2008 April | Paperclipping

Archive for April, 2008

Challenge Yourself For National Scrapbook Day

Wednesday, April 30th, 2008

New to Paperclipping? A few things you should know: This is a great place to learn all scrapbooking techniques (I've posted more than 100 video tutorials). Several are free downloads, and I consistently release new tutorials every month. Others are members-only, available when you become a member. Finally, I recommend you subscribe to my RSS feed, or the newsletter (the form is in the sidebar) to make sure you get new videos as they're released. Thanks for visiting!

Below are seven different challenges for National Scrapbook Day. You do not have to do all of them. I wanted to offer a variety of options so you can choose the ones that best suit you. The more you do, the better your chances of winning. You may repeat the same challenge.

You do not have to be present at the live event to participate in the challenges. I will give out some prizes during the live event to those who are present in the chat. I will award other prizes on the blog on Sunday based on the challenges below.

For each layout or project you upload to flickr, which you must base on one of the following challenges, you will be entered in a drawing for prizes. You have until the end of Saturday to upload your layouts. In the description, please tell us which challenge you used. I will choose randomly from these layouts for the final drawings.

Please do not enter layouts you completed before reading this entry. It’s okay to finish a layout or project you already started as long as you implement one of these challenges.

Challenges:

1. Create a layout or other project using a principle from any one of the Paperclipping Video Tutorials (links are at the right). Upload your layout to flickr. In the description, please share which video you used and how.

2. Recycle an item from your life by incorporating it into the design of your layout. Upload your layout to flickr and tell us what the item is in your description.

3. Begin a mini-book. Choose the photos and a theme. Gather papers, then embellishments, that reflect the theme. Put it all in a pile and photograph it. Upload your photo to flickr and in the description tell us how the products reflect the theme of the mini-book you will be putting together.

4. Words aren’t the only way to tell a story. Make a layout that uses something visual to help tell your story on a layout. Upload your layout to flickr and share with us what visual element you used on your page to communicate an idea or emotion.

5. Use your wonderful scraps. Make a layout that uses at least 3 different scraps of patterned paper. Upload the layout to flickr.

6. Design a layout in this order:
a. Choose the photos.
b. Write journaling on some scrap paper or make notes of the emotion or tone.
c. If you have more than one photo, choose a focal point photo (unless it’s a collage where all photos are equal).
d. Decide approximate photo placement. (Don’t freak out here…you’re free to change your mind at any time).
e. Based on where you think you’ll place your photo, choose paper size and pick your background paper.
f. Choose other papers with colors and/or patterns that remind you of the tone of your layout’s story.
g. Design your layout with the photos, papers, journaling, title. Tape everything down.
h. Add your embellishments last.

7. Design a layout where you cluster at least three embellishments around a title, a photo, or a line.

I will come back tomorrow with a link to the new Paperclipping Flickr Group. You can see the schedule for the three different live events here.

Posted in Altered Projects, Art, Craft, Creativity, Design, Holidays, Journaling, Live Show, Live Streaming, Minibooks, Scrapbook-Layout, Scrapbooking, color | Comments

Paperclipping 41 – Everything Is Fixable

Monday, April 28th, 2008

Paperclipping 41 - Everything is Fixable

See what I did to fix the cover of the altered board book I worked on during Paperclipping Live.

Posted in Altered Projects, Books, Creativity, Design, Lesson, Minibooks, Podcast, Scrapbooking, Tutorial, Vidcast, Video Podcast, Vlog, Vodcast, color | Comments

Night Photography For Teenage-Level Antics

Sunday, April 27th, 2008

Remember your teenage days when you ran wild through the streets, spastic and enjoying life? If only we had DSLR’s back then, we’d have some hysterical pictures.

I may not be a teen anymore, but I have an SLR and a bit of energy to go with it. Both of these went to good use last Saturday when a couple of friends, Dedra Long, Lain Ehmann (editor of Simple Scrapbooks and host of the podcast, ScrapHappy), and I spent the evening in downtown Mesa.

Fortunately I knew a few things about night photography. I’m definitely not an expert (so any advice from one will trump my own) but I do okay. Here are a few tips for your next outdoor night adventure with your camera.

Light Source

Unless you have a separate professional flash (not the one attached your camera), night photos of people are inherently imperfect. It’s a matter of deciding which type of imperfection you are most willing to accept, and that will all depend on how you’ll get your light.

There are three ways to give your camera enough light without using the flash.

