The Percolated Story

Every week I spend 90 or so minutes listening to a scrapbooking podcast called "Paperclipping Round Table". This week's show "The Sum of Our Stories", got me thinking about my story telling and my process, and how intertwined the two concepts are.

When I was relatively new to scrapbooking, but after I had identified the basis for "my style", I scrapbooked at the dining room table. I quickly came to realize that what worked best for me was to lay out my photos on the table early in the day. As the day would wear on, I'd visit them and fuss at them a little. First I'd chose a background cardstock...and then go put that load of laundry in. Next trip through I'd pick out some accent colors for use in the title and mats. Later on I might pull a punch that would help carry the theme, or rearrange the photos to play with the flow of the layout. Meanwhile, the time spent away from the layout was spent thinking about the perfect title, and what I wanted the journaling to say. By the time the kids were in bed I had the ingredients and mostly all I had to do was assemble.

And that, my friends, is a gross over simplification of the process. Because nothing is really that easy, but it is the basics of how things went, and it did make completing the page more efficient.

Fast forward to present day. I no longer have three very young children, two dogs, a cat, and a husband earning an MBA who wasn't around much and left me with almost all the chores. Now I'm divorced, have four big kids, 3 of whom don't need a mother as much as a taxi service, a dog and a full time job. Gone is the luxury or starting a page while the kids ate their cereal and finishing after they go to bed. Now it's more like starting something one day, futzing with it for a week (in snatches of time like the old system) and finally completing it a week later. This doesn't bother me. It's jut life. It's either this process or nothing. And, nothing really isn't an option.

Back to the Paperclipping Round Table and the concept of telling stories. I have come to be very grateful for how long it takes me to complete a page, or at least for what that span of time from beginning to end affords me. I have found that by pulling out the pictures and laying them out and then having a couple of day's worth of commutes to think about them, I end up with a story very different than the one I would have told had I just launched in as soon as I pulled the pictures out.

For instance:

These pictures are from a trip to park that Molly likes.  We've only been twice.  After our first trip Molly asked to go back there almost every month, but our time is special and I try to have new adventures when we're together.  So this second trip was pretty special, because it took over a year to get back there.  If I had had the luxury of time, these pictures would have been used on one layout and the journaling would have been brief and it would have centered on the trip to the park.  But because of my process, and the fact that I had lots of time to think about these photos and let my mind wander and think more abstractly about the story that I could tell, I had time for  new ideas to percolate to the surface. 

What would have been a layout about a trip to the park turned into a layout about Molly's courage and another layout about Maggie's amazing attitude about life.

Journaling reads:

Hey chickadee! Weigh the outcome.  How bad can it be?  A skinned knee? A bruised ego?  But what if things go according to plan?  What if you don't fall?  You'll have fun. You'll get that "I did it!" feeling.  You'll approach the next scary thing with a little more confidence.  Believe me.   I know how this drill works.  I know how discouraging failure can be, and how thrilling success can be.  But more than anything, I know how haunting not trying can be...how - for days - you'll think back and say "I should have..." or "Next time..."

Go ahead and Jump

We stood and waited for you to muster the courage to jump off of this tire onto the rope for what felt like a half hour.  Ted, Maggie and I all offered you encouraging words. Ted and Maggie tried to show you how easy it was and gave you helpful hints. I know what you were going through, agonizing over all the possible bad outcomes and wanting, more than anything, to have enough courage to do it - to experience the thrill of floating through the air.  For long minutes the fear outweighed the rush, but finally a burst of courage came and you do it! I was so proud that you found it in you to just do it!  This is the very definition of courage: being afraid and overcoming it. You are courageous.

Journaling reads:

I had this physics teacher in high school.  He didn't like me very much and I didn't always understand the way he taught.  But there is one thing that I have carried from him, one of those life lessons that spoke so directly to me that I have never been able to shake it: "You have to go along to get along".  I find myself struggling against this notion, always resisting the urge to speak my mind, play the devil's advocate...and yet I still know the value of those words.  Maggie, on the other hand, seems to embody the very notion of going along and getting along...and does so without appearing to compromise her core beliefs.  This day, for example, was all about placating Molly, who had been asking to go to the wooden park for a solid year.  The playground is most definitely geared toward younger kids, it's not really the place that most (almost) 15 year olds would get excited to visit.  but Maggie didn't pout or act put out, she hopped on a swing; raced her brother down the side (although, she did cheat!); offered Molly encouragement on the rope swing... all with a genuine smile on her face.  I often think that Maggie was given to me as a gift, as a lesson...as an example.  (oct 18)

