This weekend I’m in Nashville, TN, sitting next to a rockstar blogger, hob nobbing with some bright minds and socking in valuable blogging/social media tid bits.
..and enjoying the melodic croonings of him..
It’s rough but somebody’s got to do it.
If you want to know all you’d ever care to know about Blissdom, check out my other blog.
Do you have a space just for scrapbooking? I studio, room, closet, corner? I’ve had all of the above. First, just a tote, then a corner, now a room (which I thank Jesus for every day).
Whatever size or shape it is, I want to see your space! There’s something inspiring and interesting seeing where other’s create. Are you in?
Link up below with Mr. Linky (I said ‘in the comments’ in the video, but I changed my mind. 
) with your name or blog name. If you don’t have a blog, upload your photos or video to Flickr, YouTube, etc. and list your name below.
So…here’s my scrap space:
(Hey, dont miss the giveaway at the end of this post…wink, wink.)
You know when life gets crazy and nothing really goes as planned?
You’re chugging NyQuil, just to be able to breathe through your nose?
When all the spoons are dirty?
When soccer (x 3…count them…3 boys) consumes your every available moment?
Your email inbox is nearing capacity?
You have more work than time?
Permission slips and unsigned reading logs get lost in the mountain of paperwork?
And most worstest of all?
You know when you have no time to scrap…let alone blog about it?
Yeah. I’m there.
Hopefully next week suddenly has more hours in the day.
Either way…see you then.
(But on the upside…you might want to jot on over to my other blog. I’m giving away a $50 Snapfish gift card! That’s a lot of prints for scrappin’…)
Seems to me, there are two schools of thought when it comes to scrapbooking.
There’s the Got To Get My Pictures In An Album Quick…Because I’m So “Behind” sickness.
Then there’s the “I Can’t Decide Between The fuchsia, Periwinkle And Chartreuse Background Paper Because This Page Has. To. Be. Perfect!” syndrome.
First off, who started this whole idea of being “behind”? Hello. If were talking about being 100% on top of everything, then my whole life will be “behind” until the day I die.
So you probably think I’m one of the Behinders, huh? Wrong. I’m one of the Caught Uppers. When I first got into scrapbooking (13 years ago), I had a two year old and was out-to-here pregnant and not working. Glorious. For a few months straight I scrapped every night, going through every picture, organizing, cropping, adhering, creating.
Maybe I was one of those people caught up in the silly sickness. But I think just as bad is the idea that you must create a masterpiece every time you sit down to scrap. Honestly, I get caught in this trap too. There are so many talented scrappers, papercrafters, and artists out there that there’s a kind of pressure to create magazine ready layouts. What results is unfinished pages, books and projects because they’re just not going to be perfect…enough.
So what’s a scrapper to do?
When I was in college, a very wise professor taught me the idea of the Golden Mean. Its the idea that says the balance found in the absolute middle is golden. Like finding balance between being neurotic about keeping your kitchen floor clean, and mopping once a year whether it needs it or not. Or between never letting little Johnny play sports because he might just get hurt, and letting him play in the middle of a busy street because he wants to. Or slapping pictures down because your freaking out about being “behind”, and never committing to anything because its not going to be perfect (can you say perfectionist?)
I say…find what works for you, whether it be chronological, all mixed up, 12×12, or minis…and work on finding the Golden Mean.
I’m still looking for it, myself.
I’m a 12×12 album girl. I like all different brands. I’ve got about 18 albums and 13 of them are Creative Memories. When I first started scrapbooking, that’s all I would use. And not surprising, since they really got the industry rolling. I cut my scrapbooking teeth on Creative Memories.
Another brand I like is Pioneer. I’ve mentioned before that I think they make a very nice album.
But to be honest, I’m not very loyal to one brand. It usually comes down to what’s on sale, what’s cute, what kind of mood I’m in.
So what about you…what’s your fancy when it comes to albums? Any loyalists out there?
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Update: Out of the two brave souls who entered, #1, Amber is the winner of this giveaway!
In a couple of week I’ll be embarking on a journey to a place where no (wo)man has gone before. Ok, just kidding about that last bit.
But I am accepting a challenge from my new online friend and scrappy guru, Lain Ehmann. Along with Tami from Bcr8tuv, she is doing the 4th annual LOAD challenge starting Feb 1.
LOAD stands for Lay Out A Day and just as the name implies, the challenge is to create one layout per day, capture it, and share it with the other members via a Flickr group.
What You’ll Get:
Cost: $25
What You Need To Do:
I fully expect to get overwhelmed and probably feel a little intimidated in the company of some great scrappers (and somehow stowing some scrap tools in my suitcase to Blissdom so I can be eligible for that grand prize!)
And I can’t wait.
Win It! Ready to join me? One person will receive a free registration for LOAD Version 2.10! Here’s how to enter:
Update: The winner of this giveaway is #16, Patricia!
I love attending crops. They are the modern day quilting bee. Its a social outlet as well as a creative one (and sometimes, there’s a lot more socializing than scrapbooking going on…)
One problem I have, as I’m sure you do, is being in the middle of a layout when its time to pack up and go home. Aaaack!
But, take a look at this great little thing I found surfing the net. Its called the Page In Progress Box (or PIP Box) by Cropperware…
The PIP Box comes in Cherry Blossom or Retro Blue and is available for $24.95 at cropperware.com.
A big thank you to Cropperware for providing one PIP Box for me to review…and one to giveaway to one lucky winner!
Win It! One Confessions reader will win a PIP Box of their very own. Here’s how to enter:
Well we did it. We thoroughly explored the Gypsy in all its wonder. Today I show you how to connect the Gypsy to the Cricut and how they work together. I also show you my trick for cutting multiple paper scraps in one pass through the Cricut.
I hope you enjoyed these video tutorials. And if you have any questions or tips on the Gypsy, please leave a comment!
Here’s the last video on designing with the Gypsy. Today we’ll go over the the kern tool.
I also mention the Relative/True Size tool, which truly, I don’t see the need for on the Gypsy. I’m still trying to figure out how this works on the Gypsy and how it relates to the “Real Dial Size” function on the Cricut itself (which I’m still a bit confused about).
I see another tutorial on this coming…
But as to not leave you hanging for now, here is the definition of the Relative/True Size tool from the Gypsy Quick Start Guide:
Click this button to toggle on Relatvie Size mode (white) or True Size mode (yellow). When highlighted white, this feature allows you to control the size of the images selected in relation to the size of the key height character. Every chartridge contains a key height character, and the size of every other character in that cartridge is based on the size of this key character. This is done so that when images are selected to be cut they are the correct size relative to one another. For example, if you enter the images C-a-t to be 1 inch tall, where “C” is the key height character and “a” should be half the height of “C”, then the “a” will really only be half an inch tall. You can control the exact size of all images selected without regard to the key character by toggling the button to True Size mode (yellow).
I’m probably making this harder than it really is, but I’ll do some testing and will get back to you (probably in video tutorial form) and let you know what I find out.
Promise.
So, on to the video…
So moving on, today I’m going to show you how to use the weld, preview, delete, copy and undo tools.
Any questions? Please feel free to leave a comment on this or any other post. And don’t forget to enter the Gypsy giveaway here (before 1/19/10).
