Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity.
Margaret D. Nadauld
I've been a scrapbooker going way back. For me, it's about preserving memories. I don't have my childhood photos, so I don't want that to happen to the little man. I want him to have a record of everything, whether or not as a teen he appreciates it right now.
The struggle I have right now is the lack of time to scrap. Pulling supplies, designing layouts, finding the right pictures-all this takes time. Now that my kiddo is a special Olympian, we are on the go a lot more. I tend to focus more on portable projects, like crocheting, that can come with me at practices and other events.
One of my scrapping idols has been Becky Higgins, going back to her days at Creating Keepsakes magazine. She's a very inspirational and creative scrapper, and while I'm not quite in her league, I enjoy her designs. Several years ago, she came out with project life, which is a new way of scrapping.
I was excited to try it, but I struggled with it. The pockets and cards and pictures combo were all overwhelming to me. Too many decisions, not enough time. Not that long ago, she released an app for Project Life.
Game changer.
I can now scrap on the go. I can scrap at practices, in real time. I can scrap in the pick up lane at school. It's super easy. There are limited selections for pages, which is exactly what I need. You can buy "card" sets, which add pop and flair to your pages.
Most of all, I can do a page in a few minutes versus hours spent on layouts. Kiddo loves looking at what I've scrapped (even though he doesn't like his picture being taken), and I love sharing.
Mother's Day is just around the corner and time is ticking away to buy mom a present that she would absolutely love. While I wish I had swag to give away or be sponsored by someone, alas I am not. I'm just a mom sharing some of my favorite things.
If you are on Twitter, come follow me @craftychicky! As you could probably tell, I love doing crafty things. When I read other blogs, most of them are crafting blogs, because they totally inspire me and want me to try something new. It's been a tough climb out of that pit, but I'm working on it and my hobbies are part of it. One of my favorite crafting blogs is Brassy Apple. Megan has some amazing tutorials and is so incredibly creative too. One of my most favorite things are her mosaic jeans. I saw them in her store and was psyched she sold the pattern (http://brassyapple.com/category_9/Mosaic-Jean-Kit--Women.htm) She also carries fabric scrap bags that are amazing!
Speaking of fashion (and I have a Pinterest board called Passion for Fashion so you know I'm serious!), one of my favorite on line stores is Shabby Apple. I love the style of their site, and I love the clothes too. There is a nice selection of plus size (http://www.shabbyapple.com/c-38-woman.aspx?size=plussize) fashions. My two favorites are Study Break-I love that mustard color-and West Coast Swing. You have to read the stories that go along with the items too!
I blogged about my desire for The Vintage Pearl's I Love You to the Moon and back here (http://mommydomchronicles.blogspot.com/2012/04/moon-river.html?m=1). There are so many great things in her store, but that's my favorite.
I love to scrapbook and have been doing it for years and years and years. I tend to set up photo ops for scrapbook pages. My brain just thinks like that. Thanks to my iPhone, I snap tons of candid shots, and can just upload them to the Walgreens app and order them. Way too cool. My biggest issue is sitting down and actually scrapping them. It's a combination of time and attention span (or a lack of both of them). So, I decided Becky Higgins Project Life would be perfect to share our story (see my article about it here: http://mommydomchronicles.blogspot.com/2012/04/what-story-morning-glory.html?m=1)
I've been a big fan of Whippy Cake going way back when, and while I love everything in her store, I do have a few current favorites. Right now I'm totally drooling over the Swanky Souffle collection (http://whippycake.com/shop/swanky-souffle/). Even though I had about 6 inches cut off my hair a few weeks ago I still have more than enough to add these to it! I especially love Klepto (which coordinates with most of my wardrobe) and Vanity.
I am a music fan, and have fairly diverse taste. I listen to it all day long at work, and my iPhone literally contains everything from alt country to zydeco, Abba to Frank Zappa. However, I only have a few complete albums on it: The Clash London Calling (read more about my love of the only band that matters here:http://mommydomchronicles.blogspot.com/2012/02/clash-city-rockers.html?m=1) and Mindy Gledhill's Anchor. Its the perfect soundtrack for most days. Whenever I hear Hourglass, I get a lump in my throat because as the mom of a little boy, I could have written that one myself! I love the whole album, period. Buy it, you won't be disappointed. Click here and it can be yours: http://bluemorphmusic.mybigcommerce.com/!
