A Shout Out to the Engineers of Scrapbooking

Engineer (en- juh neer) : to arrange, manage, or carry through by skillful or artful contrivance

This weekend, I celebrated my son's graduation from high school.  Being a Pinterest-phile, I spent some time strolling the boards looking for decoration ideas.  It is sufficient to say that I got a little overwhelmed.  I mean, come on...there are cookies you can have made in the image of your graduate!  This was a challenge for sure.  

I decided that my love of pictures needed to come to the forefront of the occasion.  I was down on myself, as I have this notion that my son has taken second place to my career for quite some time.  Lots of mama (real or imagined) guilt has been placed in my mind.  Two Master's degrees.  Two National Board certification processes.  Four different schools in which I have taught.  Dealing with my depression, anxiety, OCD (undiagnosed), and workaholism.  This kid has lived through it all. 

When I started going through photos, I realized that, one way or another, I had a LOT of moments captured in the last 8 years that I have been a diehard scrapper.  I realized that a lot of my "work" for this party was already done.  I have a few engineers of scrapbooking to thank for this.  It's time they have their shout outs.

Cathy Zielske

This pin inspired me to use some of my ribbon and my photos as a gallery of sorts.  As I looked for photos and realized many were archived already, I decided to use Cathy's digital templates to create a stairway that was a journey through time.

Looks like a lot of work, eh?  What helped is that I had long ago purchased Cathy's School Album layered template set and had put in photos of my son a while ago, only needing to finish junior and senior year for the party.  I then printed these on cardstock (although you can keep it purely digital if you wanted), and then displayed them on ribbons (Stampin' Up!) going up my stairs.  

I also took a few classes of Cathy's through Big Picture Scrapbooking.  These have resulted in some of my favorite scrapbook pages ever.  I realized that instead of recreating the wheel, I needed to just use the scrapbooks as part of the decor for the party.

I placed a few scrapbooks opened here and there to some favorite pages about my son, and had various other scrapbooks available for guests to peruse if they wished.  Which brings me to the next few engineers of scrapbooking I feel deserve recognition.

Becky Higgins

Project Life changed my entire scrapbook flow.  Boom.  I was able to display a good amount of life that I did not spend that much time doing to get a nice-looking final product.  One of the main displays was this one, where I asked my kiddo to document a week in his life.  

Now, the Project Life app is becoming my favorite, easiest way of documenting life.  I have been a "Lifer" since the beginning of Becky's adventure, having been a fan of hers through Creating Keepsakes.  Her ideas in pocket scrapbooking have helped me get memories saved in a lot less time.  I still obsess, just not as acutely.

Ali Edwards

Story.  That is what is synonymous with Ali Edwards.  While it is important to take the pictures and enjoy the craft, it's not "done" without the words that tell the story.  Ali's designs have been instrumental in my recent scrapbooking adventures.  I have "borrowed" her layout ideas and made them my own.  This little gem documenting prom was a way to pull together all that weekend offered in a timeline form.

Stacy Julian

Oh, how I adored Simple Scrapbooks magazine.  And then, it was no more.  Along came a little site called Big Picture Scrapbooking, where I could take virtual classes with scrapbooking geniuses while I was in the comfort of my own home.  All from the mind of Stacy Julian.  She is simply brilliant.

Thus ends my ode to the Engineers of Scrapbooking.  I have other people who inspire me, but these ladies gave me the outlets to create awesome things in very little time.  I thank them for their innovation and willingness to take chances in an unstable industry.

{inter} National Scrapbooking Weekend

What a great {inter}National Scrapbooking Weekend it has been.  I participated in the fun at Big Picture Scrapbooking, where many a wonderful scrapbooker presented inspiring videos throughout the day.  BPS is trying to get 10,000 layouts uploaded to Instagram.  With my crafty busy-ness, I was able to get this one done and up.  You might recall this layout, which remains one of my all-time favorites.  Like, ever.  And not just because I have an inappropriate crush on Jon Bon Jovi.

I completed this for the Ali Edwards Hello Story class I was taking (well, I still AM taking it, technically) at Big Picture Scrapbooking.  For my recent layout, I (unintentionally) gave more space to the written area than to the photo area.  I used the same basic idea, though. Here are some closer shots at some areas that excite me:

Love these sparkly Dear Lizzy Thickers!

My own swirly cursive, inspired by Kristina Werner's work.

I also used a new Sharpie white pen today.  It worked fairly well.  I guess no matter what white I try to use on patterned paper, it will soak in and I will need to go over it more than once.

