Lessons

Lesson Info

Your Scrapbooking Mission

First of all, I just wanted to start out by saying that you guys rock both our studio audience here as well as our audience at home the fact that you have dedicated part of your time your resource is I mean who's sitting around saying on board I need more things to dio but you have decided that it's important to document your stories and your family's stories and I just want to give you a big big thank you for that because it's a valuable gift that you're giving yourself and your family so thank you for that and thank you to our audience for being here and for tuning in at home as well um I wanted to start out just telling you a little bit about myself I got to hear some of your stories and I heard a little bit of my own story in each of you from the idea that my pages might not stack up against somebody who seems so much more talented or I don't really have time or I used to scrapbook for this or I've spent a lot of time making gifts and so I didn't document my own stories all those t...

hings from lack of time to not really knowing what to put on the page I've been there so whatever questions you have here in the audience at home please feel free to ask them if we can't answer them today or tomorrow I'm very accessible, you can find me on facebook and on my block as well, and I'd be happy to connect with you, so feel free to ask questions at any time as we move along. So I started scrapbooking shortly in the traditional sense it shortly after my son was born he's sixteen now, so about fifteen years ago, I started scrapbooking, but I also have those scrapbooks from way back win with the magnetic pages with my pictures of sean cassidy that I used to cut up into heart shaved and things like that on the pages. So I have been a scrap occur and a storyteller from a very young time, and when I discovered the modern version of scrapbooking with the cool products that we were talking about, it was like, here is a new way that I can tell my story, here's a way that I can pull those words, and because I'm a writer, I can pull those in and illustrate them and actually adm or to this story with these products. So I have been scrapped looking for about fifteen years. I teach scrapbooking now on a variety of different formats, written a couple books, as we were talking about earlier. So if you have questions beyond what's in the class, please feel free to ask those if I don't know who teo the answer myself I probably know where to go to get the answer so I'm happy to share that with you so over the next two days today I wanted to tell you a little bit about what we're going to focus on today and tomorrow so you know what to expect today we're going to be talking about the basics of scrapbooking not in terms of the products but more in the terms of the kernel of what it was that got you started scrapbooking to begin with what was it that made you say out of all the millions of possibilities for hobbies and time time spent places to spend our time why did I choose to sit down and scrapbook? What was that original goal? So we're going to talk some about that we're going to do some work along that that method we're going to be talking a lot about story because for me that really is the basis of what I'm trying to convey whether it's with words whether it's with the photos even with the product I'm attempting to tell a story so we're going to be talking a lot about that as we meant and there's a lot of fun stuff that goes into scrap booking as well the products and the pretty papers and things like that tomorrow we're really going to get into some hands on opening up some of the supplies from our great sponsors and digging in and enjoying the color and the the dimension that can be added to our pages, so I don't want you to think that it's all black way we'll get to the really cool products deaf, but what I've found is that oftentimes we get lost in the product we goto the craft store scrapbook store, go to an online scrap book store and we see hundreds upon hundreds upon thousands of different options, and we think where do I even start and that's where we tend to get lost? So I want to bring us back to the core of scrapbooking and build up from there, so by the time we get to products, we have a better sense of how to use those products, and when we remember why we're scrapbooking to begin with, the product choices don't seem so overwhelming because we know what we're trying to accomplish. Okay, so we talked a little bit about who I am michael for you today is really to get you fall in love with your stories toe realize that whatever your story is, whether it's a little one whether it's a big one whether it's one hundred forty character one or one hundred forty lying one that your story matters that it's important to you and it's important to the people who love you and care about you and it's important to our world, to tell our stories and own our own stories. So I really want you to love and respect your stories. And then also, how how do you translate those onto a scrapbook page? You may know that you have an important story to tell, like about your son, you said he's a success story you might know you want to document that, but how do I go about doing that there's so many options, so we're going to talking a little bit about that, too, so given you some options given you some ideas giving you some resource is and really making you proud to own your own story and of course, to have fun along the way. So, um, what I would like to talk about now because I tend to be pretty linear is what isthe scrapbook, and we throw the term around like we all know what it is, and in a sense we dio because we're scrap bookers we've already self identified ourselves as scrap bookers, but that term can mean