1) Open the aperture all the way by lowering the f-stop to its lowest setting. The drawback is that this effects your depth of field and if you’re shooting more than on person, you’ll have one person in focus and the rest will be hazy faded background.

Because our photos were featuring three faces,plus at least one statue face, a low f-stop wasn’t an option for me. I set my f-stop for the lowest I felt I could reasonably do. The photos above were set at a 5, which is quite low for the number of subjects. Note how the second on is especially blurry.

The photo below was at an 8.

2) Another way to get more light is to lower the ISO. But the lower the ISO, the grainier the photo. Some will choose to lower the ISO all the way to 1600, allowing for the grain in order to decrease focus problems and action blurs. Below is a photo my husband took a while back. This gritty grain lends its own style and I actually like it for this “night out with friends” photo.

I decided to set the ISO for 800 while with Dedra and Lain, which allowed me to capture the colors and details of our downtown area.

3) The last way to get light is by lowering the shutter speed and this is where I chose to compromise. I used an extremely low shutter speed, which means that the shutter is open for a longer amount of time while the camera is taking pictures. It will capture any movement that happens while the shutter is open, sometimes resulting in smeared heads and trailing arms:

Whichever light option you choose, you’re compromising somewhere. If you choose to compromise on the shutter speed, ask your subjects to hold as still as possible. But remember, humans aren’t statues. We just can’t hold that still.

Night Photography Requires A Tripod

Speaking of holding still, you’ll need to set the camera on something sturdier than your hand when photographing at night. If you didn’t bring along a tripod, you’ll have to get creative:

Much of our social time happens at night and with spring here, more of that is happening outdoors. We’re so lucky these days to have options available to us, amateur photographers and scrapbookers. The more we understand our cameras, the more of life we can capture.

Lain and Dedra drooling outside one of Mesa’s best scrapbooking stores, Mystic Paper.

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments

Announcements: National Scrapbook Day!

Thursday, April 24th, 2008

To celebrate our amazing hobby, we’ll have challenges and prizes on National Scrapbook Day during three different sessions of Paperclipping Live, Saturday, May 3rd.

Please join us at any of these times:

8:30 -10:30am

1:00-3:00pm

7:00-8:30pm

If you’re unsure of the time zone difference, look for your city on this website and then compare it to my city, which is Phoenix.

Remember to register for Skype (it’s free) if you’d like to call into the show to ask a question or share something cool.

I hope you’ll prepare to spend the day scrapbooking with others of the Paperclipping audience and me. During the week before our celebration, I will announce some of the challenges so you can get a head start.

I am preparing a Paperclipping Flickr Page so you will be able to upload your layouts and projects and participate in the challenges. I can’t wait to party with you!

Posted in Craft, Creativity, Holidays, Live Show, Live Streaming, Scrapbooking, Updates | Comments

Paperclipping 40 – Designing With Lines

Sunday, April 20th, 2008

Paperclipping 40
Today’s episode for the Premium Subscribers is a great tutorial on design. It’s a concept that I use every single time I design something.

If you’d like to learn more about the premium membership so you can have access to all of the videos, click here.

Posted in Design, Lesson, Podcast, Scrapbook-Layout, Scrapbooking, Tutorial, Vidcast, Video Podcast, Vlog, Vodcast | Comments

Featured Artist and Project: Dina Wakley and her “Memory Box” Layout

Friday, April 18th, 2008

Dina Wakley is an organic, artistic scrapbooker and she recently designed a project for a very unique challenge blog called, Inspired By Amelie. I adore Dina’s project and knew I had to highlight it and Dina as the featured artist and project this week. It is one of the more unique scrapbooking projects I’ve seen in a while.

What I love about Dina’s “Memory Box:”

1. The balance between strong design (the lined up boxes) and free-flowing art (the imperfect stamping and stitching, the dash of red in the backround, the fact that she stitched right over some of the memorabilia as they stick out from their perfect spaces).

2. The gathering of REAL everyday items.

3. The bold, passionate colors.

4. The childhood song, which instantly sent me back to the 1970’s and my childhood.

5. The fact that some of the items overlap, especially how part of the ephemera is hiding behind the page protector.

I had some questions for Dina regarding her project and I figured you would, too. Continue reading to learn more about it.

Interview

You are on the design team for the Inspired By Amelie blog and that’s what inspired this project. Will you tell us about that blog and what it is?
My friend Fauve started the Amelie blog out of a love for the film Amelie. She saw lots of potential for scrapping inspiration in the movie, and she invited a bunch of us to contribute to a challenge blog about it. The idea is to be inspired by the film…its spirit, its colors, its themes.

