Learning by Mistake

What a week.  Seems as if every project is somewhere up in the air... or in the mail again.

Got the photos.  When building the travel mini I designed everything to accommodate 4x6 photos, although there were a few pages designed with smaller mats.  I realized there would be many, many pictures to include and adjusted for that.  What I'm learning in putting the final touches on the album is that my matting skills have everything left to improve.  For example, in one booklet alone I punched an eye out - totally avoidable - placed photos in such a way the booklet requires constant turning to view the pictures, and as cute as the booklet is, the photos still needed an additional mat, which of course I didn't allow for.  It's still okay because the approach to this album was to treat this as a learning experience.  That certainly happened!  The next "solo" designed album will mark a dramatic advancement of skills.

While watching the daily subscription YouTube videos, I ran across someone very excited about a find at TJ Maxx getting in a huge variety of EK Success punches for $3.99 each.  That is something to get excited about.  I couldn't get to the Maxx until yesterday and it initially appeared as if all the punches I'd hoped to find already sold.  It wasn't a total loss as I managed to find one EK Success Halloween punch and a bonus Martha Stewart Halloween Punch Around the Page set for only $8.00.

I learned an surprising fact about EK Success punches. (This also includes Martha Stewart as EK Success manufactures these as well.)  They come with absolutely no guarantee, implied or otherwise.  And when calling customer support, they all but told me: too bad in just about those words.  It's a shame there's no alternative punch companies out there that back their products.  Perhaps Fiskars, but would have to look.

I've been a very good scrapper and chained myself to a strict budget; because I've realized it's not a good policy to buy something just because I "might" need it someday - sales or not.  (I must admit that I'm still working on that "chained" part :) 

So... today I finally bought a couple packs of I am Roses and doing the happy dance for it. The flower inventory is still very limited, so I've decided that for the next couple of allowances to add a few packs each time.  

It's very fortunate we live so close to the national Tattered Angel's warehouse as bottles and sprays can cost as little as $3.00 a bottle; fortunate because my investment for glittery sprays and paints has been minimal.  After watching so many videos, it's obvious Lindy's Stamp Gang's various forms of micas are far superior to Tattered Angels.  I'm buying my first four-bottle set that happens to marry up with several Graphic 45 collections already on hand.  Between I am Roses and LSG, I'm going to have a blast over the next few weeks learning new techniques.  Like the I am Roses, I also plan to slowly build the LSG spray/paint inventory.

For fear of retiring the collection I'm hoping to buy Graphic 45's Travel Travelogue in the 12x12 and 8x8 pads.  If the collection proves to be a fairly new, then I'll just sit on this week's allowance until a good sell comes along.  I wonder if there's a place where you can go to learn when a collection came out and approximately how long the sets stay in publication.

Great, great news!!  I misunderstood what the seller was offering with the partial 8x8 pad Once Upon a Springtime paper, but now accidentally own TEN face pages of the collection.  However (squeals of joy) I located a company that had the postcard page for 70c each, and had them in stock!!!  Four of these should arrive any day now.  That leaves the tag page to locate, and should I desire, the chipboard frames.

The post here is too long, but in the next day or so I'll share a project I'm coordinating. 

Buttons and Bows

Everything ordered this past week arrived.  Except the photos.  However, whether through procrastination or perfection, I decided to change the page base to a rich brown instead of the black.  The black just seems too "heavy" if that makes any sense.  And it's not like the black will never be used, oh, far from that.


I've kept myself busy with fussy cutting and making paper embellishments.  Not too bad for a first go of it.  I'm not nearly as done as will probably be needed for the mini, but it's a start.

I'm particularly proud of my hand-crafted bows.  

A nice variety of 3

But the tiny pearl bow is awesomely cute!

Too cute!

Oh!  Oh!  Oh!

I almost forgot!  I'm still short the postcard and tag page to complete the Once Upon a time collection, BUT!  I did find an 8x8 pad!  And one of the cuter stamp sets.  Amazing.  I still believe the postcard page will be found.  (Actually, I did find it, but the guy wanted $3.85 for the one page and almost $5.00 for shipping.  I not stoo-pid! Just patient.)

Jinx

I'm telling ya, there's a jinx on me this month.  The seller who had the elusive last two pages of the Once Upon a Springtime collection emailed me this morning and stated, "Unfortunately, one of the patterns you ordered..."  Blah, blah.  Okay, so now I'm down to needing one page, but all is not lost.  I now have four copies of the most important page of the pad, so that's fine.  I'll get the last page. I always do... eventually. The project isn't even due to begin until at least after Christmas, so no biggie.  A little headache to sit on top of a larger one.

Not a very productive day today on any level.  There was a little accident that involved bones, mass blood, and pain, so everything stopped to attend to this little matter.  I did manage to watch a few tutorial videos between annoying yelps of pain.  Maybe life will continue tomorrow?

Two steps forward, one step back still equals progress. 

DId It

Yes!

Finally.  It all comes together, even better than hoped.

I spent hours yesterday trying to buy a few select items and ran up against wall after wall of "not currently in stock" and paying $5.00 or more for each shipping charge, adding up to over $20.00 for less than $15.00 worth of product.

I started out the day with a positive attitude.  After about an hour of searching the wheels began to grind down... again.  Time to take a break.  I set back out after the house quieted, not really expecting results.  And then, jackpot!!!

Scor-Tape.  Bingo!
Flying off the shelf Prima mask.  Gotcha!
Photo corners.  Done deal!

