Dear Joanna,

 

That book of yours I found in Michael's was so alive and vibrant I couldn't put it down. Even a non-crafter would be fascinated. You are gifted, girl. 

 

S.M.

 

 

 

A Note to All of Us Scrapbookers from the Husband of an Ardent Scrapbooker
       
        No sooner had I received a proofing copy of The Best of British Scrapbooking and Cardmaking from the printer than along came an urgent email from Steve Wheatley, the husband of Sarah Wheatley, one of our Best of the Best winners. Sarah was losing her fight with breast cancer, and Steve was concerned that she might not be with us long enough to see her work in The Best of British Scrapbooking and Cardmaking. I quickly made my corrections and sent the proofing copy on to Steve and Sarah.

 

        A guardian angel was truly at work at Fed Ex. The package was not expected to arrive until Friday (after going out on a Tuesday), but instead it came on Thursday. Sarah was able to see her work in print, and the new dedication which reads:
       
This book is dedicated to scrapbookers and cardmakers all over the world. Our goal is to inspire, share, and encourage. The featured designers you'll meet inside are just a few of the wonderful people involved in papercrafting. Their generosity of spirit and their willingness to share their ideas and their work made this book possible. More specifically, we dedicate this book to Sarah Wheatley, who will always have a special place in our hearts.

 

        And then, tired from all the excitement, Sarah went to bed. She slept all the following day without waking and died the next morning at 3:55 a.m. in Steve’s arms.

 

        I tell you this story because of what Steve later shared on the UKScrappers site. It made me stop and think, and it has already made a difference in what I scrapbook.  He wrote:

 

 

        I also need to report to all of you that Sarah’s children have already followed in their mother’s crafty ways. They made cards to accompany their mother on her journey to the other side. That was a reminder to me that the time I spend doing crafts shows my son a vibrant, healthy way that I have found to express myself.  I hope that he finds a “hobby” as involving and enjoyable as I have found scrapbooking.

 

        With that in mind, I asked Steve if I could share with all of you the card which along with one from Carrie and a little note from Alexander, were with Sarah in her coffin when she was cremated.  Steve and Ella were thrilled to share it with you. Click on Ella’s card at http://www.scrapbookstorytelling.com/ezine-pages-2005-02.shtml#ella.  You’ll notice the four hearts. They are the four people Sarah left behind, and the figure on the front is Sarah herself in the dress she wore to her cremation.

       
The Best of British Scrapbooking and Cardmaking Availability

 

        I’m delighted to announce that The Best of British Scrapbooking and Cardmaking will be distributed by Search Press in the UK and by Rogers Supply Company in the USA.  The books are being printed as I write. I thought you might like to see the wonderful catalog Search Press produced starring—The Best of British!  Click on http://www.scrapbookstorytelling.com/ezine-pages-2005-02.shtml#searchpress  Copies of our new books are selling like hotcakes. In fact, I belatedly realized that we had accepted so many orders from our distributors that we weren’t going to have any books for me to keep and share. (Kind of like being overbooked on an airplane, but I’m the pilot and gave away my seat.) We made an emergency call and increased the number of books on the press. That said, the entire first print run is sold out, so if you want a copy, you might want to talk to your local stockist or retailer now about reserving one.  The ISBN can be even more important than the book’s name, so here it is: ISBN 0-9762784-0-5.
        

I challenged myself. I decided to make cards only using the scraps I’d saved from scrapbooking. You see, whenever I trim a piece off of a piece of paper for a layout, I put that piece in a 13” ziplock bag with other pieces of the same color. If I make extra of any embellishment, like an extra stamping or tile or piece of punch art, I put that in a smaller bag full of my bits and bobs.

 

Here’s what I came up with:

 

 

New Pages

  Whenever I travel, people always ask me how many albums I’ve done. The answer is not many. I so often wind up doing pages to accompany my work that I’ve rarely had the chance or inclination to sit down and develop an entire album. That said, I’m working on a few: an album of our time in the UK, an album of my travels (mainly those weird scenic pictures that don’t mean much…the “stop the car, I’ve got to take a photo” shots), an album of my brother-in-law’s bar mitzvah (I thought it would thrill my husband—WRONG, sibling rivalry lives on), a golf album for my husband (this time I asked first!), an album of our trip to Egypt (okay, a bit of a cheat, I helped my son with it), and now an album of our trip last year to China.  If you are interested, someday I’ll share some of my album pages.

 

 In the meantime, here are a few I did especially for you. (Yep, I actually sit down and think, “What can I show my readers this time?”)

 

 

 

        You can download my Candy Heart Background by clicking on http://www.scrapbookstorytelling.com/ezine-pages-2005-02.shtml#heartback.  Love to All My Sweethearts and Happy Valentine’s Day!

 

 

 

 

       This summer my mother and I made a detour while driving back from the SSSC show in Tennessee. We jogged up to Metropolis, the home of Superman. If you’ve ever seen the move Michael, you’ll understand the impetus. (By the way, that’s probably my all-time favorite movie, or one of them.) The resultant photo was, I thought, too cute. But, what to do with it? Then I bought my guys pajama pants from Wal-Mart with the Superman logo on them. (Yes, I shop at Wal-Mart, and Target, and Kmart, don’t you?) I had an idea. I cut the Superman out from the hangtag and voila, here he is on my scrapbook page. Click on http://www.scrapbookstorytelling.com/ezine-pages-2005-02.shtml#hero What Makes a Man a Hero? If you just look around, you’ll see all sorts of cool art that you can swipe from daily life and use in your scrapbook layouts. I intend to do more of this…

 

        And yeah, you might notice that I was getting a little tired of lecturing my son…so this went on the refrigerator door for about a month. I know he saw it; he’s in the refrigerator every other waking hour.

 

 

 

 

    I’ve had so much fun teaching the Writers Online Workshops that I decided I should write my own course and use One Minute Journaling as the supporting textbook. (Luckily, the nice folks at WOW thought that was a good idea, too.)

 

       I’m taking a break from developing new layouts to accompany the class, but I thought you’d like a sneak preview. Here’s the course outline:

 

Session One: Discovering the Process of Writing
    a.) What is your personal style and what is its impact on your journaling?
    b.) What are your most productive working circumstances? 
    c.) How can you overcome interruptions and writers’ block?
    d.) How can you put your memories on hold until you can take the time to journal?

 

Session Two: Collecting Information
    a.) Start with what you know
    b.) Use brainstorming techniques to help you remember
    c.) Create a swipe file
    d.) Round out your information
    e.) Add research to your writing

 

Session Three: Organizing Your Thoughts
    a.) Follow a formula
    b.) Explore the torn paper method
    c.) Try a fill-in the blanks
    d.) Forget transitions entirely
    e.) Answer the six big questions: Who, what, when, where, why and how?

 

Session Four: Developing a Variety of Journaling Styles
    a.) Ask review questions
    b.) Start a dialogue
    c.) Borrow from found journaling
    d.) Write a letter
    e.) Leave a legacy

 

 

 

 

You can win a f*r*e*e enrollment in my class. (The next session starts on March 17 and goes for four weeks.) I’ll even send you an autographed copy of the textbook, One Minute Journaling, as my gift.

 

Here’s how to enter:

Our judge will be Lynn Beirl. Lynn is the Queen of the WOW Classes, and a sweetheart to boot.

 

Note: You can sign up for future Essentials of Scrapbook Journaling classes including my new class Getting Started (Quickly) in Scrapbook Journaling  at www.writersonlineworkshops.com  Be sure to look for the scrapbook journaling classes where Joanna is listed as the instructor.

 

 

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 Campell 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