Fall 2005

"Because a memory a day keeps the blues far away."

Table of Contents

1. Excerpt from review of The Best of British Scrapbooking and Cardmaking
2. Page Ideas-I'm a Witch, A Halloween Story, An American Tale, and Girlfriend
3. Patterned Paper Mixing Tips
4. Key Journaling Questions to Ask Yourself Right Now
5. Celebrating Family Stories Month (November)
6. Journaling Sample from My Writers Online Workshops Class
7. Little Notebooks-Stocking Stuffers to start today!
8. Stuff You Need to Know

Excerpt from Scrapbooks Etc. magazine, November/December 2005:

The Best of British Scrapbooking and Cardmaking...(is) full of useful tips and rich descriptions of each project. (reviewed by Polly Maly)

Page Ideas

It's so weird...while responding to a challenge from my friend Rebecca Ludens from the super site scrapbooking.about.com I realized I didn't have any recent photos of myself. Then this month, I had lots of pictures taken of me. Isn't it bizarre how that happens?

I'm a Witch - I wanted to use a silly picture to reflect how I see myself. The stamp is from a set by Stampin' Up. The chipboard letters are by Li'l Davis Designs, and I like using them. They add texture and shine.

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A Halloween Story - People often tell me, "I have this great family story but I don't have any photos." Hey, you can still preserve the story. Or, like I always say, "Save the tales!" The burlap came from a funny bag I bought at the dollar store. I bought one in every color. They are perfectly sized for photo mats. The ghost is made from scanned newspaper images. I saw a similar one done on a quilt. You can download your own ghost background paper and ghost pattern

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An American Tale - My husband's family came from Russia and passed through the immigrants' center at Ellis Island. I drew the picture of the Statue of Liberty and then scanned it onto an overhead projector cell (a transparency).

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SIC (Sisters in Crime) - My goal was to mix various patterns of paper. (Be sure to read my tip on mixing patterns in the next section.) I also used three Ralph Lauren paint chips and the negative space from my Paige alphabet die cut by QuicKutz. The positive space letters looked lost and overwhelmed on the solid backgrounds, but the negative space (the area that's left AFTER you cut something out) was solid enough to hold its own.

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Girlfriend - My friend Venetta Morger took this picture of me when she and I paused after admiring pumpkins at a nearby farm. Here I mixed patterned paper, a piece of fabric and a coaster from a restaurant, the round piece with "girlfriend" stuck on it. Read about Venetta's pattern matching tip in the section below. I found this silk flower in the parking lot of the nearby Michaels and popped it into my purse rather than tossing it into the trash can. My British friends call such situations "magpie moments."

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Patterned Paper Mixing Tips

I'm still learning how to do this, but I've picked up some great hints that I thought I'd share...

1. Choose papers with the same background color or "fix" the background by coloring it with chalk. For example, if a pattern has a white background, don't mix it with a pattern on a cream background. Instead, use a bit of cream chalk to tint the white. I did this with the small green dots on the SIC page.
2. Work with different sizes for best results. Mix a big pattern with smaller ones, for example. You don't want all the patterns to be the same size or they'll compete rather than compliment.
3. Look for similarities within the patterns you want to mix. On my Girlfriend page, the stripes behind the photo have thin black lines, the leaves are accented with black lines, and the squares that are part of the background paper are also accented with black lines.
4. Give it the squint test. Arrange your papers on the floor or your desk and take three steps away. Now squint. Look for a happy marriage of colors and patterns. (Venetta is an ace quilter, and she taught me this. She even has her son and husband look with her and tell her what "jumps out" at them.)
5. Use "texture" patterns instead of plain solids. The background paper for the SIC layout is a mottled blue. The variations of color here give the feeling of a patterned paper but are easy to work with.
6. Go mono. Monochromatic matches or matches within the same color family are a good way to guarantee success. Find a color to repeat within your patterned paper and your mixes will look pulled together.
7. Look at decorating magazines. Designers are well-versed in mixing patterns. We can learn a lot from them.

Key Journaling Questions to Ask Yourself Right Now

Often we focus on our families or our heritage and as a consequence, we forget that our lives will someday be of interest to the next generation. (I say this with confidence even though as the mother of a teenager, I'm quickly learning that NOTHING about me is of interest to the next generation.)

Every once in a while, it's a good idea to stop and consider what YOU think about the times you live in.

Here are a few questions worth considering right now...

1. What was the impact of Hurricane Katrina (or Frances, Charles, Ivan and Wilma) on you? On your loved ones? On your community?
2. How are you feeling about the war in Iraq? Has that changed? Has the war had an impact on your family or on people you know? In what way?
3. Have the rising gas prices changed the way you live? How? Have they made you reconsider your travel plans for the upcoming holidays? Or the vehicles you drive and how you drive?