Sometimes I wish that I had more time to scrapbook. But then when I think about how differently these pictures would have been treated if I hadn't had time to let those stories develop.  I really love the fact that I have two pages that offer positive reinforcement and recognition of my daughters' good qualities.  I don't need to record the fact that we went to the park - they'll remember our tips on their own.  What I value here is that I had the chance to say something nice to and about my girls and I took it.  When I'm gone I want them to know how much I loved and valued them as people.  And if that means it takes a week to finish a page, then so be it. 

Post #18 w00t!

I mean, that's, like, a burning 2.57 posts a MONTH! Whew! No wonder I'm so exhausted!! :P

But it's Circle Journal time again! I loooooove this project. Every month (or so) I get all nervous and anxious about creating a new layout, and every month (or so) I get finished and think "That was fun!!" I would definitely do this again, and would recommend that anyone even remotely interested do it. So much fun!

This month's book is called "It's the little things that make life big" and it's all about the everyday things that we appreciate and make life more of a celebration than a chore. It was fun to think about the things that I just love, but a little harder to boil it down to things that I love *everyday*. And I don't necessarily think that Kathy meant it that way - not strictly everyday - more like ordinary, free/low cost things that occur that you take pleasure in. I guess I added the "everyday" twist. Oops. But still, fun to think about that which brings me joy daily...



So. Uh. Yeah. I used Glimmer Mist on the left page. Lovely. Except that it warped the chipboard! :( I feel like spilled tomato juice on my neighbor's carpet. I really did try to be careful. I even painted it on because I was worried about over-saturating it and ...warping it. I blame the Glimmer Mist!
The other big challenge was the acrylic page. I wonder if people before me went "I'm not dealing with that!" and just rearranged it further back in the book? If they did, I commend their resourcefulness! :P I hope that Bethany (next up in the book) doesn't hate me too much for this orange-y/yellow color that isn't exactly neutral.



Oh, and I have to point this out:


Look familiar? Seriously, why re-invent the wheel. I used this exact same arrangement for my "Play" layout not too long ago, only I used those weird waxy balls in the center. Thanks to a 40% off Michael's coupon, I now have a multi pack of these cute little micro beads. So out with the weird waxy balls and in with the cute little micro beads! And will Kathy know that I totally ripped off my own layout? Only if she reads this blog, which I'm thinking: NOT SO MUCH. Score one for the lazy scrapbooker!

Week in the Life Project

These are all from Wednesday. Hopefully I'll be able to organize and share some from the rest of the week, too.
Just before pulling into the store's parking lot. Should I be taking pictures while driving down Mayfield Road? Probably not.

Having some cream cheese on saltines while doing some photo editing between customers. Someone needs a damn manicure!

The view from my "spot". This is our classroom, you can see the LCD projector we use for PowerPoint presentations. I taught our Digital 101 class at the end of this day.

We currently have well over 30 tripods, probably close to 40 if you count monopods. It's becoming a bit of a running joke, so I had to get a shot.

Things are pretty casual at Dodd. I'm grateful that comfortable shoes are okay! Out the window you can see my Jalopy and beyond that is City Hall. The fire department is in the same complex, so we get a front row view of the trucks quite frequently.

My coworker Ken. He may be one of the loudest people I know, but he's a really good guy and fun to work with. God, I hope he doesn't see this... ;)

The Thomas the Train Engine table doesn't get a ton of action, since our clientele seems to be mostly older, but it's a great thing to have when we do have kids.

After teaching the class, which went really well, I stopped at the Speedway to get a beer. I probably make this stop twice a week, so it was a must get shot.

I got home just after 9:00. The little kids go to bed at 9 and read until 9:30, at which point it's lights out. This is Ted...

....and this is Ted's homework notice that I had to sign informing me that he forgot a homework assignment that day. Ooops!

This is Reba helping me make the rounds. As soon as I went into the girls room she assumed this position.

And this is Molly doing her bedtime reading. It was a joke book. She shared that she didn't get all the jokes. Like: "What happened when the garbage man went back to school? He got thrown out." Ba-dum-dumb!

Maggie doing her history homework in her dad's room. Molly put our old paintings up all over his wall. I love these paintings. But not enough to sleep with them!

