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Blogtoberfest Day 24

Tomorrow is my anniversary of blogging as The Constant Scrapper! So tonight I am preparing for tomorrow’s celebration. Please be sure to come back for my Blogtoberfest Anniversary Giveaway!

Blogtoberfest Day 23

Have you heard of History Pin? As a scrapbooker, I was very excited when I heard about it today on the radio, and I wanted to share it. It’s essentially a global scrapbook!

Not-for-profit We Are What We Do launched (with hundreds of partners, including Google) Historypin in July 2011 “to help people come together from across different generations, cultures and places, around the history of their families and neighbourhoods, improving personal relations and building stronger communities.” Through their web site and mobile apps (iPhone and Android), participants can “pin” photos, audio, video or text recollections to the Historypin map.

One of the project’s long-term goals is “to be the largest global archive of human history!” As a scrapbooker you’re already gathering your family’s stories and photos, so perhaps you’ll want to contribute to this new archive.

Blogtoberfest Day 21

According to Wikipedia, Oktoberfest is a 16–18 day beer festival held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, running from late September to the first weekend in October. It is one of the most famous events in Germany and is the world’s largest fair, with more than 5 million people attending every year. The Oktoberfest is an important part of Bavarian culture, having been held since 1810. Other cities across the world also hold Oktoberfest celebrations, modeled after the Munich event.

Well, I could not celebrate Blogtoberfest without beer, so Matt and I went out for happy hour today in honor of my blog readers! 🙂 And we had the most wonderful pumpkin beer!

I am like many of you who love the pumpkin-flavored offerings of fall—pumpkin lattes, pumpkin scones, pumpkin milkshakes, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin bread, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin soup. I may sound a little like Bubba from Forrest Gump, but I can’t get enough of the flavor of pumpkin!

As Matt and I sat enjoying the gourd-flavored fruits of the brewer’s labors, I noticed the logo on the glass. It’s design really appealed to me.

Then we started looking around the restaurant at their other beers’ logos, which they had displayed on the walls. They all followed this same style, but each had its own distinct focus/feel. I started imagining how I could incorporate some of this style into a layout or at least an embellishment for a layout (WHAT, doesn’t everyone do that while out for a beer?). And then it hit me that these logos might inspire others as well.

So here are just a few of the BJ’s beer logos that I liked. What can you see incorporating into a future layout or card? The shapes. The layering. The colors. The title treatments. I hope you have fun drawing inspiration from these, and happy Friday!

Fighting resistance

I’ve just begun to read a book that I had recommended by a group of bloggers. The War of Art by Steven Pressfield aims to help readers overcome resistance so they can become who they are meant to be and achieve “the unlived life within.”

Resistance follows us everywhere we go, doesn’t it? If we want to learn something new, resistance tells us we don’t have the time to learn it or the intelligence to master it. If we want to lose weight or start an exercise program, resistance tells us it will be too hard or we can start tomorrow. And on. And on.

Overcoming resistance for scrapbook bloggers is a two-step dance. We have to overcome our own resistance at pulling out our photos and supplies and creating a project. Then we have to scan or photograph the final project and write about it for our readers. We can successfully win over our resistance on step one and still be bitten by the second step!

So, what do we do about it? To kick resistance, Pressfield stresses loving what one does, having patience and acting in the face of fear.

I will be back to write more about the advice in this book once I’ve finished it. I just thought I would share a little info about it now for my scrappy/blogging friends who are struggling with overcoming their own resistance and might find it helpful.