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Who do you follow? The little devil on your left shoulder tempting you to put all your time on pretty products and a beautiful scrapbook page? Or the guardian angel on your right, whispering for you to focus on the story?
I used to slap that little devil off of me and follow my guardian angel, but not anymore…
Do you have an album close to completion?
This month at Paperclipping we’re finishing up a scrapbook that’s almost done (and hiding those unsightly back sides that so many of us have in our books!).
Play along with us! We’re starting now…
I’m going to finish an album I titled, Everyday Life. Because I work on lots of albums at once (of different subjects or stories), I’ve been adding to this album for many years now and I’m ready to just finish it all and be done with it!
The second step is optional (but awesome!). If your album is 100% chronological or 100% random — and you want to keep it that way — then step 2 may or may not apply. If it does not, skip step 2 and move onto step 3.
Let’s dig into these steps and I’ll share my own results with you…
Step 1. Note the Empty, Problematic, or Missing Stuff
I have at least five page backs to fill. Also, my Everyday Life album contains a section of pages I made to document a week of our life and it pops out of nowhere with no explanation. It’s jarring and confusing. So I need to add some explanations. It also involves some unusual style pages that are difficult to turn.
Step 2. Find the Story
My albums start with a general subject. As I go through this process of finishing an album, I tend to find a subtle story underneath all the life snippets of my scrapbook pages. It’s really exciting! If you don’t see a story thread in yours right away, don’t brush off this step immediately. It might take time.
For example, at first I didn’t see anything more in this album than the fact that each pages reveals an aspect of our everyday life. That’s enough of a story. But now that it’s almost done and I’ve been looking more carefully at my pages to see what’s missing, I realized there is a recurring theme throughout this album, which covers a spam of years…
There are lots and lots of pages about big and small changes that we’ve made.
Not every layout in this album is about a big change, but I can take this concept and do something more with my new story theme before it’s totally done.
I love that because it unifies your experience as a viewer of my album, and gives more insight into who we are!
So take a good look at your album. Sit down with it and read your journaling. Is there a story you could develop further? If not, that’s okay. I’ll post more about this next week.
And that leads you to the next step…
Step 4. Identify What’s Missing and/or What Should Be Moved
When you look through your album make a note of anything you’ve left out:
I usually find at least one or two pages that will be better at telling a different story in a different album.
Now we’re ready for the next step…
You should now have a list of the empty backs of pages you need to fill. You should also have a list of what’s missing in your album. Now match them up.
For example, one story I found missing from my scrapbook is how we reclaimed our home by turning our garage into a studio so we can shoot our videos and the Roundtable in there, instead of in our living room and bedroom. The number of pictures I wanted to use for that works well with one of my empty pocketed page protectors.
I completed that page yesterday…
Ready to get going? After doing any steps above that make sense for your album, choose which layout you want to start with and make a page!
If you post your layouts somewhere online, please link us up to it by leaving a comment!
Paperclipping Members: If you want additional ideas and inspiration, you can watch episodes 175 and 176, where I shared this entire process (and more!) for a scrapbook about the personality of my family.
For next week’s member video tutorial I’m going to take you on a tour through my Everyday Life album so you can see more of the problems, more of the “uglies,” and see my solutions for it. You’ll see this album — which currently looks like a jumbled and confusing mess — come together as a more cohesive story that flows.
Not a member? Click here for info so you get a fuller experience as you play along this month!
To move forward in the Play Along: Finish An Album, click here: Complete an Everyday Life Scrapbook.
Do you ever cringe while someone looks through one of your scrapbooks because it’s not quite finished?
Do you find yourself making explanations about what is or isn’t in the album?
“Oh — that ugly thing is the back of a page. I still need to put a layout there.”
Would you love to hand someone a finished scrapbook in full smiles and confidence with no explanations or apologies?
Then play along with me and finish an album this month! I’m not talking about starting a whole new one and finishing it within a month. I’m talking about taking one that is pretty darn close, and completing it so it is totally viewer-ready.
I have a month of blog articles and video tutorials planned to help us along. You’ll see my own album ugghlies and what I do to pretty them up and make my scrapbook complete!
But I don’t want to do it by myself. I hope you’ll join me!
We start tomorrow with our first tasks. Be sure to come back so we can get going. If you work on multiple albums at once and you’re feeling motivated right now, you can choose which album you’ll focus on completing to be ready to start with the first tasks tomorrow.
See you then!
ETA: Our month is done, but you can still join us as your own page. Start at the first link and I’ll lead you from post to post to the end of our adventure:
Finish a Scrapbook Album in Less than 30 Days
Complete an Everyday Life Scrapbook
Do Scrapbooking Page Titles Really Matter?
How Story Can Make Your Scrapbook a Page-Turner
Scrapbooking 12×12 and 6×12 Two Page Layouts
Paperclipping Play Along: Did you Finish Your Scrapbook Album?
Shine On,
P.S.> Thanks for playing along! We’re going to have so much fun paperclipping this month!
Ever feel like people don’t spend as much time gazing at your scrapbook layouts as your pages deserve?
What is it about some pages that cause people to stop and really look?
Well, it can be a number of different things, but one of the big characteristics that draw people in are layers.
When you have layers, you have some things hidden, only partially peeking out.
And that causes mystery.
People love a mystery. Just look at the popularity of the TV show, Lost. It was one mystery after another that kept the audience coming back, episode after episode and season after season.
The more layers you have on your scrapbook layouts, the more time someone needs to spend trying to “solve” all those layers. And the longer you can keep them at it, the more they’re interacting with it and making an emotional connection.
So if you want to engage people longer and get them to connect with your scrapbook layout and your story, try creating some layers.
Want a little guidance or inspiration?
In this week’s episode of Paperclipping I share a new Flexible Template: Layered Diagonals. It’s a template for creating layers on your pages. If you’re experienced with layers, this might give you a new way to make them. If you’re new to it, it’ll give you some direction to give you confidence and get you going!
You’ll see me put together two pages — both full of layers. You’ll learn more about the design principles that go into them, too.
This scrapbooking video tutorial is available for members in the Member’s Area and on iTunes.
Shine On,
There’s a rumor going around that it’s hard to include ephemera (memorabilia) on pages.
They say it makes the page ugly, or it’s hard to work it in with your favorite papers and products.
Well, I have some secrets for how to include all those rich bits of life while still knocking out fantastic layouts.
If you’ve struggled at all with ephemera and memorabilia, consider this your cheater’s guide…
Most of the time I don’t hide it (see below), but there is some seriously ugly ephemera inside this super cute pocket.
There’s some kind of gunk on it, and it’s hard to make sense of it without a back-story anyway. The story makes more sense if you just read the journaling. But the precious handwriting and the real item that went back-and-forth between our own hands is here for my son to enjoy when he’s delivering money for the teeth of his own babies.
Since the ephemera is 8.5 inches wide, I cut patterned paper to the same width, folded it so the inside of the back back would show above the front, and punched a half circle. This allows the ephemera to peek out so you know it’s there. Then I stuck it into an 8.5×11 page protector, which I then cut down to the proper height.
When you do this you have an excuse to use even more of your favorite paper supplies!
If you don’t have photo turns, try clear photo corners or large-sized brads instead and let the ephemera sit (un-pierced) on top of the brad stems, but underneath the edge of brad.
I did something similar to this with this original photo. Three of the corners sit in clear photo corners. One corner is held in by the beak of a cute wood veneer bird. That part of the bird is not adhered, so you can slip photo out of it.
Granted, I partially hid the ephemera in an envelope, since it’s 3 tiny notes torn from corners of scrap paper. But I also wanted those pieces to peek out. And as you see, the biggest piece that shows itself is a rather hideous super-bright yellow.
Does it ruin the page?
