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Just one more issue

Scrapbook Inspirations Magazine

By now many of you have heard the news that the next issue of Scrapbook Inspirations will be the last, as it was announced late last week. Perhaps I hadn’t said anything here just yet because I was in a bit of denial. But also because it was admittedly quite difficult to read speculation from others as to how this happened, why this happened, how long it had been happening. It is very difficult to see speculation from the other side, when part of you wants to say ‘No, really, that’s not how it worked’ but really the end result is the same: after the Christmas issue, there will be no regular, monthly issue. I’ve worked on this magazine since issue two, and over the past few years have done more work behind the scenes, so inevitably it has been very sad news.

In a way, coming to work for SI came from a similar experience, going away with some scrapping friends for a weekend having just learned of the end of Scrapbooking Memories and More, a magazine we had worked on back when things like that were really in their infancy in the UK. We had all been upset about it individually and by the time we headed home, we had banded together in hopes of working together on something, somewhere. And SI gave us that opportunity and trusted us with ideas that went from silly conversations and rough pencil sketches into real articles. Sixty issues later, that is still a magical feeling for me. Working with that team always had energy and creativity and I loved seeing how we would each interpret a single idea.

It has also been lovely working with new scrappers, and recently new team members, as the hobby took a step in a new direction earlier this year and we were able to see new styles evolving from British scrappers. I know these ladies will continue to be inspiring crafters, even if I don’t have that little glee of seeing their work before it goes to press.

And please indulge me as I must say a huge public thank you to Rosie, Cara and Jane, our editors. These girls are amazing and I am so sorry that such amazing people are now faced with the upheaval that comes with the end of a job. Jane, our art editor, needs a medal just for not killing me, as I often send her notes like ‘I know this article was supposed to have three layouts but now it has five. Ummmm. Sorry.’ or ‘I dropped an ink pad on this layout at the last minute. Can you fix it?’ and I would completely expect her to call me every name in the book and just refuse to make the changes, but presto, it would have all five layouts and no scary ink pad evidence, beautifully and without any swearing that I ever heard. Cara is an organisational goddess, and I have never known anyone to be so calm with changes and short deadlines. If I were her, there would have been many times I would have shouted at me for leaving things close to the deadline (ahem, I am deadline motivated, but that is an entirely different discussion) but nope, she always had everything under control. And Rosie, well, Rosie is so awesome I have no words right now. And if I did, we would both get really upset to the point that it wouldn’t be pretty in any way, so let’s just say for now that I feel incredibly lucky to have worked with her and now I’m going to try to end this paragraph really quickly before I lose it.

Less than two weeks ago, we drafted the entire 2010 editorial calendar. There is so much stuff on there that makes me excited. Here’s to hoping it finds its place, even if it’s not where we first thought.

xlovesx

Zooming out



Most of the time, I am constantly trying to get closer to something with the camera. I love to find textures and shadows and hidden, sparkly light and sometimes eliminate the background entirely! But it’s time for something different.
Over the last two weeks, I’ve made a conscious decision to step back and zoom out with the camera to catch the whole scene. Sometimes even more than I can see with my own eyes, which is an interesting experiment!

What’s your favourite wide-angled shot? Share a link with us so we can all have plenty of zoomed-out inspiration!

xlovesx

New digital kits and a creative team call

digital scrapbook page
Supplies: Starburst Solids and Starburst Mini Kit plus Rhonna’s swirls, Mary Ann’s frames, Carina’s tags and cards and word art by Paislee Press/Audacious Designs.

Super exciting news here tomorrow in the form of a brand new online class, but some digi goodness for today. The page above and this one that I posted the other day are both made with kits released today. Digital and hybrid girls, I hope you’ll check them out! Here they are:

digital scrapbooking kit
digital scrapbooking kit

Just click to see in full. And how about something else digital and newsworthy?

digital scrapbooking creative team call

There’s enough stuff in my digi shop now that I need a few people to help me out! I’m looking for designers who create digital scrapbook pages and/or hybrid projects and would like to use my digital designs in their projects, of course!

Creative Team members will be required to create and post a minimum of two projects per calendar month. Projects should be posted on your blog, the Two Peas digital gallery and at least one other digital gallery of your choice. In exchange, you’ll receive every release from my digi line free for team and personal use.

Creative Team members can be members of other teams too – it’s not an exclusive team. Applicants from anywhere in the world are most welcome.

To be considered for the team, send me an email including:
—->a link to your blog
—->a link to a gallery of your pages
—->a brief introduction letting me know why you would like to be on the team
—->a little something made with one or more elements from this free download. Mix it up with your favourite digi or paper products.

(Those of you who sent links a while back when I asked more subtly — if you would be up for a longer-term commitment, just let me know!)

