Paperclipping: The Video Podcast | Design Your Story

Defining Me: I Am Creative

Originally uploaded by Noell.

I designed this layout as a challenge from the scrapbooking professional and life artist, Ali Edwards.

The challenge from the Ali’s newsletter: Put together a layout titled “I am creative” and talk about how you feel about your level of creative confidence.

I changed the title of my layout a bit because instead of focusing on my current level of creativity (I’ve been taking more risks lately and enjoying it), I focused on the first time it ever occurred to me that I might be creative.

The journaling on the layout reads:

I never associated creativity to myself growing up. I should have. My entire childhood through college involved me creating: I wrote stories, I choreographed dance pieces, I had lots and lots of ideas about life. But I wasn’t crafty and I didn’t think I was artistic.

In college I volunteered at a battered women’s shelter with a friend. We played with the children and on a particular day we were “creating” with play dough. I made the same kind of stuff I always did, like that flower my mother taught me to draw when I was four. I’ve doodled that flower on my notebooks for years.

My friend, on the other hand, was making things like snakes; stuff I never think of. I wondered where he came up with his ideas and wished I could be like that. Then came my defining moment.

As we left the shelter he said to me, “It always amazes me how creative you are! You thought of the most unusual things to do with play dough today.”

I don’t remember ever being aware of someone thinking I was creative before. He shocked me. But that’s when it occurred to me: My ideas may not be new to me but they are new to other people.

After that conversation I jumped on the creative train and have been riding it ever since. I now take risks when I’m not sure if something will work. I try new things and often surprise myself!

Like the products in this layout? They are:

Cardstock: Bazzill
Patterned Paper: Creative Imaginations, Basic Grey
Alpha Stickers: S.E.I.
Rub-on’s: My Minds Eye, American Crafts
Acrylic Paint: Grumbacher
Pens: Creative Memories
Font: American Typewriter, Handwriting, Lucida Sans

Pumpkin seeds

Originally uploaded by Blue Lotus.

I just ate a handful of roasted pumpkin seeds. I can’t decide if I like them or not, and I am only admitting that here, to you, for the very first time. The idea of pumpkin seeds always seems to be better than their reality.

I can’t be the only one privately thinking that, though. My kids waited since Monday for me to roast the seeds and I finally did it today. They hovered around the white oval Ikea dish that I poured the finished seeds into. And then, within a minute, the kids were gone and I never heard a word about the seeds. The dish sat lonely on the table for the rest of the night. You could hardly tell they’d been touched.

But I’ll roast seeds again next year, and the next after that. Like me, the kids will forget the disappointment with each new year. Until they are thirty-three years old with their own blogs and random people to talk to…in stream of consciousness…

For those of you waiting for more video podcasts, we still have at least a week before the camera comes back. Some topics we’ll film next are:

My Jumping Off Process–certain essential steps I take for each layout and how those steps help me develop a design.

How to mix-and-match patterns–especially patterns from different company lines and why this provides your layouts with a unique look.

Varying the sizes of your prints–lots of multi-photo layouts in this one, which is what a majority of my scrapbook pages are anyway.

Can’t wait to get filming again!

Halloween ’06

Originally uploaded by Noell.

Here they are. My little actors and actress. A gypsy, a demon-brute, and a froggy. So much fun.

The question:

I loved the podcast … I think these tips are amazing! I apologise for asking the stupid questions (those are always my favourites :) but how do you use your scrapbooks? Are they like a diary or created to remember special events?

We used to keep scrapbooks when we were very young and went on holiday (for some reason, always keeping McDonald’s place-mats from around Europe!) but those scrapbook books were big and bulky. These days, I have a box I throw all my memory reminders into (concert/cinema tickets, programmes, etc.) and have not, to this point, thought of making a scrapbook out of them. So my second question is what are your scrapbooks actually made of? Are there scrapbooks you can buy off the shelves in the U.S. (in the U.K. there are photo albums, but not scrapbooks) or do you make them yourself?

Thanks for doing to podcast, I look forward to learning a new skill that will give me a better way to record memories than bits in a box :)

Best wishes (and I hope you feel better soon), JD.

I am thrilled to hear you’re ready to start on this amazing hobby–art–personal history–or whatever else it means to each of us. The mental picture I have of your box of “memory reminders” is inspiring! How fun would that be to take photos of each of the McDonald’s placemats, print them up in wallet size, and make a layout featuring that cute family tradition!

But let me get to the questions. How do I use my scrapbooks? Like a diary, or to remember special events?

This is completely a personal choice. You get to decide what you want yours to be for. For me, scrapbooking has become a hybrid of the two. I scrap our family events. All of them. I scrap the day-to-day things we do. I write down all the funny (or profound) things my kids say and work those stories into my scrapbooks. I even scrap my thoughts.

When I do layouts on thoughts or stories, I usually try to find a photo that will support the story. It may even be a photo from an event I’ve already scrapped, but not every layout needs a photo at all.

As for the products, I do not recommend using the regular photo albums. There are plenty of archival quality albums and materials to use and they are available in the U.K. You need to find something that is acid-free/lignen-free for the long-term preservation of your photos.

Some people use three-ring binders with plastic page protectors and create their layouts with acid-free/lignen-free cardstock. Others use post-bound albums, also with page protectors and cardstock.

I use strap-hinge albums created by Creative Memories. They may be slightly less trendy right now because the album already contains odd-sized pages and you create your layouts right in the album (it’s a little irritating to cut layouts down to fit the album pages). But in terms of sturdiness and long-term reliability, they have the best reputation. The pages are also buffered, which means that if you put something in the album that is acidic (ie. memorabilia), the buffered pages keep the acid from spreading.

Here is a website for beginning basics on what types of products to use that are safe (in terms of adhesive, paper, plastic page protectors). It also gives a little more detail about various types of albums that are safe.

I put a call out to scrapbookers in the U.K. on my favorite scrapbooking forum, 2 peas in a bucket, and asked about product availability there. Here were the recommendations:

Google: “scrapbook stores, UK”

Hobbycraft-store, plus some major chains like WHSmiths, carry scrapbooking albums, papers, cardstock etc. Also, look for stamp/paper craft stores.

A lot of UK Scrappers hang out at this forum:
http://ukscrappers.co.uk/ Two different people said this is a great place to start and it looked really good to me.

Go to www.scrapdirectory.co.uk for a list of retailers by region, plus a lot of other stuff. It looks like a great site as well.

Creative Memories sales consultants are in the U.K. and you can get into contact with someone through their website.

According to those I spoke with, scrapbooking is still small in the U.K. but product is definitely available. The main thing to look for are the labels, “acid-free” and “lignen-free.” With plastics, avoid PVC products and acetate. Polypropelene is the best, although polyester is fine. If you are able to find a scrapbook store, you can feel more confident that their products are good to go!

Please, let us know how it goes as you get started! I’d love to hear what the rest of you are working on! Leave a comment and let us know.