paper: pretty paper. true stories. {and scrapbooking classes with cupcakes.}

Oh! The glory of an internet connection! Let me catch up with you a bit.

We have moved, but we are still very much living in stacks of boxes. We’ll get there. We don’t have any internet or phone there yet, so thank goodness for the modern conveniences of mobiles and coffee shops with wifi and all such things. And for today, I’m meant to be cropping at a weekend away with friends, but they have been ever so kind as to not ridicule me too much for sticking my laptop on my cropping spot since there is a decent internet connection here. Roll with the punches – that’s this whole adventure!

We left off with discussion of Christmas projects and one option for page numbers in a Christmas journal. This year I wanted my page numbers to be coordinated but varied, and the Simple Stories Christmas papers turned out to be perfect for this. The 6×6 paper pad includes several sheets of small accents that are easy to cut into boxes, so I started by cutting all of those accent sheets and inking the edges so no matter what I would have those ready.

From there, I started adding a few little embellishments and numbers from my Christmas kit, including some labels and some dimensional pieces and plenty of number stickers. They aren’t overly embellished, because I prefer to be able to work them into various styles as the month goes on. For me, I like a balance of items that are prepared and ready but still have the potential to be customised as each day unfolds, so some days I’ll add these straight to the page and other days I’ll dress them up more with gems, ribbons, twine and whatever else happens to match that page. As soon as I have the printer set up, I’ll be adding some numbers from Rhonna’s printable numbers which I love.

For now, these will all sit in a bowl at the side of my desk, and then with each entry I’ll add a number, all coordinated but no two alike. Perfect for my album this year.

Are you making page numbers? Share a link or describe them in the comments.

Nice to be back – and now to work my way down a BIG to do list! Hurrah!

xlovesx

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This weekend, one commenter will win Long John plush from Stuffed Nonsense.

StuffedNonsense is based in the merry old town of Cheltenham and is created and curated by Bex and El. Connoisseurs of curios and creatures for over three years Bex and El spend their time tinkering away with lovely fabric and temperamental sewing machines. All the delightful creatures that you see before you come straight out of their heads, a mysterious place of whimsy and wonder.

Visit Stuffed Nonsense at their blog to keep up to date with their latest stitched wondery.

To enter, just leave a comment on this post describing your favourite type of fabric.

Entries close at midnight Sunday UK time and the winner will be posted Monday evening, so be sure to check back to see if it’s your lucky day!

Good luck!

xlovesx

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Congratulations to Claire, who wins the pretty Isosceles Necklace from Stone & Honey.

Claire, please email me (shimelle at gmail dot com) with your address.

There’s a new giveaway every Friday night, so check back next week for another chance to win just by leaving a comment.

Have a great week!

xlovesx

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This weekend, one commenter will win this Isosceles Necklace from Stone & Honey worth $64.00.

The creative force behind Stone and Honey is Teresa Robinson, who crafts each piece of Stone & Honey jewelry by hand in her Portland studio.
Inspired by the beauty of the natural world, the collection is made from carefully selected rough gems and minerals in combination with brass, sterling silver and gold.

To enter, just leave a comment on this post describing where you would wear such a pretty necklace.

Entries close at midnight Sunday UK time and the winner will be posted Monday evening, so be sure to check back to see if it’s your lucky day!

Good luck!

xlovesx

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Right now, my scrapbooking space look like this. It makes me sad. It has also made me rather tired, but I can cope.

We are moving house. We had no intention of moving house, but we rent and our flat is being taken off the rental market, and we had our little window of time to find somewhere new. We love our neighbourhood and didn’t want to move to another area, so we are moving around the corner to another flat in another building. It’s such a short move that our postcode is only changing by one letter.

So I’m afraid I need to hit the pause button just for a tiny bit. I was working on scrapping stuff right up till the last minute possible, but all my studio furniture and boxes will be moved at 8am tomorrow, so earlier today it was time to clear the desk, empty every shelf and box every last inch of pretty paper and ribbon.

Part two of the Christmas Journal page numbers? It’s in a box. The finished starting point layout from the last SP post? Also in a box. I am really, really ready to be out of boxes.

If I owe you an email or need to process your class registration, please give me twenty-four hours to get things out of boxes and I will be right on it.

I’m looking forward to seeing pretty, happy albums and things in those shelves just as soon as physically possible.

Thank you for your patience.

xlovesx

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A crafting weekend here wouldn’t be right without a sketch, would it? So a sketch this week with two examples – one travel page and one Christmas page, complete with silly childhood photo!

This sketch will work with any paper you like, but it’s particularly useful with patterned papers with a framed edge. I find those papers such a challenge with the frame around the edge, but easier when the frame can be turned inside-out as it were! I used two portrait 4×6 prints on this example and one 4×5 Polaroid on the example below, but this sketch will work with a variety of photo options, so adapt it to the pictures on your desk.

Of course, this is Christmas crafting weekend so it just wouldn’t be right to not include a Christmas take on the sketch!

