Eniko's Playhouse

Happy National Scrapbooking Day 2012!

I created a very special challenge for National Scrapbooking Day at Let's Scrap and if you haven't already joined in the fun, you should! The challenge is to:

Scrap Yourself Scrapping!
This is the layout I created to inspire you. It's about the "Scrappin' Fridays" I host in my studio at my house...it's full of joy, color and inspiration...and lots of paper!

I created my very first scrapbook sketch for the members to use as their prompt, guide and  jump-off point for this challenge,:
Scrapbookers are generally so busy photographing and scrapping their families, pets and special events that they themselves are often left out of photos and scrapbooks. Am I right?

Since scrapbooking is such an important part of our lives and daily activities, it is only fitting to pay homage to our favorite passion on National Scrapbooking Day!

But as any decent challenge, this one comes with some really great rules!

For this challenge, you must use the sketch above to create a layout about yourself scrapbooking! To enter the contest & to qualify for a really fun prize, you must be a member of Let's Scrap (it's fun & it's free!) and upload your finished layout to the Let's Scrap Gallery before midnight (central time) on May 8th. -Here's the link to sign-up!

SIGN-UP at LET'S SCRAP!

Other scrapbook buddies may appear in photos on your layout, if you wish, but there must be a minimum of 2 images of you scrapping to qualify!

Since this challenge pays homage to scrapbooking, I thought it would be fun to use as many scrapbooking techniques as possible. So…you must use at least 8 out of the 12 scrapbooking elements/ techniques listed (please list the ones you used in the comment section when you post your layout):

Alpha Stickers

Banners, Flags or Pennants

Brads or Eyelets

Buttons

Chipboard

Flourishes or Scrolls

Flowers

Inking

Matting

Metal Clip, Stick Pin, or Staples

Stamping

Twine, Baker’s Twine, or Ribbon

(For my example, I used all 12 -just for fun…see if you can find them all…tee hee!) I also had photos taken of me scrapping this very same layout! LOL!

Complete rules and regulations are posted in the Let's Scrap Forum. Look for the Discussion: {Inter}National Scrapbooking Month, then for INSM12#2 Challenge by me!

Have a Fabulously Happy & Productive National Scrapbooking Day!

Happy Scrapping! ~Enikö

Blog Candy and Random Acts of Kindness: You, too, Could be a Winner!

Are you one of those bloggers who don't enter contests and give-a-ways, because you think you "never win anything"? Well, let me tell you...you, too, could be a winner! Within the span of two weeks, a couple of months ago, I won not one, not two, but THREE different FABULOUS gifts from various blogs that I follow.
So I got an email from a lovely woman from Maya Road urging me to reply since she'd been trying to reach me so that I could claim my prize. I had completely forgotten that I had left a comment on a blog post in which Maya Road and Stampendous teamed up to generate new fans. When the package arrived a few days later, I felt like a little kid at Christmas. The ribbons and cords and twine from Maya Road are over-the-top! -In fact, the gorgeous plaid ribbon I used in the Garden Railroad Layout in my last post was from this wonderful gift package.

Best of all, the Jumbo Lily Rubber Stamp from Stampendous was one that I was desperately yearning for...I just fell in love with it on their website and was really hoping to get it one day. I couldn't believe that I had won it! -Along with an acrylic block to attach it to. Soooo happy to have these great items!

About a week later, I saw my name on Graphic 45's blog as a winner! At first, I wasn't even sure what I had won, since I leave comments on G45's blog regularly (LOVE THEM). To my delight, it turned out to be their brand new, hot-off-the-press, Tropical Travelogue line! The whole line! -Chipboard tags and the 8"x8" paper pad in addition to the 12"x12" paperpad!
Those of you who are familiar with Graphic 45 papers know what an incredible score this is. The papers are top-notch quality...gorgeous colors, fabulous images... absolutely delicious, and a MUST for an island-inhabitant as myself. Martha's Vineyard can hardly be considered a tropical island (it's been hovering between 10-30 degrees Fahrenheit these past two days of January), but much of the paper would fit any island theme...and, of course, it will be perfect for layouts of my Key West vacation I took a while back. Over-joyed!

Well, my winning streak didn't end there. After posting some of my artwork on Graphic 45's Community Gallery, to my surprise, I received an email saying that I had been chosen for a 'random act of kindness' for being a contributing supporter of the site. I nearly keeled over! Well, they sent me a lovely little package with some seriously wonderful goodies. Take a look:
I've been so wanting to try Graphic 45's new cling stamps, and the ones I received are from the beloved Curtain Call line. How fun is the Eiffel Tower stamp...or the Can-Can Dancer stamp? The chipboard flowers and buttons are from G45's Staples Collection. And then there are those versatile word ribbons and lace! I sure am a Lucky-Ducky!

