Welcome to the Blog Hop! Today a group of 33 scrapbookers are celebrating the upcoming launch of Everyday Storyteller. Yes, the time is drawing near for the release of my practical scrapbooking ebook.
Signing up for the VIP list is the best way to find out when the book is released and will score you an exclusive ticket to our launch party!
My article in the book focuses on four different ways to tell the bigger stories behind single moments. My favorite way to uncover the deeper context in my photos is mind mapping. This is a process where you diagram connections between ideas. (See example below, not mine.)
You can use a mind map to brainstorm all the different thoughts and memories that bubble up when you look at a single photo. Use the mind map to identify a particularly meaningful story that you want to explore through journaling.
Before creating this layout, I used mind mapping to explore and understand feelings related to my husband, our relationship and how it has evolved. What came out was a wonderful story about the strength of support and genuine trust we have for one another.
Supply Credit: Cloud 9 by Kristin Cronin-Barrow, Template by Cindy Schneider
Giveaway
Today only, you have an opportunity to win a copy of Everyday Storyteller before you can buy it! To enter, simply leave a comment by 11:59pm CDT today (May 1, 2012) answering the following question:
What is the most helpful scrapbooking advice you have received?
Blog Hop Directory
This is the last stop in the hop. If you’re just getting started, head to the top of the list!
- Cheryl Ashcraft
- Anna Aspnes
- Katie Clemons
- Elise Blaha
- Paula Gilarde
- Sara Gleason
- Michelle Hernandez
- Debbie Hodge
- Katrina Kennedy
- Amy Kingsford
- Cindy Liebel
- Crystal Livesay
- Robyn Meierotto
- CD Muckosky
- Nancy Nally
- Christine Newman
- Ashli Oliver
- Amanda Padgett
- Renee Pearson
- Lynnette Penacho
- Elle Price
- Heather Prins
- Traci Reed
- Lauren Reid
- Amber Ries
- Kristin Rutten
- Betsy Sammarco
- Jenn Smith-Sloane
- Jessica Sprague
- Melissa Stinson
- Amy Tan
- Tiffany Tillman
- Jennifer Wilson << YOU ARE HERE
It all counts. It’s all good. Leslie
Start current, work backwards. Don’t start in the past and try to rush to catch up.
The most helpful scrapping advice I have ever received is that there is no right or wrong way to scrap. It’s all in the eye of the beholder and it’s all art. As for digital scrapping in addition, the most helpful advice I received was always duplicate original photos and SAVE your work often. Thanks for the chance to win!
Would love to win this. Thanks for the chance!
To do it because you love it not to be the next big thing!
Best advice- scrap to please yourself, not to measure up to someone else’s idea of the “perfect” layout.
Every story doesn’t have to be told. Focus on telling the meaningful stories.
Do what you love and love what you do. There is no wrong way to scrapbook.
Thanks for the chance to win. I think perhaps the best advice I’ve received is the same as the NIKE slogan — Just Do It. There is no right or wrong way. I tend to get too caught up in what other folks are doing/have done instead of just jumping in and doing it.
The best advice I’ve received is that you don’t have to use
every picture of the event
I had not thought of mind mapping before for scrapping. thanks.
I find that trying to keep current then going back and catch up is the best course for me!
1. Just do it. You can always redo it later if you want to.
2. It’s just paper. It’s okay. It’s just paper.
3. Do it now while you remember why you took that photo.
4. It’s YOUR memory. Others might perceive it differently & that makes for some great conversations while looking through a photo album.
5. All you really need is a photo & a photo album. Everything else is icing on the cake.
Ooh ooh ooh! I would love to win this! You’ve blown my MIND with that mind mapping idea. How cool!
To just relax and enjoy the process! Whatever you get done is good and that I can not control what happens to my scrapbooks when I am no longer here so just quit worrying about it!!
Start where you are and always tell the story.
“It all counts!” was my best advice. Be it journaling, playing with photos, sorting/gathering memorabilia…..
That scrapbooking is just paper and glue. You aren’t going to create a perfect layout everytime you scrap. If you don’t like your layout that’s ok. Try again. What’s important is that you are happy with the result (even if no one else is) and your memory gets recorded.
the best advice I’ve received is there is no right or wrong way in scrapbooking.
thanks for the chance!
“Your story matters.” That always brings me back when I get too bogged down with feelings of not being good enough or that I should do more. 🙂
The best advice I’ve received is to NOT worry about working chronologically. I follow Stacy Julian’s Library of Memories method and it works just right for me, scrapping stories when I’m inspired to do so. Project Life covers the day to day, chronological viewpoint.
