The Stories We Tell Ourselves by Ali Edwards

Last week I found I was repeating a story to myself and to a friend that’s not quite true right now.

It wasn’t a big deal, something small about how I’ve done things in the past with my blog (told more personal stories as a holding place before scrapbooking them), but I was struck by the fact that I was continuing to tell myself the same story line even though it’s not an accurate statement right now. In this case it's actually rather situational and something I'd like to be true again sooner rather than later.

Why do I keep telling myself that story if it isn’t true?

It made me more aware of other stories I've been repeating to myself lately. It made me think about the negative ones that get trapped in my mind from time to time.

Do you ever get a story stuck in your mind that is just really not true? Maybe it's something about yourself as a creative person or a way you see someone else?

A story can be part of our history and not part of our today (thank goodness for awareness & choice). Our lives, obviously, are a collection of all these stories that ebb and flow – the ones that are real, the ones that are how we wish things were, and the ones that others tell us about ourselves that we believe without taking time to gauge whether they really are true.

On any given day I repeat a variety of story lines to myself in my head – sometimes they feel like tapes that are on repeat. Some build creative confidence and some break it down:

“I am not this….”
“I am this…”
“I can’t do this…”
“I do this…”

Some of these story lines are toxic to creativity. They erode and destroy and are filled with negativity. They are often challenging to get away from and repeating them tends to come easier than stopping and writing a new story (or recording a new tape).

And you know what else? Those negative stories are exhausting. They drain rather than fill-up the creative well that's within each of us. They create drama and disconnect rather than making positive new connections.

Repetition doesn't equal truth. Or does it?

I’m working on stopping myself from repeating the stories that don't support my creative truths – the silly little ones and the really big ones. And you know what, it's hard. To do it I have to actively be conscious of what I’m saying to myself in my head and ask, “Wait a minute, is that really true? Do I still want to be a character in that story?”

We can choose to no longer be a participant in many of these stories by stopping the negative narrative. When a particular story starts running in your head you can say, “Stop. I am not willing to be a character in this story any more.”

It takes action. It takes a willingness to write a new story. It takes self-control and new experiences and risks and re-education.

The narrative can be changed. A new story can be written or a new tape recorded - one that affirms instead of breaks down; one that encourages rather than criticizes.

It's not easy, but it's possible.

Links:

• A Thousand Miles In A Thousand Years by Donald Miller. A favorite book, this one is all about investigating what it means to cultivate a good story - that life you are living right now. Don's also conducting a very cool sounding workshop called Storyline. More info on that here.
• How Do You Rewrite An Unconscious Story via Molly Gordon. I actually came across this one via a tweet from @jenlouden while writing this newsletter this week. It was definitely serendipity. "Facts describe reality; stories define possibility."
• Writing Stories: Find Your Passion via Brenda Chapman. "Whatever it is that inspires you to write—write about it. Then bring yourself to it. That alone will make it original. You are an individual—cultivate your own voice in your writing."

WEEK IN THE LIFE
From April 23rd through the 29th I'll be doing my annual Week In The Life project. Whether you create a scrapbook or simply document your week with images and words on a blog or in a journal, you're invited to celebrate your everyday life with others around the world over the course of seven days. More information available on my project blog or check out past projects here.

Project: More Cheer & Dance Hair Bows

The Cheer Coach wanted a two tone ribbon.
I sewed the pieces together and then created the bow as normal, making sure the seam was hidden.
What do you think.

The Cardinal, Navy, Silver and White are a hard combination.

Project: Polka Dot Hair Bow

Made using a small rhinestone buckle

Project: Hair Bows

I have been busy using scraps of ribbon, material and other crafty items to create bows for NHS Cheer and Poms Squads.  It's the start to a new season and the coaches are looking for something different, inexpensive and maybe something the girls can help with.

This one was made with navy, white and then cranberry metalic ribbon.

Project: T-shirt with Matching Bow

I recently took a class at Joann's on how to use their embrodiery machines.  I am seriously thinking of buying one.   Here is the project we made, then of course I had to make a matching bow.

Sketches

Do you like to work with sketches?
I enjoy them as a starting point, especially when my creative juices are not flowing and I need to get a layout or two or more, completed quickly.

What do you think about when you use a sketch?
How to you attack it?
Do you use it as it is?
Just the photo placement and vary the other embellishments?
Use some of the photo placement spaces for journaling?
Flip or rotate the sketch? 
Change the size of the photos on the sketch?
Use color or patten cardstock in the white space areas?
Use embellishments instead of  patterened cardstock or in place of photos?
Create a two page layout by creating a double image or flipping/rotating the sketch?

Sketches are basically a road map, a starting point. 

It's All About Me: 6 word Memoirs

As we approach the last week of our class, that’s your challenge. We’ll be writing Six Word Memoirs – the story of our lives in only six words. Sure, it sounds easy, but I bet that by the end of the week you won’t think it’s so easy. When you only have six words to work with, it’s crucial to pick the absolute best six words.

I have enjoyed this journey with you for the last few weeks. I am excited to be exploring this fun style of writing as our final project. I hope that you’ll find it as fun and challenging as I do.

So this week, your journaling challenge is to tell your life story in six words – to write a Six Word Memoir. Writing a six word memoir is a lot more difficult that it may seem, having to tell a whole story, your whole story, in six words. Let’s get a few things out of the way before we begin.

You’re going to write more than one Six Word Memoir. Part of the process is writing multiple drafts of the memoir until you get it right. Then, when you think that you’ve got it, you’ll completely toss that one and start another. It’s a good idea to understand that you’ll go through a few different versions before you decide on the right memoir.

So, how should you get started? The first step is to think about what you want your memoir to say, what story you want to tell. Isn’t this always the hardest part? There are a few different ways to go about this. You can tell your story, what has happened to you in your life, who it has made you. You can also explore what you stand for – a six word representation of what you believe.

Do you want to see some examples? Check out the original magazine that started it all here.
They have incredible examples of all different kinds of Six Word Memoirs.

So your homework  is to explore this site and start thinking about what you want your Six Word Memoir to say.

