RVLife Meets Scrapbooking

There are so many times a day I stop and smile, thinking about how much I love the lifestyle we've chosen. Our space may be smaller but it seems easier to keep clean since we have fewer possessions. When we yell, it's not across the house at each other. When the kids are bored, we can send them outside (or threaten them with more schoolwork bwahaha). Our kitchen is now large enough that Ray and I can do dishes and cook at the same time! There is just one piece of my everyday "normal" that seems to be missing and makes my heart pine for the old place,  and that is...

SCRAPBOOKING.

Not that I don't have supplies along for the ride, oh you know I didn't leave home without them! A lot less if them, yes, but I like to think of that as a great reason to (someday) shop for more. No, what I'm talking about is the luxury I had and yes, took for granted, of being able to make a page at the slightest hint of inspiration. With an open door to my craft room and it's fountain of papers, embellishments and adhesives sitting out at the ready, I could easily start a page on a whim and complete it at my leisure. I loved it when my desk was clean and beckoning to me whenever I went to the bathroom, washed clothes, or, well it didn't matter where I was, the room's siren call would not be long resisted!

Now I must be more thoughtful about how I spend my time when it comes to crafting. Despite having more time on my hands than ever before, I must enjoy that time with my family. I must enjoy the great outdoors outside my door as never before! I have very little time when a hefty baby us not in my arms, and as much as I'd like him to help me, I can't have him touching the things I use i.e. adhesives, etc. It's not a sacrifice I mind making, BUT I do miss the 24/7 make fests I've been in the habit of creating for myself the last decade. I feel like so much of this chapter in our family's life story is being forgotten as it goes undocumented. Guiltily I think, "it's up to me to record all this fun we are having!"

All of this pining made this layout even more satisfying to create. It's the first page I've made since we moved into our moterhime, and the first picture of August I've scrapbooked. This little dude has me completely wrapped around his chubby finger and the sentiment on that large sticker is a nod to our connectivity. On his head he has a small hemangioma that his pediatrician told me is part of his placenta that broke off and was absorbed within the womb... so I like to think we share a special bond and cherish him all the more because of it ♡

So what gets in the way of your creativity? Is it physical, mental, or a combination. I urge you to break the block and "make" some time to follow your passions! Thanks for stopping to get crafty with me today,
♡

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Look at my little boy playing behind his first scrapbook page! Following the traditions of his sisters already <3

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Bootlegged Besties Page

Making scrapbook pages for others has been a creative kick in the pants for me this year. From the pregnancy and newborn albums I assembled for my cousin, to the gift I'm sending overseas for my older brother next week, downloading other people's pictures from facebook and creating scrapbook layouts for them fills my heart with the same type of joy that committing my own family's memories does.

Since I never (ok, hardly ever) make two of anything the same, I've learned to enhance my satisfaction over creating for others by creating scrapbook pages without photos as part of the process. Not only does this leave room for additional photos I may not have on hand to be included, leaves room for the recipient to add their own journaling too, and sometimes invites some otherwise unconsidered cropping, but then I have a blank template to overlay my own digital images upon!

If you look closely at the background of this two page layout of my best friend and I at sleepover camp in April, you'll notice it is practically the same image, just rotated. In the picture on the left, I simply laid a piece of yellow-green polka-dotted paper that was nearby down on top of the grid background. I didn't have to use any adhesive! And it helped bring the photos I grouped digitally on top together harmoniously. The ink splatters I had adorned that single page with mimic the handholds on the climbing wall photos featured on the opposite side.
 Adding titles is a breeze, and mixing fonts in perfectly color matched hues is no problema- this one reads, "above all, relax reach & remain fearless." Good advice that is hard to follow once you step out of your comfort zone and start climbing a sheer wall of wood. I pushed myself to my limit and then gave into the cheering of my comrades as the shouted, "keep going! you can do it! don't give up yet!" Wow, that was like hearing my internal monologue in stereo lol. Although I was shaking, sweating and stammering, I did reach a little further and in a surging leap of faith upward, grasped the next hand hold successfully before repelling down to the graveled safety of the ground below.
Breathless, smiling with exhilaration, and warmed by the adventure and the friendly encouragement I'd received. Add the knowledge of a few photos taken for me to document the experience waiting for service to be sent, and I had all the makings for an inspiring rest of the day teaching others to play with paper and embrace their self-expressions.

The app I used was Photo Grid btw :-)

 

Continuing Education: Photo Fun With Mini Albums

Scrapbooking is a lot of fun, but ... take it from me, aftar awhile, those albums of 12x12 papers start to take up a lot of room! With over 35 albums stored around our home, looking for storage solutions is something that is a constant thought in my mind, especially when I start a new one.
There are times when I literally want to preserve every single picture from a trip, and while grid style layouts and smaller printed pictures do work in a larger format, I think it's a lot of fun to contain that vacation, family function, or school related event in a smaller, hand held version. Enter my friend the Mini Album.