Call ends Tuesday 3rd November — two weeks from today.
Any questions, just let me know! Thanks!

xlovesx

The winner of online scrapbooking classes + digital downloads is...

girls + polaroids

Just back from a lovely weekend with these ladies, copious amounts of scrapping supplies, and a polaroid camera.

Still putting my stuff away and tidying up, but wanted to post the winner from the weekend’s comment contest…

And our winner is:

Stefanie Says: 17 October 2009, 06:49 Beautiful. I love pencil lines too.

She wins a bunch of goodies including a brand new online class that will be announced here this Wednesday — so don’t miss that!

Stefanie, email me so I can send over your winnings!

Have a great week!

xlovesx

A challenge for you...and a free digi download

digital scrapbook page

All this weekend there’s a birthday party going on at the Pencil Lines sketch blog. At some point you’ll find a challenge from yours truly, so check their site so you don’t miss it! If you complete the challenge, you might win a little something! But even if you don’t win, there’s a little something for you!

free digital page template to download

Just click to download this free .psd layered page template if you would like to complete the challenge digitally!

Happy Saturday!

xlovesx

3 years of sketches for scrapbooking

scrapbook page from a sketch

The Pencil Lines scrappers have been posting sketches and brilliant scrapbook pages for the past three years – so this weekend they are partying it up! The page above is inspired by sketch 155, which means there is an absolutely crazy amount of sketches to see there! I was delighted to be their special guest for sketch 61 and it’s lovely to be back for this weekend’s festivities! Happy birthday!

Now how about we give the birthday present to one of you? Comment on this post for a chance at a shimelle.com prize package that includes online classes and digital elements! You can enter until the end of this Sunday, cutting off at midnight UK time. The winner will be posted here on Monday!

If you’ve just stopped by from the birthday bloghop, welcome! Have a look around and come back soon! If you just stumbled upon the bloghop now, join on in! The next stop on the blog hop takes us over to Germany…say hello to Christiane!

xlovesx

PS: Check back here tomorrow afternoon for a freebie!

More with this month's sketch (and a free digi download)

sketch by Karen Cole - free download
Click to download layered .psd template.

Every month, Scrapbook Inspirations includes a sketch and six corresponding scrapbook pages, but how about a little bit more? Karen Cole contributed the sketch in our October issue, and it’s here today for you to download as a digital template or use as a starting point for a paper page.

scrapbook page from a sketch
Supplies: Cosmo Cricket Earth Love patterned papers, My Little Shoebox Mini Alpha Stickers, Bazzill Basics Dotted Swiss cardstock, and letters from American Crafts and Basic Grey.

Here’s my paper page derived from the sketch — with some Cosmo love, which I do believe has developed into a requirement for every page lately! Quite happily, I might add. Their papers always look so lovely.

digital scrapbook page
Supplies: papers by Meredith Fenwick, Holly McCaig and The Queen of Quirk Worn Frames by Mary Ann Wise Hand-stamped alpha by Meredith Fenwick plus title alpha & flowers from Paislee Press/Audacious Designs collab kit and spatter brush set by Rhonna Farrer.

And a little something digital from the layered template — photos from the Japan Festival held in East London a few weeks back. Crowded but delicious fun.

(By the way, does anyone else suffer from a Juno-induced problem with Benihana? I can’t walk by the place or hear it referenced without saying…either to myself or aloud..that the plan is to go to Benihana, then the prom, then Vijay’s parents’ cabin. Seriously, it’s a problem. Thankfully I am easily distracted back again by Japanese food. Otherwise I will get really angry about Katrina Devorte, perhaps. And no one wants to see that. Wait. It’s just me, isn’t it? Rubbish. Back to scrapbooking now.)

You can also catch Karen’s original layout and Rachel Ward’s layout for more inspiration.

We’re always looking for layouts that our readers create when they’ve been inspired by something in the magazine, like the sketch. If you tell us about them, you might even find your page on the SI blog or on the pages of the magazine. So it’s your turn now: let’s see what you do with this sketch. If you upload your page online, make sure to leave a link in the comments so we can find your page!

xlovesx

Wanted :: Your photography wishes

photography questions for scrapbookers

I’m working on a little project at the moment and have come to the point where I need to hear from some people. Think you can manage to leave me a comment today? I would love to be able to take your answers on board.

The question is…what are your photography wishes?

What kind of photos do you wish you could take?
What do you wish you understood about your camera or photography?
What problems do you wish you could eliminate?
What do you wish you could learn?

It doesn’t have to be something you would necessarily want to learn from me—pretend you could have any teacher in the world if that helps.

It can be hifi technology or old school toy cameras, technical tricks or how to get people to make nicer faces instead of bunny ears. I would seriously love to hear as many things on your list that you would do if a photography fairy godmother arrived on your doorstep.

Thanks so much for your help! Have a lovely Friday!

xlovesx