First, I need to start this post off with a big hello to my CK blog friends. I am up over there today with a snippet of my summer scrapbooking tips and at the end of this post will be my article in full.
First though, we owe you a sweet peek from the paperlife printables that I talked about yesterday. It will be available with all the other yummy goodies on Friday!
Meet Petit Four
isn't it just so sweet and yummy? Like a plate of those adorable petit-fours you get at a fancy dinner or on a cruise! Truth be told the Coonkids and I are addicted to all the cake decorating shows, you know Duff and Cake Boss and this line is our tribute to that and Jaycie Claire and I's obsession with frosting!
Here is a layout I did with it of Jaycie Claire. I just love how sweet, soft, and dreamy this line is:
So, Petit-Four, that is our collection number 2 of 3 debut releases. Now, tomorrow I am going to surprise you all and let you in on yet another aspect of this whole paperlife printables thing we are launching and give you a peak at who has partnered up with us and what exclusive things we have designed for them!!!!
And for you CK friends, and everyone else for that matter, here is my Summer Scrapbooking article in full, enjoy!
Guilt Free Summer Scrapbooking Tips From The Paperlife.
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Hi, itʼs Amy Coon again from The Paperlife. Well it is what, like the first full week of summer, and if your life is anything like mine you are in full swing “cram everything you can in before school starts again” mode. I feel like I should have someone surgically put wheels on me, I am running here there and everywhere, every moment of the day. And my hobby and love, scrapbooking, well, lets just say, I miss her terribly. Its just hard for me to fit her in in the summertime. Right? Well. so I used to think. Anyone else nodding their head in agreement? I hope so, because my guest post over here on the CK blog today is meant to relieve some of that for all of us.
I do not hold the magic formula for this summer scrapbook fever I suffer from each and every year but, I do have some ideas, theories, and tips I want to share with you, to put it in a new light. First of all, remember this is a hobby, a famous person once said, “there is no crying in scrapbooking,” errrr, or was that baseball, hmmm, I donʼt remember but, the point is,like baseball, its supposed to be fun. Another thing, that I want to go into a little more detail about is that, we have no rules or by-laws in this thing called scrapbooking. It is a very multi-layered and deep thing, this scrapbooking, just like your life that it completely revolves around, so lets throw some “stereotypical” ideas out there about scrapbooking, and well BURN them at the stake.
1.) (and this is complements of Stacy Julian, whose Photo Freedom books you should definitely read this summer, if you havenʼt already.) You do not have to scrapbook in order, whatever that means. I am a product of this. I have been scrapbooking “in inspiration” and not order for the past 5 years and I truly feel my 22 books full of pages about our life would be more like a measly 2 if I had not done this. Hey people, the majority of us reading this are creative, we have creative minds, creative tendencies, we act on a whim a lot of the time, that is why this is our hobby and not stamp collecting. So, turn it into a blessing this summer not a burden. Scrapbook that picture of juniors first little league hit that happened today tonight, if that is what you are excited about at the moment, who really cares if you are still working on his first bath page in his baby album, “in order.” I mean really, how is that working for you?
I think of it like this, our memories are completely out of order and based on inspiration, when I remember something from my past, a fond memory, I donʼt go back to my first ever memory at 3 years old and then work forward through all the memories in Chronological order in my mind until I come the the time frame that the original said memory is coming from. I mean, do you? Think about it and maybe give “out of order scrapping” a try this summer because, there is no crying in scrapbooking, remember.
