Travels and Adventures

[I Believe in Fairies 2007]

Capturing the excitement of special events is always a challenge for me. The first difficult thing is sorting through the pictures to find the ones that show action and sense of fun. Usually I have shots that clearly demonstrate my ability to chase after my family and friends and snap remembrances of the back of their heads, sides of their shoulders, and food in their mouths. Not quite scrapping material.

On our last visit to the Renaissance Festival, the visit with the fairy was really a high point for Olivia. Her belief in real fairy magic is strong and meeting one in person was cooler than she could ever imagine. The fairy was pretty photo-savvy and made sure I got at least a couple of great shots. Later in the day the best I could get were a couple of faraway looks of the awesome face painting. The piggyback ride of the girls is still the best shot, even if they do have food in their mouths.

[Day at the Zoo]

Out visit to the zoo yielded even poorer photos than usual since I forgot my camera. These photos are all from my cell phone. Because I didn't have a decent camera, any pictures of animals were out of the question. The only ones that had any potential were from the kiddie carnival and carousel. When I looked at the the pictures, I knew I would have to do something with the blurry ones. They ended up being loads of fun and just what I needed to share the motion of the afternoon.

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Not Really My Favorite Holiday-It Just Scraps That Way

[Pumpkin Grins 2007 - sketch from sketch me if you can]

By looking at the latest volume of my scrapbook, you might begin to think that Halloween is my favorite holiday. That's not really true. Somehow, I ended up with waaaay too many pictures related to pumpkins and costumes. I think that fall offers so many photo opportunities, that I just wanted to make sure I captured the best ones. From that point, the 8 separate layouts just seemed to be inevitable.


[Pink Pumpkin 2007]

Since I sort through my pictures again after I get the prints, I sometimes don't even realize how many stories I have in my planning piles. Once I separate the pictures, I match them up to paper, both patterned and cardstock. Sometimes I succeed in matching up two or three pattern papers. This is also my way of justifying my habit of buying piles of paper for events and seasons I'm not even working on. Since I ususally am scrapbooking 6 months behind, like dipping into my paper stash and finding cool stuff I forgot I bought.


[Pumpkin Boat w/ Insert 2007 - sketch from sketch me if you can]

In September and October I bought every cool and funky fall and Halloween paper that caught my eye. The result is that I have loads of outstanding papers from which to choose when prepping my pages. When I bought the paper, I had no idea what would go with the traditional orange and black color scheme and if there would ever be any way to use the super cool glitter green paper I just had to have.


[It's Mushy Inside 2007 - sketch from sketch me if you can]

While many people I scrap with buy for a specific layout, I just buy for the hope that I will use it. The great polka dot tag on It's Mushy Inside, is two years old--just waiting for the right moment. The sparkly pumpkin rub ons were just too fun to pass by when they ended up in the sale bin in January. The two pages of flocked tags from Pink Pumpkin and Preschool Halloween Party were 40% off and still have plenty for next year. Being able to bring out my collection three year's accumulation of fall and Halloween embellishments and doo-dads and sort through them allows me to be somewhat spontaneous.


[Preschool Halloween Party 2007 - sketch from Racketty Scrappety]

This great sketch gave me a chance to use the awesome spider paper that didn't quite seem to fit anywhere else or match up with any other pictures.


[Witchy Hat 2007 - sketch from Page Maps by Becky Fleck]

By the time Halloween night actually arrived, I had no idea how many fall and pumpkin pictures I had on my camera already. I am sure that I am now known as the neighborhood crazy mommy who takes pictures of trick-or-treating like I am a member of the paparazzi.


[Trick or Treat 2007 - sketch from sketch me if you can]

Seeing Olivia finally decked out in the much anticipated Cinderella costume, I had to capture the before, during and after Halloween. The bright blue of the costume allowed me to deviate from the traditional colors to a bling blue and white page for the the last of the Halloween pages.


[The Updo & the Upchuck 2007]



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Sketchiosity: It's About Sketches

[Faces of Olivia - sketch from Racketty Scrappety]

I love looking at sketches! There are so many talented folks out there willing to share the enormous variety and styles of sketches with scrapbookers like me. For me it's all about choosing the papers and embellishments. I can really make time on a layout once I have a plan. That's where I get hung up - I really need a plan. Once I realized that the generous sketches were handing me balanced and and unified layout plans, I grabbed on. The sketch really allows me to evaluate my photos, identify the story, and match that to a roadmap to success. While I used to skim through magazines and online galleries to find layouts to inspire me, the sketch doesn't intimidate me with the fabulous techniques and stunning photos of other people's families or vacation spots. It is instead a sturdy tool to which I measure my photos against and see if they have what it takes to live in that layout.


