Sent from my iPhone - please excuse any typos
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Sunday, July 24, 2011
The Scene
After midnight, sitting in my childhood home, organizing digital photos and scrapping. Wouldn't have been able to picture this at any point in my childhood. It feels good to be working on preserving memories. Wish I could get more done!
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
I've been busy scrapbooking!
Really and truly! I completed a mini book from Shutterfly for my daughter all about her 6th birthday. And on International Scrapbook Day (May 7) I completed about 10 traditional layouts and a few digital layouts. And I've enrolled in even more classes through Big Picture Classes included Power Scrapping for Digi Scrappers by Katie Nelson and Finding Photo Freedom by Stacy Julian. I'm very excited about both and it's great to have this type of creative flow back in my life.
So as I'm busy getting pages done, it takes an equal amount of work organizing what I want to scrap. I have over 20,000 photos and counting so every little bit of organizing, tagging and preserving these photos help. I use Creative Memories software and I've really enjoyed how user friendly it is. I have both Memory Manager and Story Book Creator (SBC). I've had books printed using SBC but I still need to print individual layouts to get a feel for how those compare. The ones I've seen are just like a 12x12 photo.
As I'm going through all these photos and sorting them into folders in the Memory Manager software, it's hard not to be engrossed in all the memories. Trips, lots and lots of trips, and then my precious kiddos so much younger than they are now. I find myself unconsciously smiling a lot, especially as I watch videos from their early days. I'm so glad I have these little moments captured either on video or in photo to remind me of how blessed I am.
At one year old and seven months ...
So as I'm busy getting pages done, it takes an equal amount of work organizing what I want to scrap. I have over 20,000 photos and counting so every little bit of organizing, tagging and preserving these photos help. I use Creative Memories software and I've really enjoyed how user friendly it is. I have both Memory Manager and Story Book Creator (SBC). I've had books printed using SBC but I still need to print individual layouts to get a feel for how those compare. The ones I've seen are just like a 12x12 photo.
As I'm going through all these photos and sorting them into folders in the Memory Manager software, it's hard not to be engrossed in all the memories. Trips, lots and lots of trips, and then my precious kiddos so much younger than they are now. I find myself unconsciously smiling a lot, especially as I watch videos from their early days. I'm so glad I have these little moments captured either on video or in photo to remind me of how blessed I am.
At one year old and seven months ...
and more recently as EMN read MTN a card at his 5th birthday (she's 6 now) ....
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Continuing Steps
I grabbed the first issue of Simple Scrapbooks and skimmed cover to cover to find a layouts I would want to scraplift. Amazing how things have changed in the last 10 or so years! There were a handful of layouts I found that I was inspired by but most I could flip on by. As I sit to scrap I may skim the articles more closely to see if I even want to keep the issue. I do love having all the issues (except one) but it is a lot of shelf space and if I'm not going to reference them or be inspired by them, it may be time to release them. At the end of my project the answer will be clear, I'm sure.
I've also been toting the book "The Big Picture" by Stacy Julian around with me. The first several pages seemed very familiar so I know I've flipped through those before. Now I'm in new territory and I am enjoying the new material. It's an older book so the layouts aren't something I just can't wait to copy but Stacy has a refreshing view on preserving memories that is timeless and that is why this is a must-have book for me.
So this is my accountability check-in with myself. I'm making progress and keeping this goal present in my mind. We took tons of bluebonnet photos this weekend and I'm uploading them to a photo site right now so I can print out a few test shots to put in frames for the kids. After that I"m going to review my journaling class prompts and write for awhile so I don't have guilt about being too far behind. Journaling is hard for me but 15 minutes at a time can't be too hard, right? I love the structure of the class and what I've learned so far so now I just have to dig deeper and really get going. So true for so many areas of my life. Just do it...
I've also been toting the book "The Big Picture" by Stacy Julian around with me. The first several pages seemed very familiar so I know I've flipped through those before. Now I'm in new territory and I am enjoying the new material. It's an older book so the layouts aren't something I just can't wait to copy but Stacy has a refreshing view on preserving memories that is timeless and that is why this is a must-have book for me.
So this is my accountability check-in with myself. I'm making progress and keeping this goal present in my mind. We took tons of bluebonnet photos this weekend and I'm uploading them to a photo site right now so I can print out a few test shots to put in frames for the kids. After that I"m going to review my journaling class prompts and write for awhile so I don't have guilt about being too far behind. Journaling is hard for me but 15 minutes at a time can't be too hard, right? I love the structure of the class and what I've learned so far so now I just have to dig deeper and really get going. So true for so many areas of my life. Just do it...
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
One New Step
One step I've taken towards being more productive with my scrapbooking is to sign up for classes with Big Picture Classes. There are lots of free self-paced projects and I signed up for several of those. I can do those at any time and will be in my account forever. Then there are the workshops that run for several weeks and have live chats and message boards. I signed up for a journaling class and also for a digital powerscrapping class. I'm looking forward to the new techniques I learn and refreshing my skills.
In addition to Big Picture Classes, there are several other sites that have classes and tutorials to increase your knowledge base. They include writeclickscrapbook.com, paperclipping.com (if you subscribe to the video tutorials), getitscrapped.com and I'm sure others. I do subscribe to Paperclipping and I love the tutorials. The others I can't speak about from experience but it sure is nice to have options!