I really hope that you checked out that site. There is so much inspiration there. One thing that I noticed as I was looking at some of the examples is that there is a wide array of what people focused on. Some people seemed to focus on their life in its entirety, while others seem to focus on a moment, and still others seem to be sharing an outlook on their life.
If you are having trouble finding a starting point, I would start thinking about right now. Who are you right now? What do you stand for? What are you interested in, or passionate about? Once you determine what you want to focus on, the words start to fall into place.

I’ve gone through a few different versions of my Six Word Memoir already.

1. Making it all work, with style.
2. Create more, love more, live more.
3. Teaching from day one, until forever.
4. Memories that will last for time.
5. Making a difference makes it worthwhile.

As you can see, these are all over the map. I’ve tried a few that were representative of my life, some that talked about where I am right now, and some read like life mantras. . For now, you should be finalizing your memoir so that we can focus on pictures and getting it scrapped.

So there you have it. You’ve got some prompts to get you thinking. I can’t wait to see what you come up with! I promised that I would share with you the Six Word Memoir I decided to go with. It took a lot to get here, but I eventually decided to go with something that was representative of my life as well as where I am right now. Without further ado, here it is:

Family, memories, creating makes me whole.

It’s not really simple, but it effectively shares my outlook on life, and what is important to me. I hope you’ve come up with one that you are equally as excited about.

Now we have to focus on photos. Depending on what you’ve written as your memoir, there are a lot of directions that you can take this in. You could take this opportunity to take a few more shots of yourself. You could use one of the outtakes from our earlier self-portrait lesson. You may not even want to use a picture of yourself. Really look at your memoir and think about the images that you see in your mind…those are the pictures you should be using. How can you make the images in your mind a reality?

Have you been creative with the pictures you’ve chosen? I can’t wait to see what you’ve come up with. I definitely thought a little outside of the box on this one, pulling pictures from places I never thought I would. Let me explain.

Since my Six Word Memoir focused on three distinct areas of my life, I thought I would pull a picture that represents each of them. Instead of going out and taking the pictures though, I looked around me to find pictures that I could use. I ended up pulling from a few sources.

1. For the family picture, I used an Instagram shot that I really loved. I recently got an iPhone, and I have fully fallen in love with Instagram. I love being able to take pictures almost any time, and then being able to share them with my friends. There was a super cute, self family portrait that we had taken recently, and I really wanted to use it. It’s far from perfect, and the image was a little small, but I made it work because it meant family to me.
2. For memories, I drew from one of my favorite things: Disney. Disney has been running a campaign called “Let the Memories Begin” so I used Google Images, searched for the campaign and was able to come up with an image I would be able to use.
3. For creating, I decided to use a web-sized version of one of my layouts. To me, my scrapbooking is my most common way of creating, so it was natural that I used one of my layouts.

As you can see, I picked images from some of the last places that I would have thought about. Pictures that can help us share our memories and document them are all around us, even if they aren’t ones that we are taking ourselves. With the incredible cameras found on most smart phones now, we can grab a picture at almost any moment. And when we just can’t seem to find a photo, we can Google one to use.

What different places are you taking your pictures from?

Building Your Creative Army by Ali Edwards

I'm super thankful to work from home in the relative peace and quiet that is my upstairs office.

That said, there are times when I daydream about working in a more lively environment, especially (or specifically) in an office of other creative people. I imagine the back and forth of ideas, the water cooler chatter, and gathering together for brainstorming and critiques (good for growth).

Sometimes when I get lonely or have a creative question I can't find the answer to or need to bounce something off another human being, I turn to my creative army.

My creative army is a mixture of "real-life" and "online" friends and places. Some I can call on the phone or via ichat and others I only know from clicking around the internet. Some don't even know me at all, but I consider them a part of my army. Some aren't even necessarily people - think songs, sites, books, or activities. They speak to me through words and images and inspiration.

So what does my army do? They lift me up. They challenge me. They help get me back on track when I stray too far from the job at hand. They encourage me to try new things. They celebrate my successes. They embark with me on creative adventures and even engage in a little creative mischief from time to time (which is really good for someone like me who sticks pretty close to the straight and narrow). They educate me. Some of them are there to tell me the stuff I need (and maybe don't want) to hear and others simply plant seeds and whisper possibilities.

You might call them your team, posse, gang, or crew. I used the term army on purpose - these people and places and things are defenders of my creative spirit.

One of the coolest things about this army is I get to choose who and what is a part of it. My creative army evolves with time and seasons. It's not always the same group. Sometimes I hire new recruits and retire others. Sometimes retired members re-enlist.

Here's just a few people & places I consider a part of my current creative army:

• Justine Musk | She doesn't know me but her writing is awesome and relevant and kicks me in the pants when I need it.
• Cathy Zielske | She's as close as I get to a co-worker without being in the same office (let alone the same state).
• Zen Habits & Leo Babauta | I'm a longtime fan of Leo's site and his writing. It speaks to me on many levels and often challenges me to think differently about situations in my creative work and life.
• Studio Calico Design Team | I find a ton of inspiration in the designs of this group of people. They make me want to get off the computer and go make stuff.
• Two Peas In A Bucket Garden Team | Just as above, lots and lots of inspiration. They also make me want to scrapbook. Two Peas is really where my memory keeping adventures began and it has long served as a go-to place when I need a visual creative lift.
• Design Sponge | More specifically Grace's series called Biz Ladies which is a great group of posts and topics related to running/owning/creating your own business.
• Liz Lamoreux | A kindred spirit and partner in creative adventures.
• A group of women friends I first started getting together with a few summers ago that have become a valuable resource in my creative work and in my everyday life.

Have you ever considered your friends/go-to places/sources of inspiration as your creative team or army? The process of thinking through and writing up my list (partially shown above) was actually quite interesting and illuminating.

Who and what are a part of your creative army?

Projects: Sequined T-shirt Design

Still trying to create some unique items for Missy for Cheer tryouts in May.
Tell me wht you think?

Frontier Wolverines
The main school colors are navy and cardinal (not quite red, not quite burgandy)
I added the silver to give it some highlights.