Mini(ature) albums can contain as many pages as I'd like, and just as much ephemera. Often times I don't bother with protective sleeves, so I'm not limited by size constraints, either. This adds more variety to the overall look. With all the layers, page sizes, and "stuff" stuck on, I find it's a good idea to create with a theme of color to unify the contents and let the photos- the memories- shine.
In a few weeks, I'll be teaching a three week class all about Mini Albums at the Gig Harbor Tacoma Community College campus. You can follow this link: Photo Fun with Mini Albums, or search for class #5689 from the Continuing Education page. Meeting Wednesday nights for a couple hours, we'll create a binding system, choose a color scheme, and then add our photos and memorabilia for a finished keepsake worth sharing.
I'll also go over ways to store these dimensional works of art- but I'm warning you, you won't want to put them away! And you'll find it easier than ever to create a quick gift for a friend, like this birthday card mini album I made for my younger brother. You'll enjoy a fresh perspective on reserving your favorite sets of memories, and come to enjoy scrapbooking on a smaller scale :-)
Tacoma Community College
Gig Harbor Campus
Continuing Education
#5689
Photo Fun With Mini Albums with Anna Bradshaw

4/12/2017 - 4/26/2017
Wednesdays, 6-7:30pm

Shobia Whoabie

Shobia first entered our family's life before I did; this Paint's proud owner Dave Sherratt has used Ray Bradshaw's horseshoeing services for years. We love looking out the back window to where he's boarded, his white spotted coat is easy to pick out of the forest patches that dot our acreage. Our little pony loves to tease him, and one of our goats relies on his underbelly for warmth during stormy weather, so we see his playful and protectiveness from or vantage points throughout the day.
It's when Dave comes to visit though that I get to see Shobia's true spirit shining out in the field. The time they have spent in the round pens on tours and during demonstrations of Pirelli-style natural horsemanship techniques is evident. Locked on to one another, a horse and his companion man dance a duet of communication through directive hand signals and reassurances.
Capturing the essence of one of history's favorite animals, one known and beloved by many, proved to be quite a challenge... and you, dear reader, may know by now, I love a good creative challenge. How about if I book myself to teach classes in horse painting? Check! Before I see if I'm capable of doing it myself... Check and double check!
I enlisted the help of some favorite YouTubers to guide my visualization and learned a lot along the way. Not only did one artists reference to "needing to paint about 5 horses to completion" prove true, before I reached a result I could be proud of, but I also learned that horses are a lot like people. In painting terms at least! Yes, the same basic foundational shapes of rectangles and circles will transform into forms resembling the subject matter, and yes, there is truly no two that will be alike. God simply didn't make carbon copies of anything out there :-)
Now, this month my locals will be able to take in a variety of my makings on display at Key Center's Blend Wine Shop. I've picked out a few sets of scrapbook pages, paintings, and collage ensembles that shine a spotlight on my childhood influences, current hopes, and ponderings on my artistic journey towards the future. Included next to some groupings are what I call story cards; they tell a deeper version of what's displayed on the wall nearby. Kind of like these blog posts, but tacked onto concrete :-)
And this summer, you too can learn to paint a favorite horse starring in your life story with me and a favorite beverage, out back of Blend en plein aire. All supplies will be provided, and no two paintings will be alike... After all, they will be CraftWithAnna inspired renderings!

 

 

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Fall Photo Fun

Another nod of wonder to embracing some technological shortcuts-  like having a blank scrapbook page photograph to superimpose my fall photos on to!

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Guesting on Shimelle.com with Washi Tape Tricks

I've always been drawn to washi tape. Ever since it's debut, I've enjoyed it's versatility, layering it beneath and over patterned and plain papers, using it to adhere or cover embellishments, adding a bit of grounding to a cluster or a pop of color to a corner with a tiny tear of fabulousness. You know how sometimes a bout of inspiration hits you so hard, you almost get a vision of how your layout might turn out? After a recent washi-swap, I came home with a clear but now colorful acetate sheet of shared strips, and it occurred to me; those punches and branding strips I hoard but rarely use could be used in a new fangled washi way to create some cool, custom embellishments and layers on this page documenting a recent road trip with my family. Lucky for me, all these little doo-dads came together just as I had envisioned it :-) 

Thanks a lot to Shimelle.com for asking me to guest artist on her blog today!  

P-p-p-punch it, punch it real good!

