After All These Years

Let's Talk About Rub Ons

I was a bit addicted to the old Making Memories rub on letters back when they first came out. But I still use them!

 

I've tried storing them in boxes (hard to transport) and I've tried hanging them (the little plastic tabs snap off eventually) so when I switched tool caddies, my old one became the perfect solution for my rub ons.

The caddy is actually a cutlery holder from Howard's Storage World. And I can't buy anymore sets of rub ons because no more will fit in.

It's easy to transport, it's stores easily on my shelves and they're easy to pull out of there to use. I have to rely on my memory to remember which ones I actually have. But half of them are 'Heidi' font anyway in different colours, sizes and multiples of some! All time favourite lettering. And I see that she's bringing out letter stamps of her writing! Read this  post to see! 

A tip: I have a little snap lock bag stored in there to keep all those letters that you cut out and then changed your mind about and don't want to throw away! 

Let's Talk About Albums

I'm a Library Of Memories convert. A couple of years ago I heard about this concept of Stacy Julian's. Then when this book came out, I immediately read it, re-read it and converted all my photos, memorabilia and scrapbook albums to her system (adapted slightly to suit my needs).

 

I highly recommend reading this book.

I want to share firstly my albums which are stored, of course, on my Expedit shelves from IKEA. They are all 12 x 12 post bound from Making Memories but with different coloured albums for each category.

 

Each album has a tag attached with a small bulldog clip so they're all labeled with what's inside them (the tags are colour coded also).

I switched to storing my completed layouts in categories rather than chronologically because I don't scrapbook chronologically. That way when a layout is completed it can go straight in the album without worrying about leaving room for layouts I haven't yet done.

You need to decide on your own categories, these are the ones that work for me:

• Our Engagement (black)

• Our Wedding (cream)

• Christmas Memories (brown linen)

• All About Us (green)

• Family & Friends (brown)

• Places We Go (blue) this one's rather empty!

• Everyday Life (red)

• Amelia (aqua)

I will go into more detail one day about what fits in each category and how my photos are stored.

I do have 10 or so other albums from the early days of scrapbooking which are all in chronological order. They are staying the way they are and I'm OK with that.

 

And a little bit of advice about choosing albums:

1. You get what you pay for. Buy the best one you can afford for quality. I don't like albums that fall apart when they get too full and I like thick page protectors.

2. Buy page protectors straight away. When I buy a new album I buy two packets of sleeves at the same time and put them in right away when I get home. Done. No trying to find the right ones later when the album is full.

3. Binder albums are best for bulky pages. If you like to add a lot of 'stuff' to your layouts, get a binder album so they don't get squashed.

4. Alway store albums upright. If you store them lying down your pages will get indents from things on other pages. Trust me.

More organising tips tomorrow!

Baby Idea Book

I had a nice morning at Blossie's today. Amelia and I went up to drop something off and we got to say hello to some of our favourite scrappers! I feel so lucky that so many people take an interest in Amelia. Thank you so much ladies for indulging me and letting me show her off! I'm such a proud first time mum! (Amelia is part Blossie's after all!)

I arrived home to some very happy mail . . . the new baby idea book from Scrapbook Trends with Amelia's birth announcement on page 16! Woo hoo!

 

 

And in the box with my returned item and my magazine was a few scrappin' goodies too! So I've cleaned off my desk and I'm ready to scrap again. Stay tuned!

New 'Slice' Design Cards

Ok, so ever since I heard that Making Memories is releasing 12 new design cards at CHA I've been on the lookout for more information. I have finally found it! Check it out here.

I'm going to be needing the wedding and studio essentials cards at least! 

I believe that more information will become available on the WhySlice? website soon. Want to hear something else? I read on a message board somewhere that they're possibly bringing out new accessories for the Slice so that you can emboss and maybe even cut chipboard! Don't know if it's true or not. Hope the chipboard part is!

Oh my goodness. So in between working on this I've been trolling the internet to drool over new releases from Pink Paislee,  October Afternoon and  My Mind's Eye just to name a few of my favourites. 

 

But it's been so long, I think I've forgotten how to scrapbook. Really. 

In other exciting news, I've had a layout accepted for publication in Creating Keepsakes magazine and a card accepted for publication in Scrapbook Trends magazine. That's a bit exciting. Although I won't actually see them in print until the middle of the year! 

 

A Random Post

A couple of random points today:

• I've been busy working on something BIG for Blossie's so I've been trying to cut back on my blogging time (not really working).

• As for my word this year 'health', it's going ok. I've been managing to go walking 3 or 4 times a week (which is a start) but I need to do a little bit more 'editing' of my food intake and the diet coke intake is waaay up there still! But it's only early days . . .

• I would really like to be scrapbooking more but I need to finish this project first. I've got me some cool new things to play with (cuttlebug embossing folders, glittery papers and Hero Arts stamps). It'll be kind of like my reward when I finish I suppose!

• Also, I'd like to share more projects on my blog but a lot of the layouts I'm creating at the moment are for classes and out of respect for those that pay to attend my classes, I don't share those layouts on my blog!

• Hmm. Maybe I would scrap more if I did actually cut down the number of blogs I visit everyday, sometimes more than once a day.

• On that note, you HAVE to check out this cool one I found! It's called Ikea Hacker and there are some cool ideas on there for an Ikea junkie like myself and a few others I know!

Ikea Hacker

Have a great weekend!

 

The Reject Shop

Ok, so I've posted before about how much I love The Reject Shop, Bargain City and various other cheap shops. Well, my good friend got one of these ages ago and I've been coveting one ever since. The Reject Shop finally has them in again!