Because BPS wanted us to upload these publicly, I started a different Instagram account, as my personal one needs to remain private.  I am now jpkrafty if anyone wants to follow my crafty creations on Instagram.

More Life. Documented.

A few more pages from my scraptastic Thanksgiving break...Again with the iPhone at night.  Forgive the quality.

A wonderful week of new beginnings

 So excited that I got to incorporate Katie's invitation into my page about her wedding.  The Stampin' Up! patterned paper also coordinates with many of her colors for her big day.

This shows the flipside of the invitation flap.

I was itching to incorporate some of the chalkboard trend with this layout.

I love using iPhone screenshots to encapsulate what is going on in texts and personal electronic messages.

Not sure if this is too visible, but I included a piece of poetry encouraged by Ali Edwards' class through Big Picture Scrapbooking.  Oh my.  This was a great summation of my current work attitude.
Here is a closer look since the bigger version is a bit blurred.  Click on the image for a larger view.

I journaled a bit about how I needed to change.

Big week.  I walked away from a HUGE commitment because it was overpowering my life.  A good, but sad, decision.  I wrote on the chalkboard pages with the Stampin' Up chalk marker.  LOVE IT and its imperfections.

Pretty Crafty for the Saturday Before School Starts

I did a great deal of crafty goodness for today.  It started with a bout of insomnia getting me up at 4 AM.  That prompted the creation for Ali Edwards Hello Story challenge for this week: Six Word Stories. She also presented the technique of using words over pictures.  So, for this week's Project Life, this will be used.

Then, came some fun thank you cards after breakfast.

And wrapping up my evening, my buddy Kim came over and made this card, with my guidance.

Not a bad way to spend the day!

Project Life Week 17: Disney

I think Project Life in a Picture of the Day format forced me to archive our Disney trip far sooner than I would "normally" have done.  I use a variety of page protectors and picture sizes for the several pages of this layout.  Throughout most of the trip, I shared pictures via Instagram and Facebook.  I just love that little app!

I purchased some Disney digital cards from Etsy, but tried not to overuse them.  I also used a great deal of washi tape for journaling, as I wanted photos to take precedence this week.  Whenever I could, I used "artifacts" from the actual trip.

Loved using the 4 x 12 page protectors for Instagram shots.

How the 4 x 12s fit in to the overall layout.

 Also used some 8.5 x 11 page protectors.

Used the Ali Edwards Hello Story journaling cards with the boys and me.  Max drew a picture of a storm that included some VERY close lightning!

It was quite hard not to add some additional embellishments, but I wanted to stay pure to the pictures as much as I possibly could and not allow the other stuff to get in the way of the story they tell.  Took all pics (except Space Mountain...we bought the digital download of that) with my iPhone.  i took my Nikon, but did not use it.  Just too cumbersome.

Hello Story - Week 3

This week, Ali Edwards presents the theme of navigation or direction in our storytelling.  She stressed the use of arrows in design and reflecting on journeys and going from one point to the next.  My layout, a 12 x 12 double-page spread that jumps the gutter (!!), uses one of her sketch suggestions for the week.  Please click on each image for a larger view.  Sorry about the lighting.  I always seem to snap these at night!

The main photo is an Instagram-ed shot of my car that I took for another class--The Phone Photography Project.  That day, we were to do a close-up of something, and we happened to be leaving in my new car to drive to Florida.  Then, when I read this week's assignment for Hello Story, and toyed with photos to use, this one jumped out at me.  It enlarged really well.  I cropped it to 12 x 12 at 300 dpi first.  

So, I'm sort of loving this page, especially the "navigation" title that I cut with my Silhouette (worth every penny, that machine!).  I also love being able to put my washi tape to good use, as well as some chevron patterned paper AND some older SU! patterned paper of which I bought a ton for Christmas cards one year.  

How an Archivist Prepares to Travel

Tomorrow, we leave for a driving trip.  We will be in Florida for a bit, spending some wonderful time at Disney and with family.  It was unexpected, just recently planned, and, I must say, sorely needed.

It is also in the middle of a scrapbooking tsunami with me.  Can you believe my husband did not understand that I was upstairs printing these as part of my "packing?"

This week in Ali Edwards Hello, Story class, the story structure is using fill in the blank cards to get the journaling completed in a simple way.  So, I printed off several of these that Ali designed for Project Life, and I will have various family members fill them out throughout the trip.  My guess is Ignatius and I will probably fill out most of them.

