My scrapbooking process

I have started following a podcast available at paperclipping.com: The Paperclipping Roundtable. I was drawn to it because of the guests and the show themes – Ali Edwards on story, Aby Garvey talking about how to deal with all that stuff, and why people don’t scrapbook. I have enjoyed the news and product picks as well. The linguist in me also loves hearing the different styles of speaking from various parts of the country. This week, they are running a contest where listeners write in as if they are contributing to a past episode of a show. One person will be selected to be on the show based on their entry, so I figured I would give it a shot. I have chosen to chime in on Episode 7, The Process of Scrapbooking. [And no I did not pick this episode because it talks about Olympic scrapbookers, although that was a highlight!]

Stacy Julian (on her process): “The other kind of page that I love right now more than anything and has become something that I enjoy the longer I scrapbook… is this page that I stew about for days. I get some random idea and then I literally just think about it fifteen times a day. You know, it just keeps popping up. It’s just very much on the surface of my brain.”

Stacy! That is how I scrapbook all.the.time! I take forever with my pages and I stew about them for several days, usually as I’m trying to fall asleep.

Like Angie, I too start with a topic, but I’m not necessarily trying to scrapbook a story. I’m more trying to figure out a way to document events that are meaningful, like my honeymoon, a recent trip we took for our anniversary, or a special day with family. I frequently use multiple photos in each layout – I think because I want to capture a montage of memories in one glance, kind of like a flashback that helps us remember everything else. I always write my journaling last, and even though I tend to write a lot, it is not the focal point of my page.

No one has talked about color! This is a key part of my process. Once I have my photos picked out I decide on a color that I want to highlight, usually a color that is in the photo somewhere, and then I go through all of my paper with that color in mind and pick out anything that is remotely close (patterned or plain). Then I lay it all out with my photos and see which colors best capture what I am imagining. Sometimes I have the perfect match and then I go on to my next step. Sometimes I surprise myself and pick something that wasn’t at all what I was imagining. But if I don’t have what I’m looking for, or I don’t feel inspired by my choices, I go shopping! (This is why some people don’t scrapbook, they are commitment-phobes like me!) Once I have the right color paper I arrange my photos and embellishments. I tend to include a lot of ephemera on my pages as well (e.g. ticket stubs, parts of brochures, business cards) so I figure out where that will go at the same time. I make it sound like my pages are really crowded – they’re not usually– but it takes me a long time to figure out what stays and what doesn’t, hence the stewing.

I make a spot for journaling either right on my background paper or with a journaling box, and then I do something that I think would horrify most people – I stick everything down and handwrite my journaling after everything is in place. So far (knock on wood) this has worked out okay for me and I haven’t messed up and had to redo anything. There are always moments where I feel like I don’t like it, but I try to remind myself that “perfect isn’t done” and to “just do it”. I have found that these mantras help me outside of scrapbooking too – I am currently writing a dissertation and the process of scrapbooking has helped me to translate “perfect isn’t done” into my writing process and push forward with my chapters.

I also do layouts about everyday, ordinary things, but then I usually think about the layout first, either by looking at magazines or online for ideas or by deciding I want to use a certain tool or color scheme. My everyday layouts are where I play around outside of the box, and do things that aren’t in my “typical” style. But don’t worry, I stew about these layouts too!

Olympic Scrapbooking

Well, this is a blog about paper, so it should feature some paper somewhere, right? Below is my Olympic-inspired scrapbook layout, based on the colors of the figure skating rink backdrop. Layout uses Ali Edwards' template from her Yesterday & Today class at Big Picture Scrapbooking (Week 11).



One thing I really like about this layout is how many different products I got to use - brads that my sister had given me after her wedding, lots of different patterned papers, ribbon from a new ribbon pack that I got at Christmas time, and some Thickers letters. I even inked the edges of my journaling box and background green paper, something I never do.

And, I heard from Nancy Nally of scrapbookupdate.com (via the Paperclipping Roundtable, episode 7) that there are at least 4 scrapbookers in the Winter Olympics: snowboarder Lindsey Jacobellis, snowboarder Hannah Teter, freestyle skiier Julia Mancuso, and skeleton racer Noelle Pikus-Pace.