1. Cut the letters out of heat bond using the cricut.
2. Iron onto the back side of the navy sequin material
3. Arrange the lettering onto the silver sequin material, slightly overlapping.
4. Iron in place.
5. Zig zag stich around the letters
6. I then cut out the silver material a half an inch around the navy lettering
7. Ironed that onto the shirt using the heat bond
8. Zig Zagged around the silver sequin
9. Added rhinestones for some bling.

12 Topics: Fun

Play is out brain's favorite way of learning.

~ Diane Ackerman. ~

FUN:  Enjoyment, amusement, or light hearted pleasure.  Playful behavior or good humor.  Behavior or an activity that is intended purely for amusement and should not be interpeted as having serious or malicious purpose.

One of Stacey Julian's mantras is "Scrapbookinfg is suppose to be fun."  She has therefore added "fun" as on of the 12 Topics of Scrapbooking, as a reminder to let go of the obligation, expectation, limitation or males and make it fun.  Fun pages can be anything, they can have a purpose, or just be becaue you wanted to play with all the pretty paper and embellishments.  Zero restrictions on your inner child and absolutely no accountability to your inner designer.

You get to do or try anything you want and you get to follow any decorative diversion that tickles your fancy.  They can be anything, as long as you can experiment with pictures  and journaling and colors and patterns that you love. 

It is 100% likely thay what you end up with won't have the slightest familiarity with anything you envisioned - in fact, it will be true evidence of creative abandon.

BP 12 Topics: Fun by Stacey Julian

Welcome to FUN week. Fun week is all about getting over ourselves because what is the big deal. We grow up and we think we have to act all serious when if you pay attention to science it’s all about having fun, it’s all about being creative and innovative, and I am going to have fun making this little movie for you to help remind you of all the things you could be doing. Well, maybe not all the things you could be doing, but some of the things you could be doing to have a little bit more fun in this class and you can start by eating more jelly beans. I’m a big believer in having a stash of colorful Jelly Belly’s close by.

One of the other things I gave you to do this week is to go to a website called SaysIt.com and create your own custom seal. This one says, “Official Seal, Funniest Mom”. Ha, ha, I made this. I’m going to put it on a scrapbook page. You should make your own seal for whatever you decide to award yourself or someone else with because that is your prerogative. I also think you should use the word “funnest” this week. I think we should probably try to use the word “funnest” at least once a day. Like isn’t this the “funnest” video you’ve seen in a really, really long time.

In addition to having a pair of really fun sunglasses, I completely believe that every woman should have a Lip Smacker. I have two, this one in watermelon and one that’s flavored like Dr. Pepper in my purse. The Dr. Pepper Lip Smacker is almost gone. It makes me sad. Lip Smackers, I believe, are manufactured for the tween market, kind of younger, maybe 12, 13, 14 year old girls. I really think that they should be used by women of all ages because they are big and like they take a long time to go through, we have big lips, you know, and we have no less desire for delicious flavored chapstick than anyone else. Get yourself a Lip Smacker, put it in your purse, take it out when you are at the line at the bank, and when you are in the line at the bank put it on really, really good, and watch and see the reaction. Some people will just look at you, someone will probably say, “I remember those, how cute.” The woman who is just looking at you inwardly is thinking, “She’s having more fun than I am.”

So way back in 2007 when I was Editor of Simple Scrapbooks Magazine, I diagnosed the general scrapbooking populous to be suffering from something that I called “No Fun”. Way too many women who had signed up for scrapbooking as a way to enjoy themselves, to be creative, to document life for their family, had lost site of the original goal to have fun, and so we published what we called the Play Issue, Scrapbook Play, because that is what it should be. It should be fun. It should feel like play. So this week I created for you a bonus handout that repurposed some of the very fun ideas in this issue. You may have this issue. If you do have it, pull it back out. It’s time for you to revisit Scrapbook Play. Now, one of the ideas I gave you is to visit this very cool website called Pocket Mod and make yourself a cute little custom 8-page booklet that you can use on a scrapbook page. I’m going to show you how it’s done. Stay tuned.

One of the things I want you to do this week to have some fun is to visit pocketmod.com. When you get there you will see that it is the result of someone very, very clever and that it is a chance for you to make out of one sheet of 8 1/2" x 11” computer paper, printer paper, a customized eight-page booklet. So when you get to the homepage look for the start button and go ahead and click start and it will take you to the actual Pocket Mod tool and you will see that there comes up, here are the eight pages in your book. As you mouse over them, for example, it will show you that this is the front, this is the back, and then it identifies each page by a number. Come over here to the actual widgets. If you click on cover you can use the cover that they’ve designed. You can also use a blank page. If you like the page that you find – for example, let’s click on this folder called Writing Guides, look at all the options. There is a lined piece of paper. You can drag that to whichever page in your pocket mod you want to use it for. So for example, I love grid paper so I’m going to use some grid paper. I think this little pocket mod has all kinds of applications for creative women, storytellers and scrapbookers.

you click on the calendar folder for example, click on today, it’s programmed to come up as the day that it actually is. You can click on next week and you will see that you get an accurate calendar for the next week. So for example my family is going on spring break and I could use a pocket mod before we leave and I would have a little calendar. I could have a place that I could jot down basically what we did each day in my little booklet. So have fun exploring each of these folders. There are various organizers. You can include a food diary or a task list. You can close that and go down to miscellaneous. I cracked up when I found that there is the Franklin Virtues. If you’ve heard the story about Benjamin Franklin and his 13 virtues and you want to keep track of those in your own life, there you go, cracks me up. Under games there is Dots, Sudoku, tic-tac-toe, you can put a tic-tac-toe screen in. So obviously if you are working on some kind of hidden journaling you might want to have mostly lined paper, but up here again under Writing Guides there is something called the Storyboard which looks very much like a little punched photo and some journaling so that might be a fun thing to put in your book. You can create your own custom pocket mod. When you are done you simply click on the pocket mod and print it up. Back on the home page at pocketmod.com you will find a video that shows you how to fold it up successfully and then, of course, I will be showing you my pocket mod in just a minute.

I can’t see the bubbles because I’m wearing goggles. Hopefully you can see that I’m blowing bubbles. Did I mention that today, Thursday, March 22, is Good-Off Day…(laughing). It’s Goof-Off Day and I would really like to tell you that that is not a coincidence, but it is…how lucky am I, it’s Good-Off Day!

Speaking of bubbles, I’m going to read you a very silly poem out of this book called Runny Babbit. Like I said, I’m J.C. Stulian, and Runny Bakes a Tath.
Runny had to bake a tath before they’d sive him gupper.
He got so tungry in the hub he ate the rat of mubber.
He chewed his dupper rucky up, he gulped boap subbles too,
But what upset his momma most was shrinking the dampoo.

It’s a really silly book. You need to read a funny or silly book this week and just think about the creativity that goes into writing surprisingly silly and funny things.

Okay, we’re almost done, but I have one more anti-task for you that’s not listed in the welcome note. I want you to take a pair of dice and I want you to roll them, like that, then I want you to hold them up. I just rolled a five. I want you to write down that number because I want you to assign that number to one of your pages, let’s say April pages, since I’m already working on my April pages. One of your April pages in any of the 12 topics can have no more than five total products. Not including cardstock and photos, those are freebies. So cardstock and photos, beyond that I can only use five additional items on one of my April pages, and then I want you to report which one of your pages reflects the number of products that you rolled by chance with a pair of dice.

Now, this is my summary. It is not by chance that we decide to be playful people. Play is not something that should be relegated to free time, because the world in which we live is completely full with distractions and demands and tasks, things to do by adult, serious, mature people, and you cannot therefore push play aside to be enjoyed once in a while when you have time, okay, because it is super, super important. In all of the books that I’ve read, and these are not all of the books that I’ve ready, but in the book on flow and creativity by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and the book by the Harvard professor on Happier and the Happiness Project, and the book on play and the book on curiosity, all of these books tell us that it is ultimately, ultimately important that we learn to practice play, that we have fun as a learned skill, that we become playful, curious, fun people, because those are the kind of people that have….and I’ll summarize in a very simplistic way…but have sort of the neural connections that we need to think creatively and innovatively in the world in which we live.

This is a very interesting little section of this book by Dr. Stewart Brown where he travels to Alaska to visit with a world renowned animal biologist who has studied grizzly bears. They are observing together two grizzly bears that are playing. They are doing that fight play thing that bears do. Dr. Brown says,

Fully aware of his encyclopedic knowledge of animal play, but filled with the spirit of the unfettered joyful moment we had just observed, I asked Bob, (that’s the biologist), “Bob, why do these bears play?” After some hesitation without looking up he said, “Because it’s fun.” “No Bob, I mean from a scientific point of view, why do they play?” “Why do they play? Why do birds sing? People dance? For the pleasure of it.” “Bob, you have degrees from Harvard and MIT and an in-depth knowledge of bears, you’re a student of evolution, you’ve written the definitive work on all mammals at play, I know you have more opinions about this, tell me, why do animals play?” After a long tolerant silence during which I felt as if he were a sensitive artist having to explain a sublime painting to a tasteless dolt, Bob relented. He answered reluctantly, “In a world continuously presenting unique challenges and ambiguity, play prepares these bears for an evolving planet.”

Science tells us that it is important to play and if you don’t think you’re caught up in an evolving world – Hello! The rate at which things are advancing today are mind boggling and head spinning, and it’s your ability to play that will prepare you to move forward without fear and I completely believe that based on everything that I’ve read and choices that I’ve made in my own life. This is your week to play and have fun and to reconnect with the reasons you started scrapbooking, and if those reasons were too serious then it is your opportunity to decide what is it that is fun about scrapbooking for you and to identify it so that you can more intentionally practice it.

Okay, you’re awesome. This is BIG! I will see you on the message board. Wait, wait, wait, wait…did I mention that today is national Good-Off Day? If not, then please note that Friday is national Chocolate Covered Raisins Day, and if there is anything that needs some chocolate it’s a shriveled up grape! Sheesh…this is BIG!

Project: Extra Large Cheer Bow

Missy's school is restarting their High School Cheer Team. 
So she and I have been working on Cheer Bows and t-shirts for tryouts. 

Today's Cheer Bow measures 8 inches wide (from tip of loop to opposite side) and 7 inches tall. 

We used 4 inch wide light navy, 2.5 inche wide white and 1.5 inche wide Cranberry polka dot.

If you can not find 4 inch wide ribbon, sew two pieces of 2.25 or larger ribbon together.  Layering a ribbon on top, will hide the seam.

I used heat bond to hold the layers  of ribbon together.

It's All About Me: Favorite Things

It was a lot of fun exploring our own names last week, but this week we are going to focus on something different. Like bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens…that’s right, this week is about favorite things!

This week, we’ll explore our favorite things while experimenting with some list journaling. I love making lists, so list journaling is right up my alley.

This week, I’ll provide you with prompts that revolve around lists of some of things you think are great. Then, once we get those lists put together, we’ll start taking and gathering photos to go along with our lists.

I really like list journaling because it’s easy and to the point…there isn’t much room for error, and I don’t usually have to put too much thought into it. I want you to do the same when you are putting together these lists – there’s no right or wrong answer, so just put down what you are thinking.

So let’s start  with a few different lists. At this point, try to complete each of the lists. If one of them doesn’t particularly appeal to you, it’s okay skip it. If you would rather create a Top 5, or Top 20, or Top 100 list…feel free. It’s important that these lists work for you.

1. My Top 10 Favorite Books
2. My Top 10 Favorite Movie Quotes
3. 10 Things I Want You to Know About Me
4. 10 Things I Like to Keep Secret
5. My 10 Most Special Memories

So there you have it, five lists to get you started.

So, are you addicted to lists yet?

I always find that when I am putting together a big list like my to-do list, it inspires me to create other lists. This always leads to pages and pages of lists…all connected somehow. Yesterday I asked you to complete five lists, which I hope was fun and inspired you to create more lists, because that’s what we’re going to do today.

So here are five more lists. Same task as yesterday, look through the lists, try to complete each of them. If one really doesn’t speak to you, skip it. If you need to make a few adjustments to the list, do it. Make them your own; it is your story after all.

