What are Albums, Mini Books, Folios, and Journals

(c) 2015 P.Lynne Designs
A mini book I created in 2012

(Warning:  The following activity may cause you to cry in happiness, do lots of ahhs and oohs, joys of laughter, and may spark that part of your brain that has not been active since you were a child.  Proceed with happiness. J )

Hello,

I am starting to make more mini books and journals.  I think they are fun and can be as interactive as you make them.  Today, before I give you what is called a cross posting of journaling, both from a writer’s view and a scrapbooker’s view, I want to give you an overview of the differences between all these books.  

First of all, I think it is important that you know the difference of these books (also called scrapbooks) in terms of size, content, and elements in each of these books, so you can determine for yourself if you want to make more of a traditional style album, or an interactive one.

What is it?

A traditional photo album (TPA) is just that.  Think of your parent’s photo albums.  They are commercially made, and only come in a handful of sizes.  Back in the 1970’s, magnetic albums were introduced, but the only problem is after 20 years, the photos start deteriorating.  Today, magnetic albums are just as safe in preserving photos as the others by using paper that is photo safe.  The only thing you can do on a TPA is look at photos, that’s it.  There is some reading involved (journaling) but that is it. 

A mini book is usually handmade, with some interaction.  In fact a mini book, folios, and journals all run in the same category, which is homemade.  All of these terms can be used interchangeably and they basically mean the same, a photo book of your memories.

Size:

Size does matter with photo books (which what I am going to call them throughout this post).  For your TPA, you can use any size to be considered a TPA.  For mini books, a tiny book to an 8 x 8 album is considered a mini book.  A folio and a journal is larger than 8 x 8, but no bigger than 12 x 12.   So the sizes in all of these albums do overlap.

Contents:

Of course, there are photos involved, as well as journaling, and I will go more into depth on the journaling part in a separate post (as a crossover post with my other blog, My Ambiance Life).  In a TPA, the photos are arranged in either a photo protector page with no embellishments or in a layout page with embellishments. 

The other books have interactive pages.  You can make a pocket, flip up or down, waterfall (which is basically a different take on the flip page), a book within a book, and pull out pages for starters.

Themes and types of books

To me, all photo books need to have a theme, even if it just the year in which the photos were taken.   With TPA, people are use to the fact of just throwing photos in an album, no chronological, personal, or theme, but I want to challenge you to this:  Try at least putting your photos in chronological order by year, you do not have to go by month and year, unless you do a timeline of events.  Also with any photo book, you can make the following types of books (in both a TPA and homemade)

·         Smash book- add pictures, event tickets, a label from a soda you drunk in a different city or country, a card from a dear friend, a lock of hair from your baby’s first haircut, just about anything.

·         Baby book-highlights from birth to the first or second birthday.

·         Travel adventures-highlights from a cruise, family trip, or country exploring trip.

·         Event book-highlights from your event from start (planning stage) to finish (the fun times)

·         College years

·         School years- from preschool to graduating from high school

·         Wedding book

·         Adoption book (also called a life book)

·         House book- highlight from start (planning stages) to finish of a remodel or house hunting

·         Spiritual Journey book-from baptism or acceptance into your journey and your walk with God, including moments of clarity and understanding. (Can also highlight pages from your written journal, if you like)

·         Business book-highlight moments of your business, from making the decision to have one to making your first dollar.

There are many, many more themes I could have placed in this post, but these are the ones I have seen and done.  I am currently working one for a friend of the family, whose matriarch is 105 years old (also a friend of the family, who I consider my grandmother), so this is a very special album to me.

Creativity

I place this last, because it does not matter rather you place pictures inside a traditional photo album, or create a paper bag album, and you can be as creative as you want to be.  I used to hear this all the time when I worked at Archiver’s, a Memory Store, the words, “But I do not know how to scrapbook.”  The next words that came out of my mouth were, “you can put photos in a photo sleeve”, then I would instruct them on what products they need to make the book.  Scrapbooks, photo books, and others do not have to be fancy, just orderly.  You can go online and copy a simple layout, as long as you use the layouts for personal use only.  I even invite my readers to copy a look I have, as long as you abide by my copyright rules.  If you decide to do that, please give credit where credit is due, and ask permission first if you wish to mention the look you have recreated.  I do not mind and I am sure other designers do not mind as well.  I always acknowledge the original designer when I am stuck on a design.

