Kiss and Tell Scrapbooking

Big Picture Classes: Library of Memories Community & Stacy Julian Appreciation Week (March 2008)

The Story {the journaling} :  "So its been about 8 years since I discovered Stacy Julian - I've always been a scrapbooker but Stacy and Simple Scrapbooks really introduced me to awesome modern scrapbooking.   I've been "modern"  scrapbooking since about 1998 but it wasn't particularly cool or fun until I "virtually" met this lady and all of her fun friends.  They've inspired me and help me document my happy life."  (and probably actually make it happier).  "Love my online peeps:  Online Friends - Online Books - Online Learning."

What prompted this?  A combination of a couple things - one being that I found this scrapbook page I made 5 years ago:  Blast from the Past:  "Stacy Julian Appreciation Week - March 2008" made during the grand old days of Simple Scrapbooks:

Side Note On Photographing Scrapbook Layouts:  My scrapbook layout picture taking skills still aren't perfect, but taking that same original photo of the layout and tweaking it in Google's free Picasa photo program:  1. I cropped it to a square; 2. I hit the "I feel Lucky" button; 3. I adjusted the sharpness with the slider tool; and 4. I created a border. And voila - that same layout looks a lot more internet ready right?

Another reason for all this gushing?  I've learned some things over the years thanks to my online friends, online books and online scrapbooking classes and communities.  Today I've been thinking about that and about how I have real feelings for my virtual scrapbooking friends - some of whom I've never and will never meet - others whom I have met in real life - and scrapbooking friends I've met online who become real life friends.  I've been thinking about how Patti Knox's interview over at Debbie Hodge's Get It Scrapped / Masterful Scrapbook Design so touched my heart and that I knew her and Debbie's essence just from listening to them talk to each other about scrapbooking for one hour.  (Click Here for Debbie Hodge's Masterful Scrapbook Design interview with Pattie Knox from November 2012 all about Telling Family Stories and Scrapbooking Old Photos). 

This online scrapbooking thing isn't just about recording your family memories, its also about finding your people.  I know I've found mine.  Its also about appreciating life and thinking about the bigger picture, what you want to focus on and remember and what you want to leave behind.

I've been a fan of Stacy Julian and her Big Picture Concept since her book came out in 2005 and I read it cover to cover on an airplane ride up to see my Grandma Grace.  I took Library of Memories (now called Photo Freedom) in 2007 and took the alumni course every year since.   This year I think my class enrollment turned into a pumpkin and former students had to sign up again so this was the first year I haven't been in Library of Memories / Photo Freedom - it feels weird.  I miss it.  The class is completely awesome in so many ways, but it is so amazing to go on that scrapbooking journey with so many other amazing women - and get to hear and see Stacy Julian videos every week for 10 weeks.  Yep, I miss that.

I am a member of "A Library of Memories Community" which I think was a one time payment of $15.00 for "Forever Access" to get a weekly email every Thursday.  I admit that often times I just get the email and I put it into my "Library of Memories" folder on gmail, but I think if I used it more often my scrapbooking would be even more awesome.

So just for fun, I thought I'd take a look at the Big Picture and Photo Freedom Books today and listen to Stacy's video message in the BPC Class. I took a look at the last Weekly Challenge and it was this:

Creating
It's time to create something with some square-punch pictures! Make a page or a card or a fun note to put under someone's pillow. Square-punch pictures are ready to go and EASY to use. Please note how happy this creative exercise makes you!

So I didn't follow the directions exactly but I did use a couple of square sized photos.

------------

If you are in A Library of Memories Community there are 4 chats in 2013:

Your chats with Stacy Julian are scheduled for:
Friday, January 25th 2013 at 5:00pm PT
Thursday, May 9th 2013 at 10:30am PT
Saturday, August 3rd 2013 at 8:00am PT
Thursday, November 7th 2013 at 2:00pm PT

Big Idea Festival Day 1: #Happy Mail: Bee Card

I don't often make cards but my daughter loves to get notes in her lunch box; I made this after watching the Day 1 Video from Stacy Julian over at Big Picture Classes.  I am so totally thrilled to hear that Angie Lucas and Ella Publishing are joining Big Picture! 

