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Incorporating Scrapbook Storytelling

Late Summer 2008

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

Table of Contents

  1. Nice Things People Say
  2. Cover Up that Ugly Stuff, Get Clustering and Customize
  3. Six Free Journaling Boxes and More FREE Stuff
  4. Where in the World Is Joanna?
  5. Check Out the Sizzling Contest
  6. Want to Read Excerpts from Paper, Scissors, Death?
  7. Personal Note


Nice Things People Say

Kirkus Reviews called Paper, Scissors, Death-"a well-turned cozy." I'm not entirely sure what that means, but I'm confident that's good news. At least my publicist Marissa was awfully happy! (And that's great because she works very hard to promote my book.)

You can always contact me at savetales@aol.com. Please put something like "I read your ezine" in the subject line so I know you aren't spam.


Cover Up that Ugly Stuff

I've been working on an album for my niece Lexie who is expecting a baby in August. I found a cute album at Target for $1-yeah, I always look through their Dollar Spot, don't you? But as I started working on the album, I grew to hate the cover. Don't know why. Just did. So, I re-covered the cover. Here are some tips:

  1. First make sure your old ugly cover won't show through. I decided to wrap the old cover in a double layer of paper towels. This also added a nice quilted pattern under the fabric.
  2. I taped down the towels, making sure to cut off the excess at the corners. I marked the holes for the binding rings by punching through the towels. This isn't as hard as it seems because you can feel the holes through the towels. I simply "found" the hole and pushed the tip of my scissors through it.
  3. I ironed my new fabric and applied a lot of spray starch to make it crisp. I put it on the old towel-covered cover to see how it fit, and again marked the holes as I did above.
  4. I sprayed the wrong side of the FABRIC with 3-M spray adhesive. To keep this spray from getting all over, I laid the cloth inside a big empty cardboard box first. Also, be sure to have good ventilation or your kids will think you've been drinking.
  5. After the spraying, I centered the cover on the fabric and pressed it down. I fiddled with the corners and edges, and folded them under on the inside of the cover.
  6. I cut heavy paper to be the inside liners of each cover. Using a great glue (Crafters Pick The Ultimate! From The Adhesive Products, Inc. www.crafterspick.com HIGHLY recommended stuff.), I stuck down the liners and held them tight with wooden clothespins until they were well-adhered. (I love wooden clothespins. We use them to close chip bags.)
  7. I poked holes in the covers. To make the holes look pretty, I glued on grommets. After they dried, I slipped the rings through the holes.

Yeah, it was a bit of work, but golly, I think it came out pretty okay.

  
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Get Clustering

I love the little magazines that Archivers mails out to tell me about their upcoming classes and sales. (Check out their online magazine as well at www.archiversonline.com/newsletters

Recently they suggested "clustering" your embellishments so they pack a punch. What can you cluster? Rubber stamped images, flowers, buttons, brads, journaling strips, rub-ons-well, you get the idea. And they are SO right. By themselves, stuff can look kinda, sorta puny. But group your embellishments and you get maxi-impact.

Here's what I did for the inside title page of the baby album.

  
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And Customize that Paper

I was enchanted by a page my friend Cheryl Johnson made for ScrapBook inspirations magazine. So, I did my own riff on her work. The problem? The yellow paper I planned to use on bottom of my scraplifted layout was too plain. So...I scribbled those loop-de-loops on it to match the Elsie Flannigan paper (the black with the yellow spirals), and I added the punched flowers after I'd scribbled on them. I truly think it's possible to get too STRESSED out about our creations. What I love about UK scrappers is that they don't seem to take their pages as seriously as we do. See my page.

  
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Six Free Journaling Boxes and More FREE Stuff

Journaling boxes are all the rage right now. I tried my hand at making a few, and I'm willing to share. Just email me at savetales@aol.com and put journaling boxes in the subject line. I'll send you mine-there are six to a page.

Other free downloads:


Where in the World Is Joanna?

Good question. I might be at an event near you. To see where I'll be signing books and giving presentations go to www.booktour.com I'd love to meet each and every one of you. Be sure to tell me you get my ezine, okay?

Please mark the weekend of September 12 and 13 on your calendar. I'll be signing books at Scrapfest at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. One lucky purchaser will win the rights to name a character in Book #2 of the series-Designed for Death. Go to www.scrapfest08.com for event details.


Check Out the Sizzling Contest

The last contest was so successful, I thought we'd do it again. Joanne Coy won our last contest, and she sent me the sweetest thank you card. Golly!

Okay, so you know that I blog every Monday at killerhobbies.blogspot.com, this is a contest that involves the blog.

CONTEST: Be the first to email me with the title of MY post at the Killer Hobbies blog on Monday, August 11, 2008, and I'll send you a special Summer Gift Package II which will include:

  • An excerpt booklet-with scenes from my new book
  • A small package of Jelly Bellies (Not enough to ruin your figure!)
  • A copy of The Accidental Demon Slayer by my pal Angie Fox. You are going to love this book-and Angie is a debut author, so I'm happy to introduce her to you. It's hot, hot, hot in a lot of ways. So if you like spicy reads and paranormal twists, plus Harley Davidson cycles, you're in for a treat.

How to enter: Email your name, your POSTAL address with house/apartment number, street address, city, state and postal code to me at savetales@aol.com

Important: Put Hot! in the Subject Line so I can pick you out of the spam-blocker.

I'll pull a winner on August 12, 2008.


Want to Read Excerpts from Paper, Scissors, Death?

You are special to me. To prove it, I want to send you via email a special gift-The Paper, Scissors, Death excerpt booklet.

What's in an excerpt booklet? It's like a Whitman's Chocolate Sampler, only it's a sample of my book. In this case, there are three scenes from the book, two recipes, a "how to" tutorial, and a discount code for use at Snapfish.com Why three scenes? I want you to get to know Kiki, her friends and her world. She's a lot like you and me-she's totally devoted to friends and family, and she's got a lot more courage and spunk than the world gives her credit for.

To get your copy email me at savetales@aol.com and put EXCERPT in the subject line.

After you read the excerpts, please go to www.amazon.com and order your copy-plus a couple for gifts for friends.

You are welcome to share the excerpt booklet with your friends-please do!

If you get the chance, please call your local library and ask them to order a copy! That's often how they decide what to buy. You can make a big difference by voicing your preferences.


Personal Note

Wow, when I asked for prayers, you all came through! I'm back from surgery and getting stronger every day. Thank you all! I do believe that whatever you send out comes back to you tenfold, so look out-good stuff is coming your way. You are wonderful, each and every one of you. You are a blessing in my life.

Have a cool summer-

Much love,

Joanna


Stuff You Need to Know

Like the ideas here? You'll love our books. You can order any of our books through msbstchas@sbcglobal.net (That's Main Street Books of St. Charles, MO)

Comments? Contact Joanna at joannaslan@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?

About the author...Journaling goddess Joanna Campbell Slan is the author of Scrapbook Storytelling which has sold 85,000 copies in addition to seven other books on scrapbooking, one textbook on storytelling, two inspirational books. Her new mystery series featuring Kiki Lowenstein, scrapbooker extra-ordinaire will debut from Midnight Ink in September 2008. The first book in the series will be Paper, Scissors, Death. Contact Joanna at joannaslan@aol.com