Finding a Formula that Works For YOU!

I think one of the biggest drawbacks to bringing more people into the scrapbooking/memory keeping world, is the current trend of extremely artistic pages.  Not only are some people (the left brained dominates) just completely unable to begin to come close to the masterpieces that the right brained dominates do, but even if people possess that kind of talent, many people just do not have time.  I am sure many people who would like to construct the elaborately beautiful pages, keep thinking they will do it when they have the time.  But what if that free time never comes?  Those stories and memories remain undocumented and un-preserved.  A scrapbook page can always be re-done, if you find in the future you have all the time in the world to play with the latest and greatest embellishments, then do it, but don’t let the story go undocumented until such a time rolls around.

I find it hard to keep coming up with a grand new plan or layout for each page.  Layout sketches can certainly help in that area, there are places to find them all over the Internet. Entire books have been published containing sketches. I have found it difficult to follow a sketch myself, but lately I have been trying to use these to expand my design style.  But to combat the urge of trying to come up with a completely new design with each page, I often have albums which has one layout design throughout.  Often times I will change it up slightly either varying the color scheme or the embellishments slightly, maybe the placement, but there is an obvious theme to the album.  This works really well for travel albums.  I also have other albums, or what I might frequently refer to as “projects”.

One of my current ones is something my grand-daughter wanted to do.  She wanted her and I to visit every McDonald’s in our metro area.  So we have been planning these short little romps and keeping track of them through a scrapbook page.  In this instance, only the photos and the story change, embellishments, colors and layout design all remain constant.  When doing a project like this, you can pre-cut all your pieces since you have already determined what the design will be.  Then it is simple to put the photos and stories together and have a finished layout in just a few minutes.   My grand-daughter has already expressed in interest in keeping this memory of our McDonald’s adventure documented, so I know that even though she may go through a phase where she has no interest in it (like when she discovers boys), some day, she will want to look back and remember grandma telling her to stand here and put your fingers to indicate which McDonald’s are we on, and the stories that went with our travels that day.  I am KEEPING THOSE MEMORIES, for her, for when I am gone and she will want to remember those silly times at McDonald’s.

I have other projects that have formulas

Post Office Project – I take photos of Post Office I come upon in my travels.

County Courthouse Project – My dream is to scrapbook a page from every County Courthouse in America, since I will never be able to visit them all, there are 3,144 of them I am accepting photos taken by others for this project, so if you would like to help me please send me a photo of your County Courthouse and I will give photo credit on the page.

National Register of Historic Places – that I find in my travels.

And finally, my Home Sweet Home project, where I am documenting every place I have lived weather I have a photo of it or not.  I have gotten Google Maps screen shots for those places I do not have photos for (which are many) because once again, it is about KEEPING THOSE MEMORIES, and a representation will do just fine if you don’t have the photo.

I love comments, so please be sure to write me a line.  I always welcome new ideas or questions.  Lets talk scrapping together sometime.

Maribeth

 

Memorabilia Pages

I scrapbook a lot of travel pages.  I love keeping the maps, brochures and other informational literature regarding the places we visit.  I have boxes of these items.  I have long struggled with a way to incorporate these items into my scrapbooks.  I have made several 12 x 12 pages where I placed some kind of pocket or holder for the item.

 

However, after making several of these, I really did not want to create this type of page for all of the literature I have.  I really wanted to put them in an 8 1/2 x 11 page protector and insert it with the 12 x 12 layouts or with the pocket pages that hold the additional photos. In some cases I am able to use the  various (Project Life) style pages to hold these when I do have extra photos to include with my layouts, but not always.  I hated the “sloppy” way the literature looked when placed inside the standard page protector.  If the literature was exactly a page size, or could be folded out to equal an exact page size then it was fine, but many items did not meet that criteria.