1. 10 Things I Would Do If I Wasn’t Afraid
2. The 10 Places Where I Find Happiness
3. 10 Things That Drive Me Bonkers
4. The 10 Qualities That Make a Good Person
5. 10 Times When I Was Proud of Myself

You’ve completed 10 lists already this week! That’s 10 different journaling situations that you’ve already done. Had you thought about it like that? Theoretically, that could be 10 different layouts about you. Pretty cool, huh?

Today, your job is to look back at the lists we’ve created, and pick the one that you want to scrap. This is totally up to you. You can pick the one that speaks to you the most, or you can pick the one that will be the easiest to get pictures for. Sometimes, that’s how I make my decisions, and that’s okay. Think about what you want to put on a page about you…think about what list says the most about who you are.

Once you’ve picked your list, it’s time to start gathering photos to go along with that list. You can look back at photos that you’ve already taken or you can search the web (I LOVE using Google Image Search). What you want to do is check to see if there are any already existing photos that you can use on this layout. Maybe there won’t be, but it doesn’t hurt to check

It’s time to start really thinking about putting together your layout. Which list did you choose to scrap? Did you find some pre-existing pictures that you can use? If you did, that’s awesome. If you didn’t…let’s get that figured out.

If you can, go out and take some of the pictures; go ahead and get snapping. A situation like this is a perfect time to practice some staged shots. I’ve always loved a good artful shot of a box of mini pancakes. Often, when I do lists like this, I take my camera then go and take pictures of the things on the list; that way I have pictures that come right from the time when the list was created.

But what if there aren’t “things” to take pictures of? What if you chose to scrap “10 Crazy Things I Did For Love”? This is where creativity steps in. Think of the essence of the list. Scrapping about love? Use pictures of your loved ones. If you are absolutely stuck, use pictures of yourself. For example, if you were scrapping “10 Things That Drive Me Bonkers,” you could take a few pictures of yourself looking extremely aggravated and use those. Also, you don’t have to have a picture for everything on your list. It’s up to you! Be as creative as you would like to be. Creativity is always a good thing.

Once you have all of your photos together, it’s time to put together this layout. Get everything together, and let’s get this party started!

FIne Art of Wandering by Ali Edwards

Last night I was reading a book to my daughter Anna when I came across a character who told his friend he couldn't't play baseball because it was his wandering day. He packed himself a sack lunch and set out to simply wander and see where his meandering took him. The book, in case you are wondering, is called Best Friends For Frances by Russell Hoban.

Ah ha! I thought to myself, I love that idea.

I love the notion of setting out without an agenda or anything set in stone other than to see where you end up. I want to do that. I don't think I've ever set aside a day or an afternoon to simply wander. I've taken a day off but usually that's with a specific agenda - a place to be, something to see, something specific to do.

Do you take time to wander?

I think that kind of wandering is a valuable creative exercise. It forces you to be open, to let go of expectations, and invites you to be surprised and delighted.

Here's some thoughts and ideas about creative wandering:

• Wandering doesn't mean you have to take the whole day off (even though that sounds great). Do it in small chunks throughout your day simply by allowing your mind to wander. Celebrate rather than punish yourself for daydreaming. Do it at your desk. While walking. While doing the dishes or taking a shower (more on that below). "Mind wandering, researchers suggest, might allow the brain to focus its attention on more distant tasks and issues in a unique, highly creative way." Via Discovering The Virtues Of A Wandering Mind
• Wander with and without a camera. Sometimes the camera can become a distraction from the experience and sometimes it enhances the experience. Try both.
• Wander through your supplies. My office is currently in a state of major disarray. I would probably greatly benefit from taking some time to wander through my supplies. All kinds of good stuff happens with that kind of wandering (finding things I forgot about, making new connections between ideas and products, etc).
• Wander through the library or a bookstore. Head straight for a section you normally ignore and see what cool things you discover. Keep the effort light vs. embarking on a great quest. It's the mindless wandering that tends to lead to the best creative connections.
• "Spend more time in the shower." Taking a shower has long been one of my best creative jump-starts. I never really thought about it in terms of allowing my mind a chance to wander, I just get in and inevitably ideas start coming. They aren't always solutions to the immediate creative crisis at hand, but they are often ideas to troubleshoot other issues on my plate (creative, life, etc)."When we take showers or go for a drive (or paint or run or wherever you allow your mind to wander), it continues trying to solve the issues we face in our lives at the time. It accesses all our past experiences to help us see things our conscious brains can not." via Re:Focus : Simple Ideas To Help You Thrive. Also check out this interesting article that emphasizes the need to recognize when we are daydreaming to capture those creative ideas: The Importance Of Mind Wandering via Wired.
• As a memory keeper I also recognize the value of wandering through our memories. Taking time to wander through stories from our past is a great way to make connections to stories of today. Recalling the good and the bad, the lessons learned, the failures and the successes and the celebrations that are a part of each of our life experiences. You'll tell richer more complete stories when you allow yourself to do a bit of wandering down memory lane.

If you can't commit to a completely free and loose wandering session, consider creating a starting point and an end point and give yourself a time limit. A little bit of structure to your experience can go a long way in actually making it happen.

12 Topics: Seasons by Stacey Julian

Spring passes and one remembers one's innocence.

Summer passes and one remembers one's exuberance.

Autumn passes and one remembers one's reverence.

Winter passes and one remembers one's perseverance."

~Yoko Ono

I love Yoko’s words about seasons because they seem to invite both a literal and a figurative exploration of what seasons are and what they stand for. Regardless of your geographic location or the weather patterns you’re accustomed to, seasons exist and they offer a lens through which we can view our life and our stories. The most universal interpretation of seasons has to do with the four sub divisions of the calendar year—which seem to always inspire photographs, but there are seasons for sports and activities (like soccer and fishing) as well as seasons of rejoicing or mourning, healing or health. Be sure to listen to the audio message posted below in which I explain the worksheet assignment and the opportunities you have moving forward to celebrate all kinds of seasons!

Also … the vast majority of you live in the United States, Canada and Great Britain—I have purposely scheduled the topic of Seasons to coincide with the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. What could you do to take advantage of this in some way?

