The Constant Scrapper

If I'm not scrapbooking I'm thinking about scrapbooking!

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Vintage Christmas layout

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Ho Ho Ho layout

A vintage Christmas layout of my dear dad in Santa garb in 1976

Vintage photos are such a joy to scrapbook. They evoke strong memories and give us an opportunity to tell stories that might otherwise be lost in time. They hold the key to who we were and who we become. They preserve forever the favorite fashions and activities of days gone by.

I used to be a bit afraid of doing layouts with my vintage photos. Of course I scan them in and save the originals, so there wasn’t fear of damaging precious photos. But I was concerned about doing them justice. They seemed more important to “do well” than the everyday photos of our lives right now. But then I gave it a try and scrapped a vintage photo from my husband’s family (I know, I took the safe route by trying it with a memory not as close to my heart). But I loved working with the combination of old photos and new products. So I tried some more. I now find myself turning to older photos quite often when I have time to scrap. It really makes me happy to have completed another vintage layout (about my husband’s family or my own).

So this post is meant to be a nudge to those of you who have bins, boxes and albums full of old family photos that you’re nervous to start scrapping. Just give it a try. Pick one photo or set of photos of an event from your past that was fun but not a pivotal, life-changing moment. Keep it light. Scan the originals and either color correct them before printing or don’t. I personally like to get rid of scratches and pump up the color a bit, but I know other scrapbookers who prefer to leave them aged looking. I think any way you use a vintage photo looks great!

And my advice is don’t feel that you have to use only products that look vintage-y or heritage-y. Use products that are bright and fun and relevant to your story and that you love.

In case it’s too difficult to read the journaling on my layout above, here it is:

This photo is so precious to me. As was our custom, we were in Beaver Falls visiting Daddy’s side of the family on the day after Christmas. We were at Aunt Doo Doo and Uncle Ron Schollaert’s house, and everyone was probably there: the Duffys, Aunt Rose Weber, the DeAngelises and many more.

I clearly remember that pine cone wreath and trio of singing nuns. I can even remember wearing that plaid shirt, corduroy pants and scratchy wool sweater.

Someone had brought the Santa costume, and Daddy agreed to put it on to humor us. Thank goodness someone also snapped this Polaroid photo so we can always remember our Santa Daddy.

Two tips for Silhouette users

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I don’t tell people what I want for Christmas. It’s just not my thing…well, not since I was little and would spend hours spread out on the living room floor with the JC Penney catalog in front of me, carefully noting the page numbers and details about the items I hoped Santa would bring. It didn’t take me many years to realize, though, that I much prefer to be genuinely surprised when I open my gifts. I love the anticipation. I love to slowly, painstakingly unwrap the item that my loved one brainstormed, purchased or made and wrapped. It all takes thought, and I really appreciate that thought and love the feeling of it.

So, because I don’t create wish lists for my peeps, I don’t believe I can expect them to know the deepest desires of my heart (materially speaking). I mean, how could they? All I expect is that they will give me something that they believe I’ll like based on what they know of me. Is it so far fetched to believe that sometimes our deepest desires might intersect with what our family knows about us? Do you believe? I still believe.

In 2008 Matt was my Scrap Santa! I have one of the original QuicKutz Silhouette machines because my loving husband figured me out. I remember being so surprised when I opened that package that I started to cry. How in the world did he know how much I had been longing for one?

Well, I love my Silhouette…most of the time. But there are definitely ways that my experience in using it could be improved. I mean, how many of you Silhouette users who upgraded to the new Studio software really like the improvements to the interface but find that it crashes about every other time you use it? And every time I buy a new design or two using my subscription I have to go back in and re-download it. Oh well, those are just technical snafus; I still love using the machine and am amazed at what I can make with it.

So, I recently came across a few ideas for making your Silhouette crafting even better, and I think it’s only fair to pass them along to you, gentle reader:

  • Cardstock that is a bit “creamier” in texture is said to cut better. In fact, I’ve heard from several sources that American Crafts cardstock is awesome to cut with the Silhouette.
  • Once you’ve chosen your design and sized it the way you want it, mirror horizontally so that it is in reverse. Then flip your paper over so that it’s face down when you put it on your carrier sheet. This way once you’ve cut the design you can just apply your adhesive to the die cuts while they’re still on the sticky mat. Then just lift once and adhere to your page.

I hope these few tips are useful to your scrapping life. Every little tip helps, right?

It’s not too late to make a Christmas planner

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I love Christmas. In fact, my family calls me “the Christmas girl” and “Cindy Lou Who” during this time of year. One of the myriad things I love about the Christmas season is that it gives me an excuse to make gifts for the ones I love.

A few years ago I decided I wanted to make a Christmas planner for my mom as a little Thanksgiving gift. So I searched online for examples and found tons, of course. But then I found one particular resource that’s right on the mark: christmasplanner.com gathers tutorials from all over the web for making Christmas planners of all varieties! Nice.

I chose one of the examples, followed the tutorial, and this is what I came up with for Mom:

Christmas planner, inside view

My Christmas planner, inside view

Christmas planner outside view

My Christmas planner, front view

If you’ve been wanting to make a planner but think it will take too much of your precious Christmas crafting time, just take a few minutes to look at this site before you decide. The examples/tutorials range from very simple to really involved. So, you can choose how much time to devote to your project. I chose to follow a tutorial that was on the simple side, and I really enjoyed making it. Plus it gave me a nice opportunity to use some of my Christmasy supplies and then give away the final result! Happy crafting!

For whom do you scrapbook?