I hope you try to make an album from scratch.  For me, it is very therapeutic, and you exercise the muscles in your brain that very few adults use after the age of 20.    

No scrapping today....My past week.

Hello, it has been almost a whole month since I wrote in this blog.  I do apologize.  I am working on something.  
This past week has been one of those week.  It was not good, but not bad either.  It was one of those just so weeks.

I am finally doing classes locally.  My first student came Friday, and we had a blast.  She does scrapbook, but she just wanted to know what is out there, and what she can do with the stuff she currently has.  she also wants to learn how to use the Cricut machine.   So I will teach her how to next time we meet.
I am not sure how many people I reach locally, but if you ever want to learn something about scrapbooking, card making, or alternative art like mini books, just let me know.  You do have to live in the Central Ohio area, and I will meet you somewhere halfway.  

Next, I was supposed to be doing a swap on YouTube, but somewhere in between the person emailing me and setting up the groups, my name was omitted.  I was supposed to provide her with 3 gift sets of  laces a flower and stick pens. Oh well, it was not meant to be.  I still like the idea until I want to put some up at my Etsy shop.  I will see.

I have so much going on, until I need to take the time to start making things again.   In the meantime, I have not dropped off the face of the Earth yet.   You have a blessed day, and take care of yourself.

Scrapbook Inspiration

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One of my goals for 2013 is for me to be a little bit more inspiring to the people who are around me and who I speak to either face to face, in social media, or on the phone.  So I already know how to do the following:

• Smile when I speak, being spoken to, or when a person walks up to me.  This task has given me many opportunities to touch someone's life, even if for a second.  Smiling helps a person to connect in ways without saying a word (or yelling through a closed glass door begging people to come in)
• Say something kind like hello.  Again, it is that communication thing, and it makes a person feel like they are important to you, even if they are a stranger.
• Do something for another person.  I do not know all the answers to life's little (and big) problems.  I do what I can, don't think about what other people say, and go about my business.  Maybe that RAK (Random Acts of Kindness) will spark action in someone else, and it will spread like wildfire.

So how can I show a little bit more inspiration in my scrapbooking?   I did not go far to look it up.   In fact, all I have to do is look up "scrapbook inspiration" to find the answer.

1. From a Pinterest board, it is "things that inspire me", according to one person.  I should have a board like that.  I am also on Pinterest (www.pinterest.com/plogan721).  This should be your favorite layouts, cards, alternative art, and journals.  Do not stop there.  Try your favorite artists.  Mine are Teresa Collins, Tim Holtz, Heidi Grace and a couple others.  Create a board around them with their work. The scrapbook artist does not have to be national known.  
1. Also from Pinterest, create a My creations board.  Click on the link to view my personal one for this blog. This is strictly of the things YOU made.  No one else, not even your children.  If you want to have a board of their work as well, make it separate and for each child.   This is for people who have a blog or website. This showcases your blog, and if you are trying to have a business like I am, this is a form of advertising.  
2. Join a collaborations board on the site.  I am on two, an Etsy one and another one by Renae Christine of Richmombusiness.com. (you can view her latest video here)
2. You can also look up scrapbooking inspiration on Flickr, which I also have an account.  Flickr is part of the Yahoo.com group, and all you need to do is to search 'scrapbook inspiration' and find what you need.
3. Scrapbook inspiration does not always have to come from the internet or pinterest, it also comes from the supplies you buy, your style of clothing, the way you decorate, even the car you drive.

Try this exercise:   Gather 5 things that you love:  It could be a picture of a favorite flower, a piece of cloth from your childhood, or a label from your favorite gum.  Anything you like.  Gather some papers, embellishments, washi tape.  It does not have to be matching, but they do have to coordinate.  Now scrapbook a layout.  It can be any size you want, one or two page.  If you are just getting started for the first time, or anyone for that matter, if you need help with a layout, might I suggest looking up sketches of Layouts.  Here are a few links:

• Google term :  Sketches of layouts.
• Pinterest boards:  Sketches & Layouts , Scrapbook Sketches and Layouts and my own board:  Sketches 
• Got Sketch
• scrapbook Etc

Just click the links and the links will take you there.

I hope this gives you some inspiration to start the new year off with some layouts.   Please remember, these layouts and sketches are only there to inspire you to create, and get you juices going for the rest of the year.  Expect where I mention my own creations, these are people who I researched while writing this post.  I am in no way affiliated with them, and I am not being paid to endorse them.  I just like what I see and what works for me.  I hope that after looking at these links, they will inspire you too.