Here’s a bulleted overview of this week’s topic and tasks:

1.  Continue to refine your set-up with a working inspiration file, drafted lists of potential stories for each of the twelve topics and a commitment to digesting daily emails and recording thoughts and associations in your journal.
2. Revisit your drafted list of ideas for the topic of Seasons. Are you making progress to curate the items you need to develop and tell these stories?
3. Spend 30 minutes scrolling through and/or searching your digital library for quintessential images of winter, spring, summer and fall. Note: You won’t necessarily be looking for pictures of nature or weather, but images that visually communicate the seasons to you and/or your family.

If you live in the northern hemisphere, plan to do something on Tuesday, March 20th to recognize/celebrate the first day of spring. Prepare a special meal or dessert or make a list of activities and traditions that you want to do/observe.

Take pictures and scrapbook, scrapbook, scrapbook!

Projects: Embrodiered Cheer Bow

Using a Friend's Sewing Machine that has an embrodiery feature, I made this bow while we had coffee.    At first I thought that next time I needed to use more ribbon for the loops, but then once Missy tried it on, I realized it was a good size, as the lettering was featured.

Wearing it towards the front.

Wearing it towards the back.

12: Dozen Day

Twelve Photos:

1. What you drive
2. Breakfast
3. Something Grgeen
4. New
5. Hands
6. Faith
7. School
8. A favorite Appliance
9. Tuesday at 10:00 am
10. Pajamas
11. Famly
12. Art

Twelve Page Ideas

1. You:  Take a picture of yourself at work.  Narrate what you do, an how you got there.
2. Holiday:  Scrapbook St Patrick's Day and Easter
3. Places:  Create a one two page layout of pictures from your favorite vacation
4. Everyday Life:  Create a layout with the Title "Relax."  What are your favorite things to do to relax.
5. Rituals:  Scrapbook a ritual that you no longer practice.  Do you miss it?  Why did you stop participating in the Ritual?
6. People:  Scrapbook a favorite relative.
7. Inspiration:  Using your favorite product, create a layout
8. Personality:  Scrapbook your best friend's personality page
9. Things:  Create a page showing the 5 things that defines you
10. Family:  Tell the story of someones birth
11. Seasons:  Find a picture of your Mother or Grandmother at the same season that you are currently in.  Write a list of questions that you have for her.
12. Fun:  Paint on a page.  DOn't plan, just paint.

It's All About Me: Names

Happy second week of class! After exploring how we saw ourselves last week, this week we are going to embark on a journey to find out more about what we call ourselves. That’s right, this week, we’re talking about names!

Names are a funny thing. Some people get their names from relatives. Some people are named after celebrities, or months….the list goes on and on. Yet as we grow older, our name becomes one of the most defining characteristics of who we are. Over time, our name starts to define us, to announce who we are to the world. On top of it, many of us have three names…or even four…how do they all play together? It’s funny to think that one little word—that is out of our control—becomes such a big part of our life as we get older.

This week, we’ll explore our names. You can choose your first, middle, or last name…that’s up to you. We’ll look into the meanings of our names, and how those meanings match up with our everyday life and who we are. Is there a funny story about how you got your name? We’ll explore those too. As for me, when I was born, my mother wanted to name me after her favorite singer and my dad after a famous baseball player…so Elvis Aaron Presley and Hank Aaron gave me my name: Aaron. Yup, that’s right…I’m named after Elvis.

What’s in a name? At birth we are each given a name, some of which have great meaning and others that are picked for other reasons. This week we are going to look at what our names mean and we are going to explore any funny stories that go with our names. Every family seems to have at least one funny name story. I’m no exception. When I was younger I found out that my parents were going to have a baby and I asked if I could help name the baby. Not knowing what to expect they agreed that I could help choose the name of the new baby. Desperately wanting a brother I did my best to find the best baby brother name. Unfortunately, I was young and I really like the Muppets so days later I announced that I wanted to name the baby Kermit. Not wanting to go back on their promise my parents agreed that if the baby was a boy they would give him the middle name Kermit. Well, luck must have been shining down a few months later when my mother gave birth to a happy baby girl. No one would be named Kermit after all.

It’s time to think about our names! We each have at least two, unless of course Madonna or Cher has enrolled in the class (which would lead to me having a complete freak out). So first off, we need to pick which name we are going to explore. Which of your names do you feel most connected to? Is there a special reason that you would want to research your last name? Are you curious to find out the meaning of your first name and see how it matches up with your personality? The choice is up to you.

You may also want to start looking at the meaning of your name/names (I know that some of you will look up the meaning of each name before you pick which one you want to work with!). There are tons of resources out there, but one of my favorites is the aptly titled www.babynames.com. Go have a look and see what you can find! Make sure you write down the definition of your name, as we’ll need that for our writing later in the week.

So what does your name mean? Did you have fun researching your name? Google is an amazing tool, after just typing in “meaning of ‘aaron’” I was rewarded with a multitude of resources that I could use. 

Now I want you to focus on the meaning of your name. Look back at what you wrote about yourself last week. Does the meaning of your name match up with how you see yourself? Do you think that the meaning of your name can be related to who you are as a person? Also, now that you have researched a little about your name, do you think it’s a good fit for you?

I have a simple question that I really want you to think about. In fact, you will probably have an answer right away, but I want you to explore the opposite of what you think before you even start writing. Really weigh the options here, and take everything into consideration. I want you to focus on how you FEEL.

Here’s the question:

If you could do so easily and without complication, would you change your name? Why or why not?

It’s time to start putting your story together. Since we don’t have a photo to work with this week, we are going to have a lot of extra space for journaling, so we will be able to tell a longer story. Look through your writing. What jumps out at you? If you start with the definition of your name, where could you go from there? Add anything that you need to add, edit what you feel needs to be edited. Get your story pulled together and ready for our photo-less layout!