And here are a few questions that aren't so HEAVY...

1. What are you watching right now? (On television, video, CDs, computer, or at theatres.) And what's your response? What have you liked?
2. What are you listening to right now? And how are you tuning in? (I-Pod? Via computer? CDs? Radio? Wow. Think how different this is from the large vinyl records of years past.)
3. What are you eating right now? Or where are you eating? What's new? How have the tastes of your children, friends or family changed?
4. What are you doing for fun? New hobbies? Who's doing what? How does that have an impact on your family life?

Celebrating Family Stories Month

Consider it an early holiday gift from me to you. For years now, I've taught Heritage Journaling classes, and people have asked me for copies of the forms I made for collecting information. I've also been asked repeatedly for the chart I made of historic events starting in 1900. And with Family Stories Month here, I thought you might enjoy a simple game to share with your loved ones.

Ta-dah!

Family Members Hidden Words Puzzle
Family Member Information Collection Form page 1 page 2
Highpoints of History page 1 page 2 page 3

You are invited to reprint these forms (the Family Member Information Collection Form, The Family Members Hidden Words Puzzle, and the 1900-1955 Highpoints of History) for your personal use, although I retain my copyright (which means you can't sell them or reproduce them for profit).

If you find them valuable, I ask that you drop a buck into the Ronald McDonalds House collection site at any McDonalds or into the Salvation Army kettle so that the benefit is shared with families who are less fortunate.

Use the Family Member Information Collection Form (with its back and front sides) for all family members, living and passed on. It's great to bring along to family gatherings. Keep the forms in a ring-binder. Start with whatever you DO know and write on these in pencil, adding information as you go along. If you are unsure of a "fact," add a question mark (?) so the next generation knows you weren't able to verify this information.

The Family Members Hidden Words Puzzle is a fun game to print and pass out at family gatherings. Divide family members into teams and see who can locate all the hidden words first.

The 1900-1955 Highpoints of History charts (all three pages) are useful when interviewing older people. (I think I qualify! Grumble, grumble.) You see, it's much easier to respond to, "Do you remember when you saw the Beatles for the first time?" than, "Tell me about your youth." One is far too encompassing and vague. The other question is pinned to historical fact and, therefore, usually elicits a better response.

Journaling Sample from My Writers Online Workshops Class

My student Jeanne Pittman used several techniques that I teach in the class to come up with this delightful portrait of her father, Kenneth Willardson. (This is an excerpt. The full piece is actually much more in-depth.) For more about upcoming classes, go to www.writersonlineworkshops.com

Kenneth P. Willardson finished out his 3-year tour of duty with the U.S. Army in World War II in Calcutta, India. He talked of how his coolie, Patee, was only allowed to do certain tasks within his caste. Offered a job with Gandhi, Patee was forced to turn it down or become a social outcast and lose his wife and family. It was beneath Patee's caste to carry water but he was continually dumping out the photographic solutions necessary to do the work. Finally, after Patee had dumped 225 pounds of chemicals, Kenneth made him mix up new photographic solutions. This was not part of Patee's caste but Kenneth wanted him to understand the importance of the work. Then he taught Patee to make prints with the "magic water", do enlargements and finally color photography.

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.

Little Notebooks--Fun Stocking Stuffers to Begin Right Now!

Golly, everyone I know needs a notebook. There must be a zillion times a day when we have to jot ourselves a note or scribble down a phone number or make a list. I stock up on these little notebooks in their natural state whenever I see them on sale. Then I had a brainstorm! Why not decorate them with my scrapbooking "scraps" and give them as tiny gifts or stocking stuffers?

Doors - I'm including this one because it's a great example of using what life throws your way. When we were on vacation in St. Augustine last spring, I found a colorful advertising flyer and loved the tiny shops printed on it. I didn't want to throw it away. (Can you see a theme here? We're back to the magpie moments.) I carefully cut out each door and trimmed the buildings to fit the notebook. Behind the doors I added stuff I feel passionate about. One door is open for your viewing. I also glued "lucky" pennies over two spots (one is on the back, so you can't see it) I didn't want to show.

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Golf - Perfect for the golfer in your family. The embellishment is by K & Co, and the tag is by Hallmark. Fibers hanging free can mark his place as he (or she) jots notes about the course.

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Gryffindor - And how about that Harry Potter fan at your house? I trimmed a Gryffindor sticker and backed it with gold paper before mounting it behind a slide mount wrapped with sparkly red ribbon.

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Nana - Here I painted a rectangular piece of plain chipboard to match the colors of my papers, then added rub-on lettering. You can easily punch through the cardboard cover as I did to add ribbon.

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Stuff You Need to Know

Like 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