance, coordination and confidence. We are so proud of her as she progresses through the the belts and competitions.The challenge for me is to create pages that highlight each event in a special and interesting way. Especially difficult is deciding what to do with the official certificates for each belt level. The certificates have no color which helps, but they are 8x11--hogging valuable real estate on a 12x12 page.
I know they are originals, but I cut them up anyway. I am sure that she will resent me for that (and a myriad of other things) when she is an adult, but I think I can take it.

The tournaments are a different challenge. Trying to capture the quick action of the individual form competition without the gold and orange glow of the gym floor coloring the photos vexed me for some time.

(OK, then I figured out the settings on my camera and had it filter it out at the last tournament.) Working with the gold haze and the blurry action, I was forced to be creative. In some I opted for the black and white versions. In others I just went with the blur and pretended I meant to do that.
Looking back over the collection, I feel like I have developed a rhythm in the whole karate theme. Seriously, there really are only three karate patterned papers in the universe, so I am being as selective as I can in using them. I'm always on the lookout for more. Hi-ayah!
Just a quick addition to this post-found a couple of great sites for a few more karate-themed papers and embellishments:

MartialArtsPartyStore
ScrappinStuff (martial arts)
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Half-Price Weekend or I Forgot My Cheat Sheet

[2 Girls, 2 Cousins]

My last visit to the Creative Cottage was a great deal. A last minute offer to spend the weekend there at half-price on a weekend when my husband was actually going to be home before the serious hunt for Bambi's father began in earnest was too great an offer to pass up.


[Quack!]

I did a quick pack of my favorite things and put in for vacation for the Friday afternoon in order to get an early start. Turns out there was no way of getting out of my office until after 3 and I still had to stop and pick up my share of food at the grocery store. I finally made it to the Cottage at 4:30 pm. Took me over an hour to settle in and quit moving my stuff around while staring aimlessly at my pile of pictures.


[Fishing]

Finally, I decided to complete all of my journaling for my last batch of layouts (see The Pictures Speak for Themselves). That putzy work took until midnight. There was a strong sense of satisfaction, but I felt like I didn't gain very much ground.


[Berry Picking, this one is actually from a sketch and kit from Archiver's that I found buried in my paper holder.]

The next morning, I pulled out the pictures and papers and I was ready to go. I realized in my haste I had forgotten all of my ribbon (yikes!) and The Book of Inspiration. I had no samples layouts and no sketches. I was on my own. I had to make up my own layouts. (double yikes!)

[Butterflies]

My output for the rest of the weekend was less than stellar, I was pretty proud of my final creations. Read More...

My Knight in Shining Armor or It's Sure Cuts A Lot to the Rescue

[Girls of Summer, 2008]

Don't get me wrong, I love, love, love my Cricut. I just can't afford to feed it anymore. Those cartridges are brutal at $90 a pop. Even on sale, that's a chunk of change to set down on the counter for a single font.

I don't want a single font.

I don't want a lot of fonts.

I want ALL of the fonts.

Riding to my rescue on a white cyber-horse is my hero - Sure Cuts A Lot software. This software costs less than one cartridge and is designed to enhance the capabilities of the already awesome Cricut.


[Hey, 2008]

First it has the ability to cut ANY TrueType font. Yes--this knight in digital armor cuts any font. ALL the fonts. I just need to download and install a font on my computer and it's ready to go. This gives me an endless supply of fonts and dingbats. It makes it easy to select a unique font for a page without having to make a commitment. I never have to use that font again if I don't want to.


[A-Mazed 2008]

Sure Cuts A Lot also has a welding feature that easily hooks up the individual letters to create a single cut object that makes a great title.


[Monkeys 2008]

Because the software uses TrueType fonts, Sure Cuts a Lot can also cut solid dingbat characters. Now I have a great collection of free dingbats of animals, fish, states, flowers, and holiday icons.


[Halloween Party-right side]

Finally, the onscreen workspace makes setting up the cutting design (and mixing multiple fonts in one design) so easy and helps me get the most out of my Cricut. I think my Cricut is a lot happier, too. It's good to have a hero.


[Winter Slide, 2008]
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Vacation Mini-Book or My Pictures Were Scrapped Before There Even Was a Swine Flu

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I have taken a few really great vacations. You know the type: sun, clear water, beaches, beverages with tiny umbrellas. I also have boxes of vacation photos. Piles of vacation photos. In fact, except for the giant manila folder of childhood photos that my mother sent me, they are the one pile of photos I never seem to get to.


Front Cover

The hundreds of photos that are normal for a vacation are very overwhelming. Scrapping them would dominate my usual family event scrapbooks. Since most of my books are chronological, putting in 8-10 layouts of vacation pictures seems to slow down my frenzied pace. Of course, this leads me down the path of vacation albums.


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I took my first leap when I did an online digital album for last year's family summer vacation. Since I had 217 pictures (after editing) it seemed like a reasonable option. It worked out well. It was quick and was delivered to my door by FedEx a complete package. While it was done, I missed the part that makes scrapbooking fun for me - cutting and gluing small pieces of paper.

This year when I saw the spring break photos, I knew I had to do something different. While hanging out at my local scrapbook store, I saw a couple of mini-albums that really inspired me. They were small in scale and simple in design. I saw tons of potential for scraplifting great ideas. Since I was spending the day in the workroom at the store, I decided to put a plan together. I picked up the chipboard cover, background paper and metal rings at the store and spent the rest of the afternoon planning each page of the album. Once I got home it was pretty quick to put together. I didn't buy any other paper or embellishments. Instead I was pleasantly surprised at how I seemed to have everything I needed right in my own stash. (Granted, I have enough patterned paper to file an insurance claim in case it starts on fire...). The smaller 8x11 pages forced me to limit the pictures and the design to some basics. I was even able to scrounge enough varieties of ribbon to cover the metal rings.