It doesn’t, for two reasons…
Oh yeah — here’s another piece of ephemera in that same hideous bright yellow. Sometimes you just can’t choose what your family members write their treasures on.
And this note, with Izzy’s addition to my grocery list, is really a treasure. How sad if I had chosen not to scrapbook it because the color is ugly.
I decided to go with the crazy color and find another, more palatable, vibrant hue to accent it.
Here’s another example of working the ephemera right into the design. I started with my main design pieces: two photos and the torn drawing. I formed them into a structure: a visual triangle, and designed the rest of the page around it.
Want to know how the ephemera adds to the design, instead of detract from it?
On this layout I worked with the post-it note from my son as if it were a second photo.
We all have programs.
Make the inside easily accessible by cutting slits in the page protector around the top, bottom, and open side of the program. To make it even easier to open, attach the plastic and front of the program with an embellished clip so that the top of the click sticks out of the protector.
You can work the program into the design of the page by adding embellishments over both the inside of the program, and the background paper. From a design standpoint, this anchors the program to the page so it doesn’t feel like it’s plopped on — a common reason scrapbookers avoid ephemera (unnecessarily!).
This newspaper article sits in a 6×6 page protector. No adhesive necessary.
And thank goodness, as adhesive would ruin this 40 year old treasure my mom clipped and made notes on.
Underneath this protector is a 12×12 pocket that holds four more pieces of valuable ephemera. Both protectors have patterned paper inside, but nothing is taped.
This is a great way to keep the ephemera in it’s original condition, make it easily removable, but still have decoration.
At the beginning of a dance year, our studio put out a handbook that let’s dance parents know our standards, and gives descriptions of the teams their dancers might aspire to being in. If you or your child is on a team, in a club, or part of an organization, you probably have descriptions available somewhere too.
I love organization descriptions because someone else has already done the writing for you, and that person has better knowledge of the description than we do.
I put the “pretty” ephemera on the main page, as part of the overall design. Then I made a 6×12 page on the right for the not so pretty stuff.
Here’s a super thick program. I tore out the non-relevant pages (there were many).
Here’s a super thick program. I tore out the non-relevant pages (there were many).
Then to bring attention to the most important page (with Trinity’s dances) I glued her convention bracelet in as a book mark. On a part of a page that was insignificant I added a journaling box.
When you turn the page (the program inside of a page protector) you see an award certificate. There’s nothing added to it at all — it’s bare naked in it’s original condition.
Notice how I took the green-blue color from the certificate and made it the accent color of the opposite page to make the whole spread flow.
I cut a concert t-shirt down to 12×12 and adhered it to cardstock. Then I added my photo and goodies right on top.
Of course, none of this is really cheating.
But if you want to pin this to your Pinterest wall it can still be your guide. Maybe we should call the the Expert’s Ephemera Guide instead of the Cheater’s Guide.
Want to be an expert at including the real scraps of life in your scrapbooks, and give your stories texture and intimacy? Go match your ephemera with your scrap-able photos and start scrapbooking them together using any one of the methods above.
It’ll add a whole new layer of realness and story that you will always love.
Want some inspiration to listen to as you give it a try right now?
Hear me talk with three other well-loved scrapbookers about how they use ephemera on the Paperclipping Roundtable.
Shine On,
P.S.> A majority of the scrapbook pages in this article were assembled on video in tutorials for the Paperclipping Members. Think you might like to watch them?
Do you end up with many leftovers from your scrapbook kits or from manufactured paper lines?
One of the more valuable skills that comes from having a good design eye is to be able to mix and match patterns from different lines. You can take your products so much further if you create new “lines” or “kits” by mixing and matching what you have.
When you identify which of your different products look great together, it’s possible to actually use up entire lines and kits! ;)
And check out what a different look I was able to get for the two scrapbook pages in the pictures for this post. Two very different looks for two very different stories, even though both layouts began from the same scrapbook line.
Try it today, or this weekend!
Pick a line you love, and then find some leftovers that have lost their luster but that will match some of your new exciting line. Then tell me if you don’t feel renewed excitement in the older products as well!