 

Ever since the Fuse was introduced, I thought I could do something to make these standard page protectors more pleasing to my eye and enable me to keep these with my various travel pages.  But it took me a long time to make the move to purchase a Fuse and try it out.  I am pleased to report that the Fuse did exactly what I had wanted it to do and I was able to get the results I had imagined.  Basically what I did was turn those standard size page protectors into uniquely sized pockets were I could place the literature where it would be accessible, and then make embellishment pockets to cover the space I did not use for the literature pocket.  Now granted, some of my embellishment pockets are pretty plain, just inserting cardstock or patterned paper.  In some instances I get a little more creative, but the purpose was just to make them look less “sloppy” with the literature just floating around in the page protector.  After all it is all about KEEPING THOSE MEMORIES, and part of those memories for me is the information I obtained on my travels.

 

Catching Up on Calvinball Finale

Well did I get lax in posting after day 23, but life just got really busy.  This is camping season for me so I am constantly unloading and reloading the RV for my weekend camping trips, and frankly it really takes a lot of time.

Additionally, with my Calvinball accomplishments in March, I have decided to spend April organizing my scraproom.  I have had the structure in pace for quite some time but have just never gotten around to getting the items in their homes.  (More about this in tomorrows post)

I ended up in 10 place in Calvinball which is so beyond my expectations for the event.  I completed 112 layouts and 14 BFF/Sister monthly papercraft gifts.  Here are my final pages completed between day 23-29 (as the 30 and 31 I was on vacay!).

I really loved the Calvinball experience.  The diverse group of participants was a microcosm of the scrapbooking community.  There were simple scrappers, digital scappers, hybrid scrappers, trendy scrappers, and artistic scrappers.  Because of the competitive nature of the event it was about getting projects completed, in whatever style was uniquely you.  It was motivating, it was exhausting and it was fun.  I really felt that everyone was welcomed no matter your skill level or participation level.  I would love to see more of this type of event, where the focus is productivity, it seems to bring out the best in all levels of scrapbooking.  For those of us who are trying to KEEP THOSE MEMORIES and get pages completed it was motivating by producing volume.  For those who are more into artistic impression, it was motivating by the bonus point structure, they could do less pages but earn more points for each layout by incorporating many elements on one page.

Thank you to Get It Scrapped for hosting this event.  I had a “ball” at Calvinball, see you next year.

 

Cavinball Day 23

Well today, no photos, but wanted to share that I did complete (well almost complete) two pages before I left for work yesterday.  The are completed except for the title work which is done using my Pen Tool on my Pazzles machine.  I try to batch those items in order to get an entire page worth of titles so that I can use up an entire 12 x 12 paper, and not have so much “scrap”.  So, I will be working on pages through the remainder of the week, and plan to print those titles and complete those (plus additional) National Register of Historic Places pages, to add to my total for Calvinball.

Another thing I wanted to discuss was that fact that by participating in Calvinball, I have realized that I can accomplish things in smaller chunks of time.  I tend to get into a mindset that if I don’t have “ALL DAY” to scrap then I just won’t even bother.  I have finding that I can actually accomplish some tasks in smaller chunks of time, allowing me to be more productive overall, and especially more productive when I do have that “ALL DAY” to scrap.  As may have already said in this Blog, I work 10 1/2 hour days, 5 days a week.  Unfortunately I am not a night person so trying to work on projects after a full day of work and an hour on the treadmill does not work for me.  I do however get up really early between 2-4 AM, so I usually have a couple of hours before work that I can work on projects.  This seems to be working out really well.  Participating in Calvinball has given me a “deadline” so to speak as each Saturday we post our points.  By having this deadline, or to use a softer word, goal, it has made me keep on task.  I know me, and you probably know you, what works best to keep the creative juices flowing and to stay productive in your scrapbooking.  I am realizing I need to be able to set some sort of deadline/goal for myself, and be accountable to myself so that I can continue to move forward and complete all those scrapbooking project I have rolling around in my brain, so that I can be sure to KEEP THOSE MEMORIES.