We have a challenge every month, and every month Fauve lines up a great sponsor for the prize.

What was the challenge that led to your “Memories” project?
In the film, Amelie finds a memory box behind the wall in her bathroom. The box belonged to a boy who had lived in her apartment in the 1950s. Amelie sets out to return the box to its rightful owner.

The scrapping challenge for the blog was to create a memory box of some sort.

How did you decide on the items you put in the page protector?
First I sent my kids on a hunt throughout the house…they brought me a few things (the Legos!). So those things represent my kids. The pieces of film are mine and represent my love for photography and pictures. There are a few coins there from our trip to England last year, and there’s a bit of a map from our China trip two years ago. The mini photographs are from the England trip, too.

The other elements all come from my stash of collage treasures–things that I like and that I tend to hoard, like old stamps and keys and clock faces. The verse that I stamped is from an old playground song that we used to sing as kids.

What were the general steps for putting it together?
Well, at first this challenge to create a memory box stumped me, because I’m really not good at altering 3-D things. Then I got the idea to collect elements together in a scrapbook page format instead of a box format.

I started with the sheet protector–it’s a sheet protector that holds slides, so it’s already divided up into little compartments. I found elements to go in the compartments and then I sewed around them so they wouldn’t fall out. Then I inked & stamped the cardstock, and combined it all together.

How did you attach the plastic page protector to the cardstock?
You can’t see it in the picture, but I stapled it.

What is the technique for getting that red paint look?
I laid down some metal mesh, and I sprayed over it with Terracotta Color Wash Spray Ink by Tim Holtz.

The page protector looks like it was already divided into square compartments and then you stitched more squares through it. Is that right? What size is it and who makes it?
Yep, it’s a protector to hold slides. I got it from Light Impressions.

Will you be putting this into another page protector and then into an album, or did you make it to display on its own?
Good question…I’m really not sure! I will likely find a way to incorporate it into an album.

Inspiration

I can think of so many ways to apply this. Just off the top of my head, you could use it to gather and showcase items from:
1. Vacation
2. Childhood
3. Wedding
4. Birth (yours or your children’s)
5. An ancestor or relative who has died
6. A day’s worth of errands
7. Your current hobby or passion

What could you use this idea for?

To see more of Dina’s scrapbooking and art journaling, visit her blog, Ponderings.
Thank you, Dina, for sharing your unique project with us!

Posted in Altered Projects, Art, Craft, Creativity, Design, Interviews, Lesson, Scrapbook-Layout, Scrapbooking, color | Comments

How I Choose The Size Of My Layouts

Thursday, April 17th, 2008

For my basic scrapbook albums I vary the size of my layouts from 12×12 to 8.5×11 to 8×8. Someone recently asked me how I choose the size for each layout. While I don’t spend any more than ten seconds to decide this, there are about five factors that help me determine what I choose.

Go With The Flow

Sometimes I just feel like I want to do a certain size. Maybe I’ve done a lot of one size recently and I’m ready to do something different. There’s not always a specific reason and I like to allow my moods to dictate what I do. I don’t dwell on this decision.

Smaller Means Faster

There are days I like to spend a lot of time on a layout and other days I want to whip through it. When I am in my fast-scrapping mode, I often choose a smaller layout size, like the 8.5×11 you see below.

I also like to work with 8×8 pages when I’m scrapping from a short journaled story instead of a photo.

Saving Space and Resources

A big size determinant for me has to do with how much space I really need. If I can tell my story and showcase my photos with a smaller size, I do it. Single-photo layouts don’t need a 12×12 sheet, let alone a two-page spread.

If you watch Paperclipping Live or have seen Episode 2, Brainstorming A Layout, then you know that I like to determine my photo placement before I choose my background paper. When doing a multi-photo layout and I’m not in the mood for lots of embellishment, I’ll pack all the photos onto one 12×12.

If I do want to add lots of designs and I can crop my pictures smaller than 4×6, then I can go with a double-page 8.5×11, which is why I chose the size for the layout below. The butterfly design wouldn’t have fit with a one-page 12×12 but a two-page 12×12 would have been more than I needed.

The Paper Is Screaming For A Debut

I prefer to let my photos and stories lead my product choices, but once in a while there is paper or a product that I want to play with. This was the case for the layout at the top of this article, High Places.

While going through my paper I realized that I really didn’t like the look of the original blue design and I was tired of passing over it. It was time to do something about the paper to make it more interesting. After adding the Stickles I fell in love and then it was all about finding a photo that would work with my paper.

