My Scrapbook Resume

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Another post! And some sketchy news

This will be my third post this week. I think that is a record for me. And I even posted at Crafting Jewish Style one day. Today, I am posting a layout for a "Stretch your Sketch" challenge over at Ella Publishing. Ella Publishing and not Simply Scrapping Crafts, you ask? Yes, I say. I will tell you more about that shortly.

First, the challenge graphics:


Then the sketch:

And then my layout:


With a closeup:

Or Two:


And my journaling:

For 3-4 weeks in a row, Max was away for Shabbos. Each week was another Bar Mitzvah. Even though he was home the other six days of the week, we were all happy to have a Shabbos all together again. Even Sam. Sam stayed home from Shul that day, and Max did not go hang out with his friends, as he usually does. They both stayed home and played together all day. And it was spring, so Shabbos ended late.
When school ended in June, Sam had a sleepover. He was driven home late the following night. Max kept asking when Sam was coming home. Even Max had to admit he missed the little guy.
Yes, these 2 fight a lot. But it seems there is some love there, too. Or as Sam put it; “It’s no fun without Max to fight with.”

And now about Simply Scrapping:

Unfortunately, the site had to close down. The owner, Judy Law, needed to focus on her health, her family, and her business, so she needed to shut it down. I was sad when I got the news, but very thankful for the opportunity to be part of the sketch design team there. And, I am looking forward to exploring other goings on that the World Wide Web has to offer. (Like this sketch series.)

Having to create a layout based on a sketch every week was a challenge for me, and I think I am a better scrapbooker for it. Since I had weekly "deadlines," it pushed me to create layouts about people that I didn't usually scrap about (myself included), instead of just scrapping when I had some good pictures or stories of my kids. I learned how to adapt sketches to fit my style, while maintaining the elements of the sketch. That was hard at first, but I got better at it as I did it more. It got me to work a little faster, and it helped me to learn to say "it's good enough." Sometimes a layout sits on my desk for weeks till I feel like it is "just right." I didn't have that freedom, and I had to look at my work and say: "you would like to keep working on this, but there isn't anything wrong with this layout. It looks good the way it is." I have many more pages and stories recorded because of that. So for all those reasons, and more that I will think about after I publish this post, I am grateful.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Sarcastic Scrapping

If you haven't guessed by now, I am fond of the scrapbooking. Just a bit. I love blogs, magazines, stores, websites, etc, etc, etc. I love the craft, and i love the focus on recording the stories of our little corner of the universe. But, something that sometimes used to leave me a little wanting is this: scrapbooking always seems so serious. And nice. And my family here--we are not so much. We all love each other dearly, but we also tease each other all the time, we tell somewhat tasteless jokes (age appropriate, of course), and as long as a joke is funny, and doesn't hurt anybody's feelings, pretty much anything goes here. .

I could never figure out how to capture that in my scrapbooking. I tried a little bit with this:




But still, I wanted more. I was happy to discover Moom Ko, and Cheryl Overton managed to be funny an sarcastic in their layouts, and they have given me some inspiration (do they know I'm talking about them right now?).

Anyway, I feel like I finally hit the jackpot with this guy:



The journaling reads: "As a self proclaimed expert on everything, Max has selflessly taken upon himself the responsibility of pointing out the errors and shortcomings of others, and of generally adding his 2 cents to not just anything, but everything as well.

Luckily Max has always (even as a toddler) had the ability to laugh at himself. He has accepted the nickname "White Out," and recently self-mockingly declared,"If it weren't for my constant complaining and criticizing, nothing would get done around here."

I was a little worried that Max would be offended by this layout, but when I showed it to him he was just fine. Which proves my point about Max being able to laugh at himself. I like that it makes use of a photo in which Max refused to smile, (just to be a little snarky to me), it captures an ongoing joke, and a true element of Max's personality, even though, in truth, its not really one of his stellar qualities. But, he knows it, we know it, and it's part of our life together. We are not perfect people.

And if I might add, I love my little patchwork grid, and I have yet to meet a layout that doesn't look fabulous with a couple of butterflies thrown in. I love the way this layout came out so much, that I pretty much copied it exactly for this.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Insert Clever Title Here

In a recent post I shared a whole bunch of layouts based on sketches for Simply Scrapping Crafts. I wanted to go back and share more about one of them, just because I like it so, and I feel like I had more to say about it.



All I wanted to add is that the day after our "very fine day," I took my camera out to the bus stop to take some pictures so I could scrap about the day before. And Max was making lots of goofy poses, and just generally trying to avoid having his picture taken. And then I said, "Oh, I just wanted to take pictures so I can scrap about yesterday, because I had such a nice time." And then he said, "Oh," and quickly posed for a couple of shots. Which made me happy that he got it. And I think it means he had a nice time too.

I was thinking about adding that detail to the layout itself, but, frankly, I ran out of room. Which has been happening a lot lately. Even when I write my journaling first, (usually in here:)


I generally don't type it until the other elements of a layout come together. And by then, what I have written is often too long. Methinks I will have to tweak my process soon. Either I will have to learn to build my layouts around my journaling blocks, which means I will need to get better at designing said blocks, OR, I am beginning to think more about how blogging about my scrapbooking is not just a way to share my work, but also a place to record even more about life. I know I am not the first to think of blogging in this way, but I am still warming to the idea. I don't easily give up pen, paper, adhesive, and scissors to technology. Except for typing, because I am not a fan of my handwriting.