different things to different people. Some people, you'll see this and not so much anymore, but there was a time in scrapbook and real people to say, well, digital, scrapbooking, or or pocket paid scrapbooking or the project life is that scrapbooking or what if I make a photo book so I wanted to ask our audience here and at home as well what is scrapbooking tio angela do you have any thoughts of you ever thought about what exactly scrapbooking is um I've always thought of it is a legacy okay I love that I love that a legacy in a story something that will carry on right something that will live on beyond this moment yes yes anybody else anything to me a scrapbook has the photos and it also has the words ok it's done artistically okay and that to me is different than a photo album which doesn't necessarily have the stories or the words and doesn't necessarily have the artwork so it's kind of the junction of the three my stories my photos and the prettiness ok I like that so you're bringing in the design and embellishment as well as their stories in the photos great great anybody jane do you have any thoughts on that? I think it's memory keeping I think any kind of memory keeping the love that instead of scrapbooking that's a lot of times now what I say I'm not a scrapper from a memory keeper yes because I'm on facebook I'm on twitter I'm on instagram and all that is getting collected as well into one place so that all those memories my grandmother had alzheimer's and I think hopefully if I get it all have stuff to look, I remember you. Yes, yes, that is such an important point aa lot of my audience who follow me on friends and family know that my my own mother passed away from complications related to dementia a couple of years ago, and I thought, how ironic that the mom of ah professional memory keeper loses her memories, and I realized it just was like a baseball bat to my own head saying those stories are gone. I cannot ask her what it was like to see her, her first child go after off to college. I can't ask her anymore what this was like or what that was like, and I thought, you know what? It is so important to get these stories down, not just for myself when I'm sitting at the nursing home, and I want to remember that was pretty cool baghdad, but also for my family. I want my kids to know what it was like for me because that may help them some day, and I want them to know how, how strongly because we always get so busy, we don't have time to reflect on the moment think, oh, you know, give these esoteric and deep and meaningful thoughts that you were go, go, go but scrapbooking is a chance to just freeze that point in time, if only for the time it takes to make the page, even if nobody ever looks at it again. The fact that we sat down and worked with it, we froze it for that moment treated you have you've been a lifetime scrapbook or any ideas from you on what scrapbooking means to you or what it is, how you want, but it's definitely about the photos in the words for me, but I have some a lot of scrap of pages that have no photos, so I mean, just because I don't have a photograph of something doesn't mean it didn't happen, right s o I am, I have a lot of a lot of lengthy pages with big stories on them and things that, you know, I don't want my kids to know now that happened like things that are personal now, but when they're adults s and they're going through the same thing when they have kids and they're struggling, I want to be able to give that to them and say, look, I went through this too, and I know that, you know, we're in that place right now where you don't think I know anything, they don't, I don't know something, and I was there, too. Right, so it's also a teaching tool, I mean, for them that I love that there's a couple of things that you said that I wanted to pull out one was the idea of scrapbooking without photos, and we're actually going to be talking about that. Andi, I love how you put that just because I don't have a photo of it doesn't mean it didn't happen, but when we sit down to scrap book and we sit down and look at her photos first and we're going to talking a lot more about that, but when we look at the photos first, if we don't have a photo of it, oftentimes it doesn't get scrap booked, so we're going to be talking about how we can go beyond the photos of photos are a critical element of what of scrapbooking, as you all know, that's probably one of the primary reasons you started scrapbooking, but there's so much more to our stories that aren't captured in those those photos. And in addition, katrina kennedy later this afternoon is going to come in and teach a segment on capturing the every day, because when we go into taking photos with the idea that we're telling a story rather than just getting, oh, well, that's a pretty shot, but we're actually trying to convey a story with those photos, and we combine that with this new approach to scrap booking the stories are very powerful, so what? We're going to be talking about that as well. So ok, so for me personally again, a lot of elements of what you said basically it's a memory in a way to document that memory and how that differs from traditional photo albums where you just put the photo in is that the photo is there, but it doesn't really stand on its own there's something missing? I mean, I remember back when I was young and people would invite us over to see slide shows of their vacation says anybody ever remember this? Come and they'd have the carousel, maybe flip another and they were boring because there was no story now if they had gone through those slides and told us, oh yeah, and then the big shark came in almost ate up my leg. There was some context, it allows us to connect and I think that's what's missing with photo albums with no context, they're