Filling The Gaps In My Albums

As I get close to filling an album, I will have some gaps to fill, especially the back-sides of some of the smaller pages. When that time comes I will look for photos that will work specifically with those sizes.

Allowing variety in your scrapbooking keeps the hobby fresh and exciting, just like it was when you first started. 12×12 albums allow you to put all those different sizes together.

While I gave you 5 factors that help me determine which size I choose for a given layout, there is no “right choice.” Don’t want to waste time weighing the different options. Make a quick decision and trust it.

Posted in Organization, Scrapbook-Layout, Scrapbooking | Comments

Dedra Long’s Contribution To Episode 39: Stickles Experiment

Wednesday, April 16th, 2008

Here are photos of the stunning mini-albums that Dedra made, which I showed in the most recent episode of Paperclipping. I’ve thrown in a few extra pages that you didn’t get to see in the video. I just can’t resist.

Dedra was recently the guest designer for a cool new challenge blog called, Creative Therapy. Since we’re all fans, I thought I’d send you over there to tell them how fabulous we think she is.

I’ll post my own layouts from the video episode a little later.

Posted in Art, Books, Design, Minibooks, Scrapbooking | Comments

Paperclipping 39 – Stickles Experiment

Monday, April 14th, 2008

You’re going to love all the new ideas for Stickles in today’s free episode. Dedra Long contributed many of them and I am so proud to show you more of her work alongside my own in this video. Huge thanks to Dedra.

Here is the video.

I also have show notes available.

Posted in Design, Lesson, Minibooks, Podcast, Scrapbook-Layout, Scrapbooking, Tutorial, Vidcast, Video Podcast, Vlog, Vodcast, color | Comments

Paperclipping Updates

Monday, April 14th, 2008

Yes, we do have a video podcast that is just about ready for release. It is a free episode available to everyone–and it’s a good one. We hope to post it tonight, so be sure to come back.

Don’t forget Paperclipping Live tomorrow night (Tuesday) at 6:30pm PST. I will be taking calls through Skype, so be sure to register at skype.com (it’s free) if you’ve had a question you wanted me to answer or have something cool to share with the Paperclipping audience. Calls may be video or audio. Contact me during the live show with my skype username, “noellhyman.”

I will also cover the front of the board book we worked on last week.

I have a backlog of emails with questions I have not answered. I’ll look through those today and will answer them either tomorrow night during Paperclipping Live, or in a blog posting later this week. If you have been waiting for a response from me, be sure to attend tomorrow night’s event or watch the recording later, just in case.

Posted in Art, Craft, Design, Live Show, Live Streaming, Scrapbooking, Updates | Comments

Got A Lot Of Pictures From One Event? Try A Four-Page Layout

Friday, April 11th, 2008

The Dilemma

Amy LeJeune had a lot of pictures from last year’s Thanksgiving. We all deal with more photos of an event than one layout can reasonably hold. Some typical options in this situation are to make two or more separate layouts for the one event, make a mini-album to showcase all of them, or choose only the very best photos and put the others away.

Instead, Amy solved her problem with a four-page layout. I’d never heard of this before (and still haven’t seen it done since) until she posted it on the Creating Keepsakes message board and I thought it was brilliant. I tried it myself and came up with some tips that will help you do it, too.

How To Make A Four-Page Layout

Begin with two 12×12 papers. These will be the foundation for page numbers 1 and 4. Add an 8.5×11 piece which you will use back-to-back, for page numbers 2 and 3. You now have four pages. Because pages 2 and 3 are a smaller size, you can see the outside edges of page 4 while you’re looking at pages 1 & 2. When you flip page 2 to see pages 3 & 4, you can still see the edges of page 1. All four pages go together in a visible way.

The layout above is page 1 of my 4-page layout. It is the introduction page with the title and my focal point photo. It is 12×12.

The next two layouts below are pages 2 & 3:

Page 2–8.5×11

Page 3–8.5×11

I chose to use see-through elements on the inner pages to further enhance the idea of the four pages working together. You can watch the Paperclipping Tutorial, Episode 13, if you have the Premium Membership Subscription for tips on making see-through layouts work front-and-back.

Page 4–12×12

2 Tips For Making The Separate Pages a Cohesive Whole

1. Repeat elements on all four pages.
I made sure to use the same shade of green on all four pages. I also included the purple fringe and acrylic shapes on each page.

Other items repeat but are not necessarily on every page (green bling, paper lace, butterflies, Platinum Stickles, and wordstrips).