Ice Dancing Inspiration

This was my favorite costume of the Ice Dancing Original Dance event last night - I loved how the pink popped out throughout the performance.

Snowboard speak

Shaun White on his Double McTwist, the move he did in his final Olympic gold-medal-winning run:

“I didn’t come all the way out here to hold back anything and for me it would be a bit of a disappointment if I didn’t stomp that trick. And I remember looking at my coach and he wasn’t saying I’m lazy but he’s saying that I really don’t stomp things when I don’t need to and I really didn’t need to and he said, ‘Don’t do it unless I’m going to stick it’ and so I don’t know I put it down. It was amazing – I can’t even describe it.”

I don't know, Shaun, I think maybe you made a good landing?

to stomp - term used to describe making a good landing

stick (v.) - term used to describe making a good landing

put sth down - term used to describe making a good landing

Three words for making a good landing and still he feels like he can't describe it. Yet another reason why I love language!

If you're looking for more snowboarding terminology, see the Snowboarding dictionary. This article sums up the "blue hair" take on the new-fangled-lingo. (Make sure you read the comments as well - they offer some great language-and-identity data.)

Feeling inspired by the Winter Olympics

We have been watching the Winter Olympics pretty much every night since it started. The Opening Ceremonies and all of the figure skating costumes have gotten my creative wheels turning.

I am thinking about doing a red and white layout, inspired by the Russians' jacket, by far my favorite outfit at the Opening Ceremonies.






Thanks to Fourth Place Medal for the picture.

Although the Azerbaijanis' pants were a close second:


Thanks to SB nation for the photo.

I am also drawn to the blue and green they are using for the backdrop of the figure skating rink - this was the closest image I could find that captures what I like about it (I know it's a snowboarder):

Picture comes from this blog (but I also saw it on the NBC official site).


I am not sure where to begin with the figure skating costumes, because the ones that come to mind first are the ones I don't like. Maybe Ice Dancing and Women's Figure Skating will be more inspiring. Stay tuned.

My first ten on Tuesday

1. Who knows if I will keep up with this habit (most likely no), but it's Tuesday, and I think I can come up with ten things to say, so I'm giving it a shot.
2. I am working on an article and trying to finish it today. I will be so happy when it is done, but let's just say I am so not happy right now.
3. I finished a quilt top that I have had in the works for a long time. (Estimated start date was Fall 2001 - I don't actually remember if this is right since it was so long ago!) Finish is a relative term, since I still need to sew on the borders, but the hard part of the top is
D-O-N-E!
4. I can't find the fabric that I had designated for the quilt border and it is driving me NUTS!
5. The push is on to finish my dissertation this semester.
6. I have been enjoying the Olympics so far. Nordic Combined was an unexpectedly fun race to watch. But the best part has actually been watching my husband's leg muscles try their hand at Olympic competition - he flinches during every race, ski jump, and figure skating lift.
7. I am planning to make this for dinner tonight.
8. This article makes me want to re-think a career in academia.
9. I like cold weather, but I don't like colds -- I'm hoping I don't get the cold that my husband has been fighting.
10. Men's figure skating starts tonight!

hmmmm....

Archiver's has joined the blogging bandwagon. Perhaps it's a sign that they started around the same time I did? I am curious how helpful/trendy/interesting their content will be. So far I like the idea of Scrap-Lift Monday, but they haven't posted enough for me to have a strong opinion. We shall see how this unfolds.

What would you create...

if these were the words on which you were to base your inspiration?

1) Wander

2) Invisible

3) Coincidence

4) Permanent

5) Whole


The linguist in me loves the idea of using words as inspiration for art. I am going to contemplate this and see what I come up with. And then maybe, just maybe, I will come up with five new words and do it again.

[Full disclosure: I did not come up with this set of words or the idea - click here or the 'inspiration' link above to see the source.]

Recognized in the blogosphere

Out of 370 comments on the write.click.scrapbook blog for yesterday's giveaway, I was singled out as one of two of the favorite comments! So cool! Unfortunately, though, that doesn't mean that I won the giveaway. Oh well, I am still giddy from the last (and only) giveaway that I won: