Congratulations!

Congratulations to Karen of Maysville Missouri for winning the explosion album raffled off at the Maysville Country Harvest! Karen selected the Christmas album from the three offered.

To get your own explosion album, visit my website!

Country Harvest

Wow, its hard for me to believe the summer has flown by so quickly, but here it is, the middle of September!

The fun thing about fall is the craft shows! This Saturday you can join Designs of Mine at the Maysville Country Harvest, beginning about 8:00 AM. There are rides for children, a baby show and sibling look-alike contest, a parade (at 2:00 PM) and lots of great booths like mine! This amazing fun will take place at the courthouse square in Maysville, MO. You should probably be there ;-).

I am excited about some new products for my booth this year. In the past I have displayed samples of my custom projects, but this year I have several pre-made items for sale. While all of my things are still available custom made, you can purchase these pre-mades and take them home with you-- no waiting, no contract!

So get out and enjoy. See you Saturday!

Disappearing into the Void

Okay, so you may or may not have noticed I have taken a small hiatus from blogging. And facebooking. And e-mailing. And life in general.

Well, I have a good excuse. You see, I have focused my creative talents in a new area. Instead of creating scrapbooks, I'm assembling a baby. Very talented of me, wouldn't you say?

I expect to finish this project by the end of the December (my official due date is the 29th). And I apologize for my absence from the living world; it's possible I have been a tiny bit sick. (And more possible that I have been a lot sick!) However, I am getting as back to normal as it is possible to be in this condition and scrapbooking is back on the list!

Just as soon as I finish this pickle sandwich and take a nap...

That's What It's All About!

Previously we discussed how to use scanned photos to create a digital scrapbook album which can be printed into a hard bound book. But what about the originals?

While it is true not everyone can have a copy, originals are still important documents. Be they newspaper clippings, photographs, certificates, drawings, or rationing stamps (got some of those!) the "real thing" will fade and disintegrate over time without proper care. The scans allow you to view the same information indefinitely, but there is something priceless about holding a document handled by others decades before.

Museums and historical archives have been using various techniques for years to preserve artifacts. While you may not be willing to go to the lengths taken to preserve, say, the Declaration of Independence, there are still great options available.

Archival Mist is a product carried in most scrapbooking stores. This spray is a fine, clear mist which coats any paper document and neutralizes the acid. I use it in my daily scrapbooks when I save items, such as a birthday card, not made specifically for scrapbooking.

Individual pockets, soldered from typical page protectors, can be created for any document you wish to protect, as well as handle. By making a pocket the size of a postcard sent home from a grandparents honeymoon trip and attaching it to the front of the scrapbook page you can see not just one side, but two. Proper pin-prick air holes continue to allow dangerous acids to escape from the postcard while the plastic protects it from fumbling fingers.

Most of us have saved snippets along the way. Whether it is your wedding announcement or a child's hospital band from birth, these artifacts will fade and fall apart. But at Designs of Mine, preserving memories is what we are all about!

Digi Grandma

Last week I told you about the treasure trove discovered in my grandparent's home. Boxes filled with family history, carefully kept for future generations.

Today I'd like to tell you what I am doing with it.

Photographs do not split well. Who has the right to Great-Grandma Laura's school portrait? One of her four children, her grand children, her great-grandchildren, or her great-great-grandchildren? To solve this problem I have hired a company to scan each of these precious photographs and turn them into digital files.

Digital photos, combined with the massive amount of historical information provided by Great-Grandma Henrick, will allow me to create scrapbooks for my entire family. A family tree, copies of memorabilia like the receipt for Grandpa Henrick's first car (a Chevy Roadster purchased in 1929, days before the stock market crash), the newspaper article of a family member "missing" only to be discovered hitching a ride on a train to travel to the next state to enlist in the army. All of these can be added to my computer files, uploaded to a printing service, and bound into a hardback book. At about $40-$50, depending on the type of cover chosen, anyone and everyone will be able to order a copy of this book.