P.S. My Layout "Justified" graced the cover of the first ever Ella Publishing ezine!  Check it out:

I'm a big fan of all that Angie Lucas does and I think it is a perfect fit for her to be part of Big Picture Classes!  Yay!  My old favorite Simple Scrapbooks seems to be coming back together.  :)

You can read more about the Ella Publishing and Big Picture Merge At the Ella Blog "The Daily Trumpet"!  

P.S. I suggested the name of Ella's blog "The Daily Trumpet". So it always makes me smile to see their blog banner.

 

Paperclipping Roundtable: Link Lists for the Scrapbooking Podcast

I love the Paperclipping Roundtable and love to listen to the episodes while I'm scrapbooking.    I also love to listen to old episodes so I thought I'd create  some link lists according to how I like to listen to them or search for them (since the site is a little hard to navigate if you are looking for the older episodes and its hard to tell what the subject of the shows are because of the creative title):

PAPERCLIPPING ROUNDTABLE EPISODES WITH STACY JULIAN OR DEBBIE HODGE:

#1 Stacy Julian Zen Master of Scrapbooking

#4 The Chaotic Show

#7 The Process of Scrapbooking

#12 Heart on Fire Brain on Ice

#15 The Mini Book Show

#20 This is Stacy

#28 Poopy Stuff in our Backgrounds

#29 Oh The Trunk

#33 Uninterpreted Bits

#40 You Won't Be Interested In This Topic

#46 Hone Your Intuition

#47 Scrapbook the Commute and Lunch

#49 All Twelve Months

#52 Hook Drugs

#55 Almost Live from CHA

#58 You Forget

#60 Innovations in Scrapbooking

#63 Strangely Obsessed And Sick Group

#64 Long Projects Chronicled

#67 Library of Freedom

#73 Scrapworthy Lives

#76 Summer CHA 2011

#81 Organization on the Move

#84 So Cute Today

#92 The Two Page Layout Show

#100 CHA Baby

#102 I say Awesome and You Say Cute

#105 Categories of Amazingness

#107 Scrapbooking Teens

#111 In Ten Easy Steps

#119 Imagine

#121 Your Personal Style

 #123 The Confession Show

PAPERCLIPPING ROUNDTABLE EPISODES WITH ANGIE LUCAS OR WENDY SMEDLEY:

#4 The Chaotic Show

#7 The Process of Scrapbooking

#11 Viewer Mail

#17 Scrapbooker Know Thyself

#18 The Yin and Yang of Who I Am

#24 Hidden Journaling

#31 This Show Kicks A

#35 Memory Go Round

#41 I fought Sorting By Color

#42 Titles Don't Have to Stop Traffic

#48 If My Husband's Listening

#53 Getting It All Together

#57 The Closet Trendsetter

#66 Thinking Inside the Box

#71 For Big Scrapbooking Projects

#77 Masters of the Long Arm Extension

#79 The Personality Episode

#87 Questions, Lists and Prompts

#95 Before You Entered the Picture

#100 CHA Baby

#106 Scrapbook Procrastination

 #113 It Makes You Brave

 #123 The Confession Show

PAPERCLIPPING ROUNDTABLE EPISODES WITH ALI EDWARDS OR BECKY HIGGINS:

#3 Ali Edwards on Story

#6 How to Deal With All That Stuff

#16 Implanted Under Your Skin

#17 Scrapbooker Know Thyself

#19 How Vintage Are You?

#32 God Bless Ikea

#36 Go Outside

#45 Pile On Ali

#46 Hone Your Intuition

#49 All Twelve Months

#56 Breaking the Quote Rules

#68 Taking Photos You'll Love

#72 Working In the Scrapbooking Industry

#79 The Personality Episode

#89 Makes Me Want to Go Make Something

#97 Yes, Yes, and Yes.