Once I said good night to everyone I headed back downstairs for that beer. Reba had already made herself comfortable in one of her two favorite spots. Frankly, i think the fabric of this loveseat suits her perfectly.

And then there's this. Holy sweet mother of Abraham Lincoln, this sight just drives me nuts. Throw the soda bottle away! Throw the gross bananas away! Why can't we stack the dishes in the sink?? Usually I'd clean it up, but tonight I just took a picture and drank my beer. :)

(my)Tunes

The latest circle journal to come my way was titled (my)Tunes. Catchy, eh? I like the title, and the general gist of the book. I only know a handful of people who don't proclaim "I love music!" when given the chance, so we all share this experience. And yet, it is such a personal thing! So yes, fun layout to create, and a fun one to snoop through previous pages.


I realize two things. I don't post often enough, and when I do, I write too damn much. So, without further ado:


You might notice that the holes are on the bottom of this page. It actually goes in the book sideways. It's not ideal, but the book was 6x6, and with my Silhouette out of commission I had little control over the title size. Turning the page sideways was the best solution for the too much journaling/too large title. The book is small enough to turn easily, so I hope people don't think I'm off my rocker.

I wish I had done the journaling directly on the background paper. The vellum feels awkward and mutes the pretty schwoopies too much. Next time...

It would have been easier to photograph both of these pages outside of their page protector, but somehow it didn't occur to me to do it that way. But I kinda like the protector showing, it shows the context. Plus, I love that Kerry found these cute little protectors for the book. However, I wish I would have thought to put a circular polarizer on to minimize the glare. Would love to know if that would have worked better, but alas, the thought just occurred to me this morning and the book got handed off last night.

I have an inkjet printer that allows you to print directly onto CDs. I found these silver printable CD at Sam's Club and I love them. Usually printable CDs have a white label on them. While there's nothing wrong with that, I love the pretty metallic sheen these CDs have. For this I scanned the background paper and resized it a bit. While the title is a bit narcissistic, I absolutely love the effect.

The paper is Heidi Swap, probably more than a year old. I really love it - the color is so serene, and the subtle pattern was easy for me to work with.

It's really fun to see these Circle Journals filling up. I think it's apparent that none of them are going to lay flat when they're finished! I'm getting more and more excited to see mine again!

In the meantime, I'm stewing on ideas for the next one in line: "The little things that make life big."

Having so much fun with this!!

Scrappin' Old Skool.

There was a time, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, that I scrapped without the Silhouette. I will need some time to re-acclimate myself with this strange way of doing things. I'm trying, but it's slow going.







Now, in the name of full disclosure, the white border-y thing was cut with the Silhouette. And damn! I love that border! Just when I started noticing it being weird I was doing some systematic cutting to see what it was messing up, and this was the laaaaaaaast good cut I got from her.



Two things of note here. I have always been a 12x12 scrapper. Yes, I'll do the occasional mini-book, or odd sized project, but my albums have always been big and square. I have no idea what made me do it, but a year or so ago I bought a We R Memory Keepers 8.5x11 binder. Last fall I did a Halloween layout and that's been the only thing in there. I've been seeing more and more 8.5x11 layouts and there's something really appealing about them. They're...tight. And that's such a non-word for what I'm trying to express, but they have a different feel, they seem more concise. Maybe they flow in a more familiar way because we're accustomed to that format from magazines? Who knows, but it's got my interest piqued.



But I'll tell you what, it's a weird thing to go from 12x12 down. And for the most part I am a single page layout kind of gal, and I don't tend to use a ton of photos. In fact, LOTS of my pages are single photo layouts, and I know that's something that a lot of more prolific picture takers hate, but oddly enough, I'm not a prolific photographer. And either I'm a really good editor, or I hate to use anything that's less than my version of perfect. You know what? I'm going to go with "I'm a good editor". While typing that I realized that yes, I won't use cruddy pictures, but I still have plenty of shots that meet my standards. There's just no urgency to use them all. I'd rather pare it down to 1 or 3 that tell the story AND THEN TELL THE STORY, rather than use a whole bunch and then not say anything. I'm certain there are a number of reasons for this. Jana Lily's voice still echos in my head about redundant pictures (ha! The mags are FILLED with redundant pictures now, and boy do I think she was right!), and my memory, like everything else on me, is starting to fail a bit. I see the words as being something I *need*. And oh, the irony that I'm waxing poetic about the need for words on a layout with a mere 4. But truly, I don't have anything to say. It was a hella hot day, my kids had fun playing on the playground. What I remember most about this day was wishing I brought more water. This isn't compelling journaling, so I left it out.