One of my Mommy blog inspirations going way back was Nie Nie (http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/?m=1) We have very different styles but we are both telling similiar stories. She wrote a book that I'm currently reading (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/heaven-is-here-stephanie-nielson/1104239810) which is so inspirational. I'm still reading it and will have it as a Friday reads soon, but right now I'm enjoying the journey with it.
Any of these make a perfect mother's day gift (or gift period). And tell them I sent you!
I have been a scrapbooker going back to 1997. My sister, the Princess, has amazingly intricate albums detailing her life up to age 14 (when I got married, I slowly transitioned to telling our story). Unfortunately for the Little Man, he does not have that.
Yes, I scrap still. I don't have the time to put in all the bells and whistles in his album. It breaks my heart that this is the case, but it's the truth. Actually I have the time, it's a lack of focus and patience.
My main driving force behind scrapping has always been telling the story. I am a writer, first and foremost. It's all about the 5 w's-who, what, where, why & how-in that picture. I have albums of old family photos and have no clue who any of these people are! Since my Grama passed away, these are just pictures. Even looking at photo albums from my childhood-there are pictures that I have no clue about why that picture was taken.
Going way back, I've been a huge Becky Higgins fan. In the scrapbook world, she is a rock star. Her work for Creating Keepsakes was super motivating, and inspired me to plan my pages better. I also love her philosophy of cultivating a good life, and she too is a proponent of following your bliss (have you read my book on that? http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bliss-dee-dimemmo/1108232043).
That philosophy has been encouraging to me, and encouraged me to continue plugging along with scrapping. Several years ago, Higgins introduced the Project Life line, which is a new way of scrapping. I have been resistant until now, because I have so many supplies and tools and Doo dads.
But...I also have a lot of incomplete pages and pictures. The to be scrapped pile is much bigger than the done pile. The worst part? I haven't been journaling my pages.
I have not been telling my story, which is what led me to scrapping in the first place.
I've heard so much on twitter and in the blogosphere about Project Life, so I decided to dig a little deeper. On the website, there is a great slideshow outlining how the system works. http://www.beckyhiggins.com/products/getting-started.php. Oh my heck this is so easy and so simple! I love the idea of the story being front and center. It's like it was designed just for me!
I like the fact that it's completely portable too. I can take it to work, and scrap on my lunch hour! And not have a gazillion things to transport-love this concept.
The system is simple:
Photo sleeves
Cards to fill in and journal on
Binder
The downsides? There isn't a complete kit, and the price. To buy the whole system from Amazon (the only place) which is the Core Kit ($25), the binder ($20), and the pages ($20), you have invested over $60!
But...will it encourage me to tell our story more than I currently am? It might be worth it then.
Time will tell, because I have a story to share.
If you plan it, you will scrap.
Like most things in life, scrapping requires planning, whether you are a digital scrapper, using a system like Becky Higgins' Project Life or a traditional scrapper, you need some sort of organization and planning.
First you need pictures.
Then you need your supplies. You wouldn't bake a cake without checking the pantry, so you shouldn't scrap without checking your stash for your supplies. Nothing is worse than being ready to go and being out of something!
Then you need to get down to business. You need to decide what you are going to do for your page. I like use sketches as a jumping off point for my pages.
There are a few resources for them:
Creating Keepsakes magazine
Old Becky Higgins sketches
Www.scrapbooksetc.com
Www.mycroproom.com (the sketches linked to this post are from there)
Or google "scrapbook sketches", click images and a bevy of them pop up.
Now you are ready to scrap. I am what is called a simple scrapper. For me, scrapping is telling a story with words and pictures. The other doo dads on my page need to enhance my picture and story, not distract from it. The picture below, from http://kristiilockart.blogspot.com/2010_03_01_archive.html (which is a beautiful blog) is an amazing page, and I love looking at pages like that, but I'd never do them! I like my pages simple. The "sassy" page, from http://www.simplyparticular.com/2009/09/more-unfinished-layouts-completed.html is more my speed. I should also note that my design taste overall is very clean and modern. Im not into lots of frills (Victorian and country are definitely not my taste) so that aesthetic transfers to my scrapping as well.