Something I've been doing for awhile to keep my mind brewing on scrapbooking is listening to podcasts while endlessly driving all over town. Can't say the kids are super excited about it but I do throw in a few kid favorites now and then. My favorites are these three:
The Paperclipping Roundtable - Several real-life scrapbookers and industry insiders gather for a show on various scrapbooking topics led by Noell Hyman
The Paperclipping DigiShow - Similar to The Paperclipping Roundtable but focused on digital scrapbooking and led by Steph from The Daily Digi
ScrapHappy with Lain Ehmann - A short (15 minute) podcast on topics from product reviews, upcoming projects with Lain and inspirational chats.
Not sure if there are others out there - share with me if you know of others!! If the links don't work you should be able to find them in ITunes fairly easily.
In addition to Big Picture Classes, there are several other sites that have classes and tutorials to increase your knowledge base. They include writeclickscrapbook.com, paperclipping.com (if you subscribe to the video tutorials), getitscrapped.com and I'm sure others. I do subscribe to Paperclipping and I love the tutorials. The others I can't speak about from experience but it sure is nice to have options!
Something I've been doing for awhile to keep my mind brewing on scrapbooking is listening to podcasts while endlessly driving all over town. Can't say the kids are super excited about it but I do throw in a few kid favorites now and then. My favorites are these three:
The Paperclipping Roundtable - Several real-life scrapbookers and industry insiders gather for a show on various scrapbooking topics led by Noell Hyman
The Paperclipping DigiShow - Similar to The Paperclipping Roundtable but focused on digital scrapbooking and led by Steph from The Daily Digi
ScrapHappy with Lain Ehmann - A short (15 minute) podcast on topics from product reviews, upcoming projects with Lain and inspirational chats.
Not sure if there are others out there - share with me if you know of others!! If the links don't work you should be able to find them in ITunes fairly easily.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Accountability
Seems like a lot of folks have taken what they would have been posting on their blog to Facebook. That's going to work in my favor this time around because I'm not sure if a lot of people are even checking around here anymore. I've been challenging myself to do this project but with no accountability, not a lot gets done. If I post here (even if no one reads it) I feel like I can hold myself accountable a tad more publicly without making a huge leap.
I'm a lapsed scrapbooker. Sort of. I've done a few projects here and there and in my heart I've made the jump from paper to digital but I need the layouts to prove it. And to me that means I'm got to actually DO SOMETHING!! I'm going for quality and quantity. Not all layouts will fit in both categories (some photos/stories will be quick, some deserve more time). However, I really want to get to where I get the ball rolling so I don't feel like I'm stuck. I want to be able to have an album of layouts and stories done. I want to feel like I've got my creative process already going rather than hopelessly stalled.
Here is my plan. I love Simple Scrapbooks magazine (RIP) and have all issues except for 1. And now that the magazine has folded, I'd like to revisit the issues and scraplift my favorite bits to get my scrapbooking-engine restarted. I have plenty of photos and stories to work with and this should provide great motivation to complete pages rather than have them brewing in my head.
A true goal has to be definable and measurable. I don't have all that yet but it will come shortly. I plan to post it hear when I am able to quantify my success. Ready? Me too!
I'm a lapsed scrapbooker. Sort of. I've done a few projects here and there and in my heart I've made the jump from paper to digital but I need the layouts to prove it. And to me that means I'm got to actually DO SOMETHING!! I'm going for quality and quantity. Not all layouts will fit in both categories (some photos/stories will be quick, some deserve more time). However, I really want to get to where I get the ball rolling so I don't feel like I'm stuck. I want to be able to have an album of layouts and stories done. I want to feel like I've got my creative process already going rather than hopelessly stalled.
Here is my plan. I love Simple Scrapbooks magazine (RIP) and have all issues except for 1. And now that the magazine has folded, I'd like to revisit the issues and scraplift my favorite bits to get my scrapbooking-engine restarted. I have plenty of photos and stories to work with and this should provide great motivation to complete pages rather than have them brewing in my head.
A true goal has to be definable and measurable. I don't have all that yet but it will come shortly. I plan to post it hear when I am able to quantify my success. Ready? Me too!
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Go Pack Go!!
I married into a family that backs the Green and Gold in a huge way (well, except for Bompa's 49ers). Anyway, we're very excited about kickoff today! Here's hoping for an epic game and a win for the Packers. Go Pack Go!
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Happy New Year
From Happy Halloween to Happy New Year! Haven't been posting much because, well, real life has been keeping me busy! I find my time on the computer extremely limited as I dash from here to there, sit in more meetings than I realized volunteers would participate in, and have great fun watching my kids grow up. Participating in real life is fun! But I miss my computer world too. I've got lots of great friends and family "in here" that I don't get to connect with unless I blog or Facebook with them. I miss those connections even while I'm making new ones. It's a bit bittersweet but for me, perhaps a bit overdue. Moving from Arizona and the great friends and groups I had there was harder than I expected. Now I feel I've found my groove here and I'm on the go and meeting up with people just like I was there. Just know that all my friends, present and past, are so dear to me and I do think of you even if I'm not connecting through the computer like I used to be. I love you all and I thank you for what you've added to my life. Hugs to you!!
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