Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Hello, My Name Is Kathryn ...

... and I am addicted to not finishing my scrapbook projects. Seriously. I just made a list and took pictures of every single unfinished project I had hanging around and/or things I needed to do in order to make some more progress in scrapping this year. The list is frighteningly long, and while some things could easily be finished in five minutes {which brings up the question of why they are not already finished} some will take much more work to bring to completion.

Here are just ten of the forty-one unfinished projects/necessary tasks I unearthed/wrote down Monday:

1. Hook up Epson R1900 to new computer so I can print photos. Should take about five minutes. Why isn't this done already? I blame Mr. Lifeguard. He is falling down on his tech support job.

2. Hook up Cricut to new computer so I can use my SCAL2 again. Also Mr. Lifeguard's fault as he claims the Cricut's cord is too short to reach to the new computer. I suppose I need to either buy a new cord or rearrange the scraproom. Will figure this out eventually.

3. Make a video of the Beachiversary mini albums. It arrived during the peak of Christmas kit season, so it is still in the box it arrived in. Shocking!



4. Take the 17 completed 12"x12"/12"x24" layouts I have sitting in a pile and put them into an album already, what the hell is wrong with me!? Why are these not in albums!? Hello!?



5. Take the 7 incomplete 12"x12"/12"x24" layouts and add photos/journaling/whatever and get those suckers into an album. Really. What is the problem here. It's not hard.



6. Figure out some kind of tag storage/display as all the tags I have received in swaps are still sitting in boxes waiting for a permanent home.



7. Stop joining swaps until I am caught up on everything. I need to clear out the old unfinished projects to make room for new unfinished projects.

8. Finish the last page/video in the "World of Wonder" mini album series. I don't know what I'll do with the album after that, but at least it will be in condition to sell, if I want to put it on eBay or whatever. Or I could put photos in it, whatever. Although that whole "whatever" thinking is probably what got me here!





9. Finish altering my box of wings. This was a box I got to put very small layouts in ~ a tiny photo, a little journaling, an embellishment or two. For the things I wanted to remember but were maybe too small for a whole layout. I still love the concept ~ just need to get 'er done!



10. Finish adding photos and journaling to the "Welcome Home" album. I only have one page left to do before it's done. It's just a matter of printing the photos and adding the journaling.







During my Monday Night Scrapping show, I pulled out another one of my many projects to finish ~ the Maya Road/Cosmo Cricket tree album. I'm calling it "Love Birds" and it is going to be a variety of pictures of Mr. Lifeguard and me. I'll be working on it over the next few UStreams & I think it's going to be a really cute one!







As for the rest of the inccomplete projects, here's a run down of the numbers:

1. 17 finished 12"x12"/12"x24" layouts which have photos, journaling, etc., that are just waiting to be put into albums. Counted as one item under the "album organization" heading. :D

2. 7 unfinished 12"x12"/12"x24" layouts which need photos, journaling or both before they can be put into an album.

3. 3 altered items. I have a box, a dressform and a canvas. The box is above & here's a look at the canvas. It would be gorgeous hanging on a wall all framed and decorated and pretty. It's not so awesome on my floor:



4. 30 {!} mini albums that need to be repaired, finished or have photos, journaling or both added. Some are my creations and some I received from swaps.

One of the things I realized going through everything is that not every project needs to be completed. Some of them could be salvaged for supplies {there are ones that I just don't know what I was thinking when I started them}, others could be turned into RAKs or gifts, some sold and then others can be kept for myself. Regardless of what is done with some of them, I have given myself permission to reduce the number. My goal isn't to stress myself out finishing everything, so much as it is to make final decisions about the fate of some items that I have been holding onto for a very long time & get them out of the unfinished projects bin and into their final home.

What do you think? Can I reduce this number drastically in the next six months? Already since I compiled the list I have repaired two mini albums to finish them off & so my total outstanding projects number is down from 41 to 39 at this point.

It's going to be long climb out of this hole, but once I get some stuff done I think I will be really happy. It will be nice to print photos, finish these layouts and minis & basically have completed albums or home decor. Plus, I can gain some more storage by clearing out the unfinished projects bin, which would be very nice.

So that's the goal ~ we'll see how it goes!

~Kathryn :D
Life's a beach. Scrapbook it.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

New Video: Holiday Gift Tags

Hi, everyone! I'm here with my last video and blog post before I leave for vacation. Which is in an hour and sixteen minutes and I still haven't finished packing. Ugh! I am such a procrastinator.

I have my last frew little holiday projects for you. I finished the last two tags I needed to do, wrapped my presents & made a tiny little Christmas village. I think I'm all set for holiday projects for 2010.



The little village is actually an easel card, which I made with those little Maya Road chipboard houses. I painted them, embossed them & decorated the roofs with crackle paint and liquid pearls. The little glowing windows are white cardstock inked with "Scattered Straw" Distress Ink and then sprayed with "Jingle Bells" Glimmer Mist. The patterned paper came from the relatively new "Happy Together" paper collection from Fancy Pants Designs.

