Perfect Collection + Super Savers

One of the story prompts from the Lisa Bearnson 50 Moments book that I mentioned in my last post is about "the last time you learned anything." When Maria posted that prompt to work from, I'll be honest and confess that it didn't really speak to me, and I passed for now on making a layout from that prompt. For one, I'm in some ways constantly learning something, and in other ways it feels like I'm not really discovering anything new. Know what I mean? For instance, I'm constantly struggling to stay abreast of technology, and Google something almost every day, but I don't feel that a new idea has sparked my brain for awhile. Especially in scrapbooking! I mean, I've been scrapping for 21 1/2 years! 

And then last night I was looking through some layouts I need to put away, and I realized that the concept that I used to make these layouts was new to me, and I did learn something, and I stretched myself in a new way. Grab a cup of coffee and let me show you.

Now, since we are coffee sipping, soul sharing, scrapbook loving sisters, I need to tell you a secret. But you have to promise not to tell, and you have to promise to still be my friend after I tell you. ;-) There is a certain prolific and well known scrapper that many, many people love, and she is so popular the she is also a super hero kind of scrapper and she's so famous that she's also been in the Olympic opening ceremonies. She's cute as a button, and she does wonderful work, but it's just not work to my taste, and I've just never jumped on the fan bandwagon. I'll peek at her stuff every now and again, but I'm not big on glitter after all, and so there. I'll say it. I'm not atwitter over Miss Glitter.

But, you're never too old to learn, yes? So many of my scrappy peeps have taken and loved Shimelle Lane's Perfect Collection class. I've watched them post their results, and I've oohed and aahed over their beautiful pages, but I never had an interest in the concept, or in taking the actual class. I studied their finished pages, and even the corresponding Perfect Collection cutting guide, but I just would not tiptoe in to the murky waters. {It's all the layering of the paper, and the fact that they are all predominantly single page layouts that holds me back, personally. Again, lovely work. Just not my style, per se.} From what I gather, having not purchased Shimelle's class, the premise behind the class, if I may, is that you take an entire collection pack of patterned paper, and {brace yourself for the horror}, you cut the whole thing up according to her cutting guide that you can download, irrespective of {and in advance of making} any planned layouts. And then you have all these piles of cut up patterned paper that you begin to cobble together to fashion into layouts.

Whew. That's so much to process! Typing it up is just as hard as my imagining doing it! ;-) Well, after watching my scrappy peeps go through this class together a couple of times, I was more intrigued, but still unconvinced. Until Heather shared her adaptation of Shimelle's concept. Heather makes "base pages". She, rather than cutting up the paper without a plan, cut into the pack with a purpose. She cut up the whole collection, layout by layout. And she shared her amazing "base pages". And my wheels really started churning!

And so I took Heather's idea - and here's my 50 Moments what I learned lightbulb - I could make this concept all my own! I could take a whole collection, and marry it with my wheelhouse, my go-to style: I could use some sketches by Scrapbook Generation! I could cut up the paper according to some selected sketches and, like Heather, map out my layouts as I went along, versus just random cutting. Now, I was interested, and intrigued, and excited! My first introduction to Scrapbook Generation sketches was back in January 2010 when I purchased two of their books. Shortly after that, I subscribed to their Super Sketch Club, and it's been a long lasting love affair ever since. 

As I puzzled with the concept of how to cut apart an entire collection, and how to marry it with some SG sketches, I had the idea to go to previous months' Super Sketch Club sketches. {Always keep those sketches!} Now, if you are not familiar with the Scrapbook Generation Super Sketch Club, it is a monthly subscription to a brilliant cellophane bag of paper and sketches - patterned paper and cardstock to make 5 double page layouts, based on the included 7 sketches. The Super Sketch Club has each month a Super Saver component, and then two other double layouts, one designed by Debbie and one designed by Allison. You get a sampling of three lines of paper between it all, and the supplies to churn out 10 completed pages when using their sketch instructions. The true genius in the Super Saver kit component is that you will get THREE double layouts from THREE sheets of paper, hence the super saver name. ;-) 

So, for years I've had exposure to and experience with cutting up 3 pieces of paper at a time and cobbling it into layouts. For the record, when I do cut up my Super Saver kits, I always lay the cardstock out as a base, and as I follow the directions for Layout 1, Layout 2, and Layout 3, I set the corresponding cut papers onto the cardstock base that will become that layout. So, what's not to love about multiplication?! I could take this method for cutting 3 sheets of paper and cut up 12! Yes? Yes! So, I thought I would share how I did this and perhaps pay it forward on the inspiration. As Ginny and Janet and Heather inspired me, maybe I could inspire you. Maybe something I share, or something I did, will get you ready to try this. I loved it so much that I am already dying to do it again.

Step One: Pick your paper. I went with the topic of Christmas because first of all, I have a million Christmas photos that need to be scrapped, and second, I have almost that many pieces of Christmas patterned paper. I felt the risk level was low here, since I wouldn't be cutting into anything rare, and I felt like the opportunity for success was high, since I had a broad myriad of Christmas photos to pick from. Also, I felt like since there are so many Christmas ideas and embellishments available, I would have on hand the tools needed to make any layout look polished and finished by the end.

I chose Authentique's Believe. I just adore this paper. Adore.

Step Two: Pick your plan. Use Shimelle's cutting guide if that is your style, or pick some sketches you can work from, or if you are a Super Saver subscriber, dust off those old sketches and find some that will work. Personally, I studied all the photos from the Super Saver photo downloads, and found three months that I thought offered layout styles that would work for Christmas: January 2015, February 2015, and November 2015. I picked 8 of the 9 layouts from these 3 months to complete. I knew I would also complete one single page layout with the "big background" paper in the collection.

After I had my sketches selected, I then assigned certain sheets of the Authentique Believe papers to become the papers on the sketches, three sheets of paper per sketch set. I didn't study too long, but I did assign my "stripe" to be the plaid and then I looked for opposite colorings, for instance going red and green, vs. red and red. For most of the assigning and cutting phase, I had cardstock spread all over the apartment to "catch" the paper that was assigned to that layout. If you make some notes on your sketches, and go slowly, this part is not too confusing.

My friend Ginny suggested a great place to start cutting, when you are overwhelmed, or not sure where to begin, is to remove the branding strips from the paper. Brilliant! An easy start. And how fun is it to see all those branding strips relegated to a discard pile. Instant progress!

These are the sheets of paper that I pulled that did not get assigned to a sketch, but were set to the side to use later in the finishing phases:

• The big background paper for a single page layout.
• The red circle paper that I knew I would circle punch for a border across the bottom half of one of the double page layouts.
• The tan Christmas trees for filler and balance as needed.
• The cut aparts. I cut them all apart and had them on hand to pull in as needed. I'm not big on these being my only title, so I didn't end up using too many of them. The backside was a boring blue, so I didn't plan to use it anyway.
• The sticker sheet that came with the collection. I knew this would come in handy later!
• The scraps left over after I cut. I knew these would become some strips here and there on the other layouts. (Also see close up shot in the second photo.)

Step Three: Begin cutting! As I mentioned, given Heather's concept, I cut with a purpose. I cut each Super Saver set together, and cut per each sketch's instructions. I set each paper on top of the cardstock so I could really see my layouts coming together. I had also printed out letter size black and white copies of the Super Saver photos, and I set that down on the cardstock, too, to help me visualize the end result - and to keep me on track! {I have blurred the details of the Super Saver photos out of respect to Scrapbook Generation and their copyrights.} It didn't take long for me to SEE that this idea would work and the time spent "apportioning", or delegating, papers to sketches was time well spent for me!

Step Four: Adhere your paper, and paper only! This is where you will tape down all of your papers, creating the "canvas" of your layout upon which you will drop your photos. Remember, at this point, you haven't even selected or touched photos! This process is all layout/paper driven! This step went fairly fast. And used a lot of ATG tape. ;-) You could definitely now see the bones of the layouts and the hard part at this point is over!!