#100 CHA Baby

#104 On Blogging and Scrapbooking

#119 Imagine

#124 The Things That Amaze You

PAPERCLIPPING ROUNDTABLE EPISOSES WITH MAY FLAUM OR TAMI MORRISON:

#22 Burnt Cookies

#24 Hidden Journaling

#61 Access Your Creativity

#76 Summer CHA 2011

#85 The Many Faces of Neutral

#92 The Two Page Layout Show

#95 Before You Entered the Picture

#105 Scrapbook Procrastination

#114 My Experience of Your Experience

#118 Not A Themey Person

#120 Not A Fan Of Neon

PAPERCLIPPING ROUNDTABLE EPISODES WITH SHIMELLE LAINE or CHRISTINE

URIAS:

#30 CHA Summer 2010

#38 A Metaphysical Bandwagon

#74 Polka Dots With Buddhist Temples

#80 The Glitter Queens

#81 Organization on the Move

#85 The Many Faces of Neutral

#90 Scrapbooking the 80s

#103 Too Precious to Scrapbook

#109 My Supplies are Talking To Me

#110 Clash of th Die Cutting Machines

#117 Take Your Scrapbooking To The Beach

PAPERCLIPPING ROUNTABLE EPISODES WITH ANNA CABRERA OR JULIE FEI-FAN BALZER:

#4 The Chaotic Show

#6 How To Deal With All That Stuff

#9 Does Size Matter?

#15 The Mini Book Show

#21 The Sum of Our Stories

#23 Design Teams

#25 Jen McGuire Gets Her Fix

#29 Oh The Trunk

#34 When They Get Hot They'll Black Out

#37 World's Worst Mom

#43 Different Scrapbook Styles

#44 Stories in Hand

#48 If My Husband's Listening

#51 Location Location Location

#52 Hook Drugs

#55 Almost Live from CHA

#59 Smart Phone Photos

#61 Access Your Creativity

#62 Not That Deep

#65 As You Wish

#69 Everything Could Use a Rhinestone

#72 Working in the Scrapbooking Industry

#80 The Glitter Queens

#84 So Cute Today

#88 I Scrap Dead People

#94 The Future of Scrapbooking

#99 A Page On Y'all

#107 Scrapbooking Teens

#114 My Experience of Your Experience

#116 How to Mail A Coconut 

PAPERCLIPPING ROUNDTABLE EPISODES WITH OTHER AWESOME SCRAPBOOKERS:

#77 Karen Poirier-Brode

#87 Laine Ehmann #60 Lain Ehmann

#91 Elizabeth Dillow

#91 Stephanie Howell

#96 Cathy Zielske

#101 Steph from The Daily Digi

#105 Heidi Swapp

#108 Molly McCarthy

#73 Stephanie Medley-Rath #108 Stephanie Medley-Rath

#109 Dina Wakely

#103 Wilna Furstenberg

#113 Karen Grunberg #101 Karen Grunberg

#115 Jessica Sprague   #96 Jessica Sprague #88 Jessica Sprague

 #115 Monica McNeil

#116 Kristina Werner

 #117 Amy Tan #102 Amy Tan

#51 Liz Ness

#27 Kelly Purkey

PAPERCLIPPING ROUNDTABLE CHA EPISODES & Scrapbook Industry & Trends:

#4 Live From CHA

#11 Viewer Mail

#16 Social Media and Scrapbooking

#23 Design Teams

#27 Plain Old Green

#30 CHA Summer 2010

#34 Question & Answers Episode

#50 The 50th Episode Celebration

#52 Hook Drugs

#55 Almost Live From CHA

#60 Innovations in Scrapbooking

#65 As You Wish

#72 Working in the Scrapbook Industry

#73 Scrapworthy Lives

#76 And I Might Be Wrong

#78 So Proud to be a Part of It

#83 The 6x6 Paper Pad Show

#94 The Future of Scrapbooking

#99 A Page On Y'All

 #100 CHA Baby

PAPERCLIPPING ROUNDTABLE ON PHOTOGRAPHY:

#26 Organize Your Photos

#59 Smart Phone Photos

#68 Taking Photos You'll Love

 #112 Photography Equipment

PAPERCLIPPING ROUNDTABLE ON JOURNALING AND STORY TELLING:

#3 Ali Edwards on Story

#21 The Sum of Our Stories

#24 Hidden Journaling

#32 Telling Family Stories

#44 Stories in Hand

#58 Techniques for Capturing Story

#87 Questions, Lists and Prompts

97 "Memory Keeping"

#101 Journaling vs. Embellishments

#104 On Blogging and Scrapbooking

#124: Telling Stories about Cultural Changes Over Time

PAPERCLIPPING ROUNDTABLE ON SCRAPBOOKING TECHNIQUES:

#2 Donna Downey The Artist

#8 Scrapbooking Tools

#19 How Vintage Are You?

#25 Jen McGuire on Techniques

#29 Technology in Scrapbooking

#31 Arts & Crafts

#33 Using Memorabilia in Scrapbooks

#43 Different Scrapbook Styles

#54 At Peace With Buckling

#69 Scrapbooking Embellishments

#75 I Don't Drip Either

#80 The Glitter Queens

#85 Using Neutrals in Scrapbooking

#89 Stamping on Scrapbooking Layouts

#98 Digital Scrapbooking

#110 Clash of the Die Cutting Machines

#116 Making Card with Scrapbooking Supplies

#122 Using Non-Scrapbook Items in Scrapbooking 

#120 Scrapbooking Colors and Trends

PAPERCLIPPING ROUNDTABLE ON MINI BOOKS & ALBUM STORAGE:

#15 The Mini Book Show

#45 How to Finish Mini Books

#57 Scrapbook Albums

#62 Art Journals

#64 Long Projects Chronicled

#67 Library of Freedom

#71 Big Scrapbooking Projects

#82 Making Unique Mini Books

#105 Categories of Amazingness

PAPERCLIPPING ROUNDTABLE ON TRAVEL AND VACATIONS:

#51 Location Location Location

#74 Polka Dots With Buddhist Temples

#117 Scrapbooking Outside and on Vacation

#118 Travel & Vacation Scrapbooking

PAPERCLIPPING ON HOLIDAYS AND CELEBRATIONS:

#39 Halloween Scrapbooking Ideas

#48 Holidays & Celebrations

PAPERCLIPPING ON SCHOOL PROJECTS  & PROJECT LIFE & Other Stages of Life:

#17 Becky Higgins on Project Life

#20 Chronological Scrapbooking

#28 Adopted Children

#37 School Scrapbooking

#47 Scrapbooking Work

#49 All Twelve Months

#77 Scrapbooking Your Spouse / Marriage

#84 Scrapbooking Your Parents or In-Laws

#88 Family History Scrapbooking

#90 Scrapbooking The 80s

#91 Scrapbooking The Military

#95 Scrapbooking Step Families, Divorce, and other Sensitive Family Situations

#96 Year Long Projects

#107 Scrapbooking Teens

#114 My Experience of Your Experience

 #115 Project Life - 6 Months Later

PAPERCLIPPING ROUNDTABLE ON SCRAPBOOKING ORGANIZATION:

#6 How To Deal With All That Stuff

#22 Unfinished Projects

#41 Sorting by Color

#53 Getting It All Together

#66 What to Bring to Scrapbooking Crops

#70 Shared Scrapbooking Spaces

#81 Organization on the Move

#102 Scrapbooking Systems

#108 Budgeting for Scrapbooking Supplies

 #111 Scrapbook Organization

PAPERCLIPPING ROUNDTABLE ON CREATIVITY:

#1 Stacy Julian Zen Master of Scrapbooking

#5 Why People Don't Scrapbook

#7 The Process of Scrapbooking

#12 Heart on Fire Brain on Ice

#14 Done is Better than Perfect

#18 Why You Scrapbook

#35 Memory Go Round

#36 Zen Habits for Scrapbookers

#38 A Metaphysical Bandwagon

#40 You Won't Be Interested In This Topic

#46 Hone Your Intuition

#56 Breaking the Quote Rules

#61 Access Your Creativity

#79 The Personality Episode

#93 A Vintage Scrapbook Story

#103 Too Precious to Scrapbook

#106 Scrapbook Procrastination

#113 Getting Beyond Creative Scrapbookers Block / The Blank Page

#119 Imagine - Book Review

#121 Your Personal Style

#123 Weaknesses and Struggles in Scrapbooking / Page Layouts

PAPERCLIPPING ROUNDTABLE ON SCRAPBOOK LAYOUTS:

#9 Scrapbook Page Size

#42 Scrapbook Titles

#63 Review of 4 Pages by 4 Scrapbookers

#86 Design Principals on Scrapbook Pages

#92 The Two Page Layout Show

#109 Review of 4 Scrapbook Layouts by 4 Scrapbookers

 

 

 

Old School & Modern Wedding Scrapbooking

This Scrapbooking Video is about my old school magnetic scrapbook wedding scrapbook and my modern scrapbook albums and photo books.  It is in response to Noell Hymann's Paperclipping Roundtable #103 "Too Precious to Scrapbook" and the connection between what kind of scrapbooker you are in relation to how you planned your wedding. 

 

Click here for a link to the Ella Publishing ezine article I wrote about scrapbooking your marriage and relationship based on Stacy Julian & Lain Ehmann's ebook Simple Secrets of Happy Scrapbookers and my adaptation of David Niven's book about Happy Relationships.

Click here for a link to Noel Hyman & Nancy Nally's podcast Paperclipping Roundtable PRT #103: Too Precious to Scrapbook relating wedding planning and scrapbooking.

If you wish to support this blog, check out these affiliate links which are related to products I mentioned in the video:

This Scrapbooking Blog has been Temporarily Hijacked by Dystopia Novels and Pretty Flowers

 

Holey Moley.  I did not want to like dystopia novels.  I first heard the word "dystopia" from scrapbooker Wendy Smedley, from Simple Scrapbooks, Ella Publishing and Big Picture Scrapbooking, say that she was reading dystopia novels along with her teenaged boys and that the novels were about post apocalytic worlds.  I remember thinking I was glad my kids weren't old enough to like something so seemingly horrible.   I am not a fan of horror movies or stories since they tend to stay with me and I end up dreaming about them and I just prefer funny to creepy.

Then, a few weeks ago, we took the whole family to see the inspirational and happy movie Big Miracle with Drew Barrymore. Apparently there was a re-release of Star Wars which is why we saw all those storm troopers at the movies.  Before the big show we sat through the previews.   The trailer for The Hunger Games crawled up inside my head and didn't leave.  It looked horrible.  I had no interest in seeing it.  I even commented to Charlie how I wished they wouldn't show such awful things before family movies about whales.  But.  I couldn't stop thinking about it!  I even went to You Tube to watch the trailer a few more times just to figure  out what was hooking me in.

That's a page from my Project Life Album, of course I'll have to put the thumbnails of The Hunger Games in for this week!

And then, one day another lawyer at my office had a copy of The Hunger Games or Catching Fire in the lunch room and as soon as I saw it I said "Oh! Its that movie!  That horrible movie!"  Kelly is also a fan of happy and funny tending on the side of dorky - for example, we are both big fans of Sue Heck from The Middle; but Kelly quickly knew exactly what I was talking about and said "I didn't want to like it either! But is so good!"  She convinced me that I needed to read it and brought in The Hunger Games the next day; I think that was this past Tuesday and I read it in one sitting from 4 pm - 10 pm.  She then brought in the next two and I finished Catching Fire in about 6 hours too and I'm half way through the last one now, Mockingjay.  I haven't made a scrapbook page all week because I've been in full dystopia mode all week. 

If you'd like to support this blog (which is normally about scrapbooking) and check out the page turning dystopia novels, click on one of the links below:

Probably to counterbalance all the death and destruction of dystopia and District 12 and The Hunger Games, my daughter and I planted a flower garden and planted a bunch of vegetable seeds yesterday so here are some pictures of our garden:

The dystopia novels aren't all that horrible as I originally thought; they are a bit hopeful and do make you think and somehow I couldn't not read them.  I'll be in the line for the movie when it comes out next month.