Then, I remembered that Rebecca Cooper traveled with her family to Arizona from Canada.  She posted this cute card game that, of course, I thought would be fun for our 20 hour car ride (and might not cause the children to kill one another).

She offers this for free, as well as individual cards that I printed just to randomly find something to watch for.

I am also taking Ignatius' NY album (yeah, it's still not done), to determine where the pics need to go and do some planning for the layouts, etc.

So, that's how a crafter plans for a really, really long drive!

Hello Story - Timeline Story Structure

I began Ali Edwards' Hello Story class from (you guessed it) Big Picture Scrapbooking this week.  For the next 11 weeks, I am privileged to watch videos from one of my favorite creative minds in the industry...in the comfort of my own home.

Each week, Ali will focus on what she terms "story structures," or ways to tell the story that scrapbooking is about.  This week was focused on using a timeline to tell a story.  Ali presented several layout springboards, but we were not bound to them by any means.  My layout is inspired by a timeline she did of her own life.  I chose to do a timeline of Friday's happenings with some friends.

Ali provided the timeline .png file.  She also provided the "my life" file, which I cut with my Silhouette.  Let me express how IMPORTANT the paper was for this thin cut.  I tried Bazzill Orange Peel and it was not a good time.  I went back to Neenah Solar White cardstock.  I might not use anything else in that machine!  It was perfect!

As we went throughout our day on Friday, I noted on my iPhone what happened from the time I got up until the time I finally was back in bed.  When something came up, I just jotted it in my note.  Then I decided what the most important "story" part of the day was, and I created the time line events.

The biggest decision was to take the Nikon or not.  Scott insisted that I should not, as he feared it would be confiscated.  Hindsight: Heck ya, I should have taken it!  Thank goodness for my pal Lisa, as the concert pics were all taken off the "jumbotron" with her camera.  No, we were NOT that close to the stage!  Still, she got amazing pics.  It was hard to choose!  I took the pic of Taste of Chicago and the selfie of all of us in our seats with my iPhone.

I knew I needed to determine how to make this mesh with a timeline layout.  I created, at first, a 12 x 4 canvas in Photoshop, and quickly learned that would not work for the pics I chose.  I changed it to 12 x 8, so most of the pics are cropped at 4 x 4 with 300 dpi.  The top one could not be square... it was just too awesome of a shot of the enormous, car-themed stage surroundings with the silhouette of the band...gave me goosebumps!  I then layered Ali's provided blank timeline onto the side and printed on glossy paper.

I used a couple more ideas that were Ali-inspired: I adhered the image to a piece of patterned paper from Farm House Paper Company and then wrote each event with white gel pen. I used Stampin' Up! linen thread and SU! Hodgepodge Hardware brads for the event lines.  I literally just poked and threaded right through the paper.  I guesstimated (gasp!) where I wanted the events to go, trying to give more vertical space to things that took a while, but no real "measuring out."

I used my Silhouette to cut "my life," and used Dear Lizzy Thickers and AC Remarks Autumn alpha stickers for "it's."  Bon Jovi fans understand that is the name of a song of theirs, and it's one of my FAVORITE songs, so I thought that was perfect. 

You cannot see the date stamp, but I tried to use my Studio Calico rotary date stamp using the word "Epic."  Stamped it a few times with SU! white craft ink, but it just kind of faded, so I stamped the date by itself as well.  Almost looks like an intended part of the page.

I am pretty pleased, and this will be an addition to this week's Project Life.  On the "flipside," I will be adding some memorabilia from the event.

National Scrapbooking Day

With fervor I participated in the Creative Crop through Big Picture Scrapbooking.  If you have not signed up for your free membership, you are missing out!  There is a totally free Project Life Community on there!  Plus, the Creative Crop is a free day of challenges (with prizes) every year. They had chats throughout the day with some great designers.

So, one of the things I did that day was create a cool flap for one of my PL pages, thanks to a challenge by Aly Dosdall.

Because one pic for a visit to Chuck E Cheese is never enough.  I used tacky tape to secure a 3 x 4 flap cut from a PL page protector (an older one), and then secured it with some chevron tacky tape from Queen and Co.  A great way to add pics to a page without making a gigantic layout.

This next layout was to document a significant relationship in my life for which I am grateful.  The wonderful Stephanie Howell inspired us to come up with a simple story in a simple layout.

I could have chosen several, but I started with my elder son and me. Love that kid more than oxygen.  

