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...

The Pictures Speak for Themselves or I Haven't Finished My Journaling

[Mother's Day Kindergarten Program 09-sketch from Page Maps]

As part of my on-going quest to keep as current as possible on my chronological scrapbooking, I jumped into my spring pictures. Spring was cold, damp and cloudy so I didn't have a ton of events to scrap. I spent a full day and evening at the big-box scrapbook store and cranked out everything after Easter.

We saw cold weather for the fishing opener this year. So no cute photos of us in the boat on the lake enjoying the sunshine. Instead here is Olivia bundled up in her winter gear and her Barbie pole. No fish, just freezing wind.


[Fishing Opener 09-sketch by Chris Greiser]

After that comes the birthday pictures. I really held back this year, and ended up with only three layouts for the whole celebration. I'm embarrassed at how many pictures were sent to the storage box, but it seemed like I really didn't get very good pictures even with my new camera.


[Birthday at the Park 09]


[Birthday Party Games 09]

Overall, putting the pages together was pretty quick. This last one with the birthday crown was made with the sketch from the free page kit that that comes with the evening crop session. Now it's been over a month and these pages are still not in the book. You can clearly see the empty spaces so carefully reserved on every page - no journaling.

I know, I know, it should be simple. right now getting the stories written out and printed on nice vellum and coordinating cardstock just isn't happening. But the layouts are nice-I'm hoping the stories will come to me sometime soon. Chance are I won't be able to actually scrap any new pages until these are done.


[Birthday Crown 09-sketch from Archiver's] 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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Page 5

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.


Page 6

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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You Don't Really Want to Buy That or Adding Stitches to My Pages

"Oh, you don't want to buy that."

That's the response I heard from the sales associate at JoAnn's when I asked where to find the portable, hand-held sewing machine.

"It's terrible. You don't want to ever sew with it. That's why we don't even carry them anymore. Everyone just kept returning them."

The disturbing thing was, I really did want to buy it. I had my 40% off coupon of the week, I had read all the online reviews, I had wandered through all the parts of the store, and I still wanted it. I was committed to owning it. And the more she denigrated it, the more I wanted it.

There was a time when I would look at pages that had stitching on them, and think, "That's crazy. Who wants to put paper in their sewing machine?" I do have have sewing machine. It's old and stubborn, but works great for the two times a year that I take it out of it's built-in cabinet and fire it up to make curtains, pillows, or mend jeans. Other than that, it just sits in the corner and holds random jigsaw puzzles of Hello Kitty and fairy adventure books. Using it for scrapbook pages just seemed like a lot of extra work.

After a while, I did want to have the look of the sewing on my pages. So I used the stickers that looked like stitches. Then I used rub-ons that looked like stitches. I even made faux stitches with markers. I thought about hand sewing, but discovered paper doesn't forgive the way that fabric does. Besides, it was too much like sewing those cards with yarn I remembered from elementary school. I poo-poohed the stitching embellishment as long as I could, but finally it got the best of me.


[Christmas Fun 08 - not only did I use my stitching for the first time, I also tried out my $.49 cent pink stapler for the ribbon border.]

That's when I decided there had to be a small portable machine that might work for sewing on paper. I jumped online and searched for handheld sewing machines. I read user reviews of a few different models. I pick low cost one that sounded like it might actually work. But, alas, my search as JoAnn's was fruitless and discouraging. When I got back home I ordered it online. (Red Cordless Sewing Machine) Now that's the only way you can buy it. Maybe it's JoAnn's way of avoiding the pitying looks one would receive in the store when buying it in person. Now I can be anonymous in my seemingly foolish purchase.

When it arrived, I had my doubts, but the test runs on the paper were exemplary. True, I would never see the stitches lasting beyond a single use on actual fabric, but for paper, fantastic! Of course, the true test will come when I want to change the bobbin, but with the assistance of the enclosed directions written in what I assume is clear and concise French, I will be just fine. No one has to know I even own, especially the helpful staff at JoAnns. Read More...

What Can You Fit in A 13x13x13 Box? or Scrapping on the Road

[What Could Be 'Smore Fun? 08]

My day job had me on the road right after New Year's for a 4-day trip to Washington, DC. While to some it may seem like an awesome all-expense paid excursion to our nation's capitol, I was less enthused. I have been on enough of these little junkets to know that in addition to the over-enthusiastic main hall sessions with 1200 people in attendance, and the endless break-out sessions focusing on each and every item in the company, the long lines of colleagues and acquaintances waiting to get meals each day, there would also be "scheduled social events" every evening. While most folks are pumped about themed gatherings with adult beverages in ample supply, I am a natural introvert and can only take the crowds, smiles, air-kisses and uncomfortable, yet stylish shoes for so many hours in a day. I knew there had to be some way I could extricate myself early in the evening and leave the happy revelers barely noticing I was ever there. If only there were some way that I could retire to the serene setting of my hotel room and scrapbook. Oh, yeah, that's a laugh. How in the world could I expect to decently scrapbook so far from home? So far from my glitter? So far from my doo-dads? So far from my buttons and ribbon?

[Sparklers 08]

Then I got the memo. It was innocent in its intent: I was to notify the marketing department if I had any boxes to ship to the meeting.

Boxes? Hmmm.

[Enough Fun for Everyone 08]

I filled a 13x13x13 box with prepped pages (pictures and papers matched up), my most basic tools and adhesives, some letter stickers, a selection of doo-dads in metal and plastic, and zip-lock baggie of ribbon cuttings. I even found room for my SideKick. The box was a little heavy, but no one gave it a second look as I took it to the marketing department, and it became one of the hundreds.

Now I was looking forward to the meetings. Everyday I attended the living daylights out of both big events and breakout sessions. I didn't miss a single one. I took notes. I asked questions. I knew when the final session was over and everyone else was heading up to their rooms to prepare for the evening's festivities, I had pictures and paper calling to me. No interruptions, no dishes, no bedtime.

I had a great time and did made some nice pages, making whatever I had in the 13x13x13 box work for those pages. It was a challenge for my innovative thinking, but besides some journaling, I was pleased to see that I could make due with whatever was in my stash, no matter how small the stash was on the road. Maybe the best part was working with these fun summer pictures and memories in cold January new year.


[Family 08-sketch from Stuck?!]

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Back At It Again

I know it's been ages since I posted. I'm finally back - I did get a new job and had to dedicate my time to figuring it all out. Now I've got my scrap back on, and I'm ready to share. Many thanks to those of you who have told me that you've been looking for new posts and not giving up on my little blog.

Even though I haven't been posting, I have been scrapping. I have been working hard to catch up, forsaking the side trips and shopping at the last scrap retreat at CJ's Creative Cottage to focus totally on dominating the pile of prepped pages. I took a break for another couple of months because my day job had me on the road so much. I really got a kick start with the purchase of the the Sure Cuts A Lot software I use with my Cricut. Then it was spring break and I had a pile of vacation pictures sitting in a pile.

I've either been so productive and powering out the pages or I've been taking significantly fewer pictures. Either way, there never seems to be a lack of projects (yeah!) and a great satisfaction knowing that I am only 5 months behind. Feels good to make so much progress.

There's plenty of stories to tell, so stop by often and get inspired! Read More...