Step Five: Add photos. Not much explanation needed here. I personally had the photo suggestions from the Super Saver sketches that I used, and I tweaked them slightly as needed to get my photos to match up with the sketch's foundation. This is a really fun phase, because you can really finally see the full vision for your layouts! And what a lovely stack it will be! {Some of these photos might be slightly askew. Apartment winter photographing is a little challenging.}

Step Six: Embellish and journal! This is the very fun part and this is where you might stall! Don't! Finish strong! A big pile of goodness waits for you! I love, love, love how they all turned out. They stretched me from beginning to end in the process, but it was a wonderful learning experience!

~ Christmas Pajamas ~

~ 'Tis the Season to be Jolly ~

~ White Christmas ~

~ Joy and Family ~

 ~ Home for the Holidays ~

 ~ The Best Holiday Presents are the Memories ~

~ Christmas Cheer ~

~ A Merry Little Christmas ~

{this layout was not get photographed in it's pre-photo phase}

~ Oh Christmas Tree ~

And just because you might be wondering, here is what was left over after it was all said and done. I started with 12 sheets of patterned paper, added in some Bazzill French Vanilla and Cardinal cardstock, added in 1 piece of the coordinating 6x6 paper pad, and then ended up with 17 completed pages, and this small pile of scraps, which is mostly extra cut aparts from the journaling card sheet of paper.

What I learned:

• Pick paper you love. You will get tired of it. But you can fall back in love with it when you are finished.
• Pick paper you have plenty of. You won't want to worry about cutting mistakes and not having enough to go the distance.
• Pick paper that complements some other paper you have, in case you get stuck, want a little extra flair, or need some extra element. 
• Don't be afraid of the big background pattern if your selected collection includes one.
• Set aside one or two sheets that you can fussy cut or punch for some coordinating pops of color.
• Working with one theme is simplistic and wonderful, because your same embellishments will work on all of the pages and you pull them out in one big batch.
• Vary your sketches to get horizontal and vertical photos. I felt like I did too many horizontal-only sketches when I was trying to pull photos to match the sketches.
• Commit to finishing. There were stages along the way where I hated how it was looking. But, it all worked out and I love where each layout ended. {There are still a couple I'd like to tweak and may yet add something.}
• Cut your titles in batches to save time. Vary how they look.
• Work across a span of years if you don't want an overflow of one single set of Christmas papers representing one year.
• Give yourself a deadline. You WILL get tired of all this stuff being out everywhere.

I'd have to say, when it's all said and  done, it is a perfect idea, and a super set of layouts. Where this all gets interesting is that I began my initial set of cuts on the Sunday of MLK weekend, I believe: January 17. And I finished the last step on the last layout on February 11. 17 pages in 26 days. {I did also work on other things in between.} The photo at the top of this post is my Expedit. As I finished a layout, I'd set it up there. Watching those cubes fill up was fun and it was wonderful to see the big picture of the completed process! I can't wait to try it again. I'm deliberating on another round of Christmas, or trying Fall or tackling Birthdays.

A Gift to My Heart All Year Long

I think in the span of November to January, I created 10 double layouts about Christmases past - 20 pages. They ranged from 2008 to 2013. It was a little gift to myself to camp out in the season, during the season. Honestly, scrapping Christmas seems such a herculean task to me. There are so many photos taken that whittling them down is hard, and scrapping them all is impossible. But I love the moments and memories enough to try. Sometimes it just takes me awhile. ;-) 

I have a very large Library of Memories. Keeping up with it all is almost a part-time job. But, undaunted and eager to keep the yuletide memories burning, I set out to decipher what Christmas events and years I had scrapped, what I wanted to scrap and hadn't, and what pictures would remain as jpegs. 