I have my sketch next to my space, and my supplies for that page lined up and it's show time! I trim papers and cardstock. I put everything on the page and make a few minor adjustments before the adhesive comes out.
Sometimes, the page comes out exactly like the sketch. Sometimes, it doesn't. Guess the sketch that inspired my sweet baby layout? Hint: the finished product looks nothing like it!
There isn't a right way or a wrong way to scrap. That was actually a hard concept for me to get my head around. It's true-because you're telling your story. Over the years, I've let others negative comments have space in my head because they didn't like the pages I did. "too plain" or "you need more stuff on there" or my favorite, "too much journaling". They were putting their design ideas and style on my page. Just as is said in yoga practice, keep your eyes on your mat, the same with scrapping: keep your eyes on your own page.
I'm not a big fan of folks critiquing your work, unless you've invited them to. I just think one cattie comment can turn someone off from scrapping all together, which is a loss. My work may never be featured in a magazine, but that's not my goal. I'm telling my family's story. I made an album of my son's 5th birthday party, and to this day he looks at it about once a week. That is why I scrap.
I go through periods of scrappers block from time to time. As much as I love doing it, I seem "stuck". Part of it is the fact that I do the "I don't have the time" dance. Actually, I do have the time which I consistently prove when I scrap at lunch. Yesterday, I managed to set up 3 layouts in about 15 minutes.
The first layout I set up was a "I feel lucky page".
I picked my cardstock and stickers.
I just started to use the adhesive tape, rather than the squares. I like the tape due to the fact when I am working on this at lunch, there is less mess. I also love its portability.
While this may look like a blank piece of paper, there is a lot of thought that went into it.For one, its not done entirely. I use scrapbooking sketches to plan out my pages. For years, Becky Higgins (the scrapbooking guru) had a column in Creating Keepsakes magazine, featuring her sketches. It helped inspire me to the next level.
In their December issue, they featured a series of 12 bonus sketches, from which I got the idea for this layout. http://www.creatingkeepsakes.com/articles/12_Bonus_Sketches
I need to add a journaling block and a few pictures of what makes me feel lucky.
While working on this layout, it made me think of why I feel lucky. For years, I had been called the golden child. It was the fact that no matter how bad things seemed, it would always work out in the end, and life would be good. I can't justify that, just the fact that the universe seemed to love me. I would emerge unscathed from things that would reduce others to collapsing into the corner, sobbing in the fetal position. Not that would brag about it, but I would pretty much wind up getting what I wanted. It might not be when I had originally planned, but things would always work out for me. It was like I was forbidden from having a bad life.
Things changed for a brief, dark period where I seemed to be drifting aimlessly through it all. That lead to creative block.
Seriously.
I really didn't do anything creative or crafty or what not. I had all the supplies. I had the space. I even had the title of the Crafty Chick. It was like the universe was using all this against me, brandishing my block like a weapon.
Then, after yet another bit of a pity party, the Big Man helped me realize how lucky I truly am.
I have an awesome husband, who has been the love of my life for the past 18 years.
We have a great son, who brings so much joy, bliss and love to our lives.
We have a beautiful home.
Both the Big Man and I have jobs we love.
I have a deep, abiding faith. I am able to practice it, without fear. Many millions world wide can not say that. Their faith is forbidden, known only to their Creator.
I am, after all, the crafty chick and I do make some pretty amazing things.
I am an excellent chef.
Plus, my family has more than enough food to eat. We do not go hungry. That is more than we can say for millions of people world wide.
I have some pretty awesome pets that add a lot of joy to my life.
Things are pretty good in my life, and I have a lot to be thankful for.