I made a video of my brother's tag coming together for my YouTube Channel. My sister's tag & this little house are also shown on the video, although not step-by-step. You can watch below or over on YouTube at this link: Last Holiday Projects.



I'm off to go finish packing and spend the week before Christmas with my family & with Mickey Mouse. I hope you all enjoy the coming week and the holidays. I'll see you on December 27th at 8:30 p.m. EST {GMT/UTC-5} for Monday Night Scrappin'!

Merry Christmas!

~Kathryn :D
Life's a beach. Scrapbook it.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

New Video: Lucky Star Centerpieces

Hi, guys!

I have another little holiday project for you. Who knew after the Christmas Kit drama that I would still have enough Christmas spirit left for some more holiday projects? Of course I still have two more tags to do and presents to wrap but I still found time in my day to make over one hundred tiny paper stars yesterday.

Thanks to the Pottery Barn holiday catalog, these cute paper stars are popping up all over blog land. Here is my take on what you can do with these adorable little stars:



These stars are very easy to make & they're addicting! Although, if you DO get addicted, I promise you will be well over your addiction after you have made 100 of them. I feel sorry for the poor intern who had to make all the paper stars for the Pottery Barn photo shoot.

They're an origami fold commonly known as "lucky stars" and you can find a written tutorial here: Lucky Star Tutorial. I also made a video of these stars and centerpieces coming together for my YouTube Channel. You can watch below or over on YouTube at this link: Lucky Star Centerpiece.



These stars are pretty quick and easy to make & they would work well as filler for boxes, vases {what I used}, bowls and other home decor items. You could even turn them into little ornaments for your tree by adding a loop of ribbon to the top. This is also a project kids would enjoy. Well, at least I think they would. I really have no idea what I'm talking about on the kid issue, though, since my only kids are stuffed monkeys & I have a feeling they would be pretty bad at making paper stars:



See? I told you stuffed monkeys were terrible crafters. :D In fact, I'm pretty sure that all stuffed monkeys know how to do is get into trouble:



Merry Christmas!

~Kathryn :D
Life's a beach. Scrapbook it.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Twelfth Month of Christmas Winner!

Hi, everyone! Welcome back to Life on the {Scrap}beach! I have the winner of the Twelfth {and final!} Month of Christmas Giveaway, chosen for me by Random.org!

::drumroll, please::

The winner of my 2010 Christmas DVD + Manual is Entry #3: Jill! CONGRATULATIONS, Jill!!! :D :D :D Please contact me at thescrapbeach@gmail.com by 11:59 PM Eastern USA time on Thursday, December 16, 2010 with the address where you'd like me to send the DVD. If you do not contact me by end of day Thursday, December 16, 2010, you will forfeit the prize.

Thanks so much for pplaying along this year! I had fun looking at all the entires to these challenge & I'm grateful for your support of my blog and my YouTube Channel!

~Kathryn
Life's a beach. Scrapbook it.

Friday, December 10, 2010

New Video: Snows Days Mini Album

Hi, guys!

Yesterday I finished a paper bag mini album for a custom order. A client had ordered it for her son who will be having his first ever white Christmas this year. I recorded a video of the completed album for my YouTube channel. You can watch it below, or over on YouTube at this link: Snow Days Mini Album.



I hope she likes the finished album. This was a challenging one for me, as it was the first album I have ever made for a child. I do think it turned out cute in the end & it makes me smile with how cute it is!

~Kathryn :D
Life's a beach. Scrapbook it.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

New Video: "Dad" Christmas Gift Tag

Hi, guys!

So, yesterday I decided to make another "Snow Bird" tag & use it as my mom's gift tag for her Christmas present this year. Well, that opened up a whole can of worms, of course, because now that means I have to make something similar for the rest of the family. If I don't there will be lots of screaming, tears & finger pointing & "you've always loved so-and-so more than me" and who needs that during the holidays? ;D



Bad news for me, but good news for my blog, as I recorded & edited a video of my Dad's tag coming together for my YouTube channel. You can watch it below, or over on YouTube at this link: Dad's Christmas Gift Tag.



My camera is apparently already on Christmas vacation, it seems, so there is a chunk missing from the middle. Luckily it was pretty uneventful as all I did was add some super old Daisy D's rub-ons and a loop of twine. {Yay, twine!} I hope you enjoy the video ~ I had a lot of fun making this tag & it actually came together pretty quickly and easily {despite the fact that I normally struggle with the whole masculine, grungy thing}. Phew!

I think my next tag to work on will be the one for my sister. You guys have any ideas for that one? I'm currently stumped.

~Kathryn :D
Life's a beach. Scrapbook it.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

New Video: Snow Bird Tag

Hi, guys! Yesterday I did decide to make myself another "Snow Bird" tag, so I recorded & edited a video of it for my YouTube channel. You can watch it below, or over on YouTube at this link: Snow Bird Tag.