I started that last paragraph with a point: While I thought that my one photo/lots of journaling style would easily adapt itself to this smaller format, it hasn't. I've been "working" on this layout for over 2 weeks. There was supposed to be a right page, with a couple of pictures and journaling, but I just couldn't make it work. So after daaaaaays of shuffling things around and trying to make it fit (and I was using a sketch! How come I can't get it to flow even when I'm using a sketch?!)(A: I may be severly scrapping disabled) Anyway, last night I just picked up the right page, moved it far away and asked myself: Do I really have anything that I need to say about these photos?? Do I actually need the two photos I'm losing? Obviously the answer was a resounding NO to both, and instantly I was able to move forward.
Second thing of note here is the use of some insanely old product. That, my friend, is Magic Mesh. Remember that? It was all the rage. I have like 7 (mostly ugly) colors of the stuff. I've used it twice. Including this layout. I think I bought that in like 2003. And the Scrabble tiles...whooo...again, maybe circa 2004? The felt flowers are only a year old, but the weird lumpy stuff in the middle is something I got from Magic Scraps, probably in 2003. They're little lumpy balls, they're waxy looking, not beads. Anyway, they're held in place with a 4 year old bottle of GLOO. There's also some little flower gems from KI sprinkled on there. Why am I telling you this? Because today I feel a little less guilty about all the sale items I compulsively snatched up. I do miss Cord... Mmm. Mmm. Mmm.

But less you think I'm not occasionally still pumping money into the present day economy, the paper is new, as is the fabric covered brad. Both of those were purchased in January for the calendar project. I didn't use any of the brads on that project, and I MUST find a way to use them. I think I paid full retail for them (GASP!) and I've never actually used one - I mean EVER, so buying them was silly. So I need to use them so I don't feel guilty(er) about that purchase)

Good lord. I can write this much about a totally Eh layout? I must be lonely. :P

RIP

Oh, how I loved her. I may have loved her to death.

Hands down, my Silhouette has been my absolute favorite scrapbooking tool EVER.

You know how you have that revelation as a shopper about cost per use? You buy the killer pair of pumps to wear to the wedding with that amazing dress and you look HOT, but the shoes are a little owwie, and too high to wear that frequently, so you maybe wear them 3 times before giving up on them entirely. You paid $75 for them, which means it cost you $25 each time you wore them? Meanwhile, you buy a comfy white tank top that cost $10 for and wore to bed twice a week for a solid year, which means its cost per use is less than 10 cents a wear? Yeah, I think people look at the Silhouette like it's the fancy pumps, but to me it was the comfy tank top.
So I am in the market for a new, comfy tank, er, I mean Silhouette. And for a while I'll be squirreling away ten dollar bills so I can afford it without it hurting too much.

In the meantime, here's the very last thing she helped me make:




This is my most recent Circle Journal layout. The theme was spontaneous trips. I'm not much of a traveler, and for the most part "vacations" are planned well in advance - you don't navigate 2 or 3 or 4 kids very well without advance planning. Of course, this was one of the only trips I've taken in my adult life without kids, so I guess that explains that.

At any rate, the compass rose, the grunge frame, title, and borders are all from the Silhouette. And so is the cute little negative frame on the left side that goes around the Welcome to Iowa photo! That was the first time I had used that and was looking forward to finding another use for that shape. Alas, maybe later....

And oh, the irony: I just stocked up on mats and blades...

Playing Catch Up

And yeah, it's been a while since my last post, but that's not what I'm talking about.


I work retail, which means mandatory 6 day work weeks during the month of December. My new job didn't have extended holiday hours, and for that I'm eternally grateful, but open to close 6 days, laundry, grocery shopping, basketball practices (?? who's dumb idea was that?!) and squeezing in some actual Christmas shopping of my own means not having time for anything that doesn't HAVE to get done. So when everyone else is crafting up a storm, baking and mailing off cards…I'm running on Red Bull and adrenaline and looking forward to things being calmer in the new year.


So then Valentine's Day rolls around and all that residual I-wish-I-were-crafting-and-baking stuff that was left from Christmas time comes bubbling to the surface. So I may have gone a smidge over board.