just pictures and we don't have a way to relate it's just like going to a garage stay on seeing a box of somebody else's photos, they don't mean anything to the viewer and to be able to add something to them that makes them emotionally connect with other people that's where the scrap booking the memory keeping comes in and I've seen that a lot lately to is changing the term from scrap booking to memory keeping because scrapbooking does have kind of a certain, um, preconceived notion to it that we're going to do it in a certain way, and it has to look a certain way, and and what I want to do today is really open that wide up because we don't always have the photos. Sometimes the photo may be so powerful that little else is needed on the page is, well, the story is one hundred percent told in the photo and whichever direction you go, I want you to feel like you're still scrapbooking ended the day tomorrow. We're also going to talk about some alternative ways to scrap book, because now with social media and blog's and photo books and all these different ways tio document our stories, those air still scrapbooks just because it's on a block versus on a page doesn't mean it's not a scrapbook. So we'll be talking more about that tomorrow, too. Okay, so let's talk about why to scrapbook we've kind of defined that it's a way to document our memories, help us the memory keeper's leave a legacy is angela said why do we scrapbook mean there's there's a million other things we could be doing with our time, but you guys have set aside time to be with me here today, so obviously this is important to you. Why did why did you scrapbook? I like I like the creative process I like being able to play with the paper and play with scissors and have the right tools and it's like being in kindergarten all over it isthe fun it is it kind of opens up the colorful part of our life that it's like opening up that box of kranz you see the colors and it's like, look at all the possibilities, yeah, because you could just stick those photos in an album, but we've chosen to do something more with them. So what do you what do you think I scrapbook for my sanity? There's enough, a lot of rain where I live? Um when your insides in alaska you're inside a lot. So it's more of a hobby, a creative hobby it's raining it's snowing outside, but I'm back in hawaii and I'm scratching my hawaii photos and I'm right back there and I can forget about the world and I scrapbook to experience what I did before or what I'm going to do I scrapbook for my sanity, you know, and I love the kindergarten stuff I love getting my fingers greasy I love getting them in key I like getting them gluey and the little cat hair that's good tio that's why scrapped? Because yeah fun yeah yeah that's great tracy my script looking and I know it sounds terrible is purely selfish totally for me doesn't sound terrible it'll be my kids don't look at my scrapbooks they will someday uh my husband puts up with it uh and he'll look at it someday maybe too but it's totally an escape for me and it also helps me keep my sanity because it helps me to focus on the good things that happened and not the day to day drudgery of raising three little boys, eh? So I can pull out the moments that made me happy to be a mother instead of the ones that are making me want to climb the wall right right and they it's been said and all the happiness psychology that we hear today you know we focus on the good things and they grow and whether they occur more often or just we noticed that they occur more often and that is such an important part of scrapbooking for me as well reminds me when I feel like e I really did like you yesterday maybe tomorrow will be better and you know this really awesome saying I want to focus on exactly exactly for me it is mostly the creative process I love the artistic side of it I love taking the memories and making them beautiful and being able to share that my son is seven and he does enjoy looking through this crap they loved her in the stories from when he was a baby and as I'm going through and showing him things I'm re remembering things that I'd for mountain and you think he's only seven how could I forgot right wherever I live one kid okay but you do and so is just so fun to be able to share that with him teo make connections between now and then and happy at all yes and it's just fun to see the pretty stuff right to see my growth as a scrapbook er that some of those early layouts or scary I love going back and seeing those ones from nineteen ninety eight and then everything's cut in this certain shaved down tio fancy scissors secrecy there's dickerson evil over the page I love that because it's just like looking at pictures from nineteen seventy seven where is where in the plaid bill bottom pants you know it was a moment in time it was a style at the time and it helps place where I was when I created that page I love that angela um initially it was the creative process was you know, very textile picture, you know, hand sturdy but you know, as it's grown and as it's become a bigger part of my life, it's more of a reflection of gratitude oh, even the good and even because I scrapped not so good either. So just, you know, seeing where you know where my family is, right? I'm from and where we are and right, but we've been through that yes, awesome! Yeah that's, great that's, wonderful team, social it's all about the love it it's all about having what I called the modern day golfing circles oh, where women got together once a week or once a month and talked and talked about everything was going on and shared there their current which in the in the original days of scrapbooking, nobody scrapped their current life. They were scratching, you know, their kids, you know, a year ago or two years