Friday, August 28, 2009

August Trade Mini, Part Five

Hi, everyone! Welcome back to Life on the {Scrap}beach!

I just uploaded the fifth and final video of my August trade album video series over on my YouTube Channel. I hope my trade partner likes it!





Almost all the paper in this album came from the K & Company "Black & Ivory Fusion" paper pad. I got it at Michael's. Embellishments are from all over the place ~ my scraproom, Michael's, etc.

Thanks for watching & I hope you enjoyed it!

Kathryn
Life's a beach. Scrapbook it.

P.S. Be sure to check out this post for more information about a new scrapbook web community I started to complement this blog ~ it's been a lot of fun so far & I hope you enjoy it!

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Inspiration Notebook

Hi, everyone! Welcome back to Life on the {Scrap}beach!

Though you wouldn't be able to tell from the chaos of my home office/scraproom, I am actually pretty anti-clutter as a rule. Which is why I don't like to have a ton of magazines lying all over the place. So I always remove what I want from a magazine and file it away ~ whether it's recipes, or layouts, or whatever.


I started keeping an "Inspiration" book for anything I saved that was scrapbook-related because I wanted to have something to easily toss into a crop bag. So I basically covered just a cheap old composition book with patterned paper and then I cut out the layouts that inspire me from the magazines and paste them into the book.


You'll notice that I write on the pages as well. I learned the hard way that I would often not remember exactly what it was about a particular layout that caught my eye, so I started making notes to myself about why I saved it. Sometimes it's because I have a particular product and liked what they did with it, sometimes it's a font or photo placement, or a color scheme ~ there are lots of different ways something can inspire me.


I just finished this book, so it's time to start another one. When I decorate the cover, I'll be sure to do a little video for you to see.


I can fit at least a year's worth of magazine inspiration into just one of these little books, so it really cuts down on the clutter for me, and it keeps all my inspiration in one place!

Kathryn
Life's a beach. Scrapbook it.

P.S. Be sure to check out this post for more information about a new scrapbook web community I started to complement this blog ~ it's been a lot of fun so far & I hope you enjoy it!

Monday, August 24, 2009

August Trade Mini, Part Four

Hi, everyone! Welcome back to Life on the {Scrap}beach!

The fourth video of my August trade album video series in now available over on my YouTube Channel. I hope my trade partner likes it!





Almost all the paper in this album came from the K & Company "Black & Ivory Fusion" paper pad. I got it at Michael's. Embellishments are from all over the place ~ my scraproom, Michael's, etc.

Thanks for watching & I hope you enjoyed it!

Kathryn
Life's a beach. Scrapbook it.

P.S. Be sure to check out this post for more information about a new scrapbook web community I started to complement this blog ~ it's been a lot of fun so far & I hope you enjoy it!

Sunday, August 23, 2009

New Life on the {Scrap}beach Web Community!

Hi, everyone! Welcome back to Life on the {Scrap}beach!

I have an announcement to make, and I am very excited about it! For the past few months, I have been working on building a Ning community to complement my blog here. If you look to the right side of the screen, you will see a new link under "Where I Hang Out" that reads "I'm a member of Life on the {Scrap}beach." Clicking this link will take you to another site where you can view the web community I have set up.

Life on the {Scrap}beach Web Community

The new web community has more features than my current blog, including a live chat feature, a message board, and more! I hope that you will all take a peek and find something there to enjoy! Things will remain the same here on my blog, so you can still continue to come here for videos and other inspiration!

As always, thank you so much for watching the videos and being a part of my scrapbook journey!

Kathryn
Life's a beach. Scrapbook it.

Friday, August 21, 2009

August Trade Mini, Part Three

Hi, everyone! Welcome back to Life on the {Scrap}beach!

I just uploaded the third video of my August trade album video series over on my YouTube Channel. I hope my trade partner likes it!





Almost all the paper in this album came from the K & Company "Black & Ivory Fusion" paper pad. I got it at Michael's. Embellishments are from all over the place ~ my scraproom, Michael's, etc.

Thanks for watching & I hope you enjoyed it!

Kathryn
Life's a beach. Scrapbook it.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Packing for a Crop

Hi, everyone! Welcome back to Life on the {Scrap}beach!

I've gotten a couple questions about packing for crops, so I thought I would do a post about how I get ready to scrap away from home. Also, I'll be going on vacation this month and I'm taking some scrapping stuff with me, so I'll need to do this myself fairly soon. I'm hoping posting about it will help me to brush up on my process! :D Usually I can pack for a crop in about thirty minutes {don't hate me!} but I think it will take a bit longer to pack cropping supplies for my vacation since I'll be away from my stuff for longer than just one night.

As you surely know by now, page kits are the backbone of my scrapbooking. {If that comes as a surprise to you, you should probably read this post before going any further.} Before I started using page kits, my scrapbooking was very disorganized. It took me forever to choose the perfect cardstock, the perfect patterned paper, the perfect embellishments, etc. So much time was spent on sifting through my stash that hardly any scrapbooking got done and it was almost impossible to choose what to take to a crop. Since I have started using page kits, I really only have one decision to make per layout: which kit do I like best for these photos?

So, when I'm packing for a crop, I choose my photos, then choose my page kits and put them into my tote. Then I add some generic stamps {like flourishes, journaling spots & maybe an alphabet}, my stamp blocks, my travel box of Colorbox cat's eye queues {I have all of them ~ it gives me a nice variety of ink colors in a relatively small amount of space}, my favorite punches, some baby wipes and a pad of post-it notes. Then I grab my tool bag off my desk, and I'm done.

The post-it notes are very important because they provide me with peace of mind ~ I don't have to worry about packing the right things. If I need something from home to complete a layout, I just write on the post-it note what is missing and how I planned to use it. Then I stick the post-it note to the page protector. When I get home, I just finish off any layouts with post-its and they're ready to go into albums!

And that's it! That's all the packing and preparation that I do. I know it might seem complicated when you factor in actually making the kits, but I think it's a definite timesaver. For me, making a kit is kind of like shopping, and since I really load up my kits, I don't have to do that very often.

I hope this helps you when you're packing for your next crop! If nothing else, slipping a pad of post-it notes into your tote can be really helpful. That way if you have an "aha!" moment at the crop you won't forget it by the time you get home!

Kathryn
Life's a beach. Scrapbook it.

Monday, August 17, 2009

August Trade Mini, Part Two

Hi, everyone! Welcome back to Life on the {Scrap}beach!

*UPDATE: The video is working now ~ sorry about that!*

I just uploaded the second video of my August trade album video series over on my YouTube Channel. I hope my trade partner likes it!





Almost all the paper in this album came from the K & Company "Black & Ivory Fusion" paper pad. I got it at Michael's. Embellishments are from all over the place ~ my scraproom, Michael's, etc.

Thanks for watching & I hope you enjoyed it!

Kathryn
Life's a beach. Scrapbook it.

Friday, August 14, 2009

August Trade Mini, Part One

Hi, everyone! Welcome back to Life on the {Scrap}beach!

Since I'll be on vacation for two weeks this month, I decided to get a jump start on my August trade mini album. I'd like to wait until I know who I am trading with, but if I wait it might be late & that's not something I want!

I just uploaded the first video in my new video series over on my YouTube Channel.





Almost all the paper in this album came from the K & Company "Black & Ivory Fusion" paper pad. I got it at Michael's. Embellishments are from all over the place ~ my scraproom, Michael's, etc.

Thanks for watching & I hope you enjoyed it!

Kathryn
Life's a beach. Scrapbook it.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Incorporating Memorabilia

Hi, everyone! Welcome back to Life on the {Scrap}beach!

Going through my earlier albums made me realize that I used to be much better about incorporating memorabilia into my scrapbooks than I am now. I actually loved seeing all the tickets, and business cards to favorite shops, and receipts and such, so I think I am going to make more of an effort to bring in more memorabilia.

To this end, I went through my memorabilia and organized it into various layouts so I know exactly what I have for which events.


These are tickets from a trip to Jungle Island I took with some friends and their kids when they came to Florida on vacation. I feel like what I need to do is think about how I'm going to use these tickets, and the maps, and then it won't be such an afterthought. Then I can start to come up with a layout in my mind and print the pictures to work with that vision.


It was definitely not easy to wrangle this box into something I could easily use!

When that was done, I went through some of my scrapbooks to remind myself of ways I have incorporated memorabilia in the past. My wedding scrapbook was especially helpful here because there was so much I wanted to incorporate that I had to come up with clever ideas. {Well, at least I think they're clever!} One of the things I did in my wedding album was cut slits in the page protectors so items would be interactive, such as this piece from the invitation:






I did again here so viewers could flip through the program:





On this page, I sandwiched inserts from my invitations between two sheets of cardstock that I stuck to each other with pop dots. I left space between the pop dots so you could pull these sheets out to view them:







I do have some layouts and mini albums that incorporated memorabiolia which you may be familiar with already.

Movie tickets, from my "Horrors" layout:





And pieces of a map from my "Seaquarium" mini album:





Anyway, I'm glad I did this post because I have all kinds of ideas now for our trip to Jungle Island, and our trip to Disney, and future tarvel layouts and amusement park layouts. I'm looking forward to having more memorabilia in my books!

Kathryn
Life's a beach. Scrapbook it.

Monday, August 10, 2009

My First Scrapbook Album ...

... oh, the horror! {Just kidding! Maybe ... ;D}

Hi, everyone! Welcome back to Life on the {Scrap}beach!

I have to confess that I am not super traumatized or embarrassed by my first scrapbook album. Don't get me wrong ~ I laugh when I look through it ~ but it's a happy laugh! The pages are poorly designed, I cut things {like napkins!} into weird shapes with crazy decorative-edged scissors. Basically, there are a lot of weird looking pages. However, the album itself is a treasure because it is a memory for me. I remember making all those pages and how I felt about scrapping at the time. I aso incorporated great memorabilia & the album very clearly shows my scrapping journey.

