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We released a video this week that shares one of my Flexible Templates, which are starting point layout structures that get you going but are so flexible you can use them whether you’re using a single photo or lots of them.
Here’s a sneak peek at one of the layouts featured in this episode.
Altogether I shared eight very different pages using this Flexible Template.
You need to be a member to watch our video tutorials. To learn more about it when you click here.
Enjoy! :)
I’m committing to something.
I’m committing to talk more about what has become one of the most important aspects of memory-keeping for me.
I’m committing to share more about how it fits within my own system of scrapbooking and how it might fit within yours.
One year ago I shared The Most Important Word for You to Learn for the year and How You Really Can Tell All of Your Stories.
If you weren’t around here at that time, I hope you’ll read both of those linked articles. But the gist of it is that you can add your thoughts, journaling, important information to your digital photo files! They become part of the information of the photo and they’ll transfer with your photos, too.
That means that someday when you’re gone and your adult children or grandchildren are shuffling through your most important photos, they’ll have your words, too.
Above is a screen capture of a photo I took in December. To the left in the caption box is my journaling.
The other day I mentioned my curiosity to know whether any of you had started and continued documenting your photos. Here’s what Tammy said:
Just wanted to let you know that I did start adding info into the caption section of my photos (in Picasa). I haven’t kept up with it completely, but love the ones that I did. I also love that when I upload to Facebook, that info automatically becomes the caption there as well. I do still put the info into my Project Life, or traditional pages — what struck me most was when you said that there isn’t any way to know how future family members will view photos, and that the printed photo is not the only copy anymore, so you don’t have to be as worried about what you do with that one print. I figure it is possible that some of the digital files will end up in one place, and the scrapbooks may end up in another, and that is all good. Thanks for the metadata journaling tip! I’m definitely going to do more of that this year. –Tammy Brandt
I’m so happy to hear this!
If you’re curious to know more about the diverse and awesome benefits of adding your words to your photos, plus a simple way to do it, please read these two articles:
This process has transformed my thinking about scrapbooking.
Who wants to join me this year in adding our words to our photo stories?
Please leave a comment with your commitment.
I’ll do random periodic check-in’s with you to keep us remembering and feeling excited, and to help you make it mesh with your scrapbooking!
So who’s in?
I don’t buy a lot of themed products except for the Christmas theme — in that case I do buy a lot, at least for me. And that means I have leftovers every year. I bet you do too.
Ever wonder how to make them fit together onto a page?
I’ve just released a video tutorial with lots of tips on stretching leftover themed products, such as Christmas ones, to fit together on your pages.
Here are some of the things I share:
This episode is for the Paperclipping Members. Are you interested in a new year of scrapbooking with techniques and design concepts that will help you with every page you make? That’s what you’ll get immediately with today’s tutorial, plus more than 180 others!
Click here to learn about membership.
Get better use of your products and make pages you love! Start your membership today!
Every year I go through the same dilemma.
First I tell myself I’m not participating with Ali’s popular December Daily project — not because I don’t think it isn’t awesome (it is), but for these other reasons:
Every year since my first attempt I’ve decided to skip out. And then all those Christmas themed supplies start popping up, and people start sharing their prepped pages, and I start to feel the itch.
I do LOVE my 2009 mini-book, which is the most complete, most interactive, and most glittery. LOVE IT! (except for those non-Christmas pages!).
Why Simplifying Didn’t Work
Last year I was adamant. I decided I wasn’t doing it.
Then Ali simplified her book for that year and released digital templates. So that seemed less stressful and I decided to go for it.
But guess what? I don’t really love that book. It’s missing the things I love most about my first two albums — the surprising unusual pages types. And the glitter.
So this year I was adamant. I’m not going to participate this year.
And then…
I started going through my Christmas supplies for some layouts and I realized something. Christmas supplies and the idea of glitter make me happy. Like, really happy.
Great-looking numbers throughout a book make me happy too.
Who cares if I have too many mini-books. It’s just FUN!
So I re-evaluated why I do and don’t want to join the ranks and came up with a plan that feels right for me.
Yeah — I added eleven days to my book. Sounds crazy, right? But my book won’t necessarily be daily. Here’s what factored into my decision:
I’m not focusing on December or daily. For me it’s going to be about the 36 merry days of Christmas time.
So that’s it. I’ll be capturing my Christmas along with so many of you! Here’s my plan:
I’ll share some of those techniques in the first of next month’s video tutorials! If you want to get in on some fun interactive and dimensional ideas for mini-books, be sure you have your Paperclipping Membership!
So what about you? Are you doing a December Daily album this year? What will your approach be? Have you gone through a similar process of customizing Ali Edwards’s cool project to make it suit you?
There is one design concept I use more than any other for setting up the structure of my design.
The Flexible Template I’m sharing in this week’s video tutorial is the most useful and the most flexible of all of them! Whether you’re doing single photo layouts from this past summer, or you’re already diving into multiple photo pages for the holidays, you’ll be able to use this template today as the jumping off point for your next scrapbook page.
This tutorial is for the Paperclipping Members. You can find it in the Member’s Area.