Winter 2012 CHA Bella Blvd. Scraplifts

Last week, I posted that I'd have my CHA Bella Blvd. inspired scrapbook knock-offs up on Sunday {here's a link to that blog post}; we got back from a ski vacation and I've been busy getting back to my daily routine and haven't had a chance to blog until now.  So here are three pages inspired by the Winter 2012 CHA layouts from Bella Blvd.:

1. Button Heart Layout. 

Scraplift: I have tons of buttons but don't often use them on my scrapbook layouts so it was fun to have a purpose for some of these mismatched buttons. 

The Story:  Since many of the CHA layouts have only one photo, I picked a photo that was very meaningful even though it is not a perfect photo; it is the first photo taken of our whole family - it was taken in the garage - actually here in my home office / scrapbooking room since we had a little crib set up in here- on the day we brought Allison home from the hospital.  Allison is now 8 years old and I didn't do a lot of scrapbooking when she was a baby since I was very busy, so its fun to take out these old photos and scrap them now.

Supplies: I used some DCWV baby themed patterened paper, random buttons fastened to the page with adhesive dots; the red polka dot paper is from Echo Park's basics pack, and the letters were from a dollar bin at Target - they didn't stick particularly well so I machine stitched them to the page.

2. Paper Strips and Buttons Layout.

Scraplift:  I loved the design of this page since it uses a big square of patterened paper and lots of patterened strips to give the page a solid base and the diagonal random buttons were a fun addition but don't feel too random, the design of this layouts allows for a lot of stuff on the page, but also allows for photos and jouranling space.

The Story:  "The school photo process - what a detail ordeal - not only did they get the orders wrong both times, but we had to do re-takes of both kids - but both kids were picture perfect cuties."  The back story is that Mac's hair was so long in the first photo that we got him a hair-cut and had a retake done and Allison's photo pose was weird so that while the photo was cute, the amount of space her head took up in the photo was so small you could barely see her face.  So both had to get re-takes and both times the processor got everything wrong about the  photo packages - and there were about a zillion photo package options, it was seriously confusing and even though the pictures were done in October, we still don't have Mac's package straightened out so that's still on my to do list!

Supplies:  KI Memories patterned paper and Bazzill cardstock, random buttons and epoxy stickers and brads, Sassafrass adhesive border stips. 

3. Horizontal Thirds Layout.

Scraplift:  The original page used a dark blue patterened paper base with a tight design, I didn't have something that worked exactly so I used two different Echo Park papers and stitched them together with the middle strip.

The Story:  "CHA 2009:  As a scrapbooker, it was a total delight to take an entire week off work and go get totall immersed in the world of my hobby and to learn about the industry and all the players.  So total interesting to get an upclose peek into this subculture that I spend so many hours in."  In the photo are Tina Cockburn (Simple Scrapbooks & Write.Click.Scrapbook.); me; Angie Lucas (Simple Scrapbooks & Ella Publishing); Diva Danielle (she had a podcast which I'm not sure is still around or not); Lain Ehmann (Simple Scrapbooks & Layout A Day); & Tami Morrison (Funnest Ever Scrapbooker from Simple Scrapbooks & teacher at Big Picture Classes).

Supplies:  Echo Park patterened paper, QuicKutz die cut letters, sharpie marker, and random other odds and ends.

That's all for now and now that I'm back to my regularly scheduled blog programming, I'll have the rest of the seven Bella Blvd. inspired scrapbook layouts up one per day for the rest of the week.

Plus I'll have my Project Life Album pages up soon and the travel scrapbook I made during our recent ski trip; and I'll be participating in Ali Edward's Day in the Life tomorrow - which also happens to be my son's 10th birthday - but I'm under strict order that we are not to celebrate (not sure what to do about that command). 

Cheers.

 

Christmas & December Daily - In Progress Over the Years - Mini Books

This Basket contains Christmas scrapbooking mini books that are in progress - some of which I started in 1998! 