[Labor Day Swim - sketch from Racketty Scrappety]

Sometimes, as in the sketch for Labor Day Swim above, the sketch pushes me to think about using the photos differently like irregular cutting of the focal photo and the photo cut off the edge. I seldom have these unique flashes of brilliance on my own and appreciate the fact that the creative types at Racketty Scrappety do regularly, AND invite me to try it on my own. Awesome!

There is such a robust and rich world of free sketches available for interested scrapbookers. I have linked this site to some of my favorites. It's so worth it to visit the sites at least weekly to check out what's new and see the layouts that others have made from the sketches. If these are not sites you have been visiting regularly, then by all means check out their archives. They are gold mines of years of original and inspiring sketches.


[Backyard Restaurant 2007 - sketch by Stuck?!]

At last Friday night's crop I was able to layout, crop and start embellishing three layouts in a very short time with the help of the some great sketches. I was able to convince Kit to take a look at some two-page sketches. Kit and I suffer from the same affliction (no, it's not an addiction to cardstock)-layout paralysis. Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. It's when you set all the pictures from the event down on the table and stare at them without movement or progress for an extraordinary amount of time. You shuffle the pictures around and turn them this way and that. 30 minutes later you decide to just get something down and start cutting. Using the sketches, Kit was able to sort, select, and crop photos for three 2-page layouts in just a few hours. We were both taken with sketches by Chris Greiser from Scrap Me If You Can.

Sometimes, however, I just see something great and scraplift the living daylights out of it to get pages like these two. That still works.


[Face to Face w/ Fluffy 2007]


[Septemberrrrr Swim 2007 - title credit to Kristi Y.] Read More...

Confessions of a Serial Scraplifter

[Genuine Beauty 2007]

When I first started scrapbooking, I would look through the magazines and internet galleries for inspiration and concepts. I saw lots of outstanding and complex work that was clearly out of my league as a beginner. It did introduce me to various techniques and offer different ways to apply them. I was discouraged sometimes by the enormous number of single page, single photo, and oversized photo layouts. They just didn't seem quite reasonable considering the "scrapbook every moment with a million digital photos" kind of style I had adopted.

I'm not sure when it started, but I must have run across a layout in a magazine that did more than inspire me, it screamed, "You could do this, too!" I created a great page "Easter Basket" using the magazine as map. It was really one of my favorites from my daughter's first year album.


[Easter 2004]


[Chocolate Smiles 2006]

I've never looked back. Like Ishmael, my white whale is really an endless series of sketches and shared layouts that make my head spin. Becky Higgins Sketch Book was awesome and gave me permission to take as many ideas as I wanted to use and reuse. While many magazines had a regular sketch features, I didn't really fall into scrapbook love love until I discovered the amazing talent found at online sketch blogs. Wow! These folks have so many awesome ideas, that I can't look away. These artists have truly legitamized my scraplifting tendancies. I never claim to come up with original or unique ideas for my page layouts. I never enter my pages in to contests or submit to magazines, because I know that the design is probably lifted someone else much more talented than I. I have included links to some of my favorite sketch sources; so visit them be inspired!


[Happy as Clams 2007]




[Pizza Time 2006]

Shamelessly, I use the ideas and designs that others post. This I freely admit. And I do take pride in how I am able to make the sketch or design my own. I add my own style and favorite embellishments like ribbon, flowers and brads & eyelets. When I'm done it's mine, but I always know from whence it came. Read More...

Latest Crop Session

[So Grown Up 2007]

Finding time for the casual crop time with friends is always a challenge for me. It seems like we all have such busy schedules that nailing down a time to gather just for a few hours of uninterrupted scrapping time becomes more effort than it's worth. When we actually make it happen, we agree, it's always worth it. One group I know has scheduled a monthly evening gathering at their workplace on a Fridays. It's five hours of casual cropping and conversation. They schedule them for six months at a time so everyone can plan and set aside the time. The group shifts and changes each month reflecting the differences in the lives of these busy women. Depending on the time of year, the room is full and other times it is only one or two in the big room. I am privilaged to get an invite to this group and attend when I can.

I have also taken up their example. Instead of waiting for another invitation, I have been working to gather together the scrapbookers at my workplace. I know they are there; I've recognized the casual knowledge of mini glue dots and veiled references to being "behind on my pictures." Conversations about not being able to find time and getting together are slowly moving to action. We actually scheduled an evening after work. While I was able to finished a few layouts, Kristi spent most of her time getting caught up on thank you notes. Hey, you use the time as you need to. To her credit, she had designed and printed her own notes.

By bringing the pre-matched pictures and paper, I was able to get three layouts glued down. When I had also thought to bring the coordinating ribbon or embellishments, it went even faster. Once home, I was able to finish up the journaling and details.

[Toasty Marshamallows 2007]

While attendance was limited, there were sincere regrets at being unable to come. Now we have the next few months on the calendar. My hope is that others will take advantage of a time written on the calendar and begin to plan for it. Gotta take time to feed your soul! Read More...