First I got the idea to do a word search to attach to the kids Valentine treats. It was a fun idea and would have been super easy had I remembered that I had Excel on my computer. But I didn't and created the puzzle in PhotoShop. PhotoShop is a powerful tool, but it's too powerful for some applications. Imagine driving an 18 wheeler to the grocery store. Lots of room for the groceries, but a little hard to park. It took about 4 hours to do the puzzle, but it was worth it just to see how excited Ted and Molly were to give out their treats. Oh, and God love the Silhouette for it's ability to kick out 45 shapes in a couple of minutes. Scalloped circles, the little black tab, the cute little heart – all done in about an hour. Assembling these – another story. Brought all the pieces parts to work on between customers. It was an insanely slow day, but after 9 hours, I still wasn't finished.

Each word search and the word list was "sewn" loosely to the Fun Dip. I think it turned out super cute and very fun. I still get the biggest kick that I put the word "cooties" in there. I funny.


So Friday morning rolled around and off went all my hard work, but I had the day off and still the urge to play. I decided to make Snickerdoodles – time consuming, but well within my skill set and almost always well received. Ran to the grocery store for the cream of tartar and the flour only to come home to realize that we were also out of sugar. Decided that instead of going back to Giant Eagle I'd head to Target. Maybe they'd have some fun Valentine's Day stuff marked down. Found Arcrylic tumblers marked down 25%, very cute, but not really suitable for presenting cookies in. I poked around a bit and found a naked cookie jar that whispered "etch me….etch me…"


So, 5 hours later, cookies were baked and the jar was etched:



It never shows up all that exciting in photos, but I think glass etching is so fun and easy. It takes a whopping 15 minutes, and most of that is just spent waiting. Once I put the cookies in the jar it looked a little naked. Plus, I had more time to kill and was still itching to play. Used one Silhouette design that had three hearts, cut it out once in red and once in black and layered together. So easy. The little gift cardholder is just a tag with a pocket made by wrapping a piece of vellum around the bottom. I might over-use this design, but it's handy and fun. I really dig the little border on there. This is the first time I've used that and I positively can't wait to use it again. The rub on is from Creative Imaginations. Those rub on books are so expensive, but you get a TON of designs, so they last forever. At any rate, I was pleased at how it turned out. Definitely fun and festive!



This is what I ended up doing with the plastic tumblers from Target. The shot on the right is just a detail of the tags. ScrapWorks made a clear acrylic mini album in the shape of postage stamps. Super cute, but at 2x3 they're really too small to do much with. Turns out there were perfect to make name tags for the treat cups.



I'm not wild about this card as a whole. I made the adorable little banner pieces on Friday night, and by the time I got around to making them into a card my get up and go had pretty much got up and left. There was definitely untapped potential with those banners – they're only an inch wide! So cute. Card over all? Eh.



And lastly, I decided to take some cookies for my two coworkers. Initially I threw them into a Ziploc bag, but I couldn't do it. Instead I wrapped them in kitchen parchment paper and tied them with ribbon – I love when Archiver's has the Bazzill ribbon in their Hot Buys! 15 yards for $1.99? Heck yeah! Pulled out the package of ScrapWorks acrylic mini-albums and made some quick tags, again using red and black vinyl from QuicKutz. "DNA" is just my bosses initials, and "heart breaker" is an actual design from the Silhouette online store. Again, quick, easy, and fun.

A Smidge Too Late for January…

Go ahead, scroll down. I'll wait til you come back up.


Okay, so this is the project that I've been stewing on for a couple of weeks. I can't say that I've been "working" on it for that long, because truly the actual work time involved was maybe 6 or 7 hours, and that's from the (self-proclaimed) World's Slowest Scrapper. But back in December I found the base of this calendar at 2Peas, as well as the calendar rub-ons, both made by Maya Road. I wasn't certain what I wanted to do exactly but I knew the base would make a fun little calendar, and so into the shopping cart they went.


Shortly after these arrived on my doorstep (complete with a 25% off your next order! Coupon from 2Peas), the new Sugar Rush collection by Basic Grey was posted. Suddenly I had a slightly clearer vision of how I wanted the calendar to go: Fun, funky, ribbons, rub-ons, scallops… I gathered some paper, clicked "Buy Now" and then contemplated the nature of ugly gray naked chipboard. Yes. Something would have to be done with that.