 

Still in my December Daily Frenzy:  I made a ustream video about the several Christmas Mini Books and December Daily type minibooks that I have started but not finished - and how I keep track of these in progress albums over the years and how one of my books is a 20 year project that I started in 1998.  If you don't finish mini books - do not fret!  It is ok to pick up where you left off last year - really - it is ok!  I like to scrapbook Christmas during Christmas and most of the time when I put the Christmas decorations away I am also ready to stop scrapbooking Christmas so I put away the pictures and supplies too; I show how my system allows me to go into full effect with the Christmas scrapbooking when I am in the mood to do it - Tis the Season; but when it's over, its over and it is nice to have a system of being able to put unfinished projects away without feeling at all guilty about not finishing because there is always next year.

These are my punches - which are probably about 10 years old - and which I still use almost every time I scrap - the smaller circle is a bit tweaky - but I still recommend these basic and very useful and versatile tools - I used these punches to cut the circle numbers, cut the notches and round the corners of these Christmas Mini Books.

If you don't have circle punches or corner rounders that you love, check these out - I have the Fiskars one in a scallop circle - so the regular circle is on my Christmas list.  I'm also linking some Chrismtas Paper Pads that are so useful in making the types of mini-books I love to make - I would love to buy more Christmas paper packs but I seriously have too many already, but if I needed some these are the ones I would get.  I also happen to think you can never have enough 8x8 albums so I'm linking a few of those in Christmas styles and the very same CHRISTMAS MEMORIES BOOK that I started in 1998 and it will go through 2018!  It is seriously awesome.

 

I couldn't find the exact 8x8 Chistmas Album that I have but if I were buying now, I might pick one of these (above); and that first red Christmas Memories Book by Lynn Anderson is the one I have, but the others look like they do the same type of thing and the Christmas Journal actually goes for 25 years!  That is so cool!

Stretch Your Sketches

Inspired by Ella Publishing's Stetch Your Sketches Series:

 

Ella Boot Camp! Brightening Eyes in PSE

Just under the wire {I think} to get this in for the Ella Publishing Boot Camp prize drawing:

 
Hello Blue Eyes!

Ella Boot Camp: Last Drill

 
This challenge was to use an ad as inspiration for a layout.  I don't think mine turned out nearly as clever as the BC ad, but I still like the overall effect. 

Ella Boot Camp: Guiding Principles Layout

 

This was a challenge by Angie Lucas based on a layout by Elizabeth Dillow.  I could make tons of these types of layouts.

 

Ella Boot Camp - Urban Action - Layout

 
Another Ella Publishing boot camp drill exercise:  To practice the urban action - and because my home printer is just about out of ink; for the urban action layout challenge I made a layout using a photo similar to the one I used for the urban action layout exercise - and then scanned it in and applied the urban action to it - the lower version is the urban action.

Ella Boot Camp: More PSE - Urban Action

 
I edited this photo in Picasa and also in PSE using Maggie Holmes's instructions for Urban Actions.  My photo taste-tester Allison said that she prefers the Urban Action photo.

Ella Boot Camp: 2 Color Stamped Title

 
I made this stamped title with two colors for the Ella Publishing Boot Camp "Fun With Word Stamps" drill.  I recently heard about the concept of a Project Lifetime scrapbook that would be someone's entire life in one book in chronological order; I also like (but rarely do) the concept of 12 on 12 where you take 12 pictures on the 12th of each month; this layout sort of goes along with those theories of doing a monthly wrap up in one layout.  I would like to go back and do more of these.  I think because of the way my photos are arranged and saved, this would be a good project for a digital photobook.  Maybe I'll get to work on that for a Christmas project, maybe.  P.S. the colors on this layout look much better in real life - I scanned this layout rather than taking a photo of it - and many times I think the photo is better than the scan for digitalizing layouts.

Ella Boot Camp: Designing With Grids

 
Some things never get old, like simple grids on scrapbooking layouts, which was another of the drills in Ella Publishing's Boot Camp.  I think this type of layout is great to be the title page for a themed album or just a place to collect a bunch of bits of this and that type of memorabilia from a trip.