Thursday, June 5, 2008

Taking a Break from Scrapbooking Notes



Me and DH at Opening Day!


Beautiful Daughter at BFF's wedding


Sweet Doggie on brand new decorative pillow from BB&B. Is now her pillow!

Man! It's windy today!

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

More Notes on Journaling

Here is more good information regarding journaling.

60. Photo-less journaling - Don't let a lack of photographs from a certain event keep you from recording it in your scrapbook. In addition to telling the story, describe the setting of the place, add quotes from those present and record the personalities of people to make the story complete without photos.

This is a good idea! One whole page of just journaling. I think I'll try that.

61. Send postcards - For more interesting travel pages, send a postcard to yourself while on vacation. When you receive it, add the postcard to your pages for instant travel journaling.

How about this idea...Start a travel album. 6X6 or 8X8 with just postcards you have sent yourself from where ever you have traveled and journaling about the trips.

62. Show, don't tell - A basic rule of writing that translates well to scrapbooking is using your words to show something and not just tell about it. Instead of saying a garden is beautiful, describe the colors, shapes and types of flowers that made it beautiful. Instead of saying the day was cold, say you could feel the chill of the air in your bones and describe the type of wind or precipitation.

This is a great idea and a thesaurus would come in real handy.

63. Use your five senses - Record aspects fromall five senses - touch, taste, hearing, seeing and smelling - All these things affect how we appreciate life. In your journaling, others can appreciate what you experienced too.

To me, 62 & 63 are the same thing.

64. Interviewing - Utilize the living history you have by interviewing older relatives for heritage albums. Ask them about old photos you've acquired and tape record the conversations. Use what they say for heritage scrapbook journaling.

Another use for this suggestion is interview a small child. Ask deep questions of relatives your age. Ask fun questions like - If you could have a super power what would it be?

65. Labeling - Try to include dates and names on every page of your album in some way. If pages of your album are separated in future years, these names and dates will be helpful to put the page in context.

This is usually fairly easy to do and a good idea.

66. Bigger isn't better - Large, fancy words do not make for more interesting journaling - they usually just make journaling harder to read and understand. Write in conversational manner, using words you'd say if talking.

Duh! Most folks would have to look up fancy words to add to journaling.

Monday, June 2, 2008

Journaling

This is a very important section. Journaling is something all of us need to do more of. Everyone admits it...you know you do.

55. Original handwriting - Even if you do not like your handwriting, it's important to include it in your scrapbooks at least some of the time. Think about how interesting it can be to look at something written generations ago. The same goes for your handwriting - think how your descendants will appreciate it.

Bunk! Well, not totally bunk. I guess we strive to have perfect pages and most of us don't journal because of our less than perfect handwriting. Challenge: Use your handwriting on your next page.

56. Write freely - To help focus on what you'd like to say, sit down at your computer and type or use a ruled notebook and pen. Freely write down whatever comes to mind. Don't worry about grammar, punctuation or spelling. This can help you focus on what you'd like to say without the confines of a small journaling space.

Good idea! Then you can either copy the journaling in your own handwriting or print on vellum. It gives you a good idea of the space you will need on your page for the journaling.

57. Bullet points - One fast and easy way to include important details in your scrapbook is through bullet points. You don't have to worry about writing complete sentences; it allows you to fit more details on a page and the bullets can be used as design elements.

Bullet points don't have to be like bullets in a report:
  • Like this
They can be like this:


58. "Found" journaling - Collect brochures and other items as you travel to help with journaling. You won't have to rely on your memory when you have stacks of information to choose from . It's also helpful to photograph billboards. The items you gather will help yield more complete journaling.

Look for "found" journaling in:
  • packaging
  • advertising
  • catalogs
  • recipes
  • newspaper articles
  • internet sites
  • place mats
  • drink coasters
  • backs of postcards
  • plaques at historic sites
  • road signs
  • books and pamphlets
  • magazines
  • handouts and flyers
  • menus
  • correspondence
Like this page I made about our cooking class in the famous Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. This was part of the pamphlet they gave us about our chef and what he was cooking.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Layout and Design Part Dos

More ideas for layout and design from Memory Makers...

43. Use the same base colors - When combining patterned paper, choose ones with the same base shades. For example, even though blue and yellow usually look good together, a yellow pattern with a bright white background will not match a blue pattern with beige undertones.

Just like wine with dinner...use what you like!

44. Heavily journaled pages - Make pages with lots of journaling more visually appealing and easier to read by treating various words differently through-out. Write some in different colors, add interesting capital letters at the beginning of each sentence, add a variety of small stickers, etc.

I think this is self explanatory but, bottom line is most of us don't journal enough much less doing a whole page of it. This is a challenge...JOURNAL A WHOLE PAGE!!!

45. Sketch your ideas - Move photographs into different arrangements on a page or spread until you find the most appealing design. Then place other objects around them. When you've settled on a complete design, sketch it on paper.

This is always a good idea. Another good idea is to "scraplift". Scraplifting is just the idea of stealing someone else's design an putting your pictures and embellishments on your pages.

46. Utilize extras - When faced with lots of extra photos or an over abundance of supplies, take advantage of this by trying a few non-traditional page designs. Cut the photos in small squares for a mosaic page, or adhere paper scraps and other supplies at random for a unique collage-style page.

Always remember - you don't have to use every picture you have. Sometimes picking the best picture can be a difficult job because sometimes they are all good and tell a great story (like family reunion photos). Don't limit yourself a to one or two page layout. It's your scrapbooking...make a mini-album or several 12X12 layouts.

47. Balance - Distribute page elements evenly on all sides of the page to achieve a balanced design. For example, if a dominant photograph is located in the top left corner of your page, offset it (but don't overpower it) with an embellishment in the bottom right corner. You don't want your page "leaning" heavily to one side or the other.

Here is a good example - Photo in the upper left and large "bling" embellishment on the bottom right.