Dear Joanna,

 

I wanted to let you know that I have been looking at some of the surveys your students have filled out, and they seem to just love your sessions!  Thanks so much for the time and effort you have obviously been putting into the classes.

 

Lynn Beirl
Writers Online Workshops

 

Note: You can sign up for future Essentials of Scrapbook Journaling classes at www.writersonlineworkshops.com  Be sure to look for the scrapbook journaling classes where Joanna is listed as the instructor.

 

 

 

The scrapbook pages inside The Best of British Scrapbooking are so dynamic, so filled with new ideas and techniques that I can’t sleep at night.  I’m working on the book in the daytime and dreaming of layouts when the sun goes down.

 

Here’s a sneak peak at our cover.  Click on http://www.scrapbookstorytelling.com/ezine-pages-2004-10.shtml#bobscover

 

See how fresh and fun this is? 

 

What’s inside?

Why is British scrapbooking different?  Good question.  You see, supplies are much more expensive in the UK and harder to come by.  You can’t just hop in the car and pick up scrapbooking supplies on the way to the grocery store.  So UK scrappers are very ingenious and creative.  Also, the UK has a long history of papercrafting, rubber stamping, and cardmaking.  These skills are evident in the winning layouts.  In short, the Brits do things with paper and product that I never dreamed of doing…until now…nightly.

 

 

 

No one, but no one gets to see our winners’ pages until the book is printed in November.  (The Best of British Scrapbooking will be available for purchase in December 2004 or January 2005.)  Like I said, I won’t share the pages, BUT I couldn’t help but scraplift a couple of ideas. 

 

Remember…these are my translations of British creativity.  Their stuff is way better than this!

 

Abby  (inspired by Into the Light by Mary Anne Walters)  Click on http://www.scrapbookstorytelling.com/ezine-pages-2004-10.shtml#abby

 

Notice the collage border at the bottom of the page. I copied the definition of “dog” from my childhood dictionary. I antiqued the paper in a bath of strong tea. Then I tore the words and pasted them together to form my own word collage. The British are crazy for collage, and this striking use of appropriate words across the bottom of the page is an idea I was happy to swipe. The daisies’ centers are beads strung with wire and dipped first into glue and then into glitter. Our winners use glitter and beads liberally in new and exciting ways.  (All paper by Paper Adventures.)

 

Sea-Nery (inspired by Cousins by Alison Rowe)  Click on http://www.scrapbookstorytelling.com/ezine-pages-2004-10.shtml#seanery

 

Attach a bracelet to a page?  Wow!  Alison does just that in her page Cousins. Once I saw her layout I knew exactly what to do with a bracelet my mother had given me for Christmas.  (I’m not really a bracelet kind of girl.  I get them caught on doorknobs, and so on.)  The basic layout is lifted directly from Alison’s work, but the addition of the journaling box is my idea.  Two dolphins cut from the bracelet reappear on the strip above the journaling.  ( All paper by Paper Adventures.)

 

 

 

I’d never taught an online writing course before so I was excited to “give it a go,” as my British pals say.  What a blast.  The course lasts four weeks.  Students are given access to online lessons.  Then they have five days to compose their own journaling and submit it to me for review.  I make suggestions and share their work in a forum with the other students. 

 

The best part of the class?  We all have such different life experiences, and this class allows a glimpse of what other people are including in their scrapbooks.  Of course, I hope I can pass on hints, tips and thoughts to help my scrapbooking students save more of their precious memories, but my primary goal is to encourage others to write.

 

Here’s a sample from one of my classes.  Trust me, there were plenty of great examples to choose from, but this piece by Lynn made me laugh so hard I had an asthma attack.

 

**

 

A STAR IS BORN

 

By Lynn Miller

 

“We’ll begin rehearsing for the Christmas play after lunch recess. The three snow queens will be Kathy Robinson, Jan Preston, and Connie Sue Speck,” announced Mrs. Nimitz, my first grade teacher.

 

My three friends would be the stars of the play. I would be one of the lowly elves. The snow queens rehearsed their parts zealously, while the elves scraped and bowed and did as the queens commanded. We rehearsed singing “Sleigh bells ring, are you listenin’…” over and over and over. The day of the performance, we donned our costumes and I stood on the stage with my classmates and sang, “Sleigh bells ring, are you listenin’.” I despise this song. Then and there, I promised myself I would never be a lowly elf again, never, ever.