{Will my children ever mine this virtual treasure trove? Today, my iPhoto library sits at 47,451 photos. And while I have converted some negatives to jpegs, those span for the most part my post-digital years, which commenced in 2004. I don't even dare project a future number. I strive to keep the closets and clutter clear, but I can't let go of my images. They are each so dear to me. I have a semi-blurry shot of my boys with their arms up in the air, facing the same direction, doing basically nothing understandable to the discerning eye. But, when I see that photo, I am transported back to a Wednesday night when they came in from Cribs and I was sitting here playing Mercy Me's "This Life" and the boys spontaneously and immediately went into a synced dance move to the rave sound of my favorite band, which immediately surprised, delighted, and tickled me. How can I lose my jpegs? They are my stories.}

So, Christmas layout To Do list in hand, I printed off pictures, pulled stacks of patterned paper and cardstock, printed the hot off the press Scrapbook Generation Christmas Sketch book {I will forever feel the press date was my very own personal magical birthday present!}, grabbed a very few sets of punches and basic tools, and headed off to Florida with my mom. We were going to have two days to be together and scrap before Steve flew in to join us, in my very own beautiful room at the Grand Floridian. Mom and I sat at the dining table in the one bedroom Villa, and opened the sheers and scrapped for two days while we watched the monorail slide by against the sunny clear blue sky and listened to my Christmas iPod shuffle.

It was part of my "magical birthday". You are more than likely aware to some degree of my strong affectation to all things Walt Disney World.  ;-) And for so very long, I have had the dream of doing my two very favorite things there - being at Disney AND scrapping. And dreams can come true! My sweetheart of a husband gifted me with my dream 50th birthday gift - six days at Walt Disney World: one day for each park, and two days to scrap with my mom. It was an amazing trip. I was just revisiting the photos two days ago. Yes, more scrapping dilemmas. But, I'll take those kinds of problems any day. ;-)

While we were there, in the land that starts Christmas the day after Halloween, in the hotel that pipes in the smell of baking gingerbread to create the backdrop for the amazing and beautiful and large gingerbread house, while poinsettias greeted us everywhere, and carols floated through the air, I got to scrap Christmas. I did basically just the foundations for my pages during those two days - but I was very pleased with my progress, and I will confess to perhaps a long dinner break at Downtown Disney window shopping, and a yummy sandwich at Beaches and Cream, and the sharing of an ice cream sundae that should be against the law it is so large. 

I have shared with you some of the other Christmas layouts that had their genesis during this magical birthday trip, and rather than post the last of these individually, I am just going to roll the rest of them out today. It's time to move on. The season is done, the decorations are finally headed into the attic today, and it's time to share these four final layouts.

Tree trimming, and artichoke dip, and the favored cheese ball and yes, those totes and totes of my beloved Hallmark Ornaments. And boys dancing to Christmas carols and delighting in their own memories. 

The worst Christmas ever - the year a stomach bug tore through 5 of the 6 of us like a domino freight train, and also the year that I gave Andrew houseshoes that he loved, but then later decided he hated, and the next year when I gave him another pair because that pair had worn out, not knowing he now hated houseshoes, that he pitched a little fit. And the year that I wanted an iMac so badly, but got a Kindle. 

The year that it was our turn for Granny and Papa - working hard to make everyone happy and pack meaning into every moment, knowing your parents are aging and your children are aging, and trying to make every moment count, no guarantees for the next rotation, four years out. The year of big boots, and Star Wars, and stamps, and toothbrushes, and Big Bang, and Root Beer floats. 

It all comes down to Comfort and Joy, I think, when you go to sum up Christmas. The comfort of hearth and home. The joy of being together, the joy of the season, the Joy in the meaning behind the season, the true gift of Christmas. Each year is its own story, with some of the same moments repeating. {Repeat the Sounding Joy, Repeat, Repeat the Sounding Joy!} And yet each year has its own unique moments. 

Christmas is a day. But it is such a big day that it cannot fit all into one calendar square. And so it becomes a season. And as I age, and as I mine my treasure trove of memories, it develops into more than a day, or a season. It is a gift to my heart all year long. 