 

See that bottom set of drawers for $6? The long bottom drawer is the right width to store all of your edges and trims in (such as Bazzill's Just The Edge).

If purple, green, pink, blue and yellow don't match your decor, you can paint or cover the drawers in patterned paper.

Thanks for the tip Donna!

I also got one of the smaller drawer sets to alter and use to store Amelia's hair clips and things. Now to find the time to do it all!

My Favourite Things

Today I have a layout to share that uses a few of my latest favourite things. The layout is also my 'one little word' project. (see post here  if you don't know what I'm talking about). 

 

Here's what I'm loving right now:

1. Black and white spot paper

Goes with almost anything. You need to keep some of this in your stash. This particular one is from Heidi Swapp (has big spots on the back) but a few paper manufacturers make a black and white spot paper.

2. Heidi Swapp Damask Stamp

I already owned this before Create '08 but we learnt many, many ways to use this stamp from Heidi herself. So very versatile. And goes with a variety of themed photos.

  

3. The font 'Downcome'

You can download it here. A nice, grungy font but is easy to read. It's the font I've used on my photo for the word 'health' and I've also used it for my journaling.  A girl can never have too many fonts right?

4. Hot Pink

I'm so influenced by Heidi Swapp lately! I picked up a set of her chipboard letters in hot pink and they were the inspiration for this layout. Black, white and hot pink.

And you know what? My husband has a tshirt with hot pink writing on it and I've seen boys' board shorts with hot pink on them so it's NOT just for girls!

 

Here are a couple of close ups of the layout. I hope you enjoyed my first 'Favourite Things' for the year!

 

 

Lots Of Links

I've got a few links to share with you. Maybe you'll have a little time over the weekend to peruse them. They are all challenge-type sites but they are quite interesting, never knowing when inpsiration will jump out at you!

Mix It Up!

Method Playground 

The Design Experiment 

One Little Word 

And just 'cause she's so darn cute, here's a picture from last weekend.

Enjoy the links and have a great weekend!

 

Completed '1st Christmas' Album

This overcast (but yet still very humid) weather we've been having does not make for good photo taking of mini albums!  So...some of the photos aren't the best.

I've created an album on the sidebar to the right where you can see every page of the completed album. I'll just share a couple of my faves with you here.

 

Mini Album Tip #1: Smaller photos are your friend!

I get my photos printed at Big W where you can get 2, 3 or 4 photos printed on the one 6 x 4 photo so they are quite a bit smaller. Perfect size for projects like this one where you need smaller photos but cropping will cut out too much important 'stuff'.

 

Mini Album Tip #2: Get out the old Dymo label maker for quick and easy captions.

I'm lucky enough to have a few bright coloured Dymo tapes that coordinated with this album perfectly. I did a lot of the journaling by hand (which I think kind of ruined it but anyway). And I used my white gel pen a lot which unfortunately didn't show up too well in the photos.

 

Mini Album Tip #3: 'Word Fetti" stickers are an easy way to embellish pages.

A couple of relevant words here and there can make all the difference in my opinion. You don't have the space to use too many embellishments so keep it simple.

Mini Album Tip #4: It is a lot easier to create the mini album without photos in a set colour scheme and add the photos at the end.

Because it's only 2 weeks after Christmas and it's done! If I was making the album from scratch now, well, I'd be lucky to have it finished by next Christmas

I've already planned to make one for Amelia's first birthday party this year.

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I'm so glad many of you were inspired by this project of mine! I hope to continue to inspire you over 2009!

Top 8 of 2008

I'm going to share with you my eight favourite projects of 2008. Scrapbooking projects that is. I have totally stolen this idea from blogland somewhere. Great idea!

1. "You Are My Everything" Layout 

I love this layout not only because I love the photo of Amelia and I but also because this range of papers, rub ons and die cuts from My Mind's Eye has been my most exciting purchase all year! It's like it spoke to me!

 

2. "Simply Adorable" Layout

This layout has ALL my favourite things on it: butterflies, dictionary paper flowers, swirls, scallops, Pink Paislee letter stickers and a cute photo of baby!

 

3. "Dear Mum" Layout

This one was a complete scraplift but I loved creating it for my mum as the journaling was very heartfelt. She (of course) absolutely loved it and just this weekend had it off the wall and was showing it around the family.

 

4. Amelia's Room Decor

I had so much fun creating fun pieces to decorate Amelia's room! Lucky I had hoarded a heap of  "Noteworthy" paper on the off chance that I had a girl!

 

5. Pregnancy Layouts

I don't have pictures to share as I'm sure no one wants to see layouts containing photos of my big belly, but before I had Amelia I created two layouts about the pregnancy. One was for the baby's album and contained heartfelt journaling about my feelings so close to its arrival. The other was for my album and was all about those little "joys" of pregnancy that people don't tell you!

I'm so glad I did them.

6. "First Glance" Layout

This layout was the second layout I made for her album and contains the photo that was the first time that I saw Amelia. Say no more.

 

7. "Sweet Amelia" Layout

I bought the pack of Basic Grey chipboard letters (as used on this layout) with the full intention of doing a page with the baby's name on it in those letters. Weird huh? But again, I love this layout because it contains all my favourite things. It's so me.

 

8. Amelia's First Christmas Mini Album

What a fun project! It has inspired a love of creating mini albums that I hope continues this year. I now have a complete record of Amelia's first Christmas that I can't wait to look through with her in years to come!

 

I have completed the album and will start sharing the finished result tomorrow!

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I encourage you all to take 10 minutes to sit and look through your albums from 2008. As I looked through mine, I realized how grateful I am that I've recorded the feelings and details of my life that I don't want to forget. I love this craft!