 

In March, Mrs. Nimitz told us rehearsals would begin for the Easter program, “Peter Rabbit” by Beatrix Potter. I knew I wouldn’t be chosen to play the starring role of Peter, but Peter’s mother was the female star.

 

“Please, please let Mrs. Nimitz choose me to be Peter’s mother,” I silently prayed. I also crossed my fingers for added good luck.

 

“This time you will each ‘try out’ and the class will vote for the person to fill each role,” said Mrs. Nimitz.

 

“Try out?” my shy brain screamed. “I have to TRY OUT?”

 

I was the last girl to read for the part of Mrs. Rabbit. I rose from my small wooden chair, my heart pounded in my chest, and I heard a strange whirring noise somewhere in my head. My knees trembled and sweat coated the palms of my hands as I walked slowly to the front of the room and turned to face my classmates. Mrs. Nimitz handed me the sheet of paper to read for the part. I didn’t take it. Instead, I took a deep breath and spoke the words and acted the part of Peter’s mother. I finished “trying out”, and Mrs. Nimitz sent us into the hallway while the class voted. My classmates began clapping when I walked through the doorway. I was going to be Mrs. Rabbit. I love the song, “Easter Parade” which we sang as part of our grand finale.

 

 

Fall Pages

Okay, so we’re moving straight from Easter to Autumn.  Doesn’t time pass by quickly as you get older?

 

Acorn and Leaves (Make-n-Take)  Click on http://www.scrapbookstorytelling.com/ezine-pages-2004-10.shtml#acorn

 

An after-school activity for sixth graders sparked this creation.  I wanted something easy to copy and easy for beginning scrappers to make.

 

You could copy this idea with any patterned paper.  I simply enlarged and color copied images from the pattern to use as large embellishments. The tags were cut with my Sizzix.  The small tag ties of raffia add a tidbit of texture.

 

All Manner of Fiends, Ghouls & Demons  Click on http://www.scrapbookstorytelling.com/ezine-pages-2004-10.shtml#ghouls

 

By contrast, this wasn’t a scrapbook page:  It was a career!  It took me forever.  First I scuffed the background paper (from Paper Adventures) with sandpaper.  Then I stamped the crackly lines on transparencies with black ink and embossed them.  (I had to use two transparencies to cover my 12” x 12” page.)  I sewed the transparencies onto the background paper.  I ripped the photos—and notice that for once red-eye is GOOD!  I put letter stickers over the diagonal torn paper banner.  After mixing a little Elmer’s Glue with black acrylic paint, I dipped my muslin and laid it on a piece of waxed paper to dry.  Then I gathered it under the bone (Unique Notions).  The wording (except for the journaling on the gravestone) is punched with Dymo tape.  I used black mesh from a grocery purchase and black Magic Mesh throughout.  Whew.  It makes me tired just remembering what I did!

 

 

 

In just two days, I’ll be sailing to Belize with a host of other scrapbookers. One hundred dollars per cabin is being donated to the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade.  My friends Ann Kingrey and Joan Larsen at Get Gone Cruises (www.getgonecruises.com) have put together a wonderful schedule including:

There are five on-board contests, a 24-Hour Crop Room, and Night Owl Make & Takes.

 

I’ll be hosting a shore trip to Chichen-Itza.  We’ll use the experience as a chance to work on our travel journaling, so I’ve created a very special handout.  Other ports of call are the Yucatan, Cozumel and Belize.

 

Got to go pack!  Have a great fall!

 

 

 

Stuff You Need to Know
 
Like the ideas here?  You’ll love our books.  Click on www.my-memories.safeshopper.com/153/cat153.htm?916 to see the complete line of our books.  Check out the Mother’s Day Special while you’re there.
 
Comments?  Contact Joanna at savetales@aol.com.  We love to hear what you think and what you’d like to read more about.  We like questions, too, but give us a while to answer them, okay?
 
Have a product you’d like for us to try?  Send us samples at Scrapbook Storytelling, 7 Ailanthus Court, Chesterfield, MO, 63005.  Phone 636-519-1612.
 
About the author…Journaling goddess Joanna Campbell Slan is the author of Scrapbook Storytelling which has sold 40,000 copies in addition to six other books on scrapbooking, one textbook on storytelling, and two inspirational books.  Contact Joanna at savetales@aol.com