 I started by spritzing Mr. Huey's in Opaque White onto textured orange cardstock, and while that was drying, I cut a double photo mat for my photo from the A and B sides of Shimelle's Earhart and a square block that would be hidden by that photo grouping from the background. I'm a #papersaver; it'd be used later to customize an already cute chipboard shape with stamping and a layered die cut globe image by Tim Holz. I love to make my sheets go the distance, what can I say!? 

Cluster of Embellies at top right of page

Now for some more fun; alternating those branding strips from Simple Stories' I Am collection with WeR Memory Keepers aptly named Road Trip, and more left overs from Shimelle's first delightful line of papers. From among my new washi tape treasures, I tried punching some sentimentally appropriate hearts from a wide gold polka dot pattern of tape and the new We Are Family washi tape strips, also from Simple Stories. I ended up using a popular EK Success border punch with a thinner black and white polka. It's awesome when we can use those tried and true tools and still get excited, no?

 

So many details in such a small space

 In some places you can see the paper background peeking through- Love that look! However, when placing the photo block over all of those horizontal lines, I felt there wasn't the kind of balance going on that leaves me feeling satisfied, so I added weight to the photo by cutting into a photo strip printed overlay, also from Shimelle, and layered that into my photo mat block. To fulfill my visual triangle needs, there is a cluster at the bottom left and top right which echoes many of the sentiments expressed elsewhere in this page's embellishments. By the time I handwrote part of the title and laid down those gorgeous American Crafts Imprint Thickers, I knew this would be a treasured layout, even without a lot of details provided through journaling.  

In Tegan Skwiat's example, she used plain paper to back her tape before punching, and I'll be honest, the clear acetate sheet did not give me a clean look- and I'm okay with that. Just like using ephemera and products with brand names that relate to my story, having a bit of the imperfect represented on this layout reminds me more of my "why" for celebrating this fun day alongside my mom and brother with a place in my scrapbook. It was our first road trip together, just the three of us, in ages, and I enjoyed it so much. The creative energy we ended up sharing, the laughter, seeing my brother trying not to enjoy making greeting cards and shopping for scrapbooking supplies, the unwanted advice-giving, ... yep, these are the perfectly imperfect moments that I want to remember in my family's (many, many) albums. 

Sing it with me now, "We Are Fam-i-ly...:
Photo Credit: Kelsey Brown

 

 Pop over to Shimelle's site and take a look at my finished page. And, craft happy, friends!

 

 

 

More Red Rum, Please

I used to love the thrill of self-induced fear... absorbed in a terrifying good read, I'd sometimes clap the book covers closed and regain control of my breathing, then slowwwwly reopen the frighteningly good novel to once again set my heart racing- much to the amusement of my family! Nowadays, I'm more likely to cause myself a near heart attack reading about the potentially harmful effects of consistently eating dairy products, but if anyone asked, I wouldn't hesitate to reply that my favorite author was, and still is, Stephen King.
The funny thing is, I can't bring myself to read any of his new works-the idea of even trying is in fact too scary! Well, I'll be honest, I can't actually re-read his older books either- too scary (even though I know how they will end)! But, after my mom sent me this adorable photo of her and a bestie all dressed up in matching outfits- oh, wait, that's a cardboard cutout they are standing behind- I realized I could scrapbook something having to do with the Master of the Macabre. And, I could make it scarrrrry!

I thought my page (see photo above) was complete. It had a terrific photo on show, a typewriter and crown as symbols for Stephen King, die cuts that compliment the story of how I got the photo and a clever title -Redrum. My layout felt flat though, despite adding foam adhesive behind a few layers... wood veneer arrows brought a little more dimension, as well as the tiny chipboard date block. Bakers twine ran down a column of patterned paper which brought the focus inward toward the picture. Still, I wasn't quite satisfied with calling it complete.

Despite my grounding bases, there still seemed to be some floating of elements going on down at the bottom. And, even though I had designed the use of space to include a resting area to the right, my eyes felt unsettled as they roamed the page, trying where to decide to look away. Turning to a gigantic amount of unused chipboard I keep "just in case," I found a few rain drops, and, inspired by the scene in which two twin girls stand against a backdrop of cascading blood in The Shining, I painted them bright red!

Dripping down from a chandelier, again, reminiscent from the "remembered" ball room scenes of the movie's main character, Jack Torrence, powerfully played by Jack Nicholson, they are now drops of blood. Ew! right?  Thinking about that unnerving performance, and replaying critically frightening scenes in my mind while creating this one page layout brought out one of my favorite secondary titles to date, "Who needs Johnny?!" (You're number 1 in my book). A little strip of highway looking sticker reminded me of the isolation of the characters during their catastrophic caretaking job with their little boy, Danny.