ago, nobody ever caught up now it's kind of a mix and right still like the social and I'm kind of a collector. So that's why I'm glad I'm out of paper because collecting on digital is much easier. I buy another hard drive, right? Take the lead faith people charming and lovely here I would love to hear yes oh, this one comes from marcy and she says, I do it for my family to have our history I so wish my mom had done anything written down any memories of our day to day life, but my boys are thirteen and sixteen and then love to look through our scrapbooks oh that and then you have nikki who says she is she feels the same way she love scrapping, but she only has a couple of childhood photos of herself in the middle daughter because of a house fire on the stands out even, you know? And she says, I know I need to embrace a fighter let's lay out and I know you have a hold sing I dio tio, thank you for that. Yes, we do have a segment where we're going to talk about tomorrow, what you do when you don't have photos to work with, and I've got a couple options for you, so I think you'll really like it was that nicole that yeah, that was from nikki. Nikki make sure you come back tomorrow. We'll have it for you. So I put together a little slideshow of why I scrapbook it was something that was important to me to kind of make a statement about why I spent so much time doing this thing and I would love to syria with you now, it's just a minute or so long silly me, pull it up here I scrapbook because life is short time goes fast and I want to remember I want to remember the good time the laughter in the fun and I never want to forget the tough times and the challenges either I want to remember the big events and the celebrations and the little everyday moments as well I scrapbook so I won't forget even for one second how beautiful this world is and how very I'm very lucky I am I scrapbook because I want to freeze them just as they are right now in this moment and because there are things just too big for my heart I scrapbook because I want them to know without a shadow of a doubt how much I love them I scrapbook to tell my story because if I don't who will it always makes me a little what's the word for clinton so it was just something that I put together because somebody actually asked me um a gentleman had seen something I've done on twitter and he wasn't a scrapbook or even related to scrap booking but he he e mailed me and he said well why even scrapbook what when we've got photos and I thought you know that's a really good question and so I put that together and that really brings in so many elements that I scrapbook for my family I scrapbook for myself I scrapbook to freeze the now and a scrapbook because I'm the only one who can tell these stories and once they're gone, they're gone. So what I would like to invite you to do is in your workbooks, and if you're watching online and you have not registered for the class, we've got a great workbook that we're going to be working through over the next two days with some lots of fill ins and things like that that that we're going to be working on here in the audience, on dh and I'd love for you guys to be able to get a copy of this at home as well. And I want you two to think a little bit about your scrapbooking mission statement it doesn't have to be a full fledged slide show like just put together, but really just very basic to me scrapbooking means blank I scrapbook for myself or someone else legacy, whatever it might be so that what? So that the memories are documented so that I don't forget whatever it might be for you and these air also individual, whether you're scrapbooking, we've had several people here say, I scrapbook for myself. That's great that's, wonderful that's perfect! You might scrapbook for your kids. You might scrapbook for your kids. Kids, wherever you are, it is okay, I want to give you full permission, embrace um, where you are right now and why you're scrapbooking whether it's just for your sanity, I shouldn't say just that's. Pretty important, right? Ha ha. Whether it's for your insanity or for your kids or whatever it might be so let's. Just take a couple of minutes right now and if you're at home and want to do that for the chat room, that would be terrific too. Well, you, while everyone is doing that, I do want to clarify for everybody out there who is watching depending on where you are in your scrapbooking journey. Maybe you are brand new scrapbooking. Maybe you're doing this for a long time. And you see all the materials here on this on the desk. You see all that we're doing here with the students. Now, if you want to learn more about how you get started, we do have. This is the scrapbooking starter kit that lane mentioned. Now this kid will be free if you are asked bp for this course. Very easy to do. Just click the button right there. As you're watching this. Now, this is going to give you a little bit of background information about what it takes to get set up scrapbooking. A little bit about the materials that you need some story starters, some layouts and sketches for you to look at so if you are new to scrapbooking or if you've been doing it for a long time, this is going to give you some new ideas. You will be getting this as a pdf so you can look at a digitally or printed out right here as we did read through the old fashioned way as you are doing scrapbooking so we've got you covered both ways. So go ahead and r s v p if you haven't yet and you will see a little video gration from lands, right? Yes, you got to do a little did you know you can't you can't train to the video greeting is a link that you can click in the pdf, so please do that if you haven't if you've not already done so thank you, thank you for that and there's some discounts in there too