Your challenge: use this sketch to create a holiday-themed layout OR to prepare a page in your Christmas journal, ready for photos and journaling later. Take a picture and upload your page to your blog or an online gallery. One randomly selected entry will win a $10 gift certificate to Two Peas in a Bucket to go shopping for scrapbooking supplies! Entries close next Sunday, the 20th of November.

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You may have noticed by now I’m rather fond of writing in scrapbooks. I love how written tales of little memories make a scrapbook so much more than just a photo album of anonymous people. It’s why I teach classes like Journal your Christmas and True Stories with their emphasis on committing those memories to paper before they fade into the busy nature of our day-to-day lives. I’m not the only person who shares this pro-writing ethos, and I’m happy to welcome Lain Ehmann today with her thoughts on her favourite scrapbook pages. Don’t miss your challenge at the end of this post!

When Shimelle asked me if I wanted to create a little post for her blog, my response was, “Heck, yeah! With glitter on top!”

Because if there’s anything I love almost as much scrapbooking itself, it’s writing about scrapbooking.

I’ve been scrapbooking a long time (fifteen years in the current incarnation, thirty-plus years if you count my Rick Springfield photo albums circa 1985). And I’ve learned an important lesson in that time.

This may shock you, but the pages I love best in my scrapbook albums are not the ones with the flashy flowers, fancy page elements, and awesome photography. Yes, I love to look at those (and, to be honest, pat myself on the back a bit!), but the ones I really am glad I created are those that capture a little hidden part of our life, something no one would ever know unless I wrote it down.

Like how I sometimes sneak into my kids’ rooms at night to listen to them breathe.
Or how my eleven-year-old steals every pen in the house (just like I used to do…!).
Or how my four-year-old (at the time) told Daddy he had “big hooters.”

These little butterflies of memory are the reason I scrapbook. Not to document one more Christmas or one more soccer game or one more Open House. But to tell the stories behind the pictures — and to tell the stories of my heart, the things that make me laugh and the things that make me cry. Sometimes they’re one and the same.

Let me illustrate. From my albums, I would choose this and label it an example of a Good scrapbook page:

But then there’s the Bombdiggety scrapbook page:

I love both these layouts, but the second one speaks to me more. Anyone could guess that my son celebrated his 13th birthday in some fashion. But would they know that I loved books so much, even at an early age, that I went around the house putting my name In every one I could find?

Your challenge: This is exactly the sort of thing we can all apply to our Christmas scrapbooking to get so much more value in our books than just the annual photos of the family in front of the tree. So today I challenge you to find a creative way to document a holiday memory that’s currently missing from your scrapbooks. Feelings, thoughts, memories hidden behind the pictures. It doesn’t have to be deep and angst-ridden. It can be light and breezy. But angst-ridden works, too, if that’s where you’re at! It’s all good.

And so are you.

About Lain…
Lain inspires women to make their scrapbooking fun and meaningful through her blog, classes, and live online papercrafting events. Her next class, Your Story Matters: A Guided Expedition of Self-Discovery helps scrapbookers gather their memories and stories in her signature effervescent style. The week-long class includes daily prompts, an online virtual crop, and more. You can find out more about Your Story Matters here.

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Next up I’m excited to welcome Mindy Miller, who shares her secret for making Christmas gifts look amazing. Enjoy her Christmas tag tutorial and don’t miss your challenge at the end of this post!

Have you started your holiday shopping? Believe it or not, the shopping days are dwindling and it will soon be time to start wrapping.

Here’s an easy idea for handmade gift tags that will see you through the holidays and even into winter.

Start with a tag and add three lines of machine stitching. Use a color of thread that will contrast and stand out when stitched on the tag. Pull the threads through to the back side of the tag, knot the ends and cut off the tails.

Punch three holiday or winter shapes from cardstock. Again, use a color or patterned paper that will stand out when placed on the tag. Place the punched shapes at the end of each stitched line. This will create the illusion that the shape is hanging from a string.

Embellish your punched shapes with jewels, buttons or other small accent. I used the bright and colorful twelve days of Christmas jewels and pearls from My Mind’s Eye.

Add a label sticker in the lower right quadrant of the tag. Cut off the excess sticker to the right side.

Then add two layers of either scalloped ribbon or a punched edge of cardstock to the bottom of the tag. When attaching the ribbon, cut the length longer than the tag and affix before trimming the edges. Once affixed, trim the edges on each side of the tag for a finished look.

Tie the tag to a package using fun and colorful satin ribbon. Write the recipient’s name on the label and you’re ready for the holiday!

Your challenge: Create a holiday gift tag design that’s easy to replicate! Make one or a bundle. Take a picture and upload it to your blog or an online gallery and leave a link using the button below. Deadline is the end of Sunday the 20th of November and one randomly selected entry will win a $10 gift certificate to go shopping for craft supplies!

About Mindy…
Hi! I’m Mindy Miller, a Kansas girl who loves crafts. You can find me scrapbooking, card making or sewing in my free time. My work has been published in Scrapbook Trends, CARDS and Simply Handmade magazines, plus several on-line publications. In addition, I am honored to have the opportunity to work on the Jenni Bowlin, Fiskars and Scrap-Mart design teams. Stop by my blog and say hello!

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