Author Archives: Heather

May23

WITL: Tuesday’s Pages

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WITL: Tuesday’s Pages

We’re going to get our scrappy tools out, and rock to some Big Country while we put together Tuesday’s pages. This is quick and easy. I did add a tiny bit of technique to a page. That Tim Holtz distress stain was calling me!

With no further ado:

Let me know if you have any questions about this process. Most of Wednesday and Thursday’s pages are done and recorded. The camera battery keeps dying on me, and not holding its charge. New battery arrives tomorrow, so I should be able to speed up my recording over the weekend. Yay!

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If you haven’t started making something yet, why not? It’s time to DO SOMETHING with those memories!

One more thing–if you’re feeling the need for some 80’s rock after watching that video, you can get some Big Country through my affiliate link in iTunes.
In a Big Country (Radio) – The Best of Big Country
Wonderland – The Best of Big Country

May21

Setting Up the Binder and Monday’s Pages

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Setting Up the Binder and Monday’s Pages

The video walking you through the binder set up and the creation of Monday’s pages is ready for you. Yay!

Rather than add subtitles to the video, I’ve got some notes for you that will help explain my thought process.

1. I start off by sorting my photos by general time/subject, and by orientation. Orientation is important, because any vertical photos will need a creative solution if I want to keep the book in a standard orientation. I don’t want my readers to have to rotate the book repeatedly as they look at it, so I’ll have to either trim the vertical photos down, mount them on a cardstock page, or something even more interesting. It’s also important to keep related photos together, to create better story flow.

2. As I start trimming photos, I begin to decide whether I’m going to break the photo up between pockets, or trim the photo down to fit a single pocket.

3. When I’m flipping pages back and forth, I’m trying to keep track of the bigger picture, and the story of the day.

4. When I’m flipping endlessly through the cards, I’m realizing, I didn’t plan enough room for story telling, so am reevaluating the photo placement in regards to the day’s story.

5. Unmentioned product alert! Martha Stewart labels from her office supply line. Loving using them!

6. This is the easiest type of journaling to do: just tell what happened. No need to make it complicated.

A couple quick close ups for you:

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I’ll share close ups of the whole book with you when we’re done.

Have you gotten started yet? If you haven’t, don’t you think it’s time to get creating? If you have, share it! I’d love to see it!

May20

Upcycle Your Old Vinyl Binders

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Upcycle Your Old Vinyl Binders

My camera’s battery died in the middle of recording the video about putting together the Monday pages for our Week in the Life project. That slowed me down a bit! 😉

So, to keep you entertained, I’ve put together a little video for you while my battery charged that will help you pretty up any old vinyl binders you’ve got lying around.

You’ll need a sheet of paper large enough to cover your binder, mod podge, a brush, and a pair of scissors.

Oh, and an ugly old binder.

If you could throw in a few stray cat hairs, I’d be much obliged. I’m not the only one who finds cat hair in odd places, am I?

Let me know if you have any questions! I’m sure I forgot to mention something that you’d find helpful!

Oh, and don’t forget to say “Hi!” to Simon. He loves the attention.

May20

Messtaken Identity Class Winner!

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Messtaken Identity Class Winner!

The winner of the month of classes and tutorials over at Messtaken Identity is Carmen!

Carmen, I will forward your email to Gina at Messtaken Identity. Her classes are fun!

Thanks for playing everyone!

May16

Step One: Sort What You Have

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Step One: Sort What You Have

This is probably going to sound like a no-brainer, but the first step to putting together a Week in the Life Project is to sort the photos and notes you have by day. Need a video example?

Once you’ve got your materials sorted, take a quick look at what you’ve gathered, and make a list of what sorts of things are involved.

My list: (in addition to the standard 4x6s)

Monday: lots of memorabilia, three 3x4s

Tuesday: One 6×8, one 5×7, one 3×4 and no memorabilia

Wednesday: Two 5x7s, two 3x4s and a little memorabilia

Thursday: One 6×8 (Actually a 8×10 I will be cutting down.)

Friday: One 5×7, three 3x4s and some memorabilia

Saturday: One 6×8 and Simon’s wish list

Sunday: A 6×8, five 5x7s, a couple pieces of memorabilia, and LOTS of pictures.

Now that I know how much of what kind of stuff I have, I can plan how to arrange my album. I know I won’t need any 6×8 page protectors for Monday, and very little of anything for Thursday.

I am going to need a few more page protectors, so tomorrow I’ll make a quick trip to Michaels, so I can flesh out the interior. Then it will be time to start assembling it.

I will work on each day as a block, so you will have seven videos to check out and refer to once I’m done.

I’ve got a sick kid at home, so between that, and needing to head out for supplies, I probably won’t be able to start posting videos till Monday at the earliest.

Make sure you let me know if you have any questions!