Until next time……

CalvinBall Days 7-22

Well I was #3 on the Leader Board Sunday March 20, 2016.  What I am most proud of is that being this high on the Leader Board means that I have actually practiced what I am preaching here on this Blog – get is scrapped in order to KEEP THOSE MEMORIES.  We take the photos, in this day of social media, we may even upload the photos and post them, but we need to do more.  We need to get our photos and our stories about those photos into one place in order to KEEP THOSE MEMORIES for future generations.

For day 10, 11, 12 and 13 I was on a camping trip.  I took my Courthouse Project with me as that is it easiest project to work on as I can take a limited amount of supplies due to the formulaic layout I have designed for this project.  I put them all together except for any embellishments on the page which I added when I returned.  I uploaded the entire batch shown below on Saturday the 19th, to post my totals to the LeaderBoard.

I did quite a few layouts on Saturday the 19th as well, and those layouts are also included in the batch of photos below.  On Sunday I worked on my Sister/BFF monthly project to mail out on Monday.  I will post a photo after I think everyone has received their monthly “paperscraft”.  Guess I was worn out as I took Monday and Tuesday off and did absolutely nothing, not too proud of that statement, but I guess sometimes you have to rest.

Overall I am so totally thrilled with participating in CalvinBall.  I am not competitive enough to be worried about all the bonus points you can get, although if I do have a qualifying item on my layout I will take advantage of the bonus points, but I have to say I am most proud of the layout count 106 as of 03/19/16.  I hope that I can find other events that will assist me in keeping on track with producing pages.  If there is not an event, well maybe I will need to create my own event to challenge myself to keep my count up.

I will be back tomorrow with Day 23 of CalvinBall

Calvin Ball – Days 3. 4. 5 and 6

As of last night ( March 6, 2016), I have accumulated 146 points.  Total layout count is 56, and the remaining points come from the bonus points.  Here is my score sheet.

Total Points as of 03/05/16 7:05 PM MST = 146

 

1. one layout (or half of a 2 page spread), one project life page = one point = 56

2. one mini-album page (covers count as pages), one card, one tag = 1/2 point each

3. projects = 1/2 – 2 points, depending on size/difficulty

4. art journal pages = 1/2 – 1 point depending on size/difficulty

5. decorated daily planner pages (daily, weekly, monthly, tabs, etc) = 1/2 point

6. photobook pages = 1/2 – 1 point (preslotted/self-created) *detailed notes about this on page two

7. non-paper craft projects = 1 point (project must take an hour or longer to create)

 

Calvinball Publicity Points: (once per week)

1. Blogging – https://keepthosemem…/01/calvinball/ = 1

2. Facebook

3. Instagram

4. Twitter

5. Pinterest

 

Calvinball Team Building Points:

1. leave comments on 10 Calvinball layouts = 1 point (21 points as of 03/06/16 7:05 PM 210 comments)

2. leave comments on 5 Calvinball blogs = 1 point (1 point as of 03/02/16 5:35 AM 5 comments)

3. early bird – for signing up in January = 1 point

 

Scrappy Challenge Bonus Points: these will be added as we move along.

1. Your first layout for 2016 in the Calvinball gallery = 1 point. 1 

2. Using a GIS Sketch or template = 1 point

3. scrap lift a page from the Gallery = 1 point

4. create something inspired by one of the GIS blog articles= 1 point

5. use something on your page that starts with each letter in the word : CALVIN (example: C-circle, A-Alpha etc….)= 1 point

