Category Archives: beginning scrapbooking

May27

MIA

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MIA

For the first time in months, the house is quiet and there’s no one else on the computer. There’s energy left over from today’s work, and there’s no work tomorrow.

I feel free.

Scrapbooking just hasn’t been happening much around here lately. Inconsistent, long hours, and lots of errand running means by the time I get home, there’s no energy left over for crafty stuff.

Some people would be upset, or beating themselves up about this. And I am missing being crafty on a regular basis. I’ve missed two LOADS so far this year. I’ve only hung out with crafty friends a handful of times since starting a retail job. My house is a mess, and I can’t find my craft desk.

But, life happens. Sometimes your life over flows with crafty goodness. Sometimes it overflows with other things. It’s all good.

I’ve got a few things in the works for you that I hope to get to this summer. If you need me, drop me a line on my Facebook page. I’m around. I just am prioritizing other things at the moment.

 

Nov1

Balls in the Air

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Balls in the Air

Goodbye October, we hardly knew ye!

Seriously, last month went by so fast! Between being sick, trying to find a new job, family birthdays, and just general chaos, October came and went in the blink of an eye.

So, what’s the plan for November?

Let’s see…

Starting a new job.

Schedule and host a couple combo Stampin’ Up! & Pampered Chef shows.

Finish and publish my sketch book. I just got notification back from one of the companies I wanted to use as an inspiration source, and they were not willing to let me do that, three months after I originally contacted them. So now I’ve got to re-write and re-arrange a section of the sketch book. Then I’ve got to finalize the images I will be sharing with you, and try to optimize them for kindle format. I wish I could afford to pay someone to do this part for me, but that’s got to wait till it starts paying for itself.

Hosting Thanksgiving at my house. My sister’s going to be here this year!

Get new glasses. I am sitting in some pretty weird positions in order to read and use the computer.

Joining in with NaNoWriMo!

nanowrimo_2016_webbadge_participant

If you’ve never heard of it, it’s a month long challenge to write a novel. In a month. The goal is to write 50,000 words, or about 1,667 words a day, and finish an average length novel in 30 days. It’s a pretty crazy idea, especially with everything else I’m trying to fit into the month, but I’m nothing if not a glutton for punishment.

I mean think about it. New job. New business. Might as well throw a tough challenge in there as well, right? I mean it’s not like I don’t like a monthly challenge now, is it? (LOAD anyone?)

Speaking of LOAD… Did any of you participate in LOAD this October? I only made it through the first two weeks. Then the galloping ick just sapped my will to create. That and the unholy mess that is my craft room. I desperately need to clean!

Since this month is going to be so busy, I won’t be around very much this month.

I’m not going to do my month of thankful cards. I just can’t commit to that, and have any time for my family. I think I’ll be moving to a monthly how-to. If I can figure out a way to make a video that doesn’t completely suck, I’ll be doing that. I know how much you all like videos, but between poor lighting and shoddy equipment, I haven’t had much luck shooting anything worth sharing in months.

Since I’ll be around so little, you might want to sign up for my mailing list (up at the top right) so you can get an email when I post. Emails letting you know about posts goes out once a week. So if I post once a week or three times a week, you’ll get one email for the week. If I don’t post at all, no email! When you’re new to my mailing list, you also get an email every other week with some links and posts that I think you might find interesting. That only lasts for a few months though. I’ll also let you know when a new book comes out, or if I ever get my video recording figured out, video classes too!

Whew! That sounds busy doesn’t it? Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go finish my word count for today.

Sep28

Book Update (and a couple recommendations to tide you over)

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Book Update (and a couple recommendations to tide you over)

It is taking me a little longer than I thought it would to finish up my latest book about using sketches in scrapbooking. How’d you like to help me decide on the title and cover?

This is what I’ve got right now, which one do you like the best?

Option 1

Option 1

Option 2

Option 2

Option 3

Option 3

Option 4

Option 4

Just let me know which one you like most in the comments below.

To tide you over until I get my booked finished, I’ve got a couple recommendations for you.

One:

and two:

Why should you read these two books?

You should read The Happiness Project because of one phrase in particular: the days are long, but the years are short. This was the impetus that started Gretchen Rubin on her happiness and habits journey. This was the idea that made her realize that she needed to pay attention to now, because all too soon today becomes yesterday, and then last week, and last year.

Folks this is the reason we scrapbook. We scrapbook because we know that as soon as we live a particular moment, it’s gone forever, unless we capture it in some way through memory keeping.