As much as I adore how the finished version turned out, I still get a little shivery looking at it. Who could have predicted that a few dozen well-written, word packed novels read in my youth could have such a profound effect on my scrapbooking today? Or that, while I've donated my entire collected works by Mr. King, and planned to load them on my Kindle, I just can't seem to get the courage to do so.

Perhaps I have to admit, ever since I've had children of my own, I'm more likely to squeal with delight over a new Fancy Nancy than I was over the release of Stephen King's latest trilogy about "Mr. Mercedes." Perhaps, dear reader, I would have been too frightened to even go into the massive Stanley Hotel, where The Shining was filmed. Perhaps I was only too happy to scrapbook a memory of my mother's than to experience the fear myself... yeah, that's it, I'm sure :-)

 

Scrapbooking the Dearly Beloved

We all have those special musical icons in our life whose music becomes the soundtrack our memories playback on. A song for every time and place, decade or direction we've taken; there are lyrics galore that we can identify with. Being a child of the eighties with the graduation year of 1999, it's no wonder I was instilled with a deep purple passion from the very start~ my first crush and favorite artist has always been the legendary Prince.

When the news broke last week of his death, I mourned the loss of a man who contributed countless hits to generations of listeners. Whether he was rocking a pop song or soulfully infusing a ballad with his sensuality, he clearly exhibited a genius approach to capturing the feelings of anyone, be they in love, following a loved one, or getting into the mood for some lovemaking. Or just dressing up in diamonds and pearls for a night of dancing! Prince also produced some of the most popular songs of my generation, including hits by Sinead O'Connor, Chaka Khan, and "Appolonia" of course! 
It wasn't just the music that kept Prince at the top of my World's Best... list. He seems like such a delicate little man, and his high heeled boots were killer (and probably my size). Prince is the only man I knew of to boast a G-string... thanks to my mom's best friend who had a life sized poster of him in little else hanging in her bathroom hahaha. Men were not advised to use her private pooper!  And he inspired many a pixie cut to be sure. But I think what is really inspiring in this day and age is that he seemed to just be a genuinely niceish person. Is it any wonder how much I love the color purple?

It was only a few years ago that my mom was able to fulfill her countlessly uttered promise to take me to see this beautiful man live on stage... it was completely surreal! Did I scream running to the stage when he sang Purple Rain to dance in the confetti falling from the ceiling? You know I did! AND I'm pretty sure he looked at me! Probably because I was crying and laughing with my hands stretched out towards him while hysterically crooning (I swear, I wasn't the only one doing this) lol.
 Did I love the white caftan hat he wore the entire concert? No, but I did adore the idea of his 'do beneath being nice and straight- turns out he was playing a later "cooler" concert in Seattle that night after his purple and gold confetti exit from the Tacoma Dome. And did I want that magical evening of bass, pop, an rockin' out to end? No, because, that guitar was absolutely incredible to hear wailing away a mere 100 yards away. However, I was VERY glad when the lights turned on and we were able to locate my missing phone within the hour :-) translation: no pictures
I am ecstatic to have those memories to share with my mom now that he is gone... and, with my heart too sad to do more than post pics of me posing with my 4th birthday's custom Prince cake on facebook and plan a night of Prince karaoke, I have only been admiring the creative endeavors of other mourners. I only wish I could say I had made one of these gorgeous layouts...

You know, I think it was only fitting that the announcement of the release of the next postal stamps being issued, made this same sorrow filled day, will include another beloved fixture in my life, Mount Rainier. And when I saw that the proposed image just happens to include a heavenly purple hue and majestic swirls of what I'll think of and call diamonds, I knew that a few of these stamps will need to be included when I finally do commit my loss to paper.
Scrapbooking our loved one's can be such a loving way to remember them, as well as one of the most difficult undertakings in the world of scrap. One of the reasons I've found not to complete (or agonize over such incompleteness) my scrapbook albums has been that, when the album is done, the event/year/trip is really over. And so, I will not rush into this memorial page honoring an influential individual, and instead I will "play in the sunshine," have some "starfish and coffee", and yes, "party like it's 1999."

Happy Scrappy Spring Class & Crop

This Saturday we'll be playing with Spring themed embellishments and papers in an all new CraftWithAnna scrapbooking class. Whether you've been taking pictures of your garden blooming, your family pics from Easter need a home, or you just want to make a dent in your scrap stash, this class will leave you with a new two-page layout for your album!
The bright and vibrant colors of Spring patterns, mixed with the textures of felt florals combine to bring warmth and energy to our layout, and your photos of any subject- even baseball- will be grounded by embossed cardstock. You'll find it easy to recreate this layout again and again on future layouts, and with a two hour open crop to follow class, you'll have the time to try!
Email craftwithanna@yahoo.com to reserve a seat at the table today!

