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Late Summer 2005 "Because a memory a day keeps the blues far away." Table of Contents
Excerpt from Scrapbook Inspirations Magazine, July 2005: Joanna Campbell Slan's expert experience in the scrapbooking world gives her the ability to offer fresh ideas that we can all relate to... How to Scraplift - and Why You Should!I know that scrapbook magazines are SUPPOSED to inspire me. I have to confess that sometimes they make me feel inadequate. You, too? When that happens, I fall into a bad case of scrapper's block. The best way to blast out of my doldrums is to scraplift a page design from a talented scrapbooker. That's exactly what I did with these two pages. They are taken nearly "verbatim" from a page by Alison Penstone that appears in my new book The Best of British Scrapbooking and Cardmaking. When you scraplift, find a page you like and replicate the layout, or an embellishment, or color combinations. You can copy as little or as much as you wish. You can also turn the scraplifted page on its side or upside down. Think of the original page as a launching pad and your work as a space shuttle. I decided to scrapbook both the men in my life in two different pages with the same layout, but differing colors and embellishments. Note how changing colors, embellishments and fibers make each page look distinctive. The basic placement of elements stays the same.
Journaling Assignment from My Writers Online Workshops ClassDeborah Stevenson was kind enough to allow me to share this with you. It's a great example of the power of combining other people's words (in this case an email from her daughter Cassie) and your own sentiments (Deborah's feelings). I think you'll agree this piece is very, very powerful. For more about upcoming classes, go to www.writersonlineworkshops.com Writing Assignment #4 The entire four months Cassie was sailing on the M/V Explorer, thru Semester at Sea, we looked forward to checking our emails early in the morning. This email was different. "Hey Ma, I'm gonna warn you that I'm about to tell you a freaky story. But I do have to tell you that you should be thankful that Beau is on this ship with me, or you would have received a call in the middle of the night with me freaking out. But he made me chill out for a bit, anyways...." Oh my, my heart stopped. For a moment, anyway. Then. I realized that I must keep reading in order to learn what happened to my youngest child, sailing many miles away from home in the Indian Ocean. "One of our friends fell overboard off of the fourth deck. He was sitting on the railing and fell into the ocean at 1 AM. The boat had to stop for over an hour while life boats and life preservers were dropped into the cold, dark water. Mom, it was terrifying. Everyone on the ship was crying and yelling and freaking out." By this time, my heart is beating so loudly that I am sure my husband can hear it in the next room. I call out to him to come quickly to the office so he can read this horrifying account of Cassie's adventure at sea. We both read her account, hoping for the best but fearing the worst. "Yes, Mom, there was alcohol involved. One of the lifeboats found him in the freezing water. He was hurt pretty bad, all bloody and suffering from hypothermia. Most of us were asleep when the ship came to a grinding halt. There was a lot of noise as the engines stopped and people were running down the corridors to the outside deck. Class was cancelled today while they get the ship sea ready again. But all anybody can think about or talk about is last night's event. Beau and I were so traumatized, that we sat up all night. The Captain said there have only been three passengers fall overboard in all the years of Semester at Sea. I guess the student is being sent home, but he is pretty lucky to be alive. Well, Ma, I just wanted to tell you about my scary night. I love you guys so much, Cass." Wow, Bob and I kept rereading the email and talking about what a harrowing experience it was for the students and for the crew. Of course, we were thinking how fortunate they all were, especially the student whose life was spared. Like Cassie and the other students, we could not think of much else the rest of the day. And we were so thankful that our little girl was safe. It caused us to reflect on how precious life is...and how wonderful it is to have email. Note: You can sign up for future Essentials of Scrapbook Journaling classes and/or my new class Getting Started (Quickly) in Scrapbook Journaling at www.writersonlineworkshops.com Be sure to look for the scrapbook journaling classes where I (Joanna Campbell Slan) am listed as the instructor. Altered Book Memory AlbumsI stopped by one of my favorite local stores, Red Lead, a couple of months ago. On display, they showed an altered book which was part of a class they were offering. Hmmmm. I started thinking. Once that happens, look out! Why not alter a board book and turn it into a memory album? I had been wanting a project that was self-contained. I was tired of having all these separate pages and so much space to fill on each page. The result?