   

Comfort & Joy ~ Christmas Morning ~ December 2013

Sketch Credit: Scrapbook Generation

Paper: Carta Bella

Title Font: Pacifico and Arial

Christmas in the Heart ~ Christmas Day ~ December 2013

Sketch Credit: Scrapbook Generation

Paper: Carta Bella

Title Stickers: Authentique

Christmas with the Family ~ Christmas Day ~ December 2009

Sketch Credit: Scrapbook Generation

Paper: Authentique

Title: Honey Script, Silhouette Cut File

Be Merry ~ Tree Trimming ~ November 2009

Sketch Credit: Scrapbook Generation

Paper: Simple Stories

Title Block: Simple Stories

The Happiest Christmas of All

I watch Holiday Inn, White Christmas, Miracle on 34th Street, and It's a Wonderful Life every December, like so many of you. I just love these movies and put in one of these DVDs when wrapping presents, or baking, or even scrapping. I think of those four movies, my favorite is Holiday Inn. I enjoy watching Bing Crosby find himself, and his girl, every year while he sings his way through the year in that beautiful farmhouse. 

Of course, one of the cutest scenes in that movie is early in, when the two sisters sing their song in those bright columbian blue gowns with the big feather boa fans. I guess, with having two sisters myself, that scene just resonates with me. "Lord help the mister that comes between me and my sister, and lord help the sister that comes between me and my man" is a little ditty that my sisters and I can break into anytime. 

There are three years between each of us and I am the youngest of the three of us. I was telling the boys the other day that my sisters were both grandmothers already when they were my age. It's funny how you can have such a connection, but also be in such different life phases. I don't have a definition of life without my sisters. They have been there my whole life. As I was scrapping the family photos from our 2008 Christmas gathering, I saw that photo of the three of us. It's one of my favorites.

I think that is part of the magic of Christmas. You just have those deep inner connections with your loved ones and the bond crosses across time and renews itself when you are back together. Life has become only busier for each of us, and we now live in three cities. We see each other less often, but I always treasure the time that we are together.

Being with my sisters, and being with all of my family, is just a part of the Christmas happiness that makes December the most wonderful time of the year. It is crazy loud when we are all together, and it requires a serious amount of work, and it takes a ton of food. But our family gathering, just like Christmas day, only happens once a year, and it does not last very long.

We take as many photos as we can fit in, and then we can look back and remember the fun, long after the day is over. Family Christmas always passes quickly, and before I know it, the time is over and we are headed back home. And if I am lucky, I will hear this song by Michael W. Smith while driving, and it will remind me that the joy of Christmas is in having the ones you love be near you, and that the happiest Christmas is the homecoming Christmas.

Oh the happiest Christmas

Is a homecoming Christmas

With the snow fluttering down 'til the world seems new

Bright candles burning

Old friends returning

The wishes of children coming true

And the happiest wishes are just old fashioned wishes

May your days be merry, your sorrows be small

May the ones you love be near you

That's the happiest Christmas of all

I know there are no guarantees, and I have no way of knowing when and where and what next family Christmas will look like, but I remember and treasure each one of them, just as I remember and treasure each one of my family members in the photos. Yes, the happiest Christmas is the homecoming Christmas.

The Greatest Gift is Family ~ Family Christmas ~ December 2008

Sketch Credit: Scrapbook Generation >> They are masterful at creating Simple Stories (SS) basic "page recipes". When you have lots of family photos, these SS basic SG sketches work so well with the SS grid-like elements. This is another configuration of photo layouts when using the SS blocks and I love how quickly these pages can come together and handle many photos at the same time.

Paper: Simple Stories

Title: Silhouette Cut File

Decembers Documented

I arrived home this morning around 1 AM, seriously telling myself I am now too old for this. When we moved away from the Houston nucleus of my family in 1997, we settled into a trajectory of Christmases in our own home, and family Christmas trips that I would now make across the state as the solo adult, carrying all of the responsibility of travel, and shepherding two small children, as we traversed "over the river and through the woods" to whomever's house held family Christmas that year. 