Table for One

Mi abuelita gave me this handmade table topper, and three smaller ones. I reaaaallllyy miss her, and plan to phone her in the morning to say just that. It's nice that I have been able to share the days without her amongst a  small circle of family and friends that support me with their time.  Being able to care for them was something I came to realize meant a lot to me, it was an experience in frustration to not be the one doing everything! Just goes to show, I continue to learn from this trip even after it's conclusion. 
&....
I've been scrapping up a storm to boot! I'm working with a stacked pack of wood grains and kitchen themed papers, and the colors are all warm and the photos will be cherished all over again when my family finally sees them and hears the stories that accompany the 4x6s.


Note to self: share that completed album in a share video!

My Monochromatic Monday

This weekend I followed along with Shimelle.com's challenges posted every two hours online. It was sporadic bliss! From the time I heard she'd be providing some serious scrap inspiration, I looked forward to the amazing pages I would create. Unfortunately Fortunately, I was so busy interacting with my family and teaching classes and enjoying time with my honey that the ten or so layouts I created, are all in my mind.

By the time Sunday night rolled around, I was ready to put adhesive to paper. BUT now, I had all those unrealized ideas and no direction...okay, there was a lot of direction but no one telling me, DO THIS NEXT. I tried to entice honey to direct me- no thanks, he said. Asked my kids- deeply ensconced in their lego-playing bubble, there was (no response) no help there either.  Originally, I was fired up about using a monochromatic color scheme, and had already chosen these two photos and decided to go with the color red, (or pink, or orange, or brown). So, a monochromatic attempt at scrapbooking commenced.

 I opened up one of my treasure boxes- a container that contains I don't know what until I open it. Oh, hello beautiful, un-opened collection pack from Echo Park of paper and stickers in the Victoria Gardens line! You are just as pretty as when I don't remember buying you :-) I got out that gorgeous sheet of swiss dot with damask details and started to build a corner cluster at the top left.

Sticking with a limited color palette was more challenging than I had anticipated. I started questioning, is it alright to use this sentiment sticker with yellow and green on it? Does black really count as a color? Is brown a shade of red, or orange, or do I care? Then I just told that voice to be quiet because, I really wanted to finish this layout before bedtime.

After all my pieces were in place and firmly adhered, it was time to add the title, Fascinating Mechanisms. Worked backwards. Talk about a brain fry! But I was able to enlist honey's help, and that may have made him feel important enough that the next time I pull out paper and glue, he remembers to bring me a glass of wine.... oops, I was dreaming there for a second :-)

There tend to be the same types of embellishments on all my pages- stickers and bling are so standard to see in my books. Loops of bakers twine and gelato-painted corners were my Shimelle-inspired additions. The painted parts really make me happy! And so do those huge ombre gems from Queen & Co.

I know that using a collection pack made this process a lot simpler than if I had gone shopping from my group papers. I have tendency to over grab- which makes decision making turn into kit making which I'm coming to understand, doesn't always create completed scrapbook pages. I literally grabbed one 12x12" paper, a cut apart sheet, and the sticker sheet, and it all looked beautiful together. I also saw some lovely juniper green and greys that I'm now anxious to mix  together.

Hhmmm... monochromatic color schemes throughout an entire album... now that sounds like a very pretty challenge! So, I'm off to attempt squeezing in the creation of a new page for our current album. But I want to know, what's your favorite color? Would you use it to monochromaticize the interior your house? Was it always your favorite or has your taste in the rainbow changed... and, thanks for reading here today :-)

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Just Another Groupie

I love playing with paper. It's been a constant source of pleasure for so long now, sometimes when I'm in lax creative times, I wonder, am I burnt out? Have a dabbled with patterns so often that they all look the same now (or is that just my pages)? If given the choice between staying up late to watch a movie, or staying up late to create, which would I choose... oh, you know the answers, friends.

No burn out, no caring about repetition amongst my layouts, no hesitation (okay, hardly any) about staying up late to whip up a new batch of cards or a memory saving page or two, either. Last night I hosted a entertaining evening of Valentine's cardmaking for our preschool as a fundraiser; what a delightful night at our local wine shop, Blend! It was so interesting to walk around the room and see how everyone chose to adhere the same basic elements. Afterward, my mom followed me home and we hit the night running with scissors.

You'd think that after three hours of teaching, some schmoozing, massive calorie consumption, wine drinking and clean-up, I'd have been opting for a no-more-crafting conclusion, but my friends are enjoying a craft retreat without me (!) so I felt obligated to greet the dawn and play play play in my usual retreat way :-) I didn't quite make it to dawn, but I did make four layouts from within my pre-prepped Christmas album, and got to message images back and forth into the wee hours through the magic of facebook with my crafty cohorts as well. That kind of interaction makes the possibilities of burn out, or creative hesitation, fly right out the window!