Last year, I won a spot in Christy Tomlinson's She Art Workshop through the Where Women Create website by leaving a comment there. I wrote about how that experience changed my life by expanding my scrapbooking and papercrafting into mixed media artwork in this blog post: Scrapbook Techniques Enhance Mixed Media Art. It was an amazing on-line workshop that pushed me out of my comfort zone and challenged me to spread my creative wings.

Well, my intention for posting this was certainly not to brag or to be a show-off (truly, I always thought I was one of those people that never win anything!) -I simply want to encourage all of you to take a leap of faith now and then. Bloggers LOVE IT when their readers leave messages and many businesses gage their popularity by how many messages are left after their blog posts, or how many "Likes" they accumulate on Facebook. Some pretty great prizes...often called "Blog Candy" or "Random Acts of Kindness", are offered on a regular basis to those who leave comments, in an effort to build a bigger following. So go for it!

By the way, I will be offering some nice little Blog Candy in my next post. I will be participating in a fun-filled Blog Hop through Let's Scrap. I will be one of fifty hostesses posting inspirational card sketches on our blogs and challenging you to create greeting cards based on the posted designs. So do check back in and do participate...and try to leave a comment (also called Blog-Love) whenever you can. Who knows what random acts of kindness may be waiting for you right around the corner?

Spreading some Blog Love, -Enikö

Sketch-inspired Thanksgiving Scrapbook Layout

In 2008, while my dad was recovering from hip surgery at my home on Martha's Vineyard, we opted have a quiet, relaxed Thanksgiving...just the three of us...my dad, Jim, and me. It turned out to be one of the more pleasurable of Holidays. -No traveling hassles, no hoopla; just a fabulous feast and an overwhelming feeling of gratitude. I wanted to capture the essence of that dinner...focusing on the feast and the three people who shared it.

There are many approaches to layout design. My method is generally very organic. I select the photographs I wish to scrapbook and I allow them to spark my creativity. Usually the colors that are most predominate in the photos determine the color scheme of my layout, other times, my paper choices might be motivated by the theme. Once my papers & pictures are laid out, an artistic spark ignites, and I scurry about, gathering embellishments that might support my layout. I am driven by story telling, and inspired by my passion to tell the story concisely and well in a double-page spread.  

I've seen scrapbook classes that teach sketch-inspired layouts, and have seen scrapbook layout sketches in magazines, but never quite understood why anyone would approach scrapbook layout design in that fashion. Certainly, I have sketched other designs...room design, for instance, jumps into mind. While working as an assistant interior designer at Island Interiors, LLC, sketching was an integral part of designing, but pre-sketching for scrapbooking? Hmmm... Then I stumbled upon a website called Sketch Inspiration, where they post a new sketch every Sunday in an attempt to inspire their followers. There's always a nice little scrapbooking gift offered by a sponsor to add enticement, so I decided to step outside of my comfort zone & give it a try for the Thanksgiving layout. This week's challenge was Sketch #247: Because I'm used to creating double-spread layouts, the idea of using only one 6"x4" photo was truely daunting. I could do it if I had the right photo, but none of the images from that day where sufficient to tell the story of our simple, but bountiful three-person feast. -So I found a way to follow the sketch, and to incorporate all of the photos of that day that I wanted to include, as well:
Well, what do you think? How'd I do?

I'd like to wish you all a Blessed Thanksgiving and a bounty of inspiration...wherever it may come from!

With Gratitude, Enikö

Scrapbooking Clean and Simple...

Sometimes I just like clean and simple... Today's scrapbooking trends lean towards lots of color, lots of embellishments, lots of dimension, lots of patterned papers, and, alas, often lots of clutter. I designed this layout, titled "Gigi Plays", a while back, but it's remained one of my favorites. -Not only because of the subject matter (my sweet friend Gigi frolicking playfully on Ogunquit Beach in Maine, on a breezy autumn day...my dad in tow), but because of its simplicity.