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For whom do you scrapbook? Of course, any answer you give here is the appropriate one. We all scrap for our own reasons:

  • For my kids: So they will be reminded of the details of their childhood and never question that they were loved.
  • For myself: So that I won’t forget what’s important in my life.
  • For myself: So that when I’m older I’ll remember the details of my own life.
  • For my descendants: So that future generations will know about how we lived our lives.
  • For myself: To give expression to my inner world.
  • For myself: Because I love to create.
  • For my family: To celebrate the high points/milestones of my family’s life.
  • For myself: To express my spirituality and give thanks to God.
  • For my mental health: To journal about life’s struggles.
  • For myself: To get to play with pretty paper and embellishments.
  • For myself: It’s a way of being with my friends, who all scrap together.
  • For myself: It’s me time.
  • For myself: I love hobbies. Period.
  • For myself: I love being part of the online community of scrapbookers.
  • For myself: So that I can exercise my competitive side and enter challenges.
  • For my family: My mom/sister/aunt/babysitter got me into it, and I’ve just always done it.
  • For myself: I love to tell family stories. Or any stories.
  • For myself: It completes me.

And of course, the list could go on and on. It’s all quite individual.

As you can see from the list I generated above, I think most of it boils down to the fact that we do it for ourselves. It fuels our creative souls. It gives us a reason to get together with friends who share the hobby. It makes us feel good about the stories we can pass along to our children. It gives us a reason to shop without having to try on clothes that make us feel bad about ourselves ;-).

A few years ago I was home visiting my family in North Carolina, and I badgered my mother until she caved in and let me take down the heritage family photos hanging on her wall to scan for scrapping. I love scrapping old photos of the family. But it took some real wheedling, cajoling and outright harping on my mother to convince her that disturbing her carefully crafted arrangement of framed photos was worthwhile. During our “conversation” about why I wanted to do this and why it was important to preserve these photos digitally and then tell their stories, my mom asked me the big question. “Why do you even scrapbook since you don’t have children to pass them down to?” (Between you and me, I think she’s a tad bothered that she doesn’t have grandchildren yet, and she loves a chance to get in a little reminder.)

Oh no she dinnit!

But good came from her question that at first had shocked me. I love how our brains work in these situations because I had never put into words why I loved to scrapbook, but I was able to immediately form a response for Mom that went something a little like this. “People without children have just as much reason to scrap as parents. They have histories and presents that have meaning for them and are worth preserving…if only for them. But I also get immense satisfaction out of the creative process involved. And someday, if I have children, they’ll have my scrapbooks to help them learn about their great grandparents’, grandparents’ and parents’ lives before they existed.”

So there! Not really, but it did feel good to have the answer for her question. It had been in my subconscious all along, I guess, just waiting for the challenge. The bottom line is that I scrapbook for myself.

Well, I honestly don’t know if my response convinced Mom or if she just capitulated to shut me up. But I answered a question that was important to me and got to scan those heritage photos on her wall. Score!

I’m curious, how many of you have one big reason for scrapping? Have you articulated it for yourself? Have you ever had to defend your reasons to a “scuggle” (non-scrapbook folk) (that’s for my fellow Harry Potter fans)? For me, having to justify it to someone else made me see why I do it and how much it adds to my life. Thanks Mom.

Note: This post of mine came about because I just read a great post at Scrapbook Obsession about the very topic, and it got me thinking about my perspective on it. I realize that the date on this post is one day off; I’m working with my provider to figure out what’s going on with the server.

Scrapbook advice written on the back of a business card

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I recently heard about a book concept that struck me as applicable to scrapbooking (Though really, what isn’t? Am I right?). The book is Advice Written on the Back of a Business Card: Leaders share their most valued words of guidance by Roger Dean Smith.

Mr. Smith’s idea was to ask hundreds of successful business people in various industries this question:

Imagine that you are about to give your business card to a young person entering your profession. But first, you turn that card over and write a short piece of advice to help them get started in their career. What would you write on the back of your own business card to help them?

Do you see where I’m going with this? I think we as a scrapbooking community are full of lessons learned—about photography, telling stories, buying products, combining colors well, etc.—and the advice that comes from learning those lessons.

And we’re certainly a generous bunch. I mean how many hobbies do you know that like to give as much as us? After all, I don’t hear anything about the American Hunters and Shooters Association pulling their resources to help sick children feel loved by sending them fresh venison (à la Jennifer McGuire’s Cards for Kids drive). Or about members of the Dumpster Divers’ Association who donate the antiques and CDs they find to the homeless (like all the scrappy groups that collect and donate supplies to homes for the elderly or women’s shelters). But then, maybe they do and I missed hearing about it. Nonetheless, people in our hobby love to share not only what they have or what they make with their supplies…but also what they know.

So, I would like to urge you to take out your virtual business card, flip it over and jot down a short but vital piece of advice to the new scrapbooker. In other words:

Imagine that you are about to give your business card to a person just starting to scrapbook. But first, you turn that card over and write a short piece of advice to help them get started in their hobby. What would you write on the back of your own business card to help them?

And by business card I mean the comments at the end of this blog post. Please take a moment to participate. I would love to compile all your hard-won wisdom and make it available to those just getting started (or who feel stuck and uncreative, for that matter). Thanks so much for sharing.

Here’s my business card’s worth:
Just start putting pictures, stories and paper together, and don’t feel that you have to know a lot about design concepts before you begin. Seek to learn the theories behind good design as you go. And don’t feel at all guilty about scraplifting; it’s a great way to learn and to explore different styles.