 

And repetition is the same as continuity to me when it comes to scrapbook reading. So if my pages tend to be identifiable as mine, that's more than okay to me. In fact, in most of my classes, I teach other people to recognize those repetitive urges and embrace them as indicators of personal style! I even laughed as I lamented on taking five hours (!) to complete a layout only to have it turn out like everyother page in my albums... my friend knew exactly what "look" I referred to and commented that she'd made an "Anna" page recently too! What a compliment, huh?

This page was created for Shimelle.com's creative call to Scrapbook a Selfie. I used a pic with my two girls, and technically I 've learned this is a Groupie shot, but I love it, and the papers and embellishments, and am very happy that indeed, it is done in my recognizable style.

Happy crafting indeed!

Reverse Psychology

Here it is! My latest flick, and the first of 2016! Did you know, I published a total of 22 videos on YouTube last year? If you're hooked into the google, be sure to subscribe to my CraftWithAnna channel, or to this blog, so you don't miss any of the inspiration coming out of my neck of the Key Peninsula woods.
 This month's show has a lot on show; featuring kits I've come to the end of, or were from the end of previous years :-
I've got a mini album for my cousin on the East coast who got married this summer- it used up some of those left over bits and pieces from Simple Stories and the Story of Us. Using the smaller 6x6 paper patterns makes it easy to fill a small project like this with appropriately sized items. One of my favorite pages is the one where I fussy cut around little frames and adhered them around a photo collage...gonna have to make idea come into a 12x12 page (and yes, I did just give myself permission to scrapbook)!

Then we move into documenting the more recent affair of Thanksgiving. I love that picture of my grandma, beaming from a still shot within my share video. There isn't anything I don't feel I can share with this gracious gal- in Norwegian, we call our grandmother's "Bestemor" and she really is the best! Every year we have her at the table is a blessing in itself. I only wish we could include ALL our long distance relatives in the festivities!

Check out my previous posts to see how the accompanying layouts turned out, and let me know- what are you scrappin about this week? Are you already onto week two in your Project Life? Still getting over the mountain of Christmas pics hurdle? Or maybe you're dreaming of an upcoming retreat to catch up at... leave a comment below or in the video, I always love to hear from you.

Tonight my two assistants will be accompanying me to the Red Barn for a painted lettering class I'm teaching the teens. Here is a version of the quick watercolor I did this morning to prepare- it's actually not this color at all, I was playing with my phone's photo editing apps again. I think it's so cool to see how an image would look if you had chosen completely different images or colors... a trick  I hope you'll notice I'm embracing in my scrapbooking too. I would have never guessed I'd become that woman who creates an awesome visual and then clears it all away to start over. Call me Ms. Etch-A-Sketch, because I've done it twice already this year!

Now, are you feeling the need for shop retail therapy? Click these links to EmbellishKits.com or EmbellishOnline.com for all your paper crafting "needs-" and tell 'em Anna sent you!

 And here's that stop motion card making video I referenced in this month's release:
 

Talk To Me Tuesday

 I have a few friends who like to get together for a few hours (or days) to "crop." As in, "crop it like it's hot." As in, "What happens at the crop stays at the crop!" Okay, so what is a crop?!

The term crop came into my vocabulary when I started scrapbooking. I had never imagined cutting into a photo before introduced to this sometimes-strange world of cutting and pasting people with papers. So one of the first tricks I was taught was to focus my photos by cropping off parts that detracted from what I wanted to be the focal point,  i.e. white space or foreign objects or a blurry finger over the lens.
There are even tools to organize your stash that are called Cropper Hoppers. See, when you get together with a lot of scrapbookers, you are at a crop. And those organizers do make it a lot easier to tote a massive amount of paper and stickers along with you to those events!

Well the point of this post was to admit that a month or so ago, my scrappy friend Ms. B and I decided we needed to have a crop soon. And that it should be at my mom's house, because she has this incredible space in her basement that will accommodate a large number of ladies and their stuff. Did we mention our plan to her? oh no, not until today, when we decided we should have our crop this Saturday.
I wasn't raised to cut pictures, and I wasn't raised to invite a bunch of people over to someone else's house without first asking their permission...whoops!
Lucky for me, my momma loves to party and to scrapbook so she was excited, and I put up an event on facebook this afternoon. Since she also generously offered us the use of her supplies as long as we bring adhesives, I thought this meme was appropriate:

 

Every time I see it, I smile really big inside. Because, hello, manners matter, people!

