Memory Works Retreat

Memory Works is hosting a Scrapbooking Retreat this summer where I will be the keynote speaker. I am very excited about this opportunity - there will be fabulous project classes, crops and lots of great memories made.  I would love to have you come to Utah to be a part of it all.Just click here to go to the retreat website.  For more information you can click here for last year's highlights, here for more about what others are saying about the event and here for the registration form.  We would love to see you there!

365 Days of Gratitude - Organized

I am pumped.  I love this project and everything about it.  I love thinking about something I am grateful for each day.  I love deciding the best way to capture that memory.  I love consciously looking for the good in my life and having a place to record my feelings as well as a visual image of that gratitude.  Many of you know that this year will be a landmark one for us.  After 16 years of marriage we are finally able to have a baby!  Because of that and because I am a strong believer in our happiness being directly linked to our gratitude, I am focusing my Project 365 on gratitude. (click here if you want to know more of the story about this long-awaited baby and here if you want Jason's take on it all).

I have spent time this week getting my album ready.  I decided that I wanted to pre-decide as much as I could with the album because I know that life will get a little crazy in other ways.  I think this way I'll be prepared to be as successful as possible to keep it up. To get my album ready, here is what I did:

1.  Create the title page and ending page using the pre-printed cards that were in the kit - with my own embellishment.  I will add a quote or my thoughts about the experience at the end once the year is over.

2.  Insert the "Week of..." cards into each layout for the whole year.3.  Insert one coordinating full-color 4x3 card in the bottom row of my sheet protectors.  I decided to use one per week as a journaling card because I like the full-color look of them.

4.  Then I divided the journaling cards into 3 sets and inserted a "set" of cards into the rest of the bottom row slots - sometimes mixing up the order of the cards for variety.  I will simply pull out the card each day and write my journaling.  If I need to switch a card for one of the tri-fold card options to write more, I will do that as I go.5.  Place a printed transparency in empty slots throughout the year - there are enough to do one about every other week.6.  I liked the option of mounting the circle "days of the week" stickers to a color before adding them to the page.  I went through and punched a whole bunch of circles from coordinating paper and added a sticker to each one.  I placed these by day in small ziplocks so I can easily grab one for each day of the week in the color I want.

7.  Finally, I cut the black, spelled-out days of the week stickers in half so each week was its own little sheet and inserted one week's worth into one of the slots for each week.  This way they are always handy for adding to my journaling blocks as I go.

All my album is missing are the photos and the actual journaling that I will do as I go along throughout the year.  This process took me a few hours to complete, I won't lie.  But I feel like it is worth it to be ready for the year.  So much of what takes time as we scrapbook are making decisions.  Now, all my decisions are basically made and I can just concentrate on the record-keeping part instead of the decision-making part.

So yes, I received my kit in the mail - but after looking through it I have decided that it would be simple to recreate the same concept on just 12x12 pages.  I don't think that you even need the divided sheet protectors to make this happen.  Especially if you take advantage of Becky Higgins' completely generous offer of downloading some of the weekly title cards and journaling cards that she has made available on her blog if you click here. Here's why a 12x12 page works the same as the divided sheet protectors from the kit:

• You can fit two 4x6 photos across the page in a row at the top (just like our kits have).
• You can fit a second row of 4x6 photos across the page under the first one (just like our kits have).
• You can fit four journaling cards across the bottom of the page - each 3x4 or the size you desire (just like our kits have).
• It's easy to make your own "Days of the Week" stickers for the photos and journaling blocks.

The only difference is that you have no "slots" to slide everything into and you have to print the cards (from Becky's blog) or create your own (which is totally doable).  I suggest you print or create a stack that you can use all year and you will be ready to go.  Just adhere the cards and your photos directly to a 12x12 background and once the page is filled, slide it into a regular 12x12 sheet protector. I am loving this option. Enjoy the process - whatever process you are using to approach this project.  I'll post some of the photos from the last week or so next time - stay tuned!

JOIN US FOR A LIFE WELL CRAFTED WORKSHOP

We are loving our experience so far with teaching our Big Picture Scrapbooking class "A Life Well Crafted."  Thank you to all of you across the globe for being a part of it.  If you would still like to join us - there is plenty of time.  Just click here to register for the year long (discount price) option or here if you would like to register month to month.