Project: Flip Album Workshop

6 Ideas To Keep The Creativtiy Flowing by Ali Edwards

Most days I face one of two scenarios in regards to my creativity:

1. I'm either out of the flow and want to get back in OR
2. I'm in the flow and I want to stay there for awhile.

Here's six of my personal favorite ideas for getting into and keeping your creativity flowing:

1. MAINTAIN MULTIPLE PROJECTS | It would be rare that I'd have just one creative project in progress. I like having the option to work on what I feel most inspired to tackle on any given day. Some days I just feel more inspired to create new products and other days all I want to do is get my hands messy with paint and collage. I also like that maintaining multiple projects often allows one project to inspire and positively influence another. Sometimes having too many projects can feel overwhelming and become a distraction, making it more challenging to just get one darn thing done. When that starts happening I usually have a little meeting with myself and refocus on what my priorities are at that particular time. What projects can wait? Which ones are calling to me in voices I can't ignore? What really just needs to be finished even if it might not be as perfect as I want it to be? Maintaining multiple projects gives me choices and an opportunity to find creative flow in another project when it just isn't happening in another.
JUST A NOTE | I'm not big on guilt related to creative projects. Some work and some don't. Some get immediate attention and some I've actually had sitting on a shelf for years. Some I will likely come back to and others may never be completed. I'm okay with that. Part of the reason I'm okay with that is because I'm always working on something. Setting things aside for me doesn't mean I'm not creating, it means that something has moved up the list and inspired me in one way or another (or it's become something that must be done on a specific time line).

2. SHOW UP | I'm reading a really great book right now called The War Of Art by Steven Pressfield. He focuses on the concept of Resistance - what it is and how to overcome those roadblocks in your life and creative work. He talks a lot about just doing the work (which is the title of another one of his books) - which is at the same time the simplest and most profound way to cultivate a creative life. Simply showing up to your creative work in some form every day creates a habit. "Put the hours in; do it for long enough and magical, life-transforming things will happen eventually." Hugh McLeod from his How To Be Creative Manifesto via Change This.

From my own personal experience, I'm good at showing up. I literally show up just about every day. It's the action after the initial showing up that seems to be my current issue. I sit down at my computer and find all manner of things to distract myself before finally getting down to the project at hand. I'll answer email, check Facebook, check my bank account, get distracted by email, peek at Pinterest, check blog comments, etc (all pieces of my work-life, but not necessarily the most important in finding and maintaining creative flow). By then a whole bunch of time has passed that could have been used for actual creative work. I'm consciously working on this for myself right now - minimizing distractions (resistance) and getting the work done. Pressfield's book is helping. I mentioned "showing up" back in Week Four as a small act of courageous activity. In reality, consistently showing up is of the single most important things you can do to cultivate a creative life.

3. GO TO THE MOVIES | When I need to not show-up in the traditional sense of sitting at my computer or standing at my table (because let's face it, we all need breaks from showing up), I head to the movie theater. There's something about the movies that inspires me: the darkness of the theater, the visuals, the sound, the way stories are weaved together from point A to point B. I think what I love most is that I usually leave there thinking and feeling something - an emotional connection has been triggered whether sentimental, humor, outrage, wonder, etc. That can fuel me for days.

4. CONSIDER A SCHEDULE | At first glance a schedule may seem counter-intuitive to finding and maintaining a creative flow. You might imagine that living a creative life means you follow your creative whims effortlessly from one project to the next - super free and flexible. Sometimes it is like that. The problem with following whims, and sometimes with multiple projects, is that it can be a challenge to take anything to completion. Some people are naturally talented at generating ideas (the start of something), while others are skilled at the actual execution of an idea, and still others are the creative closers (the ones who get the job done). Because most of us aren't skilled at the whole package we need to practice each of those skills.

Lately I've found that establishing and attempting to stick to a schedule has been good for getting me in the flow and getting the work done. Maybe it's where I'm at in my life right now but I like knowing, for example, that I bring my past week of Project Life to completion on Mondays and work on digital products on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (from conception to completion). Rather than stifling my creativity I feel motivated and maybe even a little inspired to work within that framework. It hasn't always been that way and it will likely change again at some point. For now flow is happening for me within a schedule and I'm glad for it.

5. GO OUTSIDE | It's been awhile since I put my shoes on and just walked out the door but I know it's an excellent way to generate creative ideas and invite myself into that awesome feeling of flow. There's a clarity of thought that results for me - it's a combination of being outside, exercising my muscles and removing myself from my normal environment. Most often I head outside when I need to get back in the flow vs. when I'm already in it. If I'm in it, I'm working fast and furious to take something to completion before the kids get home from school (or at least complete the task at hand for the day). Going outside also helps to minimize other distractions I might have started entertaining (like mindless surfing) and instead of disconnecting I find I'm more able to reconnect with my creative energy.

6. CLEAN UP | Traditionally one of my favorite ways to get back in the creative flow is to take some time to clean up my work space. This usually results in a few things: (1) I find things I forgot I owned and I get excited to make stuff with them; (2) stories are generated in the process of putting things back in order; and (3) I'm one of those people that simply works better in a tidy space (clear head, clear heart, clear space). All that said, it's been quite awhile since my space has been tidy. Lately I've been working in the middle of the chaos, creating small working spaces for myself on my table by just pushing the mess to the side. This isn't optimal for me but it's another symptom of where I'm at right now - so much of what I'm doing is working in the middle of chaos (physical, emotional, etc). I'm actually okay with that for a limited duration because I'm aware of what's happening and I'm working through it. I don't want to make it my personal creative habit (working in the middle of chaos long term), but right now it feels necessary as I make choices about the ways in which I really want to spend my extra time (with my kids vs. cleaning up my space).

I'd love to hear about the ways you find and maintain your creative flow. Write up a blog post and send me a link, send me an email or post a message on my Facebook page.