Joann.com to the rescue! Glimmer Mist on sale at 30% off, free shipping on orders over $50 (excuse to buy the previously mentioned Ott-Lite): YAY! Funny thing was, the chipboard needed to be treated before anything else could be done. But once it arrived, Glimmer Misting is fast, but messy (work in an old box, and if possible line the box with papers so it doesn't seep through and ruin your work surface). It took maybe an hour to get all 6 chipboard bases dyed on both sides and another 2 or 3 hours to let them dry fully. This is my kind of project: do something and then take a two day long break.


Once the bases were dry things really started to roll along. I trimmed the paper to the size I wanted and corner rounded two corners and inked the edges. That took maybe an hour or so. No tedious brainwork. In fact, I purposely kept the thought at a minimum on this. With my colors chosen and supplies gathered, everything else was done without too much thought put into it. I knew if I started customizing things too much I'd get mired down, and most likely bored or frustrated and quit. Once the inking and rounding was done, another ½ hour or so was spent gluing the paper to the bases. For this, Scotch brand Wrinkle Free Glue Stick. It's less expensive, archival and perfectly suited to adhering larger cuts of paper without wrinkling.


The only part of the whole process was choosing the pictures. It took me about an hour or so to find pictures, resize them and order them online. I tried to keep them all vertical, because I knew that would fit better, but sometimes the shot that you want to use is horizontal, and you just have to deal. So I dealt. No biggie.


From there, it was only a matter of adhering the pictures, die cutting the scallop circles and rubbing on the calendar months (both done assembly line fashion) and adding some ribbon, jewels, a border die cut from bling cardstock or maybe a little rub on border)















And because the profile is so chunky and fun:

So, in recap:


Calendar base with acrylic flip easel: Maya Road
Dye for naked chipboard: Glimmer Mist
Patterned paper: Basic Grey
Calendar Rub-on: Maya Road
Cardstock for scalloped circles and various die cut borders: Bazzill Bling
Die cuts: QuicKutz nesting scalloped circles, scalloped border, dot border
Rub-on borders: Jenni Bowlin
Gems: Mark Richards
Inks: Staz On for edging pictures, ColorBox for papers
Various buttons and ribbons.
Oh! And teeny tiny staples courtesy of Tim holtz Tiny Attacher


Fun, fun, fun and guaranteed to on display and admired for one full year.

A little preview...

I've been "working" on this project for over a month now. Granted, most of the "working" has been acquiring materials. That's the easy part, when everything is optimism and good intentions. Then you get to the "doing" phase and suddenly that which was absolutely phenomenal in your head is a little shaky on (or "in") paper. But you forge ahead and trust that the vision will play itself out. Maybe not exactly as you dreamed, but perfect in its own right. We hope.

As of this writing, it's about half-way finished. I'm hoping to make more progress tomorrow night and maybe have pictures to share on Thursday.

Oh! And guess what?? This is probably the first thing I've made in EONS that hasn't used the Silhouette in any way, shape or form. On the one hand it feels kinda wrong, but it's nice to know I'm not totally addicted. Because I really don't have time in my schedule for 12 step programs.

Stay tuned!

Here's the Proof:

I have long maintained that I am a slow scrapper. I have gone to three day crops, stayed up to the wee hours of the morning only to come home with three layouts. That I dislike. It's just the way I am. I have to stew on my choices. No hasty moves for me. Adhesive is to be taken seriously.

But here it is. The proof. Today, in the time it took me to cut 12 strips of patterned paper into 3 1/4" x 6 3/4" strips and corner round them, my daughter created the Earth, the moon, and an entire galaxy of stars.



(I'll share my project when it's closer to done. Or done. We'll see.)

Two Things

Number 1

Man, I love my new OTT Lite!!




I happened to stumble across the deal of the century at joann.com, where this usually $79.99 lamp was on clearance for $19.99. There was also free shipping on orders over $50, and adding this to my cart conveniently saved me $6. Sadly, it's no longer available at JoAnn's (at least not at joann.com), but I was able to find one at Amazon. It's at $35, and there's a couple in black for $39. Still a good deal, if you ask me. The color of the light is wonderful. It sits at about eye level, but the slight shade keeps it from bugging my eyes but it doesn't seem to damped the light's spread. The result is actually being able to see, without straining my eyes or second guessing what colors I'm working with. It's so great not to be casting a shadow on my projects.
YAY for OTT-Lite, and YAY for great sales!!