Thanks for sharing a little learning and a little laughing with me tonight ~Anna



 

Queen of the Crop Contest Details & A New Video Too

The last few years, at the close of the Creating Keepsakes Convention, I've drawn the winning name for a prize from one of my favorite vendors, Queen & Co.! This year is no different, and there are quite a few ways to win.
You can subscribe to this blog. Doing so will get you emailed versions of all my blog posts- so you never miss a chance to CraftWithAnna!
You can subscribe to my YouTube channel, which is just a purple icon click away- look for that on the right hand side of this page with other social media icons.  Instagram follower yet? That will get you an entry too!
You can also comment on any of my recent videos, including the one that hit YouTube TODAY- the November scrapbooking layouts from EmbellishKits.com. 


Or, you can comment on this blog post. I loved hearing from a follower at the convention this year!

With so many ways to win, I bet you're wondering what the prize is... well all I will say is, it's going to be some bangin' bling bling baby (the contest name is Queen of Bling)!

Lest We Forget: Veteran's Keepsakes

  Last night the Friends of the Key Center Library sponsored another CraftWithAnna class: Veteran's Keepsakes. All anyone had to do was stop by with a photo or a story to share and I brought all kinds of crafty goodies for participants to create with.
We even had special guest stop by, a member of our local Key Peninsula Veteran's Association that I'd met earlier in the day at Evergreen Elementary's assembly. He and our Storytime librarian, Carol, shared that although they did not fight over seas during their service years, they were still honored that the youth was showing their appreciation for the sacrifice of time away from their family. A lot of times the glorified versions of Hollywood war times don't match up to the real life experience of estrangement from loved ones, the fear of the unknown, and of course that drill sergeant barking orders at you. Ok, maybe that last one the movies usually DO do a pretty good job of showing.  I made sure to give the layout I had made to our librarian at the end of the night; I was so touched by her sentiments, and it's always interesting to find out something new about a person you spend a lot of time around.
As usual, my students for the evening showed me a thing or two as they made their tributes. We talked about what service to our country means, and I think I made a good point when I mentioned, how much can change in a person's life in just four years. How many moments with our family we would miss out on if we didn't live with them, or maybe lived nearby but not close enough to come home every night. We talked about how the families left behind make sacrifices for our country too. Moms and Dads alike take care of families while the other parent works over seas for undetermined amounts of time.
Another point I made is that, sometimes Veteran's don't want to talk about their experience. What a treasure their words are when they choose to share them, and how, as the recipients of that knowledge, we should honor them by not forgetting their stories and the lessons they contain. We talked about how those stories are actually part of our family's legends and history. And how we can document that history in all sorts of ways! But, that just like a soldier returning home may have a hard time "putting it all out there," we may have a hard time expressing what it really means to us that they did all that they did in the name of God, Honor, and Country.

Enter one of my favorite techniques: hidden journaling!  Using an old greeting card with a ship on the cover was an excellent place to write a note to grandpa in appreciation for his time in the Navy. This wall hanging features anchor print paper, gold chevron washi tape (donated by Queen & Co.) and Amy Tangerine thickers that spell out Grandpa. What a neat way to show some love!

 

Thank you to all the families who made their way to the library and stopped to CraftWithAnna! Our next event will be Saturday, December 19th from 2-4pm; I'll bring everything we need to make some awesome Holiday Greeters. Could be a card, could be a wine bottle topper- it's up to your imagination :-)
To my friends and family who have served for us all, thank you for your time and dedication. And if you have any pic of yourself in uniform, I'd love to scrap 'em! Happy Veteran's day.

Pelican Powered

 This weekend I enjoyed the company of some very scrappy ladies up at Camp Beausite, in the Olympic mountain foothills. A friend we met on the cruise earlier this year, Lani, arranged a crafter's retreat and I could go for a full 24 hours with my other friends, Becca and Daphne. There was plenty of yummy meals provided and at the end of my stay I was completely satisfied... but wanting to create more of course! Which I did have the pleasure of doin yesterday evening but more about that later this week :-*
One of the fun things about having a friend continue to scrap long after you've gone home is that they can send texts of what they continue creating in your absence. I love seeing all of the different styles of memory recording and life sharing that takes place around me at events like this. The mixing of styles and personal preferences on all manner of things adds to my creative fervor and I come with batteries drained and recharged at the same time.
One of the things I realized about myself this weekend is that, just as I enjoy these large gatherings of creative minds, I really embrace the mixing of patterns through paper. Wow, do I ever! Also, layers are an easy way for me to build a background for my photos, jump starting my story's telling and creating a theme for me to enhance with stickers etc. So, with that new eye towards recognizing my distinct style, I've chosen to share with you an example in this page I made about three weeks ago.
Note there are no less than 4 patterns or colors as well as a transparency under the 2 4x6 photos. I love using the manufacturer's strips left over from cutting papers down to size;  there is a quote down there in the bottom right corner, and it is one of those company advertisements as well. Two more are included above the hand writing- kind of a signature inclusion.I'm a fan of adding banner to my outdoor pages, so there is a multi layer pennant made from a journaling card and scraps at top right. Topped with an old postage stamp, some die cuts, and another designer paper's titled "Giddy up"