The color is muted...almost monotone. The embellishments are minimal: a few chipboard shells, a couple of metal brads here...a few seashell brads there. Dimension is added only to the left page, with a dictionary definition of "play", matted & raised by foam dots, and five raised chipboard seashells. There are no clashing patterned papers, only soft background photographs. Most importantly, there is no clutter. Here's a close-up of the left-hand page:
Oh, I forgot to mention journaling... I'm the queen of journaling! I am quite firm in my feeling that each scrapbook layout should tell a complete story -you remember the grade school rule: Who, What, Where, When & How. A great rule! -Always works. But there are a few instances where the story can be told with a minimum of words. You'll notice that in the background above, there is a subtle type textured over the photo of the beach sand and seashells. If you look even closer, you'll be able to make out that the text is in fact a cluster of dictionary definitions of ocean-themed words. So by playfully placing definitions of "play" and "playful" on the layout, there is a cohesive, recurring theme.

Now let's take a look at the right side of the layout:
Once again, the soft text on the image of the beach sand reveals dictionary definitions of beach-themed words, and the word "BEACH" is actually drawn in the sand in the background photo. -The perfect background paper to display photos of Gigi writing in the sand. The words on this page are simple...the word "PLAY" appears twice, both times in soft colors. Over the water on the top, it is rubber stamped, and the bottom right is anchored with a small word sticker. The words "GIGI PLAYS", repeated three times with an inked rubber stamp and fading into the breakwater, is really all that is desired for additional journaling. We get the rest of the story just fine.

In my scrapbook, these pages follow a double-page layout that has quite extensive journaling about this special day at Ogunquit Beach, and the special relationship between Gigi and my dad. It covers all the "who, what, where, when" rules, making it even less necessary to repeat the same information here. But even if these pages stood alone, the important part of the story is evident -Gigi made an elderly friend feel like a kid again on that breezy day in Maine...clean and simple.

Keeping memories alive, one page at a time, Enikö

Scrapbooking History in the Making: A 9/11 Tribute

As our nation mourned the loss of so many of of her heroes on the tenth anniversary of the tragic events of September 11th, 2001 a few weeks ago, I was reminded of this scrapbook layout. My sister-in-law, Saci, sent me these touching photos after she visited New York City just days after the terrorist attacks. When I look at layouts that I designed many years ago, I often have a critical eye. Today, I would have probably inked the edges of the white lettering of the title, as well as the journaling tag and the cut-out of the truck with the American flag, and I may have used more sophisticated embellishments in place of the stickers, but I love that I preserved this moment of history in the making on my scrapbook pages.

As scrapbook artists, we are memory keepers and historians as well. Future generations will be just as interested in our tragedies as in our triumphs, so it is important that we include them in our scrapbooks.
 
These moving photographs, with the remnants of the Twin Towers still smoldering, vacant shop windows covered in heavy dust, and the posters of missing loved ones lining fences and walls, capture the sadness of the city in the aftermath of the attacks, all too well.

The strong presence of the American flag in these photos is a wonderful reminder of the patriotism that swelled in all of our hearts during those trying days. The bottom of the tag has a direct quote from Saci in Hungarian, which is how she spoke it to me -it translates: "The city was plastered with photographs of the missing."

From a design point of view, I wish I had done some things a little differently on this layout. I see now, that I accidentally switched from the singular to the plural in my journaling and my handwriting could have been a bit straighter, but even those minor flaws help tell the story of how distraught I was when I put these pages together. -And that's why we scrapbook, isn't it? To tell our authentic stories.

God bless America, and all her fallen heroes...we will never forget. -Enikö

Please visit my website at: Enikö's Scrapbooks

Comments are always appreciated!

Photo-Journaling: A Quick & Easy Approach to Scrapbooking on the Fly

For those of you that feel too busy for traditional scrapbooking or feel not gifted or motivated enough to pursue artistic scrapbooking, there is another simple option for memory keeping -I call it Photo-Journaling.
I stumbled upon this interesting idea on Ali Edwards' blog, in which she describes how she challenged herself to take a photo a day of every-day life with her family and to post weekly entries in what is called "Project Life". The idea was actually hatched by Becky Higgins, who devised a unique system for preserving photos and memories, in a scrapbook kit available through Amazon.com. She offers pages of divided photo protectors that fit into a 12" x 12" binder, designed to accommodate a variety of sizes of photos and journaling blocks. The kit comes with coordinating, pre-cut paper for matting & journaling, as well as clever labels. Definitely check-out Ali's blog  (I think she's currently on week 26 of her project) to get some great tips and to follow her progress.

When I decided that it would be fun to try "Project Life," it was sold out, so I came up with an even easier & less pricey alternative. I ordered divided page protectors made by C-Line Products Inc. that are traditionally used to store baseball cards. Each archivally-safe page can accommodate nine 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" inserts, and the pages fit nicely into a standard 10" x 11 1/2" 3-ring notebook binder. My goal is to keep a "photo journal" of interesting or fun things I do every day. I am allowing a double-page spread for each month, which gives me 18 spots for photos or journaling. So I try to keep a point-and-shoot in my handbag at all times, and I try to keep my SLR Nikon charged and handy, so that when something worthy of memory-keeping pops up, I can capture it spontaneously without much effort.
I make it a point to take these shots vertically so that they'll fit into the baseball card slots that way. I try to download and sort these daily photos weekly, and move them into their own monthly folders, to make it easier to print out. I print them nine-on-a-page using the "wallet-size" option on my computer. -That way they fit nicely into the baseball-size slots. I made a cardboard template of the perfect 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" size, which enables me to cut out a quick mat if I wish, for those photos that are a little smaller, or if I've cropped an image out of a larger photo.
I've put together my own "kit" by gathering stickers & journaling blocks and tossed them in a plastic container in which I also keep the extra trading card holder sheets & photos waiting to be entered. I also keep my calendar on hand, onto which I have jotted down the major events of the day -even if it's just a simple "Grilled Pizza Dinner with Laura" to jar my memory & to keep them in order.
Several companies now offer truely fabulous products to make this type of scrapbooking even easier for those on the go with limited time for memory-keeping. Crate Paper, Inc. and Simple Stories as well as Technique Tuesday (accompany that Ali Edwards designs for) all carry wonderful scrapbooking paper, ephemera and journaling aids.The images on the upper right are from a free download available through Ormolu, a wonderful company that sells on-line graphic art for scrapbooking and card-making. Funny, I've been following Ormolu's blog for over a year and i still don't know the blogger's real name, but she is also a "Project Life" enthusiast. You can see images of her "photo-journaling" here at Ormolu's blog.

So I hope your summer is going well and that you're taking lots of pictures of all your warm-weather activities. -I've just given you a great tool for preserving those memories quickly and efficiently. As always, I'd love to hear what you think.

Happy photo-journaling! Enikö

A Scrapbook Tribute to My 90 Year-Old Dad

I wonder what it feels like to have lived nearly a century...  On June 9th, 2011, my dad Peter turned a still-handsome 90 years-old. If not for the Parkinson's Disease that restricts his mobility, I would still be running behind him, trying to keep up, amazed at his ability to charm women of all ages with his European chivalry.

To this day, he melts hearts with his gallant mannerisms, such as kissing the hand of the lady he is introduced to. He has a slightly naughty smile, as if there was some secret behind it that he is choosing not to share...his eyes still twinkle, and they squint as he smiles. I remember my mom telling me how irresistable he was to her with his dashing resemblance to movie star Errol Flynn. -He even grew a mustache for her when she mentioned that to him.

In scrapbooking this tribute to him in the Heritage Album I created as a gift for my family, I focused on his transformation from his humble beginnings as a farm-boy in rural Hungary to a college-educated engineer, specializing in metallurgy.

He bravely guided his family of six across the border to escape communism when the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 failed, and set up a new life for them here in America. Below, he is celebrated by his family, years before the passing of his loving wife, Edith, on their 50th Wedding Anniversary.

Today, he resides in New Hampshire with his daughter, Ildi, and his son-in-law, artist Erick Ingraham. He is seen below at last weekend's 90th Birthday Celebration, with his grandson Attila and his great-grandson, Rigel.

HAPPY FATHERS' DAY, APU!

Thank you for all you have done for your family, and thank you for being you.

With hugs from you daughter, Enikö

Scrapbooking a Mad Hatter Tea Party

'Tis the season to be thinking of fun-filled outdoor celebrations! I designed this scrapbook layout for a caterer's portfolio. The event was a post-wedding brunch held under open tents on a beautiful up-island property on Martha's Vineyard.
The Mad Hatter-theme of the brunch allowed for whimsical and colorful food and floral displays in a fabulous collaboration between acclaimed florist and stylist Louise Sweet and "caterer to the stars" V. Jaime Hamlin.

The event was more fun than you can imagine, and as a scrapbook designer, my job was to capture the fun through my choice of photographs, scrapbook papers, and embellishments. Perhaps I would have been a little less formal with my layout had it not been intended for a portfolio -I may have chosen a few less photos and may have placed them willy-nilly to echo the tumbling cups and saucers used in the flower arrangements, but I think I've managed to capture the essence of the affair. Here's a closer look at the individual scrapbook pages:

As you may have guessed, the title, "Mad Hatter Tea Party" was cut out with my Cricut die-cutting machine. -I used the negative portion of the green cardstock for the "Mad Hatter" and adhered the quotation marks and the "Tea Party" letters individually onto the layout after they were cut.

I do love my Cricut...so much nicer to have the ability to make letters out of the colors and papers I need for a particular layout, rather than having to depend on sticker letters that are often not available in the size or color needed. The Cricut Die-Cutting Machine is made by ProvoCraft, and is a great investment for avid scrapbookers -especially if you manage to snag one on sale, as I did. I use mine mainly for titles and tags, so I own a few cartridges that offer me a variety of fonts, but there are all sorts of shapes available on the cartridges that many people enjoy using for embellishments on cards or scrapbook pages. It's nice if someone in your cropping circle or your scrapbooking workshop owns one that you all can share.

Off to enjoy a few rays of sun...I hope this post made you smile

Happy Memorial Day weekend, Enikö

(Photography by Nichole Friedler Photography and Enikö DeLisle)

Scrapbooking the Promise of Spring

I'm having a really busy week...that's how it is here on Martha's Vineyard...spring, when it finally arrives, brings a flurry of activity along with it's lovely birds and flowers. I thought I would share this spring-themed scrapbook layout with you today. This image was photographed, not scanned, so it's a little off kilter, but I thought it might make you smile.

...Spring has finally arrived!

Scrapbooking Black & White Photos

I love black and white photos, but from a design point of view, they can be a bit challenging to scrapbook. Colorful printed paper can feel like it's competing with the photo, but sticking with a black & white palate can feel very "one note" and flat.

I simply adore this black & white image of my grandson, Rigel -he looks so serious and determined- and I was dieing to use it in a layout. I found a really great pattern in Graphic 45  's Curtain Call paper pad that used silver-gray letters to spell-out entertainment-related words. Since Rigel was named after the brightest star in the Orion constellation, I love using stars in scrapbook layouts about him. I also love thinking of him as the star of his own life's journey -I'm always wondering what choices he will make in life and who he will become- so when I spotted the giant words "Curtain Call" on this paper, it  inspired this message:

The addition of red and cream (in the  lettering and embellishments) to the page added character and made the layout more lively and interesting -enhancing the black & white photo without overwhelming it or competing with it.

On a more personal note, I love the positive message of this scrapbook page, that we are all stars in the story of our lives...and indeed we are.

Passing the love, Enikö

(Photo by CSIS Photography Portland, ME)

Scrapbooking With Graphic 45 Paper

I've been having a lot of fun working with Graphic 45 papers lately. If you're not already acquainted with this fabulous scrapbooking paper line, it's time you got introduced. In their own words:

"Graphic 45 is an award-winning scrapbook and paper crafting company. We offer vintage inspired crafting products that capture the flamboyant style of the 1920's and 30's - with vibrant color, irresistible texture and imaginative design to create products with decades-old appeal that's both fresh and familiar."

I saw my first sample of this company's papers at the Creative Keepsakes Convention last year in Manchester, NH. I kept going back to their booth until I purchased every paper collection I could get my hands on:  Renaissance Fair, Domestic Goddess, Christmas Past, Le' Romantique, Fashionista...I had to have them all. Beautiful, vibrant papers with glorious graphics on both sides. The problem was that I adored the papers so much that once I brought them home, I didn't have the heart to cut into them. I would just take them out every once in a while when I needed joy or inspiration, and then I would put them away again.

So recently I heard about a Graphic 45 Design Call, requesting scrapbook designers who love Graphic 45 paper to submit samples of their work to be considered for a position on their design team, and I threw caution to the wind and finally broke into my virgin paper pads.

This page was designed in honor of my dearest girlfriend, Margot, a local artist, author and book illustrator, here on Martha's Vineyard. She is also one of the most colorful characters on this little island and as fashionable as can be. I used paper from Graphic 45's Fashionista collection and embellished it with plenty of bling, lace, flowers, tassels, & strands of pearls to reflect her flamboyant, playful fashion style.

I did it! I broke through the fear of cutting into one of my Graphic 45 untouched paper stacks!

Do you have a scrapbooking dilemma? Or is something keeping you from conquering a scrapbooking fear of some sort? I hope you'll share your story in my comments below & I will be showing you more of my Graphic 45 scrapbook layouts in my next post.

Fearlessly scrapping, Enikö

 

 

A Bright & Shiny New Year's Eve Scrapbook Layout

With New Year's Eve just around the corner, I thought it would be fun to share this 'shiny and bright' scrapbook layout with you. From photos taken as we celebrated the last day of 2005, this scrapbook page remains one of my all-time favorites.

