Category Archives: LOAD

Following Prompts

Following Prompts

It’s May, and that means another Layout A Day (LOAD) challenge is underway again.

One of the reasons I love LOAD is that, while there are prompts every day, there’re no rules on how you must interpret them. And for some reason, this month’s prompts are working really well with where my head is right now, so I’ve been able to easily follow along.

Maybe it’s because I got one of the harder stories told right off the bat with the first page for the month.

In the News

Or maybe it’s because I’m concentrating on the story first.

building a home  || noexcusescrapbooking.com

Perhaps it’s because, when I try to do a prompt in one way, but have no photos to tell the story with, I can reexamine the prompt and do another story. (Don’t worry, that first story will be told, but I’ll put together an illustrative photo first.)

happy birthday || noexcusescrapbooking.com

Or maybe it’s because I recognize when I’ve already done a page that tells all I want to tell regarding a prompt, and have plenty of other stories to tell.

remembering mini album || noexcusescrapbooking.com

The all I have to say about that page was done a while ago, and I use it as part of my holiday decorating now.

santa page || noexcusescrapbooking.com

Maybe it’s because I recognize that prompts are jumping off points, and am willing to go anywhere the thought process wanders.

grownup? || noexcusescrapbooking.com

Perhaps it’s because I give myself time to think and remember before starting a page.

Lainie-isms || noexcusescrapbooking.com

Or maybe, just maybe, it’s because I realize I don’t have to choose one thing over another, or follow directions exactly. I can keep it as simple or as complex as I want, and there’s no one to say I’m doing it wrong.

turn turn turn || noexcusescrapbooking.com

Which brings us to the whole point: there are no rules in scrapbooking. Thank goodness.

Time for Another Scrapbooking Marathon!

Time for Another Scrapbooking Marathon!

Yep! It’s that time again! Time for another round of Layout a Day, aka LOAD as the regulars like to call it.

What exactly is LOAD? It’s a thrice yearly challenge to create a scrapbook layout every day for a month. The next one starts on May first. This will be the last public one for the year. (To participate in the third LOAD each year, you need to be a member of ScrapHappy.)

What’s so great about LOAD? Well, I’ve got lots of reasons to love it. (You can read them here.) But my reason for loving it today? LOAD gives me permission to make scrapbooking a priority in my daily life, but by participating in it, I also get to not feel guilty about not scrapbooking at other times of the year.

What does that mean?

Let’s put it this way. If I only scrapbook during LOAD, and make a scrapbook page every day of each challenge, that means at the end of the year I’ll have made 120 layouts. That’s 2.5 full albums worth of pages. That’s a lot of stories told. Especially if I continue to scrapbook, and continue telling stories, even after my kids fly the nest. If I live for another 30 years, that’s another 75 albums. 75! I’d have to have an entire wall dedicated to scrapbooks. Speaking as someone who’s had to clean out too many family houses in the past ten years, that’s a lot of STUFF for my kids to have to deal with.

So by participating in LOAD, I get a LOT of storytelling done, and that frees me up so I don’t HAVE to scrapbook at other times. (You’d think I scrapbook all the time based on this blog, but I don’t!)

Heh. Unlike a real marathon, where you have to train in order to successfully complete it, in a scrapbooking marathon, you’re not going to injure yourself if you just jump right in!

You could even, if you’re a multi-hobbyist, use the LOAD format to give yourself permission to concentrate on each of your hobbies in turn. That sounds like fun, doesn’t it?

Feb 2012 Past Perfect LOAD || noexcusescrapbooking.com

One last reason I’m excited about LOAD this May. It will be round two of a Past Perfect theme, as far as the prompts go. What does that mean? A few years ago, we did a LOAD called Past Perfect, where we concentrated on telling our own stories, rather than that of our loved ones. It was one of the most fun LOADs I’ve done. We’ll be revisiting that idea this May, and I’m really glad about that. After all, the story we’re most qualified to tell is our own, don’t you think?

So. Have you signed up for LOAD yet? If you haven’t go do it right NOW!

 

LOAD’s Not Over Yet!

LOAD’s Not Over Yet!