So everyone can have a copy of the picture of my Grandma modeling her first bikini.

Roots

A few months ago my Grandpa passed away. As my Grandma preceded him in death, with this event came the task of sorting through their personal belongings. And oh, what treasures we found.

Albums from the 50's, 60's, and 70's, newspaper clippings of births, deaths, and marriages, aging wedding invitations, and, best of all, boxes of photos in old folders, some dating back to the late 1800's.

In six file folder boxes (you know, the kind from the 60's) are the portrait images of my great-great grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other distant relations. As best as I can tell, the oldest is one of my grandpa's mother at about age 8. She is wearing a calico dress and pinafore, hair plaited in two braids, sitting with 40 or so other children in front of a school house. It may have been a two-room school, as the photo also contains two school masters, severe and demanding from the looks of it.

Also in the boxes are my Great-Grandma's collection of family history. I believe she started with her husband's family and traced back four generations to the Henrick family arriving in America from Alsace-Lorraine. It was fascinating reading, but even more interesting was her own paternal family tree, going back eleven generations to a family settling in the New World in the early 1700's. By the time the family tree arrives at the Revolutionary War, they are third generation Americans (or Britans. Whatever.).

And I cannot tell you how grateful I am. My family took the time to preserve their stories, their photos, their beliefs and faith, their history, and their records for me to see today.

What will you leave?

Type-B Scrapbooking

I am a type-A, left-brained, organizational junkie. I like order.

That being said I should tell you-- you don't have to scrapbook that way. There are no rules; you cannot scrapbook "wrong." So do it the way it works for you.

If it takes you months to find all the baby pictures you wish to preserve, whats wrong with ordering a few pages today from the pictures you just had developed? Pay for the pages as you organize the pictures, (which will allow you to fit the scrapbook into your monthly budget in pieces, rather than all at once) and just do it! You are not behind. You are not out of order. You are recording memories. And that means you have a scrapbook.

Choose a D-ring album (like a 3-ring binder) and slip the pages in where ever you wish. Isn't it better to have some pages, some stories, some pictures, preserved than none at all?

So go with what motivates you. Choose what you enjoy. I give you permission not to feel guilty about the rest.

Survey Says

I'm wondering, are there people out there who are interested in digital scrapbook albums? What about albums created digitally and printed out for viewing in a book?

If you have a comment-- leave it now!

Why Wait?

Stress-free scrapbooks have been our goal this month-- how am I doing? Last week we looked at ideas for adding more pictures with less cost.

Now I want to cover the "story." People scrapbook for a lot of reasons. And while "creative outlet" in certainly viable, most of us just want to capture memories. Whether you just want to document your life for yourself or you are passing a legacy on to your children, the idea is to tell a story.

So keep in mind that if you are doing that, you cannot scrapbook a "wrong" way.

But you can scrapbook in a more timely and cost effective way!

First, think about the story you wish to tell. I'm working on an album right now that covers childhood. Key points are, obviously, each grade in school, major family vacations, holiday traditions, and family members. Instead of scrapping every photo, we are working to choose just enough to tell the tale. For example, select photos from each grade go together on ONE two-page spread. An entire year of life in six pictures.

Because you probably don't need 20 albums to remember your childhood.

Here's another hint. If you have young children, start their scrapbook now. As the school year winds down, pick ten of your favorite photos and contact me. For less than $25 per year, you will have a 26 page album by the time your child is a Senior. So simple-- so doable!

What are you waiting for?

The Quest Continues

Happy Monday!

In our quest for simpler scrapbooks, last week we discussed not using every photo. But what if you really like them...

If you really like them-- scrap them! But just because you scrap them doesn't mean they need their own page. Here are some ideas for adding more photos to a single page or single spread (that's the two pages which face each other). The cost involved is minimal. To use these ideas your page will be classified as a level 3 (Check the website if you need clarification!), which does cost a bit more than the first two levels, but is still more bang for your buck than adding more pages!