If you need to expand your skills for mixing patterns, you’ll love the newest video I just put out for Paperclipping Members. Members can find this video in the Member’s Area or on iTunes.
Not a member? Join us now to get immediate access to 209 video tutorials, including today’s video on how to mix patterns!
When I went to Ranger U last year to get certified to teach how to use Ranger products, it was with a very specific goal: I wanted more ideas for how to adapt these fun techniques for everyday scrapbooking in a modern mainstream style.
We usually see them used on tags, in vintage projects, on cards, or in art journals. We don’t see them used in scrapbooking all that often, which is too bad, since they’re so much fun! Plus…
Of all the technique-oriented products, I recommend Ranger for scrapbookers. Ranger has the best ones with the highest quality.
Here are 36 scrapbook pages with backgrounds I made from technique-based products such as Distress Inks and Stains, Perfect Pearls, spray mists, paint, stamps, stencils, and masks…
Click to read more…
See a demo of the new Wow Embossing Powders at CHA 2013.
Want help with making bows of all shapes and sizes? See a demo of the new Bow-It-All from Zutter at CHA 2013.
Sometimes you run across a perfect scrapbooking line. Dear Lizzy’s 5th & Frolic is that line for me right now. It’s like a siren, constantly beckoning me into my scraproom, and I’ve been choosing to scrapbook those of my stories that 5th & Frolic will help me tell.
Are you loving this line, too?
But what about our other products that are just a little older and may not be exciting us quite as much?
Do we abandon them?
No! We mix them in!
Below are a bunch of products you might have. Look at all you can do with this product remix!
First is a sneak peek of a page I’m still completing for an upcoming video tutorial for Paperclipping Members…
Anything not numbered is 5th & Frolic.
I have a 3-part system for storing patterned paper and my main way to store and choose it is choose my by the mood of the patterns to help me tell my stories visually. I organize the rest of my scrapbooking supplies by design function or theme. But I also like to have periods, often related to a holiday or season, when I pull out some specific supplies I want to dive into for a while. In that case, I keep them in 1-3 piles on a table for quick access and easy remixing!
Right now, it’s my Dear Lizzy’s 5th & Frolic, along with some of my older lines I want to put a bigger dent into. You probably have some of these, too. Look how well they go together…
Project Life’s Clementine + Dear Lizzy’s 5th & Frolic – My camera decided to emphasize and exaggerate the subtle variations in the blue greens and pink reds. While they still look good together as pictured, in real life they’re very similar.
If you still have Dear Lizzy’s Neapolitan line, you can mix them right in with your new 5th & Frolic. They go so well together you’ll forget which is which!
Pull out just the blues, greens, golds, and tans from your 5th & Frolic set to pair with My Mind’s Eye: Follow Your Heart, Be Amazing. Boy layouts!
Or keep the pinks, too, and put it all with some My Mind’s Eye: Follow Your Heart, Be Happy.
The leopard and zebra stripes might be a little too sassy for the sweet tree swing and jars of hearts by Dear Lizzy, but look at the rest of Heidi Swapp’s Sugar Chic papers! It looks as if Heidi and Liz chose their color palettes together!
Focus on the blue-green, golds, and tans to mix 5th & Frolic with My Mind’s Eye: Lost & Found, Sunshine.
Or use the pinks and tans with My Mind’s Eye: Lost & Found, Blush. I think that look so, so sweet!
Click here for a glimpse of a layout I made with these pinks, and see how it contrasts with the original line.
You probably have other supplies in your own stash, as well. And don’t forget your technique products.
What do you have that you can mix in with the 5th & Frolic pieces?
Not comfortable mixing and matching product lines and patterns? I have lots of videos on this subject in the membership, and this month I’m going to do a new tutorial for Paperclipping Members on how to mix patterns.
CLICK HERE to learn about a membership!
Motivated to start playing? Have fun with your own 5th & Frolic remix!
Shine On,