2. Begin and End With Some Empty Space.
Just as a good story has a strong beginning, a climax, and a d’enouement–or the winding down of the plot–your four-page layout can offer a story-like pace. Use of empty space on pages 1 & 4 is key.

The first page of my layout makes an introductory impact. It has the most empty space with just one photo and the title. The middle pages are packed with pictures and not much else. They are the climax. The last page has the most photos of any of the other pages, but it has the second highest amount of empty space, which slows the pace down to a nice ending.

This is what the pages look like altogether and in order:

Pages 1 & 2:

Pages 3 & 4:

I love that I was able to include all of the photos of my friend and myself in one layout. Thank you to Amy LeJeune (username PixieDixie on the CKMB) for coming up with such a great problem-solving idea. Click here to see Amy LeJeune’s four-page layout.

We all have large groups of pictures we want to showcase together . Challenge yourself to try this. I will start a gallery soon for the Paperclipping audience where you will be able to showcase your own four-page layout.

* * *

Show Girls

Supplies: Patterned paper (Creative Imaginations, Daisy D’s) * Transparency (Hambly) * Acrylic shapes/letters (Heidi Swapp with Advantus) * Glitter (Stickles by Ranger) * Bling (Me & My Big Ideas) * Wordstrips (7 Gypsies and text cut from an unloved book) * Paper lace (Creative Imaginations) Stamp (7 Gypsies rectangular journal spot) * Rub-on’s (Basic Grey, letters by Heidi Swapp with Advantus) * Button (Creative Cafe by Creative Imaginations) * Acrylic Paint (Making Memories) * Special Adhesive (Diamond Glaze) * Misc. (purple fringe is a knitting yarn).

To see this layout grow from start to finish by watching the recorded versions of Paperclipping Live, episodes 3-ll-08 (look carefully, there are two videos with this title because we got cut off temporarily), 3-18-08, and 3-25-08.

Posted in Design, Lesson, Scrapbook-Layout, Scrapbooking, color | Comments

Color Combinations: Adding Warmth

Wednesday, April 9th, 2008

Mixing Cream with White

White and cream aren’t colors you see together all the time, but they are one of my favorite combinations. In this layout, they are just accent colors, but I’ve also used them as the dominant colors in other layouts.

Because white is more of a cool tone and cream is warmer, I feel like the two together strike a nice balance. It’s often the cream that I add to an already existing color-combination when I want to infuse warmth into an cool palette.

Covering the Spectrum with a Monochromatic Color Scheme

My layout, Ballerina, is a fairly monochromatic layout, although maybe not in the purest sense. The colors range from a pinkish lavender to a melon pink to a maroon red to a dark, almost purple pink. The underlying color that ties them all together is red. You can combine very different versions of a hue like this when there aren’t a lot of other colors to compete with.

Just like adding cream to white gives warmth, so does adding these darker reds and melon pinks. It’s a great way to add more visual interest without distracting from the photos. Next time you want to keep the look simple but not boring, consider adding warm versions of your colors if you began with cools, or add cool versions if you started with warms.

Posted in Design, Scrapbook-Layout, Scrapbooking, Tutorial, color | Comments

Paperclipping Live CONTEST!

Monday, April 7th, 2008

I’d love to see some real buzz on the internet about tomorrow night’s Paperclipping Live, so we’re having a contest!

Instead of doing the typical drawing for prizes like we usually do, I am going to award a prize to the person who creates the most buzz about Paperclipping Live. Announce it on your blog, other people’s blogs (in the comments, of course), on the message boards…anywhere you think you might be able to drum up some interest.

Just tell people what it is, when it is, and leave the URL to Paperclipping.com (a linked URL is even better)! The person who makes the most announcements will win.

It’s okay if someone else has already posted about it on your favorite message board. You can post a second time. And don’t forgot non-scrapbook-related boards like craft, art, or mother-related forums.

To be considered, you must copy the URL’s of the posts where you left your message and paste them into an email to me. You have between now and the 6pm PST on Tuesday (tomorrow) to email me the URL’s of your posts. I will announce the winner during the live show. You don’t have to be present to win.

And don’t forget…to help me answer your questions (because I’m having trouble replying to all your emails), you can call the show using Skype. Call me, username: noellhyman. It’s totally free and you can call from anywhere in the world. See you on Tuesday at 6:30pm PST!

Note: If you’re unsure of the time difference, look for your city on this website and then compare it to my city, which is Phoenix.

Paperclipping Live is open to everyone, whether you have a Premium Membership or not.