Number 2

Thanks to the Ott-Lite I was able to actually take pictures of my most recent Circle Journal project. Before I would wait for daylight to get a decent shot, and even then I'd do a fair amount of fussing to get it just right. Granted, these shots aren't bound for Nat'l Geographic, but I took four shots, and I'm sharing three. And I'm not sharing the 4th because I realize there's a misspelling. Oops.





So this CJ has a "Sweet Treats" theme. I have to admit, this one stressed me out a bit. I don't consider myself very handy in the kitchen, and I knew when I heard the theme that I wanted use this recipe, but frankly, this recipe has a failure rate of about 85%. It's "Magic Marshmallow Crescent Puffs", and you bake the marshmallows, which are drenched in melted butter and rolled in cinnamon and sugar, in a crescent rolls, seal it tight and hope that the exploding marshmallow doesn't escape from the roll...and leak out everywhere. It still tastes great, but it's not exactly the kind of thing you want to take a picture of. And even if you did, no one would be inspired to try the recipe. Not pretty.

But the gods were on my side, and they actually came out yummy looking. I'd like to take credit for the photo, but I was in mini-freak-out mode about getting the puffs out of the tins without messing them up, and getting them drizzled "just so"...not that it really mattered, you can barely see it. As luck would have it, I know people who can use a camera and can be paid off with food.





Silhouette. There. You knew it was coming, everything I do has that thing somewhere. The size of this particular albums is TINY. Cute, but tiny. And I found that I needed more real estate, and my solution was to cut the file folder shape from the Sil, which allowed me to squeeze in a second picture (the bowl of marshmallows. i.e. the "before" shot. That one I took.) as well as the big journaling block about my mediocre cooking skillz.

The album is handmade, out of - can you believe it? - brown lunch bags. You decorate one side of the bag, and slide your recipe inside. Originally my recipe was on two cards, and worried about how the two cards would stay together, so I made the pocket. Jury's still out on the pocket. Frankly, I think it's cute, but it adds more bulk than I think this album can take. I ended up backing the two cards to each other. I think I may ditch the pocket...


So that's this month's CJ saga. I hand this off on Saturday and get the next one. (I hope!) I'm really having so much fun with this!

Circles

I think one of the neatest things about scrapbooking...well, after the shopping, buying, organizing and general fawning over products, is the wonderful sense of community that this hobby brings. There's a sense of camaraderie when you meet a fellow scrapbooker. That moment of "Oh, you're crazy too! We should get along just fine."

I find myself, for the first time in nine years, NOT working in a scrapbooking environment. This, for sure, has it's pluses, but I do miss (ever so slightly) the daily elbow-bumping of my fellow crazies.

Which makes me glad that prior to leaving the scrapbook store I set up a "circle journal" with my coworkers. This project is giving me that sense of community, the feeling of inclusion, and fills me with excitement.

If you're scratching your head and wondering what a circle journal is, relax, you're not alone. I only know about it because I was lucky enough to see journals being passed around, and I thought the idea was so intriguing it really stuck with me. A circle journal (or CJ) is an album that you create that has a theme. You create a page based on your theme, and then you pass the album onto the next person, who then creates her page addressing the same theme. Meanwhile, you've taken an album from someone else and you complete a layout based on that person's theme. Once you're finished you're going to pass it along to the same person you passed your first album to, and receive a new album from the same person who handed off to you before. Thus, the journals pass from person to person, making a circle once it gets handed back to its creator.

The albums are usually a smaller format, and generally have enough room for each participant to make a one or two page layout. The group of people involved can be people you know ahead of time, or may be people that you meet online through a message board, or if you're lucky you may be asked to round out someone else's CJ. It's best if you have 8 to 14 people. Too small a group will give you a book that's on the wimpy side, with probably not enough diversity. Too many, and you won't see your book returned to you for a year or more! Oh, that's another point, you have to decide upfront how long you have to create your entry before passing on to the next person. Our group chose a month, but everyone seems to leave it to the very last minute, so you could easily make the time frame shorter.