Have fun crafting, be safe, and be blessed.

Ah!!! Snow...

Don't you just love it, LOL? I know, I know, I have now written here is almost a month. Before I report about the snow, I have news to share. I no longer have a steady paycheck. This was my choice. Last post, I said I was leaving, and the week before my last employee crop I went to, I wrote my manager a letter, stating that I was leaving at the end of the month, and do not schedule me after January 31, and she did not schedule me after...January 17th. That was not what I asked for, but OK, I did not fight it. I just hope that I got paid for the last day that I was not supposed to work. OK, scratch that, I did not. OK, I never could keep up what weeks got paid for with what weeks. so now the last day I was not supposed to work was paid two weeks ago. BUMMER!!! I think she intentionly did that.

...So you know what means....

I am officially in business with my cards. After all, I can have my Longaberger business while working, but making cards and other paper type stuff. In case you are now just getting into this blog, I have two businesses, and I unofficially started the card business, called MDN Creates, inc. two years ago. I started only doing papercrafts for family and friends, and they did not have to pay me for my stuff, but they did sometimes. life was wonderful, selling for a wonderful company like Longaberger, and making my own cards and scrapbooking albums on the side was wonderful while working for a scrapbooking store. In December, my manager asks me to read and sign the new employee book. I read it, and saw that I could no longer do what I love for family and friends, and I know that at least my relatives were going to pay for supplies, but no more. I have always toyed with the idea of leaving Archivers, and knew that a person has to leave one day, so I made that decision to leave. no job was going to stop me doing what I really love. Again, they had no problems with me selling Longaberger.

Two types of Disney...

There is the franchise. Love it, but sometimes, change is a bad thing. My beloved Fantasyland, which I love, will be undergoing a change. I do not like this at all. will have to explain in a separate blog. then there is scrapbooking. I am on a yahoogroup called scrapping Disney. It is a fun group, and it is simply that, scrapbooking your Disney trip. if you want to join this group just go to the yahoogroup area of Yahoo. You do have to get an account if you do not already have one. you can also google it (do not ask me how to work yahoo search engine, I am sure it is the same principle as google and ask.com.) put in the search term, scrapbook and Disney, and the group will appear.

Anyway I entered my first swap with this group. I had a female card (which you saw, and i have as my avatar). The next is a scrapbooking page from a sketch, and it looks like this :

It is made with: 1 sheet of bazzill (12x12); 1 sheet of coral cardstock (from Archivers-12x12); 1 sheet of bazzill white(8 1/2 x 11); 1 sheet of Mickey Stripe (use the bottom half to make a pocket. black letters, 1 sheet of black cardstock for the extra photo card, which is 4x6. Ribbon to match.

...And what is with the white stuff.

Like I said, I am snowed in. Columbus, Ohio rarely gets caught in the middle of a snow storm, but...HERE IT IS!!!! I would have documented in pictures, but I have on short sleeves, and the heater on, LOL. Wow!!! I remember my first snow storm in Columbus. My father was in the Air Force, and had worked the night security police position the night before, and the snow started. I was in the 8th grade, and my brother was in the 2nd. My sister was not born yet (1988). This happened during the winter of 1978. Me, my mother, and brother was hudled in the basement on the sofa bed, while my father was in a barricks room. School of course was cancelled, and it was bitterly cold outside. Ahh, good times.....NOT!!

Now, here we are, in separate homes, me in my home, my brother in his in Dayton, Ohio, my parents and my brother's son in their home, while my sister and her little ones are in their home.

.....and what's for dinner...

Well, I am sort of lazy today, so I went to grilled pork shoulder and filled tortilla, which is a knock off from a You Tube vid titled Chinese street food. in the video, the person makes a crepe like bread, breaks an egg on it, and spreads it on it. then they add green onion, no cheese (I do not believe that the Chinese use cheese in any recipe), and bean paste. then they fold it over, put some kind of cracker, and fold it over again. they put it in a plastic bag or hands it to the customer, and off you go. my version is much, much different, but simular. I use a tortilla instead of crepe batter. I poke tiny holes in it, so it will not poof so much. No onions, even though i love onions. Sorry, no bean paste, I use Kraft's tomato and basil dressing instead. No crunchy cracker. To me, it taste just as good. Of course, I do not know what bean paste taste like, and I do not want to know what beans they use. They are probably not grown in the USA.

Well that is part 1, I will be back for part 2....