I did have a grand idea of cutting out custom-made letters to create the titles on each page, then I realized with the space constraints, I needed a lot of really small letters. Instead I just mixed and matched from the multitude of tiny black letters I keep in a pile.


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Best of all, the album was done two weeks after the vacation. It was awesome. Now all I have to do is repeat this same fantastic feat of scrapbook magic with the other piles of vacation photos.


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Isn't It Supposed To Be Christmas In July? or I Am SO Far Ahead This Year

[Let's Take a Sleigh Ride, 2009]

It used to be that when the July scrapping weekend would roll around, I would be prepped and ready to go with my Halloween and Christmas pictures. Powering through the weekend, cranking out layout after layout of fall leaves and pumpkins followed by green and red overload, I felt so accomplished when I was done and finally looking at January pictures.


[Winter Slide 2008, sketch from PageMaps]

As a pathologically chronological scrapbooker, I measure my level of accomplishment by how far behind I am from the pictures I took TODAY. My standard is six months. It's normal for me to be working on my Fourth of July pictures in January. There are some hiccups that throw me off my game like the year I took so many Christmas pictures I had to make a separate album. That's right - 27 12x12 pages chronicling the endless holiday season of 2005. But check out my sweetie girl in "All Tangled Up in Christmas" and tell me you wouldn't feel compelled to snap a couple of extra photos.


[All Tangled Up in Christmas 2005]

There was also the year I rebelled and did all of my fall and Halloween layouts out of order because I read a magazine article that gave me permission to "scrap what I liked." It was a little disconcerting to scrap out of sequence so I avoid it whenever possible. Yeah, I have issues.

This year was shaping up to fall right along the six month timeline when I was revisiting my summer pictures this winter. Then yesterday as I was finishing up the last of my pre-prepped pages (photos and papers matched up and stored together in a plastic page protector-I know, I already admitted I have issues), that the next stack of pictures I needed to work on sorting were for Easter.

I checked again. That couldn't be true.


[Christmas Morning 2008]


[Ice, Ice, Baby 2009, sketch from Sketches R Us]

I tried to figure out what could have happened. How could I have missed months of photos? Careful review of my pictures (digital and printed), my calendar, and my memory made it clear that I had completely covered fall and winter. First was the realization that I only had four layouts for Christmas. I really cut back on the picture-taking (could be that my camera was being troublesome).


[Hey, Santa 2008, sketch from Cherie's Sketches]

After I got a new camera from Santa, I picked up the pace a little, but the wicked-cold days of Minnesota winter offered fewer photo-ops, and I ended up with just these highlights from January and February.

March was easy, since it was only my vacation pictures (OK, there were 187 of them, but I put them in a mini-album rather than my big album.) I will save that scrapping adventure for next time.

That brings me to where I am now - it's only June and I am starting on my April stash. That's closing the gap to only two months. Hey, it's not really bragging if it's true.


[Cake, Candles & Party Hats 2008]
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Not Every Page Can Be a Masterpiece or OMG, My Eyes!

Just avert your eyes if the ugliness becomes too much to bear.


[People at My Party 07: The pictures weren't horrible, but I had a layout in my mind that never came out. The patterned paper was the final blow.]

Sometimes pages don't turn out quite like I imagined them. That's OK, my books are filled with lots of pages that would never win a contest or garner comments in the online galleries. They are still good pages that I am proud to have share our stories.

No this post is about those other pages. These are the ones that make it into the book, but cause an involuntary flinch every time they are revealed by the turn page. These are the ugly pages. I made them. They are mine. While I do own up to them, I also admit they are disasters. There can be lots of reasons for it. But it's usually one of two things: a good idea that just never came to be or bad stuff that left little to work with.

Layout Disasters: There are those moments when I am inspired by some awesome technique or layout, and feel like I should definitely give it at try. This often requires a shopping trip for some new tool or special supply (that I convince myself is worth the money because I will use it often). Once I have the new purchase, I start putting it all together. I agonize over the measurements, or the placement, or the construction. Most of the time I can see the disaster looming early on. Yet, once invested, I don't look back. I finish it up, get it in the book, and try to salvage what scrapbooking dignity I still have left.



[Ready for the Water 08: Scraplifted this one. Trust me, this random collection of odd embellishments was stunning on the one in the magazine.]


[Pisces Girls 07: 52 Sketches #26. This sketch and the pages others submitted were adorable. For some reason I picked the ugliest combination of papers possible and never quite recovered.]

Awful Pictures: Then there are the times when I look at the pictures or the papers and try to find some spark of inspiration. It's tough when you look at photos and realize none of them are that great. None deserve to be a focus. I try to find some way to organize them and hold onto the story. I have taken the coward's way out and filed the pictures away forever.


[Cookie Time: This paper was incredibly cute until I decided it needed to be saturated in pink and red. I committed to the stickers, and then realized too late they weren't doing a thing for me.]


[Another Birthday 08: The paper was beautiful and glittery. The pictures were less than mediocre, but everyone was so sweet to celebrate my birthday like this, that I wanted make sure I captured it in the scrapbook. To make it worse, the titles and journaling are impossible to read.]

Either way, when I see these finished pages, I reassure myself that not every page can be (or has to be) a masterpiece. Telling my family's stories isn't a contest; the scrapbook is supposed to capture the memories, not showcase the techniques. While today they may be cringe-worthy, thirty years from now people will want to see the faces and revel in the memories. Guess that means every page, even the ugly ones, are part of the bigger story of my family and part of the story of my scrapbooking journey. Read More...