Lettergirl

Forest at 10.

Forest at 10 is one of my favorite scrapbook schemes:  a dusty sky blue, lime green, golden yellow, light grey & charcoal, with easy to use accents of ruler strips, number stickers, small distressed letter stickers for subtitles, and vintage looking ticket stubs.  It was so simple to make each page look fresh, but coordinated with the rest of the pages for that year.

(He was pretty adorable as a pint-sized Wolverine.)

You may have noticed that when I do two pages that are intended to "read" together, I use the same background for both; and when there are two pages with separate content, I break it up with contrasting backgrounds (often white for one, and a bold color for the other, as shown here).

Forest at 9.

It looks like it's been awhile since I shared themes from the kids' scrapbooks.  If you're a regular reader here, you already know that each year I choose a theme for my kids' scrapbook pages -- I pick colors, papers, an embellishment that can be varied or repeated -- then spend my energy on telling their story and making more memories (instead of using my energy to reinvent the wheel with every page).  I also limit how many pages I make for them each year, so they don't have a truckload of scrapbooks to carry with them through adulthood.  You can read more about my philosophy here.

The last scheme I showed for Forest was at age 8:  it was splashy with color and pattern, which directed me to tone it down and keep it simple for Forest at age 9.

The pages for this scheme are solid black, with writing (or stamping) in white and accents in red.  I'll go on the record that this was not my favorite scheme (either to execute or to look back on), but it was what I needed at the time.  And it still tells the story!

The first page included a mini photo album of each of Forest's friends at his birthday party.

I've got a little catching up to do, so look for more scrapbook pages over the next few weeks.  For those in the US, I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving.  With an early holiday this year, I'm appreciating a few extra days to get ready for Christmas!

 

And the winner is...

My blog has a new home.

Click here to read my new blog.

To be perfectly honest, I never look forward to drawing the name of a giveaway winner...because I want everyone to win!!  I appreciate the time it takes to leave a comment, and I'm grateful for all your kind words.  (And I've got a couple of other lists I want to share, so I'm thinking of making that a feature each week.)  The winner of the stamp is Amanda:

Very encouraging and inspiring!

My letter is m because My word is macaroni because it's my absolute favorite food. It's so reliable.

Amanda, please email me the names/address you'd like on your Amery stamp (and shipping information, if different):  lettergirl66{at}gmail{dot}com.  Thank you to everyone who entered!

A to Z.

Tomorrow I'll summarize the creative habits I've shared for my A to Z journal, and I'll have a giveaway to celebrate!

A to Z.

My creative habit:  My best work happens when I strike a balance between planning and serendipity.  When I started my A to Z book, I kept a little notebook for ideas (and added lots of scraps of paper when I didn't have the notebook handy).  I added things randomly, but also thought in terms of categories:  favorites, family, memories, nature, home.  And the book definitely didn't turn out the way I imagined it when I started, but I'm happy with where spontaneity took me.  Next week, I'll share my final A to Z page -- and a giveaway to celebrate!

Five reasons to try Project Life.

For our family scrapbook this year, I've been using Project Life by Becky Higgins.  It's not all that different from the system I used for several years by We R Memory Keepers, but I have noticed a shift in my perspective in just one month of using Project Life:

1.  There's no pressure to be creative.  The core kit comes with more cards than you will ever use in a year -- all coordinated and cut to size.  Ready to be used.

2.  I'm staying caught up.  I do like to scrapbook chronologically, but I often will do months at a time (or, in 2011, an entire year in one weekend).  Staying caught up means I print photos a little more often, and capture more of our everyday life, which brings me to...

3.  I focus on the details.  I'm always on the lookout now for photos that tell our story:  the kids getting ready for school, our new Taco Tuesday night, outings big & small.  And with all the little journaling cards, I can jot down the daily stories too:  funny things that happen or details from everyday.  Some of the journaling cards in the kit are folded like a card -- so I can add even more detail inside (like how Forest wakes his sister each morning by bringing her her ipod, so she doesn't have to get out of bed for it).  I love hiding little surprises like that in my scrapbooks.

4.  I love the flexibility.  There's no "supposed to" with this system.  I took some of the little journaling cards (3x4) and cut some of the larger 4x6 cards to make monthly titles:

A lot of people use Project Life with two pages per week.  Not me.  I'm just moving along organically, and have about 3 pages total for January; I might have 2 for February, or 6.  It is what it is.  I also include ticket stubs and programs and other bits of ephemera -- and when they're not small enough, I give them a little trim, no worries.

5.  I'm not obsessed with having perfect photos.  With so much going on with each page, it doesn't really matter if your photos are "perfect."  Some of my photos were taken with my phone, some with my point & shoot, some with my DSLR. 

I'm thankful that I have a place where I can leave my scrapbook out, with the core kit nearby, so I can add to it whenever I feel like it.  (It's really just on the end of a table here in my studio.)  I would love to hear if anyone else uses Project Life and how it is working for you!

A to Z.

My new creative habit:  Thanks to Amy at Spirit Out!, I have added a new creative habit to my toolbox.  Once a week (when I can), I like to have a mini-retreat.  I head down to the coffee shop with a notebook and pen (or sometimes a totebag full of notebooks and pens..and colored pencils), to do a little brainstorming.  Today's theme:  my upcoming 20th anniversary.  Woot woot!  But in addition to the usual fevered scribbling of ideas, I added a new layer:  I put the pen down, closed my eyes, and gave myself a few minutes to consider how I'm feeling about it.  (Really proud of myself for one, really grateful to my customers for another.) 

I'm excited about all the ways I could celebrate:  20 giveaways for 20 days?  one great big party?  I would love to hear your suggestions!

A to Z.

Not a lot to say with a U.  In fact, I couldn't even make up my mind about the quote for this page, so I left that for "later."

Yesterday, I had a conversation with Amy of Spirit Out!, and I dwelled on parts of it for the rest of the day.  Amy encouraged me to connect with my mind, heart, and body -- and although I always claim I'm well-balanced with my left brain/right brain, her questions about accessing my heart, and how I feel, had me speechless.  Am I letting my left brain dominate?  Have I become so goal-oriented that I've forgotten how to feel?  Where's my intuition? 

Amy's strength is helping artists recognize that they hold their own wisdom:  the "answers" are in me (not to mention, more questions), I just need the tools to find them, use them.  Great food for thought in my quest to honor my gifts this year!

A to Z.

My creative habit:  I've been working on my textile art for most of the week -- cutting, stitching, painting, screenprinting -- and have been starting each day with a few pages from Art & Fear, by David Bayles & Ted Orland.  One little chapter is enough to chew on for a whole day.  Some of my favorite insights so far:

Most artists don't daydream about making great art -- they daydream about having made great art.

The function of the majority of your artwork is simply to teach you how to make the small fraction of your artwork that soars.

Making art provides uncomfortably accurate feedback about the gap that inevitably exists between what you intended to do, and what you did.

Vision is always ahead of execution -- and it should be.

Art is like beginning a sentence before you know its ending.

(Obviously, I have been dwelling on all the projects started, how they're proceeding, new projects I can't get to yet, and why all of it never looks the way I thought it would when I started!)

A to Z.

Nearly done with my A to Z journal!  I just have two spots to add finishing touches (so to speak, since this project may never be really finished).

I've been leaving a blank pair of pages after each letter, just in case I need more room...and I finally did with the letter S.