More links on keeping the creativity flowing:

• 7 Rules For Maximizing Your Creative Output via StevePavlina.com | This could be my favorite link this week. A very well thought-out exploration of how he maintains his creative flow. It's long but worth the read.
• HOW-TUESDAY: Get (And Keep) Your Creativity Flowing via Etsy | Letting Go Of Preciousness was my favorite.
• 9 Ways To Keep Your Creative Juices Flowing via Van SEO Design. | Love how he included "study the why." This link also includes a video that popped up in a few other links: 29 Ways To Stay Creative
• Seven Ideas To Keep The Creativity Flowing via The Missouri Valley Impressionist Society. I loved the idea of keeping an open mind in terms of not discounting any ideas that might pop-up/come to mind. Too often we are too fast to think "that won't work" when in reality it might be just the jumping off point to take us to a whole new world of additional ideas, inspiration and results. I also loved the suggestion of research. Choosing a topic and then going in-depth is a great way to generate new creative thoughts.
• Keeping the Creative Juices Flowing: Tips From 13 Influential Writers via Revive Your Creativity | A bunch of good thoughts and ideas here including, "I'm creative on a consistent basis BECAUSE I'm creative on a consistent basis." (Sean Platt)
• Getting + Staying In The Creative Flow via The Goddess Life

12 Topics: Family by Stacy Juliam

We all have a collection of stories that we remember and tell over and over again. Some of these tales are tall indeed and some, are different depending on who tells them! Family stories are as old as family itself and as scrapbookers we have an amazing opportunity to make sure we write and preserve the stories that will be most important to future generations. We can have fun scrapbooking stories, but we need to make sure that we are also identifying and documenting stories that define the people and relationships that make up our family.

While there is no right or wrong way to tell a story, there are stories that are universally important. The stories of how people are born, where they live, what they do and believe, whom they marry and how they carry on, contribute to or challenge the family legacy. There are stories about hard times and good times, stories about gathering and stories about separation and loss. Many of these stories are easy to remember and to illustrate.

Some of these stories are so difficult to revisit that they are rarely considered, let alone shared. But, stories of all kinds need to be told and voices and perspectives need to be heard—before it is too late.

I wanted to just briefly review with you the opportunity you have this week to dig up some family stories, some that are of historical significance to you and some that are just plain fun and are adventure filled. I have asked you to fill out a four-generation pedigree chart and I’ve put that in the classroom.  I just think it’s really important that everyone have one filled out. As you fill it out and as you get the information that you might be missing, if you already have one filled out then bravo! Make a couple of copies and put them at the back of each of your kids’ scrapbooks if you have that. Think about the people on that four-generation chart. How many of them do you know? How many of them have you heard stories about? Are those stories written down somewhere? Could you get copies of them? If they are not written down are you the person who can write them down or begin to collect that information?

I want you to think about your own life story and your children. Have you told the story of the birth of each of your children? Have you told the story of meeting your husband or spouse or significant other? Have you told the story of finding your home? That was, I think, an opportunity I gave you on Dozen Day this last month or whatever. I can’t even remember anymore. There are so many stories that are around milestones, around births, around education and getting sort of a life training, going to college and maybe to serve in the armed forces of some kind, stories around vacations and those big kinds of things. Certainly there are stories around loss and around separation and around death. I want you to just start a list of stories that you need to tell, that literally are important in the timeline of your life and in the lives of the people you love. Then I want you to just spend some time…I told you in the welcome note. I gave you the opportunity to unplug. I said to unplug this weekend with your family and your completed scrapbooks. So if you have completed scrapbooks, if not, maybe just watch some old movies, some family movies or pull out photos and just spend some time in conversation with your spouse or your children or brothers and sisters and see what kinds of things are shared. What kinds of stories people recollect, and just be ready to capture and to write those ideas down.

This is a huge, huge topic. We could spend an entire yearlong class just on family stories, so we are just going to get started but don’t be overwhelmed, but do be excited at the opportunities you have to tell important stories and then don’t forget to use your inspiration file to track a few of them that you can tell this year and to start to curate the photos and bits and pieces that you need to tell those stories. I am going to share with you the story of the mouse and the blender this week on Dozen Day and I’m excited to do that, and that’s just another fun family story. So regardless of the kind of story you are telling, just be encouraged that you are a scrapbooker and that you have the opportunity to tell stories and that you are committed to doing it because that is totally BIG! I’ll see you on the message board.

Collecting and telling family stories and histories can be an overwhelming task. Don’t be overwhelmed. Instead, be excited that you have a desire to connect to family and preserve and pass down the legacy that is yours.

Be happy in your family. No family is perfect and yet there is joy to be found in every situation. Express gratitude and love for members of your family

Tri-Fold Shutter Album Tutorial

What you will need
1.two pieces of the same colored 12X12 Cardstock, cut both to 6x12 (4 pieces)
2.three different types of coordinating Patterned paper
3.You will also need a variety of embellishments
4.some co-coordinating Cardstock
5.ribbon for a closure if you wish or whatever type of closure you choose.

Two pieces of 6x12 pieces of Cardstock:
1. Along the 12 inch side: score it at 2, 4, 8 and 10 inches.
2. along 6 inch edge: 1 cut at 1.5 inches from the both edges, between the 2" score line and the 10 inch score line.

Third piece of 6x12 Card Stock: Cut each into three pieces
1. 4 X 6 inch piece, this is the inside middle
2. 6.25 x 6 inch piece: score it at 4.25 inches - Right side Outside Cover
3. 1.75 x 6 inch piece: Scrap, set it aside

Fourth piece of 6x12 piece: Cut into two pieces
1. 4 x 6 inch piece: this is outside middle (back of album)
2. 6.25 x 6 inch piece: you will score at 2 inches -- Left Outside Cover
3. 1.75 x 6 inch piece: scrap, set it aside

Now lets take the two first pieces we set aside and do the folding.

Using the two 4 x 6 inch middle pieces
1. apply the glue all over the back of this piece
2. apply the inside cover piece on the end piece of side 1 and the first piece of side 2 to join them
3. Make sure to line up the top and bottom and fold in the sides to ensure it is lined up correctly.
4. Adhere the second 4x6 piece to the back, creating a sandwich effect.

Using your 6.25 x 6 inch cover pieces
1. fold on the score line we created and apply the glue to the backside of the 2 inch piece
2. attach to the start and end pieces of the album, at the back,
3. making sure to line up the top and bottom and fold to ensure you have it in the right place.


Now you will decorate the book...

I generally use one paper for the inside covers and the middle inside mats for photos and then I use a different one for the outside covers

To do the Patterned papers, take the size of each panel and take off 0.25 of an inch from the width and the length. This will give you a solid edge around each pattern piece

Then you will decorate your cover with a closure you can use a scrap of Cardstock and embelishments of choice.

You will notice that there may be a slight overlap in the cover "doors" you can either trim this before adding your closure or just close it so the left side is on the top.

I sandwich my ribbon tie underneath this so I can tie it closed.