When capturing the memory of a specific event on a scrapbook page, every element of the design should support the photos by reflecting the essence of the moment. In this case, the moment was an intimate New Year's Eve gathering filled with silly hats and noisemakers, good champagne, great food, and lots of laughter. The embellishments used on the layout were carefully chosen to compliment those components, thereby helping to better tell the story of the event.

The star-speckled ombre paper is a perfect choice for the background since it depicts the feeling of a waning evening beautifully. The metallic silver ribbon that weaves its way around the photos also embraces them with the warmth of the evening's mood. The title is simple: Happy 2006 -but because it is spelled out with shiny silver lettering, it offers joyfulness along with information. The playful sticker embellishments, namely the silver & gold streamers, champagne bottle & flutes, party hats, party horns, hourglass, crescent moon, and most importantly, the silver clock with hands nearing midnight, all add fun and whimsy.

Speaking of whimsy, I think my favorite embellishments are the silly alterations made to the photos themselves. For example, Laura and I each wore feather tiaras in the photos that said "Happy New Year" on them. I placed a sparkly "Happy New Year" sticker over my tiara to accentuate it, and I glued pink ostrich feathers on the photo of Laura's tiara to make it more pronounced and fun. Jim's hat received a giant rhinestone on its tip, as did the front of Laura's dress. And because I found it funny that Jim chose junk-food over lobster for his "last supper" of the year, I emphasized the silliness of his choice by placing an over-sized hamburger & soda sticker on his tray. Hence, I captured the humor of our "bright and shiny" little celebration perfectly!

Wishing you a healthy and prosperous 2011, and as you make your New Year's resolutions, I hope you add "scrapbooking photos and preserving memories" to your list. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Scrap Yourself a Vintage Little Christmas...

One year we all received handmade aprons from our sweet Gigi. I began a Santa collection when my kids were little and I delight in adding to it and putting my treasures out every year. Knowing this, Gigi made me a beautiful Santa apron out of a vintage-style Christmas fabric. Laura, who adores anything leopard or red, found a leopard-print apron lined with bright red in her gift box. Those of you who know Jim -a little kid at heart- knows how crazy he is about trains. For him, Gigi made an apron out of a train-conductor striped cotton and decorated it with a train-themed fabric on top. What a clever young woman... and so very thoughtful!

We loved our aprons and took photos of each other modeling our fabulous gifts. My brother and his wife were visiting for the Holidays that year. As they were helping me in the kitchen, I dressed them in the matching pink aprons with heart pockets that Gigi had made for my birthday earlier that year, and thankfully remembered to snap a photo.

As you can see, scrapbooking these photos was almost as fun as receiving the aprons. I found some lovely vintage-inspired scrapbooking paper as my background. I wrote my title with 3-dimensional red chipboard, which looked great on the page, and added some Santa-themed vintage Christmas cards that Jim had saved from his childhood. I matted the journaling on bright red cardstock and added a little extra whimsy with peppermint candy stickers.

Fun little scrapbooking ideas:

• Add interest to an edge of your journaling block with a decorative paper punch
• For fun, occasionally use stars or flowers instead of circles to dot the "i's" in a title
• Take advantage of the "power of 3's" as I did here- notice how the eye moves from Santa card to Santa card to Santa card, and how the three photos on the left direct the eye to the focal photo on the right.

Wishing my readers a joyous Holiday Season!

As Summer Comes to a Close, New Reasons to Scrapbook Emerge

Summer has come to an end, and I return to my blogging, my scrapbooking, my baking and to all that comforts me and delights me in the cooler months of the year. To those of you who have wondered about my unannounced hiatus, this summer was fraught with unusual challenges as my Jim and I navigated through uncharted territories as we sought treatment for his stage 4 prostate cancer. As I write this entry, Jim is doing well considering all he's been through, and I have learned to focus on whatever joy I can squeeze out of each remaining day I have left with him.

Jim and I savoring a moment...

I have set up a new studio for my scrapbooking and though it's still a work in progress, I am now able to hide away in my own little corner of the world with a minimum of distraction from the outside world. I have several scrapbooking projects that I am working on, and that I hope to share with you.

Presently, I'm on deadline with a memory book that I've been hired to assemble as a gift for a dear friend's 60th birthday. Her closest girlfriends have been frantically scanning old photos and emailing me digital images, and I am working overtime to get it finished in a week. I will not post my progress until it's presented, since it is a surprise, but I promise to share when it is safe to do so.