I am tickled pink.  But... the best was yet to come.  I've lusted after a Graphic 45 collection called "Once Upon a Springtime" that I believe retired about the time I came into the craft. Through sheer perseverance I managed to collect the tag, frames and sticker pages, and all but two of the pages from the12x12 paper pad. Tonight I found the two pages, they are ordered, and mine all mine!  I've resigned all hope of finding the full 8x8 pad.  Notwithstanding, this is the absolute BEST.  Now(!) all the Prima flowers, lace and crystals I've been hoarding will have a place to call home.  Right after I finish the other three albums in line.  Poo.  The important thing is having the set together when time comes.  I think to buy another safe to keep my most treasured papers protected in the event of a fire; either that, or find a place to stash that other junk taking up valuable safe space:  birth and marriage certificates, diplomas, etc  ;P

The next Graphic 45 quest is the Olde Curiosity Shoppe line.  It's newer and hardly a challenge to find.  Just that money thing, which always gets in the way of fun.  This will be the September allowance.

I still can't figure out why the big hobby stores aren't carrying Scor-Tape.  And why I haven't heard about it until now?  The red sticky tape meets all demands, but gets to be down right expensive at $3.00 for five yards.  The Scor-Tape does the exact same thing, but for a few dimes more buys twenty-seven yards.  Every album created so far has cost over $10.00 in tape alone.  Throw in the-up front paper investment and a few embellishments... and one of these books costs almost $35.00 to create - of course I still mess up a whole bunch in the process.  What was it I read a few months ago?  Scrapbooking is the art of spending $20.00 decorating a ten-cent photo... too funny.

So.

I've finished the full mock-up of the next album and decided the binding.  Or so I thought until watching a new batch of YouTube videos.  There are quite a few out there that use greeting card size pull-outs for pictures.  Not a bad idea, actually; most of the fun of the mini's is the interaction, and it also provides a quick way out of figuring where to put the 5x7's collected over the years.

I'm content.  There's enough work laid out now to last until Christmas.  It's going to be a fun three months.

File Folders

I am on the threshold of beginning the Graphic 45 Little Darlings mini. 

I'm using plain manilla file folders as the page base.  Until today, I'd forgotten this was the original plan, and it got stuck in my mind that I need to take a trip to JoAnn's  to buy some pretty, glimmery, heavier weight card stock before beginning.  Up until now, I built all my minis pages on medium-heavy weight card stock.  I've thought to use chipboard from cereal boxes, but this seems too "coarse" for a baby's album.  Perhaps this would best be used on future albums where children will handle. 

I know the file folder concept for scrapbooking is very popular right now; these and the memory file box Heidi Swapp's claim to fame - among her other incredible ideas.  I have a couple sets of some patterned file folders, but I'm not ready to commit to a project using these.  Good grief, there's only so much a novice can handle!  Instead, the file folders I plan to use in this project is due solely to their strength. 

When committing to the baby album, I gathered all the papers, embellishments, pictures, ribbons, etc I could possibly think to use in the creation and put it all together in a box.  Today I stumbled upon several videos demonstrating how to begin a project.  I was dead on.  Now I'm left with figuring out what doesn't belong!

I've made an actual size mock up of the album using printer paper.  This is going to save a ton of designer paper I surely would have cut incorrectly.  There's only the front and back covers and four pages designed so far, and I'm fairly confident there should be at least one more page, if not two.  The binding style also remains yet undetermined.

My mother did fill in a baby album for the first few years of my life, but it was very much hit or miss.  Fifty years later, the book is actually beginning to crumble.  I'm at a loss as how best to preserve her work.  There are several options available.  I could scan all the images and print them to include into the updated version; however, in doing so, it's all but guaranteed the original will continue deterioration.  I could cut up the book, deacidfy the pages and use the cut portions on small journaling tags.  I'm not entirely sure, but I think her notes to be so scarce as to not worry about cutting one side and cutting into another entry on the other.  Either way, the original book is not going to last much longer, so it's a choice between two evils.  I'm leaning toward the second option now that it's spelled out.  Now to find a store willing to order Krylon's de-acidfication spray.  None of the stores do at present, but I'm betting if they put it on their shelves, it would fly off the shelves.

Scrap-lifted

This layout is one I virtually lifted from the page of another artist, NMscrapper.  The paper was on hand (or maybe I ordered the paper after seeing the original layout) and a store accidentally sent me the chipboard pieces - really! - and I immediately knew which photo belonged on my version.

Adaptation of original layout featuring my mother, 1953

Scraplifted from NMscrappy, posted on Scrapbook.com

I'll readily admit the original looks far better than mine.  (Better photography, to begin with!)  But the similarities are striking.

I was particularly proud of the pleated flowers I made from scratch... my first.  I recently bought a Cricut cartridge, Flower Shoppe, that handily allows me to create the yellow roses found on NMScrappy's page.  I'm still working with the cartridge, but this demonstrates the progression of skill acquisition over time.  Today, I would have copied the yellow roses and applied them to the LO.

I created this layout when cutting very pretty paper still seemed rather sinful.  I learned after this paper could and should be cut, which cracked the barrier that kept me from opening the virgin G45 stacks.  Although I loved the paper line, Printery, I didn't realize it came from Prima Marketing.  Had I, I probably never would have used it.  It's just good that it did.... plus, I still have more of the paper to hoarde.