So, I decided to share this album with all of you! I just uploaded a quick video of my first scrapbook album over on my YouTube Channel. It's pretty short in the time-period it covers ~ maybe the last four months of 2006 or so ~ but it's still quite a bit of fun!



I hope you enjoyed this little trip down Memory Lane with me! Anyone else brave enough to share their first pages?

Kathryn
Life's a beach. Scrapbook it.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

2008 Election Page, Part Two

Hi, everyone! Welcome back to Life on the {Scrap}beach!

I was inspired by Nichol Magouirk's July 2009 "Celebrate the Seasons" video to create a page about the 2008 Presidential Election. I just uploaded the second and final video in this series to my YouTube Channel and I hope you enjoy it!





This layout uses papers and embellishments from the Scenic Route Paper Co.'s "Liberty" collection.

Thanks so much for watching!

Kathryn
Life's a beach. Scrapbook it.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Giveaway Alert!

Hi, everyone! Welcome back to Life on the Scrap(beach)!

I just wanted to do a quick post today to let you know about a giveaway on another blog: Craft Craving Chicas.

The prize package is a little hush hush, but it does include a BasicGrey paper pad and some Maya Road to go along with it. I've checked out their site and they do great work with the kits that they sell, so I think they will probably put something very nice together for this giveaway.

Anyway, just giving you a heads up! You can enter to win by leaving a comment on their blog here ~ it's that simple!

Kathryn
Life's a beach. Scrapbook it.

Monday, August 3, 2009

2008 Election Page, Part One

Hi, everyone! Welcome back to Life on the {Scrap}beach!

I was inspired by Nichol Magouirk's July 2009 "Celebrate the Seasons" video to create a 12"x24" layout about the 2008 Presidential Election with lots of patriotic colors and embellishments.

{SIDE NOTE: Have I mentioned how much I LOVE Nichol Magouirk!? She is one of my favorite Garden Girls over at Two Peas in a Bucket!}

I don't consider this page a political page as much as I consider it an historical/archival page. I wanted to do a page about this election because I really felt, as a nation, that we were making history. And, being a history major, this sort of milestone REALLY gets me excited. Most likely it is my interest in history that makes me feel it is important for me to scrapbook about the times I live through as well as the living I do in those times ~ but I feel both types of scrapping will be equally interesting to me down the road.





This layout uses papers and embellishments from the Scenic Route Paper Co.'s "Liberty" collection.

Anyway, all heavy political/historical talk aside, I hope you enjoyed the video! Thanks so much for watching!

Kathryn
Life's a beach. Scrapbook it.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Welcome to the World's Most Violent Craft Blog

 
 

 
{Side Note: am I the only person that automatically thinks of the movie The Big Lebowski when they hear this song?}

Last night I achieved the R rating I had feverishly sought for approximately the last twenty-four hours. {In between going to Target and killing the gross spiders on my porch.} I actually do not have any strikes against me for profanity, suggestive content, etc. My current R rating is based solely on the supposedly ultra-violent content of my blog. Ladies and gentlemen, as far as I can tell, this is the most violent craft blog in the world.

I love it.

Now that this blog is officially Rated R {I'd like to thank all of my readers who contributed to this rating with their comments yesterday ~ I never could have done this without you! You're the best!} there's going to have to be some changes around here.

First of all, there will be no more free video tutorials. I am going to have to insist that you pay me. WITH YOUR SOULS!!! ::insert maniacal laughter here::

Or you could just, you know, continue to leave me nice comments. Whichever. I plan to be a benevolent dictator.

Most of the time anyway.

Second, uh, well ... I don't know what the second change will be yet, but it's going to be diabolical. Which befits my new status as author of the world's most violent craft blog. Yes indeedy. Diabolical.

But we'll still have plenty of bling.

Kathryn
Life's a beach. Scrapbook it. Or Else.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

This Blog in Now Rated PG-13 ...

... some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. Parents strongly cautioned.


I would just like to point out that prior to writing the "Love Your Craft Knife" post, my blog was rated G. Now my blog is rated PG-13 because I used the word "knife" 13 times. Well, I guess it's fifteen times now. I wonder if I write the word "knife" often enough my blog will become rated R? If I could get an R rating, I would totally put that blinkie on my sidebar. And people will click over here from YouTube and be all "OMG! What can she possibly be talking about!?" but won't be able to find anything inappropriate.

I really think that would be hilarious. For a scrapbook-related blog with no bad words or inappropriate references to be rated R because of one post about craft knives {ooh ... I typed "knives" again! And again! I can't help myself!} to be rated R? Hee hee!

Is it wrong that I find this so amusing?

Kathryn
Life's a beach. Scrapbook it. Use a craft knife.