First option: create a pocket behind the page. Add tabs to the tops of your photos and place them in the pocket. You can pull them out and look at them whenever you like!

Second option: choose wallet sized photos, or even use the index provided when you order pictures.

Third option: order a small album, such as an explosion or paper bag album to display lots of photos and still stay in budget. I did this for my son's first birthday and I love it!

Fourth: add photo pockets to your scrapbook. Simply slide 6 4x6 pictures next to a layout. This worked great for last year's Christmas pictures.

Until next time!

A Little Reminder

I posted this at Christmas, but as Easter is right around the corner, it bears repeating!

I wanted to post a few good reminders and tips!

First-- charge your batteries (or replace them) in the camera and camcorder. Nothing worse than a great event and a dead battery. (And yes, I know this from experience!)

Second-- take posed pictures in those cute Christmas -er, Easter--outfits early! It is easy to forget or plan to take them at the end of a get-together, but if you've got kids then I don't need to tell you-- the clothes will not look them same in an hour.

Also-- grab some shots of something a little different this year. I've been posting my holiday traditions, hoping to stir you to ideas of photos to take for yourself! So don't forget to snap a shot of your favorite ornament, the grand Christmas feast you created, or the reindeer slippers your toddler won't wear. (Make that Easter basket or darling gloves for a five year old)

And don't forget-- organize your photos as quickly as possible after the holiday season, especially if you have a digital camera and hundreds of photos. I like to organize by events, so I'll create a different folder for each of the family Christmases. You could organize by people featured in the photo or make files for each day or week.

New for this post I'll also add, take some with you in them! Figure out how to use your camera's timer or just had it to someone else for a while. Happy Easter!

Every Photo

Good morning Monday!

As promised, today I'll post the first in a series of ideas for making your scrapbook project more manageable. If you are like me (and millions of others!) you have enough pictures from your last trip to the park to create an entire scrapbook just for that occasion. And while trips to the park are fun, you probably don't need an album, nor do you wish to pay for one.

The solution? Get it out of your head that you need to scrapbook every photo! I've done this, quite happily I might add, for clients. But it is NOT NECESSARY! Instead, focus on your memory. Instead of choosing 24 pictures from the weekend at Grandma's, choose four of your favorite. Maybe one of the whole family, one of being in the backyard, and one on an outing, and another that is just adorable. When you see this one finished page you will be able to remember your trip just as well as if you had asked for six pages to hold each photo. Request a journaling block for your page and write a few notes to further capture the memories.

So what do you do with the rest of the pictures? Many of you use digital cameras, so store them on the computer (don't forget to back them up) and click through any time you like. My husband still prefers to look at the photos in an album, so I slip the extras into a simple book. Combined with the story told in the scrapbook, we can remember what was special about these photos and enjoy them there as well.

I hope that gets some wheels churning! See you next Monday!

Stress Free!

Bring me your shoebox full of photos, sure, sure. You've got four boxes. And some albums. It would take dozens of scrapbooks just to hold them all. Where would you begin?

As this seems to be a common hang-up on the way to organized scrapbook bliss, I've decided to run a series of suggestions for stress-free photos. My website provides the steps to having your scrapbook created for you, but this will be more about making the task manageable and afforadable.

So if you're interested, tune in each Monday! See you then!

Attn: Seniors

Graduation is will be here soon! Are you ready?

As you close this chapter of your life, consider how you will remember the past 4, 12, or 18 years. What was your story?

Designs of Mine can create a custom scrapbook to display at your graduation open house. Gather up senior photos, newspaper clippings, pics of friends, and anything else you'd like to remember forever and contact me for a free consultation.

On average a scrapbook requires at least two weeks for completion. Call today to make sure yours is ready for open house!