We scrapbook because it makes the current moment so much more happy, either because we’re trying to be present and aware of it, or because we’re actively scrapbooking, and making pretty stuff. Making stuff makes most people happy, at least in my experience.

You should read The New Rules of Scrapbooking because Jennifer Wilson is a woman after my own heart. In her book, she lists five basic rules of scrapbooking, that basically tell you to ignore all the rules and all the guilt that you think makes up scrapbooking. It’s a freedom manifesto for the scrapbooker plagued by self-doubt, fear, and guilt. Scrapbooking is a hobby that should help you feel more free. Jennifer’s rules will help you get there.

Sep21

Making Letter Stickers Go Away

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Making Letter Stickers Go Away

You know what’s frustrating? Using up all the E’s in a set of letter stickers before you’ve even used up half the letters. Or the T’s or S’s. My pile of partially used alphabet stickers is growing and growing. I’d really like to get rid of some of those packages of Q’s, X’s, and J’s, how about you?

What are some ways we could do that?

We could play scrabble with the rest of the letters in a set, and come up with words that we could use for titles. That’s always a fun challenge.

alpha letter soup|| noexcusescrapbooking.com

We could mix and match letters from multiple sets to create ransom style words. You do want to keep the letters in the same ballpark size wise when you do this. If you really don’t like having mismatched colored letters, you could even paint or ink them to help the letters go together better.

recipe for disaster||noexcusescrapbooking.com

I think you’ve seen this page a lot lately!

If they are flat stickers, you can add them to a piece of cardstock to create a one-of-a-kind patterned paper. With both flat and dimensional stickers, you can use them with mists or inks or paint to create a background. Coat the backs of the stickers with cornstarch to reduce their stickiness, arrange them on a piece of cardstock, and ink or spray away. When you lift the stickers up, you’ve got the letters showing up as the original color of the cardstock. (I haven’t done this yet myself. I’m still having trouble letting go of my letter stickers.)

I’m sure there are a ton more ways to use up letter stickers. Do any of you have any suggestions?

Of course, there is always the final solution: the garbage can. When you’re down to a 2, a 5, three Q’s and a W, there really isn’t much point to holding on to it. I’ve got to remind myself of that, and throw out some stickers. Hold me. This is going to be hard.

Sep14

Cook n’ Craft!

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Cook n’ Craft!

Are you ready for something fun? I’ve had a brainstorm. It could be fabulous. It could tank really badly. But that’s life in general, isn’t it?

Too often, people say they can’t scrapbook, or do anything even remotely crafty because they have no time. That’s also a common excuse for people using prepared foods and eating out a lot. No time to cook. No time to craft.

We’re running out of time people!

But seriously. There are ways to fit in some downtime, whether it’s crafty or not, and eat well too.

Enter my wild idea: Cook n’ Craft events.

We’ll spend about half an hour learning how to make dinner, or some other meal, fast, easy and delicious, and the rest of the evening (or afternoon, or even morning, I’m not picky!) making a related project or two. The kitchen tools will be from Pampered Chef, and the craft supplies will be from Stampin’ Up!

Food and crafting and gathering together always go well together in my world.

There will be themed shows where you learn cooking and stamping techniques, or make use of kits to make crafts you can actually use. I’ll host open houses and workshops and hopefully some of you will want to host an event too. Sometimes you’ll need to pre-order the consumable supplies for a particular project, and sometimes we’ll be raiding my stash to see how you can mix old with new, and turn everything fabulous.

Yes, this is me selling Pampered Chef and Stampin’ Up! products, but the way I’ll be doing it will be a bit different. Of course if you want to host a regular Pampered Chef or Stampin’ Up! show (or both!) I’ll be happy to do so.

cm10100b

I’ve got a few theme ideas to start us off:

1. Gift food with pretty packaging.

2. Fast weeknight meal and using stamps to create your own calming coloring sheets. (and a card!)

3. Meal planning for the cheap and lazy with a recipe keeper like a box or binder.

4. Easy and fancy dessert with a card kit for all occasions.

5. Appetizers for any occasion and party decorations.

This is going to be fun!

Who’s going to join me?

You can find my Stampin’ Up! website here: Stampin’ Up!

I’m using my first party to help fund my Pampered Chef sign up, and you can find the party here if you’d like to order something to help out: Heather’s PC party

cooking-show-1

I will be working on a way to do this online too, but I want to get the live version worked out first.

Anyone else as excited as I am?