6. layout posted on March 1st = 1 point 10

7. use punches or use more than one punch on your layout = 1 point 7

8. Add hand stitching to a layout (like not with a sewing machine) = 1 point 

9. Scrap with scraps = 1 point 4

10. Making a title page or conclusion page for an album (all my albums are missing these) = 1 1

11. Adding title to spine of album = 1 point

12. Use up a kit = 1 point

13. Try out for a creative team = 1 point

14. Use a tool that you haven’t used in a long time = 1 point

15. Scrap with the color purple = 1 point 2

16. Using 15 different elements on a page = 1 point

17. Use or finish up an entire sticker sheet = 1 point

18. Use something in your stash that is at least two years old = 1 point 16

19. Scrap with something that you bought today = 1 point

20.  Use patterned paper only on your page.= 1 point 6

21. Use three different gold elements.= 1 point

22. Create a monochromatic page.= 1 point 2

23. 3+ photos on a layout = 1 point

24. Use both Pantone colors of the year on one page= 1 point

25. Scrapbooking your favorite song 2

26. Scrapbooking about your job

27. Use your own handwriting – title or journaling 2

28. Use a movie as inspiration for a page

29. Finish up a project (layour or other) = 1 point 3

30. Scrapbook your pet = 1 pt.

31. Make all of the embellishments on your page = 1 point 10

32. Use at least three pieces of ribbon on a page = 1 point

33. Organizing your stash & cleaning = 1 point per day 1

34. Organizing photos = 1 point per day

35. Stamping = 1 point

36. Ordering Photos = 1 point

37. Use a wood or veneer embellishment = 1 point

38. Create something inspired by something you’ve pinned on Pinterest = 1 point

Here are the pages I completed during this four day period.  Most of the pages were completed on Saturday and Sunday, but I did complete 1 on the 3rd and 4 on the 4th.

I am finding competing in CalvinBall has really added to my productivity.  Primarily because it is makes me accountable to complete my projects and get them uploaded to the gallery.  Having the bonus points is fun.  Except for the two digital song pages above, I did not factor in any of the bonus points, I only counted he bonus points as I was uploading the layouts to the gallery.  It was fun to see that point total grow without even having considered them while making the page.  If I had tried to work the bonus items into my page, it would have slowed my forward progress, and I think it would have actually made a great scrapbooking weekend into a stressful one.  I have my style, very simple, and when I try to hard to be trendy, or try to fit in something (a rule/challenge) then I tend to get stuck, and I end up just staring at the page.  Not good.

I feel like I have accomplished a lot since the start of CalvinBall on March 1.  I feel like I am meeting my goal of getting projects well on their way to completion, and closer to the ultimate goal of Keeping Those Memories.

Happy scrapping!

 

 

 

Calvin Ball – Day 2

Up again early this morning, 2:20 or there about.  I completed 9 County Courthouse pages and 6 National Register of Historic Places pages.  This CalvinBall event is working wonders to keep me motivated to complete pages.

All us scrappers start of with great intentions to Keep Those Memories and get them scrapped and placed in albums, but so many factors come into play to prevent us from accomplishing this goal, such as busy lives, unorganized craft spaces, fear of failure, fear of success, focus on products rather than stories…..the list could go on.  CalvinBall, with it’s main emphasis on getting pages completed allows the scrapper to focus more on the completion of the project rather than all of the other things surrounding us everyday.

I hope you are all enjoying this event as much as I am, and Frankly I wish there was an event every month.  Not that everyone would participate in every event every month, but it would allow those who can not participate in a particular month be able to catch it the following month.  The events don’t all have to be the same, we had LOAD in February and now CalvinBall in March.  We need another layout goal driven event for each month so we can keep our scrappy volume up.

Here are the pages I completed this morning.

 

 

CalvinBall – Day 1

It is March 1, time for CalvinBall hosted by Get It Scrapped.  I love the name of that sight, because that is what my blog is all about Keeping Those Memories and Getting Them Scrapped.

This event is all about volume.  The game itself is somewhat confusing, but when you break it all down, it really is about getting projects done!

So I woke up at 1:45 AM MST and decided it was time to get scrapping.  I completed 10 pages this morning.  I feel really good about my progress.  I am focusing on the series/projects that I need to bring up to current status.  I completed 2 County Courthouse pages and 8 Home Sweet Home pages.

My Home Sweet Home project is a place where I want to document every place I have ever lived.  Since I don’t have photos of most of those places I have used Google Maps Street View in order to capture an image.  I have been able to find some photos (especially of apartments) on the internet which I have also used.  But this project is about the stories of each of the places I have lived.  I am worried though, I though I bought enough of the background paper, but it looks like I may run out and it is discontinued.  So if any of you readers out there have any Bazzill Basics French Garden Lemon Drop, contact me, I will gladly purchase it from you.