I've had an alter ego for a long time-CraftyChick. Its my yahoo email, my Twitter name and ID for several other email lists. Its also an embodiment of who I am and what I love to do. I love to create things-from papercrafts to needlework to fabric to flowers to whatever. I always wanted some artistic talent but I was convinced that it had skipped me. Then I realized that I created art in a different way. Instead of sculpting or drawing or painting, I scrapbook or make cards. I enjoy the process and I love the end results. Maybe I might not be a star scrapbooker but I like how my pages turn out and that's what matters. I plan on working on my Christmas album this week. I have a lot of ideas floating around in my head, and Hobby Lobby has paper on sale...hmmm this could be dangerous! I also have plans for birthday albums, etc. etc. etc. What I am thinking is that since the paper is on sale, I can get stuff to do my 2010 albums. This way I have everything at the ready, and I can concentrate on the scrapping itself. A lot of the time I find myself a day late and a dollar short. I had the pictures and no ideas or layout designs done. But this time around, I am going to be ready in advance (I can almost hear my husband laughing at me right now, because I go through this little creative bursts a lot it seems). The number one reason I am doing this is because the Little Man loves looking at the albums I've created. He especially loves the birthday album I made for his 6th birthday (haven't done the 7th birthday album yet) and out of all the books he has for a bedtime story, that is his favorite. How can I argue with that? That is why I scrap. So for 2010, I've decided to take the Project Life approach. Instead of making complicated embellishments, I am going to just focus on the story. No one is going to really care about the 7 layer paper pieced whatever with glitter and brads. They are going to want to know the story. And I want to keep the story alive because that's how traditions and all get passed on. With my new approach, I've decided to do at least a 2 page layout for each month (24 pages, easy with all the pictures I take anyway). Then with special events added in-my mother in law and sister in law visiting (Jan) Big Man's birthday (Jan), Little Man's class party (Valentines-Feb), St. Patrick's Day (March), Easter (April), Field Day/Last Day of School (May), Mothers Day, Fathers Day, summer, etc. etc. When I've planned things in advance, I've done some amazing layouts. They are not professional level, but that's ok. I enjoy it and that is what matters. My crafting to me is a form of meditation. Its a way to give glory to God and thank Him for the talent He's granted me. I have noticed over the last few months, my faith vessel has been very empty. Not quite sure why, but I haven't had the hallelujuahs that I normally have going on in my life. Add to it, I haven't been to church for a month-all of Advent really. Its not for the lack of trying either, but it makes me feel less whole and complete. I love the connections and the way my cup gets filled there. Big Man and Little Man are not churchy people, and while it disappoints me greatly, I can't get upset over it. I can just keep praying that their hearts will turn. Actually for the Little Man its because Daddy doesn't go, and he wants to be like his Daddy. He's even told me this, so there goes trying to get him to go. I want our home to be faith filled-we say grace before dinner, Little Man says prayers before bed. I do too, the nights I don't collapse into sleep. I read my morning devotions most mornings. Seeing this in print is glaringly obvious. One of my biggest issues lately is a sloppy spiritual life. If I put half as much effort into my spiritual life as I do with anything else that I do, I'd be golden. But I cut corners on it, and it carries on into other parts of my life. I cut a lot of corners regularly. I look for the easy way out in a lot of areas. Just like with working out, eating healthy, cleaning the house...the corners I cut effect things all across the board. I don't do things the way that I should because I look for the easy way out. However, the easy way out is actually a much more difficult path because I have to figure out a way to not do something, then have the psychic energy of the thing not done dragging at me. Its a losing proposition all the way around. And it all boils down to the whole am I not worth 100%? That's why I struggle. I have a hard time admitting that God loves me unconditionally. I see my faults and flaws and weaknesses and He loves me despite that. Yet I don't really accept this gift, because I feel unworthy...its a self perpetuating cycle. I know the times I've felt very positive and strong in my life, my spiritual life was kicking butt & taking names. It just seems as if parts of my life disappear because I am so scattershot. Getting back to the topic at hand. I have not been crafting a lot over the last few years because I feel that I don't have the time. I really do have the time, its just planning it out more and shifting from A to B to C. I can clean the house, cook, craft and hang out with my boys all in the same day only if I shift my outlook. I don't scrap because I don't have the time...but if I set aside 15 minutes a day-that's one layout. x 365 days that's a lot of layouts done! Imagine how many bedtime stories that will cover...