What's most lovely about these books is that they can stand alone on a shelf. I've put mine in an antique, glass fronted bookcase. Since the pages are so thick, you can almost enjoy every one of them without picking up the book. Also, I have to admit, I love how portable these little dealies are. I have popped both into a big ziplock bags to take to show other people. Try that with your regular album! Then, too, they are cheap, cheap, cheap. I felt like the smaller space on the pages actually gave me more permission to be creative. Don't know why. If you like these and want to see more of the interior pages, let me know! Read All About It: Be sure to check out the review of our new book The Best of British Scrapbooking and Cardmaking on www.amazon.co.uk We're just thrilled with the response to this new book! On a Personal Note...It's been a wild spring and summer.... My father-in-law, Dr. Arnold Slan, died on May 2. Although Arnie had been in poor health for many years, it was still (as it always is) a surprise. My dear husband has been a devoted son, and his father's death was hard for him. The funeral was a healing experience, and my son said, "Now I know why people go to funerals. It brings families together." Yes, indeed, it does. It also reminds us how important it is to live full and joyous lives because we are NOT here forever. I've been battling problems with asthma. I thought that since I wasn't wheezing and coughing that I was fine. However, I've since learned that asthma can diminish your lung capacity silently. Since the valley where we live often has air quality issues, I've been particularly hard hit. That said, I found a great pulmonary specialist and things are much better now! We've entertained two groups of guests this summer. One was a group of music merchants from all over the country. (My husband owns a music store that sells Steinway, Baldwin, and other pianos and organs.) Being a tourist in your own town (St. Louis, Missouri) is simply wonderful. I was charged with finding fun stuff to do with the spouses (translation: keeping the wives busy while the guys and a few lady owners worked). A welcome task! The ladies were wonderful. One day we went to the Missouri Botanical Gardens (www.mobot.org), the City Museum (www.citymuseum.org), and the Cathedral Basilica (www.cathedralstl.org) which is the home of many gorgeous mosaics designed by Tiffany. Then we joined the worker bees and went to a Cardinals baseball game. The next day we explored St. Charles, Missouri (www.stcharlescity.com), lunched at Aimee B's tearoom (www.missaimeeb.com), traveled back to St. Charles for shopping, and then met the worker bees for dinner at Dominic's, a ride to the top of the Arch at night, and a trip to that famous St. Louis landmark Ted Drewes Custard. Later my sister and mother came to visit with my three nieces, Katigan, Makenna, and Grace. We went to the St. Louis Zoo (www.stlzoo.org), the Magic House (www.magichouse.com), the City Museum (again!), and the Butterfly House (www.butterflyhouse.org). I also took the girls (ages 10, 6, and 4) to get their first "manicure" at a local beauty salon. The highlight of the trip? Adorable four-year-old Grace, the drama queen who was born on my birthday, climbed into my very, very old, red BMW convertible, tossed her blonde hair with one hand, gave me a level look, and said, "Cool ride." You never know with kids, do you? Shortly thereafter, my brother-in-law, my aunt, and my "older" niece arrived. Wow! What a houseful! It was great fun tho....I especially liked spending time with my "leetle seester" Margaret, my "Aunt" Shirley, and my "big" niece Lexie. They are all three lovely women, and we rarely get to spend time together. A few weeks later, I decided to take my one-month-from-sixteen-year-old son on a cruise. I had such a lovely experience with the ladies from Get Gone Cruises, that I called Joan (www.getgonecruises.com). We finally decided on going with the Navigator of the Seas to Haiti, Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, and Cozumel. What they say about teenagers on these big ships is right-you never see them! Except on the shore excursions. He wanted to drive the WaveRunner off the coast of Haiti and since he has his driver's permit, he did with me as a passenger. I thought we were going to die. God is merciful. (By the way, how did the rest of you survive getting a teenage boy to drive safely?) So that's about where I am these days. My little male Bichon, Kevin, is in poor health and every time I think about losing him, well, I can't think about it. This Saturday, I'm off to Kiawah Island, S.C., for a week to work on my mystery novel and have some alone time in my all-time favorite place. I hope life has been good to all of you. I treasure your emails- Joanna Stuff You Need to KnowLike the ideas here? You'll love our books. Click on www.my-memories.net to see the complete line of our books. 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 seven other books on scrapbooking, one textbook on storytelling, and two inspirational books. Contact Joanna at savetales@aol.com |
