stamping with Maggie

Basic Scrapbooking Tool Kit for Baby Album

My plan was to make a quick, simple baby album for a friend having a baby. I didn't want this to be a work of art, but a gift from the heart. I wanted to use what I had on hand, and sit down, focus, and be done. I found myself overwhelmed with all the possibilities, I have too many choices. I was constantly jumping up and down to go in search of the perfect addition. I wore myself out, and started hating the whole project. I gave myself a stern lecture, and realized that I will want to make baby scrapbooks, of the simple variety, on many occasions. Why not make a basic kit that i can pull out every time I sit down to create a baby album.

I wanted it to fit in this box, and include only those things that would go in all baby albums. I can add  papers and embellishments specific to each album later.

• I love the Stampin' Up 1/4 inch gingham ribbon. So I included a roll of pink, and light blue ribbon in my kit
• I know there are so many shapes, colors, sizes of brads available, but I decided to pick one to keep permanently in my kit, I chose Stampin' Up soft subtles. It's small, inexpensive and comes in a great container. Perfect colors
• Every baby album must have buttons, and the Stampin' Up soft subtles assortment will match any baby colors perfectly. Clear might be great second choice.
• I didn't want to keep punches in this kit exclusively, but The Stampin' up scallop circle punch and scallop border punch would be an essential go to addition to the kit.
• I included some baby safety pins and little tags I punched using the smaller Stampin' up tag punch from Whisper White cardstock
• I needed tag string, so I added white crochet thread.
• I pre-cut white photo mats from Stampin'Up Whisper white Cardstock. I used a 12x12 sheet, and cut 4x6, which gave me 6 photo mats.

Now I can grab a scrappin' kit or pretty paper, basic tool kit, and my basic baby kit, sit down and create a baby memory album. Simple

 

Do you Remember Paperkins? + 300 Posts Gift

I love paperkins by EK Success. They were very popular, way back when, in scrapbooking. Even the names were fun! I started collecting them after the second round had come out for the public. I determined I was going to have everyone of them. I remember, I struggled to find slam dunk sam. I finally found him on vacation on our way to Florida in Bowling Green Kentucky. Yes, I used to make my family stop at scrapbook stores on vacation. What's wrong with that, i ask you? SO...

My friend, who had a shop, and helps coordinate the Crop for kids fund raiser, had enough to donate for a make and take. We had so much fun making these again. I made a girl on a swing for pictures I have of my Granddaughter on our tire swing. How cute are these? 

By the way, I did collect them all! and I still have them. I have them all made, in fact, and in a little album, But i forget to use them.

I have just flipped over 300 posts!!! Woohoo!!  As a Gift, I have mini paper kins I would love to send to you. Just leave a comment and I will draw for them.  Thank you for all your support.

Mini Album Tutorial - One Sheet Wonder

I made this adorable mini - album for a challenge at a new blog, specializing in 3D items. It is a fun site with challenges and samples of some really cute projects. They even offer the templates to those who wish to participate.

This album was made with one piece of Stampin' Up designer Series Paper. The paper is a perfect weight to hold up to the demands this little album will make of it. And it is double - sided so that with out manipulating the paper, it will have contrast and compliment.

I plan on giving this to one of my children for Christmas as a gift. They don't get to see their  nieces and nephews on a regular basis, so they will love catching up with their events.

back side

front side - I cut and scored the paper according to the directions.

 

I used my ever trusty Epson Picturemate photo printer and printed the photos in wallet size. I used about 30 photos.

 

Since the paper was printed, I decided to keep a white border around each of the photos to save time on matting.

 

I mounted the photos, and wherever I could combine paper pages to make a pocket, I did with Stampin' Up red sticky tape. Boy that tape is wonderful!

 I made a belly band from a coordinating piece of Designer paper, cut out 2 of the flowers, and attached ribbons in Always Artichoke. I loved how this handmade Christmas gift was simple and easy and turned out to be very beautiful!

For more ideas and instructions visit 3D designChallenge.