Themes for CJ can be anything your heart desires. Some themes in the CJ I'm in now are Sweet treats (a recipe album with a focus on sweets), Your favorite book, What makes your heart happy, spontaneous trips, holiday traditions, getting to know you... I've seen CJs with Pet Peeves, Hometowns, Shoes (thank God I don't have to create a layout based on my pathetic shoe "collection"), Music, Bucket List, etc., etc., etc. And it is always so fascinating to me to see these books. Not just the scrapbooking aspect - it's so fun to see every one's different styles, but I love seeing every one's responses to the themes. I find myself really wanting to read about someone else's hometown, and what drives everyone else crazy and what every hopes to accomplish before they die. Fascinating!

Whew. That was a long explanation! And yet, that's just the bare bones basics. We could talk for hours. Okay, maybe a half hour, but it would be a jam-packed half hour.

My little group of ladies started our journals in October, and I just completed my second one, not including my own. I'll share the one I just completed, but today I wanted to show the album I created.

This is my album. I used a Theresa Collins board book as my base. The book, as you buy it, is three tabbed pages, and I have a feeling these are meant to be kind of chapter separators, but I decided to make them my pages, and purchased several books. Because of the tremendous thickness of the book, I decided to limit my CJ to just one page per person. My theme is "Random Childhood Memories" and the title is cut from vinyl using my Silhouette. I love that the Silhouette software allows me to design in relationship - meaning I can create each word and position and size them independently so that they "go" perfectly with the other elements.


There are lots of ways to set up a CJ, and certainly there are no hard and fast rules. I wanted to create a place for each participant to sign in, answer a couple of questions pertaining to the topic, and (hopefully) add a picture of themselves. Space was an issue, so I decided to make these library pockets, also cut using the Silhouette (it's one of their designs). "Roll Call", the dots and every one's names are also cut on the Silhouette.



Just a close up of the pocket. You get a better look at the little questionnaire, which was created in Word. Nothing fancy. I'm not Word guru, so fancy isn't on the menu.



And lastly, this shot shows my intro/welcome page. It tells how I came to chose the topic, it asks them to fill out the card in the pocket and lets them know what I'm hoping they'll do.

Somehow I managed to send my book off into the wild without a picture of my page about my random childhood memories. You'll have to take my word for it: it was way cute, right down to the picture of me in one of my smocked Sunday dresses with the family's VW Bug in the background. It did not, however, follow the black, white and red theme I had for the intro section. I wanted to have a clear delineation of the business part of the book and the fun part of the book.

Okay, so that's today's monster post. I will grab some pictures of the layout I just did and post again soon. I would strongly encourage anyone even remotely interested in the idea of a circle journal to find a group that's forming and join in, or take the bull by the horns and start one yourself. Additional information such as theme suggestions and samples can be found here, here and here.

The L Word

Love, folks, not lesbians. But I had to get the pop culture reference in for consistency's sake.

So I started this blog with the idea that it would be a way share my "creative pursuits", it would give me a forum for sharing the Silhouette love, maybe talk about the process a little. But my big mistake was thinking that I could start this in November. Even with the best of intentions, "creative pursuits" - much less writing about them - just aren't happening in December if you happen to work in retail.

So here I am, a month since my last very off-topic post, and it's time to whip this thing into shape.

Watch, I'll probably say that a month from now, too.

But even though I was busy, it wasn't like I didn't at least try to be creative. Granted, it only happened once, and it didn't get very far, but still: I'm giving myself credit for trying.

And more than that, I'm giving myself credit for finishing something, even if it's not what I started. See that picture up top? That started out as a Ho Ho Ho banner. One rare day off I decided that I could spend an afternoon and make a cute little banner. 97 interruptions later, I had the base cut and assembled. That's when I lost steam for the day and figured I'd finished some other day. Turns out that was the last day in December with any "me" time in it at all. So the pretty red, black and white banner bases sat on my scrap table, making me wish for time to myself, and thinking at the very least I'd have a jump on next year's holiday decorations. Needless to say, Christmas came and went, and the banner never got any more done.

As my first day off without obligations out the wazoo approached, I spent a lot of time daydreaming about what I might work on once I had some time. I had the sudden realization that Valentine's Day was coming, and wouldn't my pretty red, black and white banner bases look darling dressed up with pink and purple and glitter and bling and ribbon and buttons? Why yes, yes they would!

I love those drop-back-and-punt moments. This isn't what I planned for, but I still feel like I accomplished something pretty cool.

I wish I had a really great picture of the entire banner, but I don't. What I have is snippets of the final product, and maybe that's just enough to jump start an idea for someone else...