Yesterday was pretty productive. I did a little writing for a class I’m working on for you, and I made these three pages during Lain Ehmann’s monthly Scrapbook Improv. ( I followed the prompts and everything!)

first impression || noexcusescrapbooking.com

My scrap bin got a serious workout, but it still looks as full as when I started the month. Maybe I should do a grab bag of scraps as a giveaway. Anyone interested?

crafty vacay || noexcusescrapbooking.com

Some of the coolest things in the scrap bin are the partially finished collage pieces. Painted book leaf? I’ve got that. Misted stencil– that’s in there too. Well not anymore. Now they’re on a page. Woo hoo!

hams || noexcusescrapbooking.com

 

And I knew that Lego paper was going to come in handy. After all I do have a couple Lego fiends in the house. It’s only a couple years old…

So did you set any scrappy goals for yourself this month? How did you do? If I get two more pages done, I’ll have done a 3/4 LOAD. That works for me!

Some Days Just Make You Happy

Some Days Just Make You Happy

This. This page. This is why I do LOAD:

Live Laugh Play doodle! || noexcusescrapbooking.com

This page started with the photos. I love these glorious, hovering in mid-air pictures. They aren’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but they really capture how much fun the kids were having.

The next piece I decided to work with was the die cut pocket page card from Simple Stories. I love so much of their work. Lots of happy colors in their collections. I decided I wanted to use kraft cardstock as the background, and then discovered I had run out of the 12×12 paper. So then I pulled out some white, but that looked so anemic in comparison to the colorful photos that I pulled out some black instead.

There! That worked. But then I got hung up again on patterned paper. I wanted colorful and happy to go with the happy pictures, but throwing a lot of patterns together just made everything entirely too busy. And I really wanted to use the chevron/multi-color stripe paper, but I also loved the letters and arrows on the back.

Handy dandy paper trimmer to the rescue!

Rather than layering various papers on top of each other, and matting focal photos, I decided to keep it super simple and  cut one three inch strip, which I then cut into 4 inch pieces. Flipping one piece over, so the reverse pattern would show, I put everything into a simple grid arrangement, and walked away for a bit to get a fresh eye.

When I came back, I knew what I needed. Doodles. Lots of doodles. And maybe some enamel dots as well.

Why is doodling so much fun?

It’s definitely a happy page for a happy idea. And something I noticed, after I uploaded, and got a good distance view of the page? Can you see a heart? Let me know if you see it too. Maybe I’m imagining things.

I love how totally unplanned things make everything look like it was completely intentional.

So. Are you making anything you want to share? I’d love to see it!

Still Trucking Along

Still Trucking Along

Wow! I thought this month was going to be all about how you can make scrapbooking a priority in your life, even when life gets hectic. And then I had an unexpected trip to NYC, and everything’s been off for the rest of the month.

You know how, sometimes, you just need to drop every outside influence, and become a turtle? Maybe that’s just me. But that was how my month went. Full on avoidance of anything and everything. I tried to not go into turtle mode this month, but apparently I still haven’t learned that I need to embrace turtle mode, so that it doesn’t last as long as when I try to avoid it.

The result? I’m still in catch up mode, and working on getting to having the same number of layouts done as the number day of the month. I’ve got 15 done, and ideas for one more, ready for me to work on. I’ll get that done today.

I love the feeling of being back on track.

Want to see what I have gotten done?

Yes? Good. Cos I’m going to show you anyway! 😉

First up? Another college page. I used up more scraps from my scrap bin, including an altered piece from a kit from Messtaken Identity.

Sooner saves the day || noexcusescrapbooking.com

Then there’s some more pics from the family photo shoot. Don’t you just love that Q?!

Digi love || noexcusescrapbooking.com

One of the prompts for LOAD was black and white, which made me think of Pokemon. I got my son involved in the journaling, and used my Silhouette Portrait to cut out a Pokemon title in a font similar to the official one.

Pokemon Play || noexcusescrapbooking.com

And then, it was time to use more scraps from my scrap bin. I love using a winter photo with July Fourth themed paper for a topic unrelated to either theme.

Parenting Practice || noexcusescrapbooking.com

And then it was time for another college page. There are so many little stories to tell about college life. So many wonderful people to remember.

Lainie's harem || noexcusescrapbooking.com

And finally a page about what I love most about summer. And no, it’s not bathing suits! 😉 The two pocket page cards flip up and down to reveal journaling. This was a fun page to figure out.

I {heart} summer || noexcusescrapbooking.com

So that’s all I’ve gotten done this month, and the end is fast approaching. Am I going to get 28 pages done? Do I even want to?

I don’t know. I just know I am going to keep going though. Every page done is another story told, another thought shared with my family. That is why I do this after all.