Inspired by art

Inspired by art was the idea for a scrapbook page that I pulled from a magazine years ago. I loved the bright colors,  and the focal photograph being askew.

Download inspired_by_artsbidea.pdf

This is the idea from Scrapbooks etc. magazine winter 2002.( I take a while to get to some ideas)  Susan Badget made her page from a painting by Matisse. I believe mine is a greater masterpiece, since it captures my wonderful Grandson on his first Christmas. After I made mine, I used paper I had won at the crop I was attending, to create a matching page for each of my children. I want them to remember how amazing this little guy is. It was fun to see how differently each turned out, but I liked them all.

I just used paper scraps. I cut strips .5 in wide and then cut pieces off at angles. Around the Photo, I wrote how much I loved his big eyes and new front teeth. And how fun he was as our first Grandson.

Fibro Friday - A brave woman

Arizona Trail for Fibromyalgia | 800 miles across Arizona to raise awareness for Fibromyalgia.

I  found this blog of a woman hiking across Arizona to help raise awareness of fibromyalgia. I was impressed with her courage.

It is estimated that 7 to 10 million Americans--mostly female--suffer from FMS (fibromyalgia syndrome). The median age of onset is 29 to 37 years. It can begin spontaneously or after an injury, particularly when associated with serious emotional stress. Fibromyalgia is characterized by a consistent pattern of non-restorative sleep or insomnia, widespread body pain and stiffness, chronic fatigue and varying degrees of anxiety and depression. Other symptoms may include difficulty concentrating ("fibro fog"), slurred speech, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), light sensitivity, PMS, tension and migraine headaches, environmental sensitivities, TMJ, tinnitus, irritability and mood swings. FMS symptoms are aggravated by stress. Most sufferers even experience pain while resting, and the pain is most noticeable when they have used their muscles for repetitive activity. The pain can be so severe that they can no longer work or do ordinary tasks. Pain killers have little effect.

I want to share a scrapbook page I made recently. It was a kit by Dixie Pieces that I received as a door prize at a crop I attended recently. I almost just stuck it away, but I was tired and everything was already there and precut, so I gave it a try. It was so simple and beautiful when it was done. Kits can be a time and energy saver.

I loved the little details

Granddaughters - Precious

Just wanted to share a  quick page digital  scrapbook page of my granddaughters. I don't know if I will ever print digital pages, but I love looking at them. Elisia will be 3 in November, and Quinn is 13 months.

A Completely free Class! from Jessica Sprague

    I am very excited about this opportunity. I love the premise behind the class. As a scrapbook teacher,  I know that journaling on a scrapbook page is very intimidating to scrapbookers. They save it for last, and often don't finish the story, in an effort to avoid this task. But it's the memory, the perspective, the history, and the story that makes scrapbooking worthwhile. Without the message, it is just a picture album.
    From personal experience, my mother took the time to organize her pictures into an album, but chose not to add any information. When I questioned her about it, she told me they were her memories, when she was gone, they would be gone. She was tragically right. Most of the pictures, I offered to anyone who would want them, with few takers. The rest, I'm sad to say, I pitched. I will not know those parts of my mother's life. And I would love to see her as a woman, apart from being my mother. An unexpected loss, when my mother died, was her connections to people, and friends, and family that had been a part of my life as I grew older. SO....I have sons, and I don't know that they even know that I am a woman, apart from being their Mom. But I will try to leave some insights into their memories, just the same.
    I've signed up for this class and I hope you do too. Register here

Princess Weegie - digital

Another digital quick page attempt.But when I went back to find where it came from I couldn't. When my son, Michael, visited this last time, he brought a new funny nickname for his daughter. I liked the way it sounded. Elisia is a spitfire and so much fun! But she is hard to catch in a photo, since she is a flurry of activity.

My Daughter

I made this digital scrapbook page using a quick page from simply sweet designs  I loved the quote and feel that way and more about my daughter.

Birthday Boy

Andy, the birthday boy is the one with the killer smile on the right. Michael, on the left, is our oldest.