Cracker Crumbs

I saw a cute idea in a recent issue of a scrapbook magazine. As I frantically clean and cook for my expected company (all the way from Arizona) it's good to remember the important stuff. The idea I read suggested taking a picture of guests to your home and asking them to write a quick note about why they came. The creator of this idea didn't even add any embellishments or decoration of any kind. She just taped the photo onto pretty paper and slid it into one side of a small album and the note into the other side. Her very own "guest book" with no hassle at all.

And lots of warm memories-- which is what I should be thinking about instead of crumbs on the floor.

Luck of the Irish

We all have our quirks. Our idiosyncrasies. Our oddities. And St.Patrick's Day is one of mine. I know it's not Easter or New Year's; no one gives you any presents or sends cards. But I love it.

My name, of course, is Irish. Actually it's a kind of green even. And my birthday is the 19th, which makes it all fun. Spring begins to sneak up on you, somewhere around in here; you can plant potatoes and stuff now. I enjoyed teaching my kindergartners about leprechauns and spending a day out of the ordinary as we built "traps" to catch them in. I'm even looking forward to attempting to cook corned beef and cabbage this year.

And the point of me telling you all this is that these quirks, these idiosyncrasies, these oddities make us the people we are. So I'll snap a few pictures of my corned beef, but most important I plan to journal on my scrapbook page. I'll leave a story and tell something about me. Someday my kids will read it and learn about mom as a person instead of mom as a maid.

After all, stories are the reason I scrap. What's yours?

Variety

I love scrapbooks because they allow you to enjoy the pictures you've taken, instead of sitting around where no one ever sees them. Fortunatly, there are a lot of ways to share your pics! Picturetrail.com happens to be another favorite of mine. I can load my pics, create a slideshow, and post to my website, blog, or just about anywhere on the net.

So check it out and enjoy!

So You Know

The most common response to hearing about this company is: "Oh, it would take me years to sort through all the pictures I have!"

But that, my friends, is the whole point.

I want you to have your photos, displayed in such a way that you can enjoy them, with the least amount of work possible. That is why I will sort your stuff.

Yes, that's right. I will go through your shoe boxes, photo albums, even Rubbermaid tubs, and compile a scrapbook from the ground up. I am doing it right now. I have a photo box filled with unlabeled pictures. Judging from the haircuts, picture clues and occasional note on the back, I am creating a 30 page album.

So don't let that deter you!

Winter Dreary

The weather was so gorgeous the other day my little guy and I played outside for more than two hours! (And if you don't think that's a long time to do one thing, you haven't met my toddler.) Anyway, I grabbed some great shots, even with the dreary winter background. Thought I'd share some ideas with you.

For several shots I used an old shed on our property as background. It's prettier than dead trees, that's for sure. For other shots I put the camera almost on the ground (he's short...) and took the shots at an upward angle. Although people often look more flattering from an above angle, the outside light gives him great color, and hey, what can I say, he's just a good-looking kid, no matter which way I look at him : ). This angle gives me sky as background, which again, in nicer than the grass in this season!

In this shot I kept the shed as the background, but changed the camera's angle so you just don't notice all the leaves and such. Sure, they are there, but the focus in on my subject-- where it should be.

Well, there you have it. My two cents on taking pictures in February! I'll wish you great success with yours, but hurry. They are calling for snow.

Confetti!

Last week I posted a blog (I am a Scrapbooker) in which I published a 250 word reply to a writing challenge. Yesterday I discovered, to my own surprise, I won! My attempt at creative writing is now posted at Something She Wrote, along with some very thoughtful comments from Janna's usual readers.

All of which is somewhat ironic to me, because on the same day I wrote this response I also took a quiz posted on another of my favorite blogs, A Classic Housewife. I was unsurprised to learn that I am a very left brained person. (I scored 14 for left brain, 4 for right.) I love order, structure, routine, and guidelines. In fact, when there are no guidelines, I often create them for myself.

So what in the world am I doing in the middle of not one, but two, very creative fields? Scrapbooking and fictional writing?

Ya got me.

But at least you know I'll have your projects finished for you on time!