2.) You do not have to have a completed page to feel like you were successful at scrapbooking. Remember the layers I talked about, and life, well, you donʼt eat an elephant in one bite. First of all how enjoyable is anything that you scarf down in onebite? Enjoyment people enjoyment, your hobby should be enjoyable every step of the way. Maybe you got a favorite story written down in the time you took to enjoy your hobby today, good for you you scrapbooked, maybe you got a chunk of photos, edited and uploaded to the printer, guess what, you to scrapbooked, maybe you cleared a path and a 12x12 area to create on in your scrap space, your too my dear, scrapbooked. Those are all layers to the process that have to be accomplished before the whole so, stop belittling them, and give yourself a pat on the back, you are scrapbooking! Heck, I take this to all kinds of limits in my world, looked through Marthaʼs latest magazine at the pool and got some color inspiration, check I scrapbooked. Went to the mall and saw the coolest juicy purse ever, that I could totally base a scrap page off of, check I scrapbooked. This really is a lifestyle hobby.......did someone say Paperlife?......sorry....but, what I mean is this hobby is all about your life, thats kind of unique for a hobby, and because of that it really can be your lifestyle if you let it. So this summer, pat yourself on the back when you accomplish the layers, not the just the entire elephant.
3.) Not many people in the bio-science field know this but, creativity is actually a human muscle, no really, it, like the family dog needs to be exercised and walked with daily. And you need to do it just like your jr high P.E. teacher told you to, with a good healthy warm up. Google creative exercises, there are hundreds on the web and do them to get that creative muscle in shape, because in my world, that too is scrapbooking.
4.) Daydreaming counts, BIG TIME, as scrapbooking. Yes that is true, all summer I do this, and I am proud of it, I relax and enjoy the weather where ever I happen to be in my summer and I plan what I want to scrapbook, how I want pages to look, make lists of things I want to be sure and capture for my kidsʼ albums, and ponder new techniques and ideas I want to try.
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5.) Ok, lets get a little more practical with the layers thing. And look at a page or a mini book in steps and layers. Maybe this summer you take a few bits and pieces of this and that, some glue and scissors and make custom embellishment for your pages, as you drink lemonade with the kiddoʼs on the back porch. Another way to do this is to make a journaling kit with, your favorite pens and journaling spots to keep in the car for those “hurry up and wait” summer appointment times. That way you can get the stories down to attach to your layouts before you ever even make them.
6.) Pictures are worth a thousand words, when it comes to scrapbooking. Polish up on those photography skills this summer, longer days with better light, more vivid landscape colors, subjects looking relaxed and healthy with all the fresh summer air. What better time to get amazing pictures for your stories. Capture the moments of your life this summer because, that too is, another layer of scrapbooking.
7.) And this is my favorite thing to do, summer scrapbook-wise, art journaling. All you really need for this is a journal, a pen, maybe some colored pencils and you can
brainstorm all kinds of ideas for future layouts when the weather turns chilly. Another great piece of custom ephemera to add you your work are lists, and an art journal and an pen just pull those lists right out of you. What you are then left with are rich pieces of your life at the moment to incorporate into your books and layouts. A whole other way to get life out of an art journal for scrapbooking is using it to experiment and try new techniques. I mean what better time to get messy than a nice summer evening outside with your “messy supplies” and an art journal. This all counts as scrapbooking because you are broadening your arsenal of techniques and tools in a safe place, so when it does come time to incorporate them in your books and layouts, you my dear are ready.
So here is to a summer filled with guilt-free scrapbooking where everything counts, you see you where probably already doing a lot of this and just not giving yourself credit. With a little shift in thinking, some tips and tricks, and most of all remembering that a lot of summer scrapbooking is about making the memories to scrapbook, you too can be well on your way to a guilt-free creative summertime Paperlife!
Just donʼt forget to pack the camera! And thats how Amy seeʼs it. {wink}
Love hanging out over here with you guys, before I go I have a little announcement to make, We are releasing a whole new www.thepaperlife.com on July 1st and we want all of you to stop by and check it out that day, and everyday after for that matter, because we will have all kinds of yummy paperlife printable products for you to add to your paperlife there! We will also be having a call for a couple more papergirls to add to our team, you are hearing that here first! So, watch for more on that too!
Until next time, go make a beautiful mess of your paperlife!
(Layouts done with the new paperlife printable collection Just Beachy to see those I am going to send you back to www.creatingkeepsakesblog)
WOW! Longest blog post EVER!!! If you made it this far you deserve a medal.......FOR REAL!