I hope you enjoy the video ~ I had a lot of fun making this tag! It was super chilly yesterday, so I was starting to actually get in a wintery mood.

~Kathryn :D
Life's a beach. Scrapbook it.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

December Inspiration

Hi, guys! I hope you're all enjoying the December challenge I posted Monday morning. I thought today that I'd post some inspiration for you!

But first, a confession: I am not the best Christmas present wrapper in the world. I think it's because, when you get right down to it, Christmas present wrapping is a form of engineering. And we all know that math is not my forte by any means. Last year my brother asked me to help him wrap some presents, mistakenly thinking that because I could scrapbook I could wrap presents. The look he gave me when I was done "helping" was priceless. Oops!

Anyways, this year I resolved to do better. I thought it might help if I didn't think of it so much as wrapping a present, but of decorating a canvas or large album page. That actually really did help me get past my mental roadblock & enabled me to create this:



The wrapping paper is from the bottom of my closet & I think is from Costco? Maybe? I don't really remember, but it was on a ginormous roll, so Costco is a good guess. The flowers are all from Wild Orchid Crafts and the tiny bows are from IKEA.

The IKEA link won't take you to the exact bows I used {because they were also from the bottom of my closet}, but they are selling very similar bows this year. But, they're just plain old Christmas bows anyways, which you can probably find in about a billion stores right now. Or possibly even make yourself if you are not a recovering bow loser, like I am. Although I did tie a bow without the Bow Easy during our Virtual Crop this past Saturday. Go me! Maybe there is still hope.

While we're on the subject of things I did during Saturday's crop, I also decorated that tag on the front of the present. You can watch the whole thing coming together in the UStream recording: Snow Bird Tag. I was very happy with how soft and subtle it came out. I think I might make another one to keep for myself!

I hope you enjoy my first scrapbook style present wrapping & I look forward to seeing what you guys make of the December challenge. Have a great day!

~Kathryn :D
Life's a beach. Scrapbook it.

Monday, December 6, 2010

On the Twelfth Month of Christmas

Hi, everyone! Welcome to the twelfth and final "12 Months of Christmas" challenge giveaway! It's been a fun year of challenges and prizes to celebrate my YouTube 100,000 video views milestone. We're at the end now, but you still have one more chance to win.

The prize for this month's challenge is a copy of my 2010 Christmas DVD + Manual!

The challenge this month is simply to celebrate December ~ whether you make a holiday layout, a wintery layouts or simply a layout about a family tradition you enjoy each year around this time.

To participate, create a layout or project on the December theme. Your layout may be any size {12"x12", 8.5"x11", 8"x8", 6"x12", 6"x6", etc.} and can be either a one-page or two-page layout. To be considered "complete" layouts need to have photos and journaling & basically be ready to go into an album. This challenge also lends itself to cards, tags, home decor and many other projects.

You can submit up to three different links as long as 1) all the projects are new, created just for this challenge 2) the projects are substantially different from each other, 3) at least one of them must be a layout, complete with photos and journaling AND 4) each project must be linked separately ~ you can't combine them all in one link. Because of how the winners are selected, your name will need to appear on the list once for each project.

Enter the challenge by posting a link to your submission BELOW using the InLinkz gadget following my signature. Links left in the comments will not be eligible to win ~ you must use InLinkz to enter. Entries must be posted by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, December 10, 2010. The link can be to a photo of your entry in an online gallery, or to a video on YouTube or to a post on your personal blog ~ wherever! I will post the winner first thing Saturday morning. The winner will have until 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, December 16th to claim the prize before it will be forfeited.

Winners will be selected by the random number generator, random.org. Entries will not be judged. Have fun creating with the challenge & I look forward to seeing what you make!

~Kathryn
Life's a beach. Scrapbook it.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

So You Want to Make a Christmas Kit ...

... without losing your mind? And still make a profit? And stay out of divorce court? And not have to buy a new computer AND a new printer? Great! I have compiled a list below of helpful tips to get you started:

  1. Estimate how much time you think it will take to make the kits.

  2. Multiply that number to the tenth power.

  3. Estimate how much profit you think you'll make from the kits.

  4. Cut that number by 75%.

  5. Divide the revised profit by the revised time.

  6. Realize that you will only make $0.05 an hour for your time and effort.

  7. Go get drunk instead.


I am thinking about writing a book on this subject ~ what do you guys think? Will it be a bestseller? ;D

Right now, as I am typing, everything is sitting in the garage, packed into boxes & waiting for USPS to come pick it up in a few hours. My part of the Christmas extravaganza is complete & I am very happy and relieved to have my life back! LOL!

I know that last year I said I was never doing another Christmas kit & I still did one this year. But this year I really, REALLY mean it when I say I am never doing another Christmas kit. Remind me next September that I said this if I start making comments about doing another Christmas kit. Link me to this blog post if necessary ~ do everything in your power to talk me out of it! I am counting on you, my friends, to save me from myself.

~Kathryn :D