from some of our sponsors were going to be talking about them later as well there's some good stuff in there and I would invite you teo teo, to get that on the download page and see how we're doing with a couple people still thinking yes, I was going to say that yes, you can scrap look, you're you're pdf download ok, give it a couple more seconds here way some people charming and they want to know more about your mission statement oh well that was I think I just ready teo I mean that's something that you sort of worked on over time it wasn't something that just came to you one right right, right well process when you work oh how I how I created it well I sat down when I got that question I thought you know what is what is it about scrapbooking that pulls me because I could be putting the photos and album I could be I'm a writer I could just write in a journal I could write letters to them but it was that combination of the photos with the story because writing about something and then having the picture to illustrated as well became so powerful for me and it was really uh when I go back and look at the pages I've created when I get it right when it's a page that came from my heart it's just like it's like you just get it must be like baseball players when they hit that that you know poppy because I'm from boston hits went out you know I feel it so so I thought what is it about that feeling? What are the kinds of pages that I'm creating that give me that feeling and then it was really then it kind of just came out and then I just illustrated with those photos because that's what it's all about that story with the photos? I'm curious to know if the students here have you guys thought about your mission statement prior this is that something that sort of evolved over time for you guys to get back to the nursing home? I want my life, but I want my life story down and one time in my life I thought, you know, somebody's going to find this time capsule in this will be the story of a woman that grew up in the twentieth century, you know, and here's what she didn't here's what you know, because we don't have that from pre photographs, you know, we have higher griff licks, yes, we know what you know, egyptians did, but that was even from a little girl when I started it. You know, I wanted I guess I think I'm special. We're all special some of this more special men of tonto, that's, that's really an interesting perspective, and we're actually gonna be talking about that more tomorrow about what who's going to care, who cares? My kids don't look at it or I don't have kids who cares and that's something we're going to talk about because I think even if you think you don't have anybody, who cares, you might be surprised because where we live you know you live in alaska have fear I mean that right there is unique and there are people out there who would who would love to hear more about your life whatever your life situation is it's interesting too isn't it that you know you have artists, writers and visual artists who dig through other people's stories and create mulch from and I love that concept that you're creating a capture because in fact when I think it's some of my hottest friends who get really excited when they find someone else's story the concept that you've put sign together but then in the future someone else could actually take your captial deconstruct and create something else from munich it's you actually providing a whole cache of information that allows someone else in the future to create something from you which is cool you think about museums like the smithsonian museum of I think it's the textile museum where they have the old costumes and dresses and things like that when somebody wore the apron in nineteen fifty they probably thought it was just in april you know something that war every day that it didn't have a lot of meaning to them and they would never have projected that it would end up in a national museum and sure enough it did because people are interested about the past and the more context we give them in our scrapbooks I think the more powerful it becomes so would anybody like to share their mission statement and again this so this is just here and now you can change it you could go home tomorrow and say you know what? That wasn't exactly right or a year from now you decide your kids are older or you have another child or whatever it might be and it changes it doesn't have to be forever but I think the mission statement although it's been kind of it's become a little trite in organizations and businesses over this is our mission statement I think it can serve as a great reminder of that point we comeback teo as scrap bookers when we start to get lost in the process or start to get lost in this stuff so anybody willing to take game would you be willing to check this I just said I to me scrapbooking means collecting and keeping my memory's a scrapbook for myself for my daughter so that the things we think we will never forget or not forgot oh that is beautiful the things we think we'll never forget will not be forgotten and we were talking about this and you were like I only have one kid so I know which one did it but I don't remember doing it well and stories that you know like for my daughter in late today yeah we'll talk about I'm sure yeah I did a story about her cabbage patch doll oh yeah because she thought it was just a cabbage patch doll. And I would like to know the reason you have a cabbage patch doll because I never got the one that's the first time when they were they were like, yeah, and special and so that's why you haven't? Because I never do that story. But now that's great. Thank you. And wait. I said to me, scrapbooking means documenting and telling the stories that matter. And I scrapbook