Scrapbookers Inner Circle

Well I am sure most of you have noticed a bunch of new faces here at the ScrapbookersInnerCircle.com

Welcome to all of our new members! I am very honored that you have decided to join us here and hope that I can help inspire you in your scrapbooking.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact me directly by sending me a message (click my name on the top of this blog post and then click "send message") 

Yesterday was one of the best days so far of 2010 (I know there is lots to come, but in the first 14 it rates up there)

I was very surprised - speechless is more like it, when I discovered that

It is time for another give away and I will keep this one easy.

I love seeing all your beautiful faces (or those of your pets). It helps us all connect in this wonderful community. So to enter this contest, make sure you have uploaded a profile picture to your account. If you have already - you are in :)

I will make the draw on Thursday at 6 pm EST and send out this Valentine assortment of goodies:

I gotta tell you I really liked making this video... need to do more of that I think.

Anyway, I got the technical issues worked out and have the video I did about setting my Project Life kit ready for you to see. Please leave any questions or comments in the box provided under the video.

by Claire

To tell you the truth, I don't do "real" scrapbooking but I make cards, using the scrapbooking method. I have made cards with different techniques since I was 12 years old: lace (that I make), fabric, yarn, foil, collage, computer, wire, punches, etc.

My Mom made cards with what was available at the time and showed me to use what was on hand and create something unique to express my wishes. I consider it a great heritage and passed it on to my daughter.

When I acquire a new computer and a digital camera, I will be able to take pictures of my cards and share the technique along with pictures if I judge it interesting enough. For the moment I do not have that possibility.

Please note this blog post was originally submitted by Claire and I have only moved it to keep it with the site redesign.

And the Winner is...
 

At this time of year it is easy to start to feel the overwhelm. Most of us have long broken the majority of our New Year's Resolutions and those of us in the Northern hemisphere are starting to feel the winter dragging on.

One of the things that happens to me when that overwhelm hits is that my creativity slumps, I get a bit irritated (just a bit) and I can convince myself that the little things I should do - don't matter. . .

here is my first ever blog...
i am really excited about Project Life.  I ordered it after seeing a friend of mine post on her facebook status and how excited she was about it.  So after taking a look at the website, i was hooked and ordered it right away and holy cow batman i received it the very next day! So that night I was already having some friends over to scrapbook and I thought well here is an opportunity for me to put this together and start on February 1st.  Put the binder together and was tossing ideas around of what it would be.  I have

I know last week I posted that I didn't have many POTDs to share due to the fact that we spent 2 weeks, butts on couch, watching the Olympics. 

But, I decided to go back and revisit how I did the pages. I was tired of the same old shot.

So I went to www.ctvolympics.ca and took photos of some of the things I remember best about the 2 weeks and printed them off for our album.

So my BIG DISCLAIMER - I did not take these event photos. A few are shots I took of the TV. I am simply showing these layouts as an idea you can use to incorporate events that affect us, but that we may have not been directly involved with.

July has proved to be a tough month around the Morales home.

Shortly after the launch of this site (which, by the way is beginning to develop into a great community), my grandmother become ill and passed away on July 12. Although we mourned our loss, we spent many days reminiscing and celebrating her life.

She was the epitome of grace, gentleness and unrivaled kindness. Both my grandparents made the effort to remember everyones name and showed a genuine interest in everyone they met.

My grandfather passed away in December 2007, two weeks before they were to celebrate their 69th wedding anniversay. Their life together was a true testament to commitment, hard work and the love it takes.

I am forever grateful for the things they taught me, the example they lived and the legacy they have left us. A year ago, my Mom had created a 'Heritage Album' of both my grandparents and their ancestors (as far back as she could go). It is a wonderful story to be passed down to future generations that will preserve the lasting impression these two wonderful people had on their world.

Thank you to each of you for your patience this last month. I look forward to getting back into the forum and interacting with each of you!

Warmly,

Tammy Morales
Your Scrapbook Coach
Publlisher, ScrapbookersInnerCircle.com

It has been a while since I have provided an update on my 365 Scrapbook project. Back in January I set out to take a photo a day and then each week create a layout of those photos. The idea came from Becky Higgins and although the kit sold out quickly, she will tell you that the kit really isn't the project.

It is about taking a photo, saving a receipt or a piece of mail, or telling the little antedote of the day - EVERY day.

As I indicated, I got started January 1, 2009, however I must confess that I fell off the band wagon sometime early in the spring - YIKES that is hard to admit.

But here's the deal, you can start anytime, and over again and again if you want. That is the beauty of looking at this project as 'recording each day' and not as 'the PERFECT year in review album'.  So I have started again. Becky recommended that you start at the beginning of a week, so that your layouts go from Sunday - Saturday or Monday - Sunday. But it is whatever works for you.

Don't be stuck in a box - you are creative and with some simple guiding ideas you too can be off and running. Speaking of guidlines here is what I recommend:

1. Have FUN
2. Involve the family (let the kids take photos and add journaling too)
3. Take a photo each day (or at least jot something down about the day)
4. Have FUN
5. Start now!
6. Set aside time to compile the layout each week (I have found this is way more motivating and not near so daunting as waiting 6 months to do 26 layouts - ouch)
7. HAVE FUN!

Okay so have I made that clear - have fun! Don't stress about a day missed here or there. I am sure you can remember something to journal about, especially if you are doing your layouts weekly. Or walk around you house and yard and snap some photos all at once.

Here is a great perspective from Laura Vegas

"i keep telling people NOT to stress about taking a photo EVERY single day ... and that it's ok to skip here and there. for the first few weeks, i was really good about getting a photo every day. but my last two weeks, i wasn't quite so good about it. but i didn't stress or worry about it. i just took my camera out at the end of the week, walked around the house, and snapped all my photos at once. it doesn't make the album any less meaningful or change the idea behind the album. i'm still documenting our lives and all the little things that have gone on during the week."

Now do you wonder what in the world you could possibly take pictures of each day? Are you concerned that you may take pictures of the same thing week after week?

I have chosen to do my POTD (Picture of the Day) album about everything and anything. However, you could choose to use some of these ideas for themes. (these are from Becky Higgins blog on December 30, 2008)

• • All about a kid and what he/she does every day in a year
  • Self-portraits
  • Month-by-month review: Simply use the page protectors to slip pictures from each month into the album. But you don't have to take a picture every single day.
  • Weekly or monthly themes: Pick a topic to focus on each week or month. For example, one week might be pictures at work, another week might be errands, another might be clothes you wear, and then food you eat, and then technology you love, etc.
  • All About Me: For adult or child (what you wear, what you eat, what you love, where you go, who you hang out with, where you work, why you do what you do)
  • Baby's first year
  • Use the kit as a regular photo album that holds pictures and journaling blocks. Doesn't have to be sub-categorized into weeks or months.
  • Circle journal for Multi-Family: Combine efforts with your siblings and have each family take different months. Put it all together in one Project 365 album and you have an awesome gift for grandparents!
  • favorite photo a day (old or new)
  • Home Sweet Home: Focus on every little detail of the place you call home, inside and out.
  • Pregnancy
  • Family Journal: The whole family is involved in Project 365 and contributing their pictures & journaling to the album. Leave the camera accessible to all. Even if it means your three-year-old is taking pictures of the floor. What a great way to capture everyone's perspective! You could even set up a schedule so that you take turns for each day or week.