This next page was a triple challenge whammy.  1. Stray from your "comfort zone" in some way (May Flaum inspired). 2. Incorporate arrows in your journaling (the fabulous Ali Edwards, of course). 3. Use the given sketch as a springboard (provided by the talented Donna Jannuzzi).

Patterned paper mixes with patterned paper: definitely out of my zone.  And journaling on patterned paper...yeah.  I stayed somewhat true to the sketch provided.  You will note the incorporation of arrows in a few spots.

We were asked to fill out an I Statement list by Stacy Julian. This was to get the creative juices flowing as to what stories need to be told.  Here is my list:

We were also challenged to create a summer "bucket list."  Here's my take on Tami Morrison's challenge:

We were given an option to use the Fuzel app, and I fell in love with that one by the amazing Angie Lucas.  We were also encouraged to use recent pics from our phones.  No prob!

Needless to say, I knocked off a great deal in a 48-hour period.  So grateful to all of the awesome designers who presented the challenges to us!

Portrait of the Non-Painter Branching Out

As I play catch up on my One Little Word album from 2012...or, I mean, as I continue my relationship with my word, strength, Ali suggested that we break out some painting and explore collage.  She made a very cool video of herself going through the process which, I must admit, made me less intimidated that when she first suggested the process.  Collage done well kind of escapes me.  I am sooooo linear.  Collage is soooo all over the place.  And Ali Edwards puts it together in a way that looks completely planned.  That is talent.

I am focusing on the color red as much as I can in this album, which again branches out from my "comfort palette."  I decided I would use a taupe color as the base of my "petite canvases."

I started with sponging some red over one of the cards and that became my focal piece for the page.  Then, I looked at stamps and embellishments that would tie in to the theme of "strength."  Here's what I came up with. (pardon the iPhone quick pics)

This canvas incorporates a few collage elements.  Ali used a variety of stamps, an area that I definitely can cover!  One of the things in my life that seems to put a dent in my armor of strength is death.  For whatever reasons, the death of significant people in my life has led to a constant battle with depression for me.  So, I knew one of the canvases had to have that as its theme.  

One of the canvases represents the idea of being strong in the face of public ridicule and judgment.  It focuses on the idea of measuring up, a type of reminder to me that measuring up to everyone's expectations is an unattainable goal. A strong person creates her own unit of measure and stands by that, regardless of the thoughts and opinions of others.  

No page is complete without some mention of seizing the day.  For this canvas, I used rub ons, stickers, stamps, and paint.  Some days, I feel too tired to even seize anything but my pillow.  Seizing the day means overcoming anything that might anchor me in another spot besides where I need to go.

Serenity has always been synonymous with strength to me.  True peace, true calmness, comes with the inner strength to block out the things that keep one from being serene.

Here is the tale of rub ons that made me want to scream.  The saying is perfect.  The rub ons...not so much.  They drove me crazy.  They would not adhere, and when they did, parts of the letters would break off.  Lots of elbow grease to get these on.  The center one from Stampin' Up! went on like buttah.  I think the saying speaks for itself as far as why it got such a prominent place on the page.

Love the symbol of a tree as far as strength is concerned!  Think of all a tree must endure.  Right now, it is in the single digits outside.  During the summer, it can reach up to 100 degrees.  A tree is out there, no matter what, and survives a great deal of changes.  The Bloom Where You're Planted rub on is a reminder that strength comes in accepting what is and making the best of each situation you are given.

I knew I wanted to get embossing in the page somewhere, as I love the texture, and I have several embossing folders that exude strength, like the one that made this pattern.  I see strength in calmness, so this card worked very well on the page.

I had to use a chevron pattern somewhere on the page, as it's a very strong, linear pattern.  I created a canvas about  friends to remind me of the importance of friends in holding me up when I need it.  That also is something that needs to be reciprocated, and I need to offer them strength when they need it.  I talk to my pals on the phone, and text them often, so I added the little red phone.

I believe that each mistake made in life is there to serve as putty to make a person stronger, not weaker.  Allowing myself to make mistakes is something I did not always do, and I still fight with that idea of things being less than perfect.  This canvas reminds me of the strength of continuing on and learning after mistakes.

Here is the final page (sorry for the cruddy lighting).  I think it's cool to look at as a unit to see how the page works and balances in the scrapbook.  Thanks, Ali Edwards, for pushing me a bit outside my comfort zone. I really loved the process of creating this and the thoughtfulness it required.