from my family so that they know how much I value the life that we shared together. No, thank you. That is beautiful. That is a wonderful thank you to me scrapbooking means created memory keeping a scrapbook for myself and my family so that we could remember all the wonderful things we've done places we've gone and people we love that's great! Thank you. Mine is to me scrapbooking means photos post words, my scrapbook for myself so that I conduct humint are every day. I like that every day. That's really a shift that's happened in scrap booking over the last I would say three to five years were prior to them. Like when I started scrapbooking in nineteen ninety eight it was all about the events, it was all about the birthday and the christmas in the holidays in the trip and I remember thinking after three years if I have to scrap book one more birthday I'm going to you know take my paper piercer because it just I felt like I was doing the same page over and over and you know what he's going to remember he had a ninth birthday we know it's on the counter right he may even remember that we went to chuck e cheese because we went to chuck e cheese every year that's probably why I was tired of scrabble game because we went to the same place but he might not remember the small parts to it and when one example I love sharing is my daughter and her third birthday she went through this phase and I think she's still going through it ten years later but anyway she's a little bit fiery and she loved the hulk and in fact when she met people she would introduce yourself they say what's your name to say hockey and little kids had hair like mine like about the same size as mind this big hokey and she wanted hulk underwear for her birthday and they don't sell girls hold underwear so I bought her boys boxers and she opened about it was like the best thing ever and that's the kind of story that might get lost that kids used to introduce yourself as hokey but now it won't get lost probably much to her chagrin I got proof but it's good for blackmail too but yeah there was definitely a shift in recent years towards embracing that every day through things like project life in pocket scrapbooking and capture your three, sixty five and all these other projects that helped us appreciate what's going on in our everyday life and I think what we're talking about over the next two days is a little different because it's embracing the everyday but also talking about those stories and why they're important so it's not just I drove five hundred thirty two miles this weekend to a baseball tournament it's a little bit deeper than that what does that represent why did you do that? Why was it important to you to do that? You know, giving a little more context so when somebody refers to it later they they get the story behind that and they may not be able to relate tio driving five hundred thirty two miles for baseball tournament but they might relate to staying up all night beating ah a figure skating dress or cutting out things for a birthday party or that kind of thing because we all share a lot of the same basic wants and needs and emotions when we share those on the page it lets other people connect with us so anyway yes tell us about your mission statement will you to leave a time capsule of a woman of the twentieth century? I love that that's that's a little less actually and I love that that's great that's wonderful well mine is uh scrapping to me scrapbooking means preserving memories a scrapbook for my families so that they will remember our family life together and basically what I want to remember I didn't elaborate on is the everyday moments yeah and I had blocked several years ago when I worked for a company and I entitled it everyday moments and I love because I love those little everyday things my family can look at a certain situation I looked at each other we will just crack up you know, a laugh yeah and that's the stuff I want to document but again I was keeping the block for a company I was working for in the push west to do events and to dio big things and lives so that kind of sale to the wayside but I would like to get back yeah, that that's great it's funny to how we think it's always going to be the way it is right now like I'm always going to be making three lunches in the morning for three boys or I'm always going to be whatever it might be getting up three times a night to nurse the baby or wherever you are in your life and then suddenly just like in a second it's totally shifts and unless you somehow take time to reflect back you don't realize how different things are and that's why I love um that's one of the many reasons I love scrap booking me every day because it gives us those snapshots and then we refer back to them so that's great are there anybody any mission statements at home that people would like to share that's the mission statements yet but there's a lot of sharing so I'll ever working drafting it well this one comes from gina's e this is a mission statement and they say I scrapped because if I don't do it now I won't be able to go back later and remember some bad things have happened and I would leave out those people if I hadn't already put them in my books thing this one comes from connie and they say that I scrapbook for my girls age seven and four to have snippets of life as they grow up and to know how love they are and to express myself oh I love that I love bree also breeze got a little story I did a digital video for my nephew I started at ask my step mom she said yes is that a crying for three days my eyes were role with joy from crime she's speaking out the songs of the pictures of the movement the video bits of that interactive scrapping that she says was wholesome that's wonderful thank you thank you that's great