So, for 17 years now, I have worked to initiate the family Christmas gathering, managed it around my own working schedule, and shouldered all of the burden of taking the boys to be with my family at Christmas time. It has never been easy. Not ever. But it is something I have always been willing to do because my boys, like their mom, love family gatherings, and because it is important to me to be with family at Christmas. I made sacrifices as needed over the years to be ready for Christmas a week early, and get us to wherever Christmas was held, with all our Christmas regalia packed up and loaded into my vehicle.

Every year a different collection of family members are present, and each year is a very unique and precious memory. Over the years, we have grown from my childhood family of six to a family that now contains five family branches: my parents, and the family branches of me and my three siblings. My oldest sister married and had four children. Her children are all married now, and she has seven grandchildren. Her family totals 17. My older sister married, had three children and adopted four children. One of her children is married and my sister has three grandchildren. Her family totals 13. My family of four is the smallest. My brother is married and has three children. 

So, together, we total 41. 41. There has never been a time when we have all been together at the same time. One of my nephews serves in the Air Force and has been stationed overseas. He is now stationed in the U.S., but I now have a niece teaching English in Thailand. Other then the overseas stints, and my boys presently going to college out of state, we have all always lived in Texas. But getting together is hard. Schedules are crazy busy. The idea of everyone being present is both mind boggling and frightening to this introvert. I do best when there are less than 20 of us together. Not to say I wouldn't love it if we were all together, but I am okay with it being smaller crowds.

Even though I have had to make the trip by myself every year, leaving Steve behind to work his retail magic, even though I don't always do well around lots of children, even though noise is not my thing, even though I crave quiet and my own hearth, I have committed to being present for all of these years for family Christmas. It has sure been something to watch it evolve over all of these years. Admittedly, my sisters and I are photo hounds, so these annual December gatherings are duly documented and in the memory books to be sure.  

The first wave of change, of course, occurred when we (my siblings and I) all married and had our own children. It has been a joy to watch my nephews and nieces grow up, and to see my children and my siblings' children create their cousin bond. Seeing my nieces and nephews married now and parenting their own children is another layer in the generational circle. As I sit and watch them with what I call my greats (my great-nephews and great-nieces, of which I have ten) I am taken back to my own childhood and  memories of my aunts and uncles, and I recall the interactions I had with them and how special they were to me. It does not seem so very long ago that we were gathering at my Aunt Ernestine's house for family Bingo, or having a summer reunion at my Aunt Jeanine's lake house or my Uncle Jimmy Ed's home. I treasure those times, and pray that my nieces and nephews and sons do as well.

2014 brought another fundamental shift. My own sons are in college now and the traditional weekend before Christmas was no longer an option when considering their schedules. All these years, we have worked around my older sister traveling to Kansas on the day after Christmas. She began that annual trek early in their marriage and has never varied in her travel plans. All these years, I have worked to travel home to family Christmas on the weekend that worked for her family, the weekend before Christmas. And this year was the end of that road, for now. In my head I understand that perhaps things can't continue. In my heart I am sad that this year it was just me and my sons, my parents, and my oldest sister and her children gathering on the weekend that worked for me and the boys, the weekend after Christmas. Family Christmas was missing a big branch. But, it was family Christmas nonetheless. I imagine family dynamics will continue only to shift as we all continue to age and schedules continue to change.

But, in my mind I will remember the early days, when all of the kids were school age and younger, when we were all together, when the schedules were simple and the days were jumbled together in a chaotic mix of presents, pajamas, and peanut butter fudge. Every family Christmas has been special, but I think of those early, simpler years with fondness, mainly because we were all together. They seem now, as I look back, to be especially Merry and Bright.

Merry & Bright ~ Family Christmas ~ December 2008

Sketch Credit: Scrapbook Generation >> They are masterful at creating Simple Stories (SS) basic "page recipes". When you have lots of family photos, these SS basic SG sketches work so well with the SS grid-like elements. This page came together very fast and is not complex. But, there is so much going on in the photos it works well that way for me.

Paper: Simple Stories

Title: Heidi Swapp chipboard ABC's