And, just for the record, I also love the photos in this layout for the way they capture the relationship between Max and Sam. They will probably get used again. And maybe even again.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

15 Years

Last week, Dave and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary. We don't usually make a big deal of our anniversaries, but I felt like this was a big one. 15 is big. 15 is momentous. So in the weeks leading up to it, I happened across a photo from our engagement party. It's not a great photo, but we just looked so young that it felt like I was looking at pictures of someone else. Two people who had no idea what their life would be like. They hadn't even started their careers. They didn't know what their kids would be like. And I'm sure that to them,  "15 years" seemed like a million years away. And it got me thinking," if I could tell those two people something that they should do differently to make their future better what would I tell them?" And, I really did think about it a long time, and I couldn't come up with anything. And I thought, "hey that's pretty impressive." That means I am totally happy with our lives right now. No regrets. It would be an understatement to say that not every day has been idyllic, but all the bumps and bruises along the way, are just parts that make the whole. And the whole is pretty darn good.

Maybe I should have written that. But I ran out of space for my journaling. So, I had to keep it short.



And since I still wanted to make something else to make the day special, I made this mini, mini album for my hubby, who has needed some encouragement lately that he is a good husband and father. It's important to enjoy it now because it's so small, we probably won't be able to see it when we are older. (It 2.5"x3.5".)




So June 16th, 2011 can go down in our history as a perfect day.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Oops.

My goal in the last few months was to post at least once a week, and work my way up to at least two. And I was doing alright, until, apparently June 3rd. Which is precisely when I thought I'd have more time for blogging and scrapping. And to that, I say, oops.

It hasn't been a total loss; I have finally been able to do some reorganizing, and I found a new home for my photo printer and cricut, which clears up ALOT of space on my desk. Now I just need the Salvation Army to come pick up the boxes of books I had to get rid of to make some space.

I have been keeping up with the scrapping, though. I was hoping to have done LOTS of scrapping...the kind where you see patterned paper when you close your eyes at night, and you wake up early with a start, because you just had another great idea, and you can't wait to get to work. Maybe in July.

In July we will be in Israel, and the kids will be in camp for a few weeks, and I will not have work. We are almost there.

Meawhile, I will start today by catching up on the June sketched at Simply Scrapping Crafts. The sketch challenges are open all month, so you can join in for a couple more weeks. And the prize this month is sponsored by Apron Strings, and prizes are always fun. Especially if you win.

This one is actually from May 28th, but I'll post it anyway, because I like the little snapshot of life. And it mentions Dr. Who, about which (or whom) I hope to scrap and post more about in the coming weeks.





Then comes this one:



Then this:

Which I was happy that it inspired me to make this layout, which also, BTW, mentions Dr. Who:


And then finally,


I could go on and on about each layout, but I've already run on too long. So I'll say goodbye for now, and I hope to be back soon.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Another Layout and a bit about Max

I have another layout, and it features Sam, once again. It seems like he's been the focus a lot lately, and since I think I might be programmed to feel guilty if, G-d forbid, one child should feel less loved than the other, I want to do a little catch up on Max. Though, to be honest, I know I've been recording a lot about Sam, because a few months ago, Max was in the limelight. I suppose like anything else, these sorts of things ebb and flow naturally, but I sometimes worry that one day, many years from now, my kids will look back at my scrapbooks, and decide to count how many they each have. What if there is a huge discrepancy? Is that something I should be keeping track of?


So first, Sam. And, his friend who worked very hard on a magic show for a recent, neighborhood talent show.



And, now, Max. Here's what I wanted to say about the kid on the right. I don't even have a recent photo of just him.

Since Passover, he's been away almost every Shabbos for his friends' Bar Mitzvahs. And while he was home for the other six days of the week, having him home last Friday night made us all very happy. It just felt "right" to have the whole gang back together. Even Sam was pleased. They even played together!! And most of the time it did not end in a fight. Neither of them played with friends on Saturday afternoon. They played together some more!!

And, it also seemed to Dave and me, that Max got funnier while he was away. He had some good lines that Friday night. So Max, we're glad to have you back. So happy to have you, that I plan to scrap about your return to our Shabbos table, as soon as I can get you outside to take a new photo.

Whether it's about kids or not, do you ever worry about keeping your scrapbooking "fair?"

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Ok , last time, I promise

I have now made and posted a  total of four pages using pictures from my Mother's Day outing including, this one, this one, one of these, and this. By the time I got to this layout, I finally started to tire of them a little bit, and had to push myself to get started. I'm glad I did, because I wanted to get out what I had to say:


Which is this:



So, I think I got it all out of my system.

 But it did get me thinking; If I love my photos, why don't I just print them, put them in an album, and then admire them to my heart's content? Some of it is that I like the hobby--the pretty papers, brads, stickers, etc. I like to cut and glue design. Sometimes I don't like my pictures but I just want to record a memory, or a thought; Scrapbooking has become more and more of a personal journal for me. But, when I am  inspired by my photos-it still feels different. I sometimes love my pictures so much, that it's not enough for me to just look at them. I feel like I NEED to DO something with them. I need to touch them, and make something pretty out of them. And after 4 pages of printing, cutting, taping, designing, I finally feel done. And NOW I can sit back and just look at them.

What about you? What inspires you to get scrapping?