 A benefit of adding so many layers to my pages is that the 22 12x12 pages I made are full of movement, the energy of the emotions I feel I want to share, and color symbolism- and my paper stash is considerably lighter. Not that anyone could notice, as I still have oodles of cardstock and patterned papers galore. I'm a paper hoarder too- for example, it looks like those paper strips continue down the length of the page, but they are small pieces cut in half and stuck to the edge of larger pieces.
When I made this page I wasn't sure where in the album it would go, but this is where I decided to house them; next to some bright blue pictures of water on a navy background edged with twined rope. Another signature design I see a lot of in my albums is a square on top of a square with a long block over the top, and that's what I chose to do to balance the chaotic page of the pelicans.
Funny, I just thought of another signature scrap habit of mine- never use what I have the most of or love to think I'll use, i.e. ribbon and overlays. Both are included here though! I love the way the seriousness of the dark navy and the overlays contrast with the fun, bright colors I paired them with. Two hearts punched from yellow cardstock lead the eye into the next scene/page and coincidentally agree with it's color pallet.
Thanks for joining me for a little study in my personal Scrapology theories!

 

Crazy Beautiful, Seriously Awesome    &    Fort Lauderdale, FL

 

Finishing Touches for Fall

 Here's another page I've made recently using a photo of Rainier dressed for the outside. It must have been taken in the beginning of Spring. She's got on a knit cap made by my Aunt's mom... it's so nice to have a warm cap of love to top off an outfit!

The theme of this post concerns my ongoing trials in journaling and title creating...and as the Virginia Slims of the past proclaimed, I've come a long way, baby! You can see that the layout was completely perfect as it was in the top photo. But it really comes alive when the sentiments are added, as you can see in the photo below. Like the hat Rainie wears, the difference is not overly obvious.  She could just as easily be wearing something from Target. My page could just as easily have been included in an album sans additional embellishments.
 

What area of scrapbooking could you leave out of the creative process and not miss too much?

 

I would usually choose to avoid the finishing part. The thinking of what to say. The figuring out a summarizing phrase that invites further reading into the story of the photo. The finishing touches that sometimes seem to take away from instead of adding to the over all theme of the project.  

I'm terrific about creating page kits! Paper hoarding, I get an A+++ in! Even putting together patterns and textures, balancing my layout with proper photo placement, adding more bling, tape, buttons, etc with abandon, and of course, enjoyment to the umpteenth power; all these come quite naturally and I could immerse myself in doing so for days (and have)!

I would still be satisfied, but would future generations, or even those reading through my albums now, be able to read between layers of pretty paper to find the reasons why I put these particular photos in between plastic sleeves of protection? I don't think so. And that is why, despite my underlying reluctance to share, the heartfelt sentiments I feel so passionately end up on show. I do it for "them." And me. And even you :-)

Just like that warm cap on her head, the journaling and title contain the warmth, show my love in written form, and invite the reader to participate in the art of story telling. Just as winter's chill brings on the extra accessories of coat, hat, and scarf, these words add a layer of love to my albums. And that, I can not do without...

As the weather changes, the boots and sweaters, knit scarves and caps come out, take a moment to add an additional layer of sentiment to your next scrapbook page or creative project- and yes cooking counts as being creative (I've been told)!

Warm thanks for stopping by today!

 

Let Me Tell You A Story

These pictures show a family out for a brisk afternoon walk. Pretty unremarkable, even with the balanced posing and picturesque background. What they don't show is the story of a mom attempting to capture her darling girls against that lovely brick and wrought iron background while completely blocking the sidewalk. They don't show the group of Gig Harbor visitors trying to make their way past us without interrupting the shot. These pictures don't show a kindly member of the group offering to include mom, her deferring, and his insistence that her smile reflecting those of her children also be captured.
Ah, stranger, thank you for prompting this photographer's joy to be thus recorded!
You know, there is something about this fresh face showing up in my album- having no make up on does not detract in any way from the brilliant beam of my trademark mega watt smile. The selfie "beauty," i.e. softly blurred, filter is missing; all my blemishes (real or imagined) are evident only to my internal knowledge, not in the picture itself. The redness of my cheeks matches my children's and shows that indeed, this spring day had shining skies but a brisk chill still...
Thank you, strange but kind gentleman, for preserving for us the beauty of our happy trio, thoroughly enjoying our day trip to town!