A few Thank You Cards

I'm feeling bad that school has been out four weeks and I STILL haven't sent out thank you cards for all the lovely gifts I received at the end of the year.  All 31 cards are made and addressed, and now I just need to finish writing them!  For the cards, I used last years scrapbook special, Dotty For You papers with Hurray Bouquet (the flowers) and the May SOTM Pinwheel.  I also used a couple different thank you sets.  

For Always Club Layouts

These were the layouts we did for May's club.  The first two layouts are straight from the workshops on the Go.  

I wish I would have taken photos of the layouts one of my ladies did.  We substituted Pacifica (royal blue) and silver glitter paper for the colors to match her daughters prom dress--GORGEOUS!!  I love how versatile these papers are.  I'm looking forward to stocking up and using lots of this paper to scrapbook my brother's wedding next year!  Their colors are gray and yellow with a pop of red.  These will be perfect. 

A few Father's Day Cards

I used retired papers for these cards.  THe first two use Cruisin' papers and Stickease.  This kit is perfect for these cards for my grandpas.  I love the colors and accents.  

This last one uses Superhero papers.  I made two more with these papers, but didn't take photos. 

Later Sk8r Cards

Here's a few cards using Later Sk8r papers and stamps.  Having two boys, I always need boy cards, so these are perfect!  I love the colors and papers in this pack.  If you love them, make sure you get them before August 1st.  This set is not carrying over into the next catalog. 

Claire Layouts

These were our club layouts from way back in March.  The Claire papers are fun, but I'm still waiting to find the perfect photos for two of the layouts.  

I tried to make this one less girly by using the orange.  Many of my club members used pink instead.

Claire Cards

I designed this set of cards around the Claire Complements Canvas Shapes.  I love these stickers so much that I ended up buying several sets just for cards.  I used too many different stamp sets to name, but if you see something and want to know where it came from, I'll be happy to help.  

My (Long) Response to an Article About the Future of Scrapbooking

A friend posted about this article on Facebook today.  I started to repost there, but felt like I needed a longer response, so here goes.  You can find the article here on the Scrapbook Update website, www.scrapbookupdate.com


The article discusses the decline of the scrapbooking industry due to digital cameras and social media.  People are taking more photos, but sharing them instantly, not scrapbooking them.  SHe also commented that she still scrapbooks because how will her kids know which of the 4,000 photos taken a year were important.  What were the stories behind the photos?  She also mentions Ali Edwards' approach to storytelling and Becky Higgins' Project Life, two people and methods I have integrated into my scrapbooking in recent years.  

I believe the stories behind the photos are what I want to preserve.  I've definitely evolved as a scrapbooker over the years.  I no longer feel like every photo has to be scrapbooked.  When I first started scrapbooking, I felt pushed to scrap every photo and I was always "behind" in my scrapbooking.  I didn't always tell the stories, either.  I have lots of layouts with just a title and maybe a date.     Then with digital cameras, I was taking way too many photos and there is no way I could scrapbook all them.  I would stress myself out and do 10 pages of one event or try to fit 20 photos on a page.  There wasn't much sustenance there.  I wish I had taken the time in my wedding scrapbook to document conversations and feelings instead of cutting photos into silly shapes.  I wish I would have included the birth story for each of my boys, not the gory details, but the memories and feelings, instead of just the basic information.

My scrapbooking now is a hybrid of lots of ways of thinking about it.  I still hold monthly scrapbook workshops that are paper based, traditional, scrapbooking.  I scrapbook those photos which are a) important to me, b) I have a handful of photos from, or c) photos I have that match the monthly papers (I'm being honest here).  These pages represent the more artistic, creative side of me.  I admit it, cutting paper and creating something tangible makes me happy.  I will NEVER give up the actual papercrafting side of scrapbooking.  It's just too much fun!  I don't, however, have time to scrapbook everything that way.

 I also digital scrapbook on Studio J.  I love that format because they match my regular layouts, and I don't notice the difference in my albums.  I also am starting to use Studio J for events I have lots of photos of.  I can upload all of them and separate them onto the pages as I go.  A few months ago,  I scrapped 400 photos of our trip to Alaska into one beautiful album.  I did it in a couple of weeks.  Traditional scrapbooking would have taken me months  or I never would have gotten around to it.  I still have all of our photos from our Washington DC/Pennsylvania trip we took our years ago not scrapbooked.  I also have a Project Life album that documents more of our daily lives and those  events where there are only a few photos.

I started out with Project Life really well.  The first year I did it, I kept up on it and it was great.  My current one I started last summer and dropped off at the end of last summer.  I'm now trying to go back and document the last ten months.  It's fast, but would have been easier as the year progressed.  The stories would have been easier to tell.  I think for the next little while at least, I want to focus even more on the stories. I am a writer at heart, but I don't always tell the full stories in my scrapbooks.  I want to challenge myself to create more photo less pages or one photo pages with the full story.

No matter how I put them together, I truly feel scrapbooking and telling our stories is so important.  Even more so in this digital age.  I can't imagine my kids and grandkids ever sorting through the thousands of photos on my hard drives and figuring out who people were and what was happening, and why great grandma took 300 photos of one day at Disneyland.  I get a huge satisfaction not only from the process of creating pages and completing albums, but also from the finished product.  I love when my kids sit there looking through albums and giggling at the stories and photos.  They will sit therewith separate   albums and constantly interrupt each other to share and laugh and tell their own memories.  I love it!  They don't get on the computer and do the same thing.  There's just something about those big books!

For another great article on the scrapbooking industry, check this one out.  It's from Close To My Heart CEO Jeanette Lynton. It looks at the industry from a retail point of view.  I admire Jeanette, and this reenforces my reasons for being a CTMH consultant.  

Chantilly Cards

A few Chantilly cards to enjoy.  I used the papers and Chantilly Complements Dimensional Elements, as well as various stamp sets.  

The fist card in this design is from the Chantilly card kit.  I changed up the colors for the second one.  I love the cake stamp that came with this kit!!

Later Sk8r Pages

I can't believe how behind I am on posting club projects.  These were our club pages from April.  I love the Later Sk8r pack.  It's so perfect for boy layouts.  I'm sorry about the poor photos.  I really need to get better at taking pictures on my phone.  I'm going to try to post past club projects every day this week.

Layout One--Summer Fun

Layout #2 Bruneau Sand Dunes

Layout #3 A day at the park

A Couple For Always Cards

What's this?  A new post?  It can't be!  Well, it's officially summer break, so there is a chance I'll be posting more regularly, at least for the next few weeks.  I have lots of projects to share, but it will take m e some time to get them all photographed to post.  I happened to have these two on my phone, so I thought I'd share.

The first one I made for my future sister-in-law for her birthday.  I just love the black and white with a splash of color, and of course, I had to add some bling.  I'm sure this card was inspired by someone, but I can't find anything similar in any of my files on the computer or Pinterest, so I can't give credit.

**edit--I found the inspiration for this card here on the annieworks blog.  

This card was for my mom for Mother's Day.  She wants to re-do her office in a Paris theme, so we got her all Paris items to use for decorating.  I just had to make a card to match.  I used the Eiffel Tower from stamp set that came with the Le Bella Vie kit in the last catalog.

I also had to share this.  I made this cake for my brother and his fiancé for their housewarming.  It was my first attempt at anything of this type.  I've seen the diaper cakes, and then came across some kitchen ones on Pinterest.  The bottom is a tin of cookie cutters, and the top is a glass measuring/mixing bowl.