I'm also working on a family Heritage Album, which I will have duplicated for all three of my siblings as a very special Christmas present. The progress of this project will be of great interest to many of you. I have taken on the role of family historian and the keeper of nearly 50 photo albums that my mom put together over the years. My task is to save our old family photos from the curse of the "magnetic" photo albums that were not made archivally-safe and are ruining our treasured keepsakes, and to distribute them to my siblings in a way that will entice future generations to peruse them from time to time. I hope my endeavors will inspire you.

Working on my Heritage Album in my new Studio...

My third project is similar...I have discovered a treasure-trove of old photos of Jim's past in a blue plastic container in our garage. Apparently Jim tucked it in there (uncovered) ten years ago when he moved into his new house after his divorce. This is precisely how many family treasures are stored in attics or basements, and exactly why it is so important to scrapbook them safely and away from destructive elements. I plan to go through this box with Jim & record the adventure so that I may share it with you. The process of sorting, organizing & scrapbooking these old images should be quite interesting - and a very personal way to honor Jim's past.

I'm anxious to see what treasures lie beneath...

So as we drift into autumn, I hope you will find inspiration from my journeys and will enjoy a journey or two of your own.

Scrapbooking The Promise of Spring

Color Concepts in Scrapbooking

Scrapbooking is just another expression of design, really. I will touch on the key principles of scrapbook design in future posts, but today I am focusing on the use of color to enhance your layouts.

Once you have chosen a topic and selected the photos that you wish to feature on your scrapbooking layout, you must decide on the colors that would best suit your needs for that particular project.  If you are scraping a specific event, such as the Fourth of July for instance, you might want to give impact to your theme by choosing to work with red, white and blue. In the same vein, for Halloween layouts, you might stick to orange and black. No problem there, but your pages might even be more interesting if you go beyond the obvious and chose your color palette from inspiration you receive from your photos.

For example, if you were scraping about the delicious corn you cooked for the Fourth of July picnic, and you were using the photo to the right, you may want to use a pretty yellow paper for your background color and accent it with the vibrant blue of the placemat. Unconventional perhaps, but original and representative of the bright sunny hues of summer.

I've been mentioning on my Facebook posts lately that my prized weeping cherry tree is beginning to bud. This is always a special time for me, because I received the tree as a gift from my colleagues in the days when I was teaching culinary arts at the high school. The tree was meant as a memorial to my mother, Edith, who passed away that February. The tree was a fitting tribute, since it wept along with me in the tough days after her death. Miraculously, my weeping cherry tree goes into full bloom every year in time for Mothers' Day.

The following layout features my blossoming cherry tree from last year's photos.

Naturally, I was inspired by the lovely pink blossoms of the tree, but instead of matching the color perfectly, I chose a beautiful soft purple hue for my background paper that complimented the pink and layered it with a specialty paper that has pink and lavender dried flowers pressed right into it. I matted the photos with a more vibrant shade of pink to shake it up a bit, and chose chipboard lettering and journaling blocks to match the matting. To embellish my layout, I added a soft border and some pretty acrylic notions that housed more pressed flowers.

The resulting layout brings back the emotion evoked by the blossoming cherry tree mainly because the colors that were chosen to compliment the photos work so well with them to tell the story of the Promise of Spring. The layout seems to capture the very essence of the flowers as well as message of the journaling.

While we're on the topic of early spring gardens, don't you just love the way chives just spring up in your garden and planters from the year before? This is a reminder to get out there with your scissors and snip some. Rich in vitamins A and C, chives are one of the classic "fines herbes" (the others are parsley, chervil & tarragon) and they are meant to be used fresh to preserve the vitamins as well as the flavor and color. Sprinkle snippets on your omeletts, baked potatoes, salads, and soups and enjoy the delicate flavor of spring.

Some Bunny Loves You!

SCRAPBOOKING EASTER MEMORIES

A while back, I took a workshop with a talented young woman named Julia, owner of the New Hampshire Scrapbook Cabin (my absolute favorite scrapbooking store). At the time, she was a rep for the "Close to My Heart" line and using their products for her demonstration. It was she who introduced me to the magical world of acrylic stamping and the versatility of chalking. While normally I am not overly fond of the cutesy embellishments that are often used with children's themes, when Julia showed me how to make an Easter Bunny face out of a lightly chalked circle, using flower petals for ears, I couldn't have been more delighted. The face was drawn on, but the nose is a brad which holds the string whiskers in place -isn't that just brilliant? The bunny face was the perfect embellishment for the Easter photos in which my adorable grandson sported bunny ears himself to the delight of all of us.