You’re not a member? Could your scrapbooking benefit from lots of Flexible Templates that will help you get started on solid ideas for your pages, without telling you exactly where to put things or how many photos you need?
What about design principles and concepts that will help you learn to make pages you’ll love in less time? If so, I think you’ll love a membership! You’ll get immediate access to the Paperclipping archives of 180 professional video tutorials, plus two episodes every month!
Are you ready to scrapbook your Halloween before we dive into Thanksgiving and Christmas? In case you need a few ideas I thought I’d share sixty-five of my own for you to choose from!
Are you torn between vintage style– like that of Tim Holtz– and your own more modern-style scrapbooking?
Wish you could figure out how to make those fun distress products work with the photos and topics you actually scrapbook about?
I used to feel this way, but over time I learned to bring those two wonderful worlds together!
We just released a video tutorial that shows:
Does that sound useful? How about fun?
It’s totally fun!
This episode is for the Paperclipping Members. If you don’t have your membership yet, you can get signed up now!
As part of our month-long celebration of Paperclipping’s 5th birthday, we’ve pulled one of our recent tutorials from the Paperclipping archives to share with you for free!
After watching this you’ll see your stuff in completely new ways!
Enjoy the episode!
P.S.> This is just one of 179 video tutorials that you get when you sign up for a Paperclipping Membership. Plus you’ll get two new ones every month. If you liked this video, I bet you’ll love the other ones, too!
What’s the difference between a rut and a groove?
If you have a scrapbooking groove, you have systems that work for you — things you do that get you inspired and make your page-building process easier.
What is a rut?
A rut is similar to a groove in one way only — you have a system for seeing and doing. There is a big difference, though. A rut is not inspiring. It keeps you down and prevents you from seeing up over its high walls. We forget there are other ways and systems.
While a groove-system inspires new ideas, rut-systems blind you from them. Early last spring I realized I had dug my groove into a deep rut.
How do you know if you’re in a rut?
If you find yourself feeling uninspired every time you try to scrapbook, or if your completed pages don’t excite you, you’re probably in a rut. Don’t worry though, you can get out!
In 2010 and early 2011 I found that most every page I made left me feeling unsatisfied. Most of them just felt “ok,” but I didn’t love them. The moment I climbed my way out of that rut (and it wasn’t hard!), scrapbooking suddenly became exhilarating again! And I’m back to loving my pages!
How to Get Out of a Rut
I’m sure it’s not the only exit route, but I can tell you how I got out of my recent rut. I exposed myself to some different ways of scrapbooking by putting myself into an environment where there were lots of different inspiring and talented scrapbookers.
There are all kinds of options for this type of learning and exposure. The one that worked for me was the True Scrap event from last April. It showed me that the rut I’d fallen into did not groove with my own personality.
Here are some of the results that came from the inspiration I got from True Scrap:
Jen McGuire inspired the butterfly I made for this introduction page that goes on the front of my album about myself.
Shimelle Laine and Nic Howard both reminded me of how I’ve loved layering papers in the past and this page was born.
Lain Ehmann suggested we write our journaling the same way we talk to friends, which inspired more of that style of journaling on my pages, along with these two 6×12 pages, which I attach to my layout. The journaling begins with, “So, here’s a funny story…”
And overall I remembered that color, asymmetry, and organic shape is more reflective of my personality and the way I view my world and my life than the way I’d been scrapbooking recently.
If you’ve been feeling unsatisfied lately, could it be that you’ve fallen into a rut without realizing it, like me?
If so, why don’t you join us for the True Scrap event later this month? I’ll be teaching about layering embellishments into intricate gatherings. Jen McGuire, Lain Ehmann, Shimelle Laine, and Nic Howard will all be back to teach again, too, plus many other awesome teachers.
Click here to learn more about the event or sign up!
(note: this is my affiliate link).
May you always know whether your systems are pulling you down into a rut or pushing you into the groove!
Do you have old products that leave you uninspired?
Of course you do! I do, too. But I’ve become really good at transforming them back into “new” products that excite me.
How doable is this?
It’s so doable that whenever I buy a new stash of scrapbook supplies I’m thrilled about, I still end up using my older products. And if I open my bag of new stuff at all over the next month, I only dip into it.
So how do you get to where you can use and love the stale stuff?
You remember your dear old Gramma who learned from the Depression how to make do with what she had…
Just think of GRAM and you’ll remember my four methods for transforming old products into awesome ones:
I’ve already made video tutorials specifically on G-Gathering and R-Repurposing. Today I released the episode for A-Altering. I share one major principle that will help you know whether an old product is worth transforming, and how to go about identifying the type of transformation it needs if it is worth it.
Also, there are a couple techniques that are simple, and a couple that are artsy.
But don’t be intimidated by the word, artsy. The results look artsy, but they’re crazy easy to do and you don’t have to have any talent. At all. You’ll just look like you do.
It’s a secret between me and our Paperclipping Members. So if you’re a member, you can go get your video and your secret right now!
Want to be let in on it? If you’re not a member, it’s easy to become one. You’ll get almost 180 video tutorials plus two more every month for six months.
Click here for more info on the Paperclipping Membership.
See you in the video!