My love of County Courthouses started as long ago as I can remember.  My dream was to visit every County Courthouse in America and photograph it.  (I didn’t scrapbook way back then).  But I realize now that extensive travel of that nature is not a reality for me at this stage of my life.  But I really didn’t want my entire dream to die, so I decided that I would reach out through social media and ask for others to take photos of County Courthouses in their area, and allow me to use their photos to make a scrapbook page.  I have been so lucky to receive permission from Mark Bozanich for his Washington State Courthouses, the website Arkansas Ties, for Arkansas Courthouses, and Summit Street, for Ohio Courthouses.  There have been individuals who have also provided me photos for my project, and I always provide photo credit on the page.  I would be so grateful to any reader who would care to provide me with a photo of a County Courthouse, please leave a comment if you have one and I can contact you with my email address.

So, join CalvinBall today to scrap the month of March away.  A great way to document and Keep Those Memories.

 

February Challenge Winner

Catherine, the only one who participated in my February challenge, is the winner of the Fancy Pants Collection.  Congratulations Catherine.

 

February Scrapbook Challenges- Sketch Crew Ashley

Wow, two blog posts in one day.  I know that is not the proper way to operate a blog, but I have such limited “scrafting” time that when I have the opportunity to get something accomplished I have to  take advantage of it.  In a perfect world I would be able to plan my posts so that you (my readers) could count on a posting cycle, but alas, I won’t be able to offer that level of regularity.  I still hope you will check out my blog and “scraft” along with me.

So my second post today is a challenge entry.  I just began doing challenges in December.  I am finding that I am enjoying participating in them very much.  I am generally not one to step out of my comfort zone, but I am finding with most of the challenges (and obviously the ones in which I choose to participate) I can keep to my general level of comfort, and create the page in what I feel is “my style”, but include the elements of the challenge.  Many of the challenges I am drawn to are sketch challenges and those are so forgiving in that you can follow the sketch with pretty much any level of supply sophistication.  If you have paper, and a photo, you can play along with almost any sketch challenge it would seem.

One of the large scrapbooking projects I am working on right now is a spin on Project 365. Instead of taking a photo a day, I am doing an ongoing project that incorporates things like On This Day In History, Celebrity birthdays/deaths, those wacky National Day of (ie Popcorn Day, Wear a Red Hat Day, etc….)  Because of my busy schedule I am often unable to participate on the very day that the celebration is to occur.  When I can, I do try participate on the day, but when it is something that I do often, or a love of mine (like National Popcorn Day), and I am unable to celebrate it on the day, I will make a page about it the next time I participate in the event (like the next time I make popcorn) and put it in the album where it would have been (date wise). Many of the National Days are food related, and due to a Healthy Eating Plan my husband and I have adopted we can not always prepare the food on the day we are suppose to celebrate it.  I have given myself some leeway on this project, because that is what it is about!  Don’t stress, have fun with your project, the important thing is to KEEP THOSE MEMORIES.

For my challenge entry, and a layout that will be included in my Project 365 spin (hey if any of you have a great name for this project leave a comment below, I sure would like a catchy name for this project), I wanted to put this for Janaury 1.  I know many people have the tradition of eating Black-Eyed Peas on New Year’s Day, but I had never done that.  So I asked my husband, the gourmet cook of the family, if he could prepare this dish for our New Year’s Day meal.  The recipe (which will also be included in the album as an 8.5 x 11 insert) is from the Mayo Clinic, and fit right in with our Health Eating Plan.  The Challenge details can be found at Scrapbook Challenges, I hope you will all play along, I would love to see your work so be sure to link your entries in with your comment to this blog so I can be sure to check them out.

Thank you as always for stopping by.  I love to hear from so please leave me a comment.

Happy Scrapping!