If I wasn't posting this in the wee hours of the morning before a major holiday, I would re-shoot these images of my scrapbook pages, they're a bit out of focus I'm afraid, but I'm hoping my readers will bear with me. This is certainly not the best layout I've ever made, but it is a joyful one and captures the spirit of the day. Here's a close-up of the Bunny Detail that I scanned-in:

In this next layout, I used some lovely vellum stickers that I was given as a gift. I particularly like the way the colors work together on these pages -lovely spring colors.

Enjoy this celebration of Easter -cutesyness and all!

COLORED EASTER EGGS

Place white eggs in a stainless steel pan and cover with cold water. Bring to a simmer and cook gently for 20 minutes. Remove eggs from water with a slotted spoon and set aside.  While eggs are cooking, bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a tea kettle. Lay out 6 tea cups and pour 1/2 cup of the boiling water in each one. Add 1 teaspoon of white vinegar and 20 drops of food coloring to each cup. Red, blue, yellow and green are commonly available, but purple and orange often need custom mixing. Use 15 drops of blue and 5 drops of red for a pretty purple. Use 17 drops of yellow and 3 drops of red for a vibrant orange. Dip warm eggs one at a time in each teacup, allowing to sit in dye for 5 to 10 minutes each, depending on the intensity of color desired. (Generally there is enough dye to color 12-24 eggs). Remove eggs from dye and allow to dry on top of egg carton or on paper towels. If eggs are to be consumed, they should be refrigerated after coloring.

HAPPY EASTER!

HAPPY SPRING!

Why I Scrapbook

-Not That Anyone Really Needs a Reason to Scrapbook
 

Scrapbooking is more than a hobby to me – I actually consider it a bit of a responsibility. As I scrap my family’s most cherished moments, I am acutely aware of my role as a family historian. By the photographs that I choose to place into my scrapbook and by the comments I choose to include with them, I am leaving future generations a glimpse into who I am and what in my life was most important to me. By including historically significant moments such as the aftermath of 9/11 and the election of the first African-American President, I am also leaving a first-hand account of these important events.

 

One of my greatest motivators for including journaling on my scrapbook pages was a comment from a friend who was cleaning out her mother’s house after she passed away. She told me that she tossed her mother’s old photo albums into the trash because she had no idea who the people in the pictures were. I was very disturbed by what she said, and vowed that my heirs would have quite a different experience as they came across my albums. They would find names and dates and places, and a written account of their ancestor’s journey. I would leave them something beautiful and informative to love and to treasure.

 

Spiritually, scrapbooking is very healing and grounding. Honestly, I am never more in-the-moment and spiritually present as when I am scrapping the past for future generations. It ties everything in my life together in a thoughtful, creative, most rewarding process.

 

Although I kept a photographic record of much of my life from the age of sixteen, I was transformed when a friend introduced me to modern scrapbooking, about five years ago. I instantly recognized the value of combining my photography with my artistic sensibilities and my personal journaling.

 

For me, scrapbooking is a creative outlet, a meditation, and an expression of my individuality. It is often a welcome escape from other, often less enjoyable, responsibilities, and it is a way to preserve my most cherished memories –good and bad – for future generations. It is the most rewarding of pastimes.

Another rewarding pastime: BAKING PIE. One of the first harvests of spring is the prolific and chuck-full-of-vitamins Rhubarb. Strawberries from California are very reasonably priced in springtime, so I thought it would be fun to share this wonderful recipe:

 STRAWBERRY RHUBARB PIE        (makes 2  lattice-top pies)
1 ½ lbs. cleaned, chopped rhubarb (stalks ONLY-leaves are poisonous!)
6 cups halved fresh strawberries
2 cups sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
prepared pie dough
heavy cream or egg wash for glazing

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Line two pie tins with the rolled out dough, as described below, reserving the rest of the dough for the lattice tops.  Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes, allowing the dough to relax.

In a large bowl, combine the sugar, cornstarch and nutmeg.  Add the rhubarb and the strawberries, tossing to coat well.  Divide the fruit mixture evenly into the pie shells, and set aside.

Roll out the remaining pie dough, and cut into 12 strips, each about 1 ½ inches thick.  Weave the strips of dough over each pie, using 3 strips placed horizontally, and 3 strips placed vertically, on each to create a lattice design.   Trim the overhanging strips, tuck under the pie dough that lines the pie tin, and crimp the edges decoratively, to seal.  Brush the lattice and the edges of the pie with heavy cream, or with an egg wash made with one egg whisked with 1T. milk.

Bake on the low rack of the oven at 425 degrees for 10 minutes, then lower temperature to 375 degrees and bake for an additional 50 to 60 minutes, until juices are bubbling and the crust is a nice golden brown.