Welcome!
I am SO excited to get this month long party going. I’ve been working hard since coming up with this idea (2 weeks ago!) and have managed to organize some pretty awesome giveaways and special guests. My online friends have been so generous! I’d like to take a moment give them a shout out! You’ll be hearing more about these people over the next month but for now, please put your hands together for …
Lain Ehman of Layout A Day
Amanda Robinson of Amanda Robinson Studios
Heather Dubarry of No Excuse Scrapbooking
Ashley Horton of Ashley Horton Designs
I’m still lining up other contributors that I’ll be sure to tell you all about as I get things finalized. These ladies are just a few of the dozens of wonderful women I’ve met through this amazing hobby I discovered. Scrapbooking has truly opened doors for me as well as opening up creative avenues I never thought I’d go down.
As I approach the end of my 30’s I want to share this love of cutting paper, adding photos, and writing down stories with you. So many have helped me, taught me, given me a chance to grow, and share. Now it is my turn to pay it forward.
Over the next 30 days there will be prizes and free downloads for sure, but there will also be tips, tricks, techniques and tutorials. I hope these help you on your own journey to preserving your memories. Whether you are just starting, or you’ve been on your journey for years, I hope you can find some takeaways from what I offer up.
But let’s start today off with some goodies, shall we?
First up, I’ve got two coupon codes to tell you about. The first one is a special one just for this event.
Lain is offering my readers 50% off the purchase of her ebook – Your Story Matters. This eBook was put together by Lain and her community of like minded women, ScrapHappy. You may even see a couple of my layouts in this book. 🙂
It contains 25 story prompts along with examples of how we at Scraphappy interpreted them. These are fantastic story starters to help you get down your own stories before they are forgotten. My mother died when I was 14 and I wish beyond words that she had left such a scrapbook for me!
To pick up your copy today simply click on the picture above and then put in the coupon code ALISON50 at check out.
The second coupon code today is also from Lain. While her blog may have started with leading women through creating a layout a day for 30 days, she has since branched out to hosting live online events. There is one coming up that I am super excited about. It’s called True Scrap 5 and it’s happening on October 11 – 12. There are 15 instructors lined up to teach classes on topics from using your scraps, to stamping, to photography. And I’ve got another coupon code for you. Click on the photo below to see all the instructors and their classes and then enter the coupon code LUCKY50 to receive $50 off your registration fee. Hope I’ll see you there!!
And finally, I have a GIANT giveaway to tell you about.
I have put together a box full of card stock, patterned paper, die cut sheets, stamps, gems, stickers, brads, and chipboard albums. And it can be yours IF you do two things. First, leave me a comment below telling what you’d like to learn about this month. I’d love to address specific questions rather than guess at what you might be interested in learning! The second thing you MUST do in order to be eligible to win this is to sign up for my email list. You can follow the link at the top of the page (just look for my goofy face!) or simply CLICK HERE.
My email subscribers are the only ones who will have to password necessary to access the FREEBIES I will be offering over this month. They also get first notification of upcoming deals, events and sales.
I think that’s a good way to start a party, right? Two coupons and a giveaway opportunity? There is SO much more to come.
Enjoy your Saturday and I’ll see you tomorrow!
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I really struggle with layering. Not sure why. I can copy what someone else has done, but I am more interested in the process, if you know what I mean. I would like to be able to look at my papers and photos and have some idea how to approach layering without having to scraplift someone else.
Thanks Heather. I LOVE to layer and will be sharing tips on how I approach it this month. Hope they help you. One thing that I do that may give you a place to start, is I quite often pull either a colour or a motif from my photo then put that photo aside while I build my layers. Knowing that I am looking for blues or leaf motifs helps me find scraps in my basket more easily. Once I have a few set aside I play with the arrangement then go back and add my photos. Somehow it always seems to work out! Hope that helps.
Looking forward to following this month of fun before your 40th!! I would like to learn more about how to spray with inks and continued ideas about how to use up scraps.
Thanks Jenn. I will be addressing both those over this month so stay tuned! 🙂
I’m pretty good about creating meaningful scrapbook pages. I often write my journaling first, find a photo to help tell the story then scrapbook. My question is, how do you us current products and embellishments to help tell your story without getting bogged down with all the choices? It’s the photo and story that counts, right? I get that done rather quickly and then LABOR over putting the page together. The page should be the fun easy part. Please help me to be happy with my pages, work more quickly, and let the journaling be the star.
What a great question Sharon! I think I can help with that. I find creating bases that I can add my photos and journaling to speed things up. What I mean by this is I create several “backgrounds” if you will of layers papers that are generic enough to add any story to. Sometimes the only embellishment needed afterward is the title!
Hope that helps you. Thanks for sharing your problem!
I always journal on my pages, as I think it’s essential to tell the story. However, I often struggle to find enough space to fit my journaling. Would love some tips about how to integrate more journaling into page design. I also always use sketches to start my pages but would love to be more comfortable with page design so I could start from scratch. Any tips/tutorials/info on basic page design would be appreciated! Happy upcoming 40th birthday! 🙂
Great questions Martine. Can’t wait to help you with them! Thanks for the birthday wishes! 🙂
Happy happy Birthday, Alison!! Sooo…I find the actual page-creating to be fun and easy. Then I have to add journaling and a clever title and my mind goes absolutely blank. I know that scrapbooking has appealed to me from day one because I am telling a lot of the story through creatively showcasing the pictures, but I realize that when I’m not around there really needs to be journaling to tell the rest. You wouldn’t believe the number of pages I have waiting to get put into an album because I am procrastinating with the journaling. I know a lot of people struggle with the “words” aspect of scrapbooking…how do you suggest approaching this? And how do I avoid using boring & bland titles like “So-and-So’s Birthday Party” or “Christmas 2012” LOL?
Ah, great question Jenessa! Can’t help you with the title much I’m afraid. I am completely title challenged!! I will address your other question this month though. Thanks!
I’m really excited to see what you bring this month. I am like you in that I feel that this hobby has opened up so many opportunities and brought so many friendships into my life that I never would have experienced otherwise. Not coming up with a specific question to ask right at this moment just interested to see some new ideas for using scraps and getting through the stash I have. I would love to see some innovative ideas for using some of those older products we all have sitting around that were so cool when we bought them but maybe are somewhat outdated. I hate to just get rid of it, I know there has to be fun ways to make it modern and trendy again.
Thanks Lisa. I know what you mean about those older products. I have a hard time giving them up too! I do regularly put aside a box to take to my kids school … got one in the works right now 🙂 …
First off, Happy Birthday (& welcome to Club 40; I entered this club back in May!) I recently found your blog and am super excited to have found it. The one thing I’d like to learn is: when to stop layering!!! I love the look of layering on a layout, but there are times when I’m not sure if its just right or too much! So how do you know?
Thank you Denay. I think it’s a great club to be entering! Regarding your layers … I think you need to ask yourself what your primary goal is for your scrapbooking. Is it the photos and the stories or the art of it? If it’s about the photos and stories, then a good place to stop is when those are getting lost in your layers. If you can’t really SEE your photos, you’ve added too much. If you’re doing this because you love the artistic release then I say go for it! Layer it on until you’re happy!! 🙂