I love mind mapping, but had never applied it to scrapbooking. Hmmm… will have to try that!
I think the best advice for me is to not focus on everything being perfect. 🙂
Do not take it so serious that you do not enjoy it anymore, have fun while preserving and reminiscing on what is important to you.
the best advice I’ve received is done is better than perfect.
thanks for the chance ! can’t wait to see your gorgeous collab book !
The most helpful scrapbooking advice I have ever received is “it all counts!” That releases me from the pressure to keep my memories in any specific way.
Scrap for your audience, I scrap for myself and family first. They don’t care about how popular a layout is, or what products or technique I’ve used, or if the pictures are less than perfect.
Perfection is highly overrated. Don’t waste too much time worrying about the perfect embellishment or patterned paper. The people reading your scrapbooks won’t care about that – they really just care about the story you are telling with your pictures and journaling.
Scrapbook in your own style. For me, simple is usually best.
The most helpful advice was scrap what you love not what you feel you need to. You don’t need a page for each and every thing that happens.
You don’t need to scrap every picture you have. Just pick the best pictures or the ones that best tell the story and put the rest in a traditional photo album. This is such a stress reliever.
More helpful than anything I’d heard for 10+ years prior was to tell my story in whatever way was best for me, whether with photos or without, with words or without. Just tell the story as only I could tell it. Such freedom!
If you don’t have big blocks of time to scrapbook, work for 20 minutes at a time. You’ll be surprised how much you accomplish!
Just glue it down ….done is better than perfect.
The best advice I have ever been given is to remember that your family won’t be disappointed about the stories that didn’t get scrapped or the pictures that didn’t get scrapped. They will be grateful for the ones that did. Making those matter is more important than worrying about what isn’t getting done!
My favorite bit of advice I got early on (and pass on to new scrappers every chance I get!) is to start with your most recent photos so that you aren’t overwhelmed. Start and go from there, and work “out of order” if you feel so compelled!
Find the stories in the everyday. Look for the everyday wonders. Catch the impish smile or the pile of craft remanents or the coffee ring on the table. Note the little things that are seemingly insignificant that tell the REAL story of your life!
There isn’t a wrong way to do a page!! It’s all about opinion and your should be the only one that matters for your own book.
The best thing I have learned is that it doesn’t matter how you do it only that you are preserving the most meaningful things in some way and that it is often the small things/stories that make the best memories/pages.
USE your materials and don’t save them for the “perfect project.” (You can always get more) Sometimes we mentally set some aside materials to make the perfect page in the future and you will wait so long to use them that the paper has faded, the adhesive on your embellishments has disintegrated or your favorite distress ink has run dry.
Best advice hands down was how to make my shadowing better. I love my pages now and I thank my friend for being honest with me.
For handwritten journaling – it doesn’t always have to be pretty; just get it on the page.
For general scrapbooking – don’t try to put too much on one page.
And from my crafty aunt – if it looks easy enough for you to make yourself, then why buy it?
Thanks for the chance to win. The book looks like a good resource!
Stop thinking about it & just glue it down. Wise words from my 7yr old daughter. Thanks for the chance to win!
Somewhere in an album put first and last names. In the future you will not remember who people are. Thanks for the chance
Add a little bit of journalling – so you will always remember the moment.
You don’t have to scrap big/major life events only; the everyday stories matter just as much.
be authentic. just be yourself when you are journaling. write like you talk. state the facts but make it personal.
Always, always date your pages.
I was going to say, don’t try to make your pages just like someone else’s, but then I saw date your pages — that’s a great one, too!
Keep It Simple—-the memory provides embellishment enough.
Just do it! Layouts aren’t going to scrap themselves! Thanks for the chance! 🙂
Done is better than perfect. Scrap what you want to scrap, not what come next. Thanks for the chance!
Done is better than perfect 🙂
An imperfect, finished page in an album is better than a perfect, unfinished page sitting in a box somwhere!
Best Advise: Scrap for Yourself! Not to please anyone else but to get YOUR story documented.
What is the most helpful scrapbooking advice you have received?
I think it was all about my shadowing and about the storytelling I do on my pages and make your pages for you and you only (*read me)
Thanks for a chance 🙂
The best advice I’ve been given is that the story matters most, so it’s important to focus on telling the stories that most appeal to me at a given time.
Scrap the everyday, not just the big events. And scrap for yourself…if you are happy with your page, that is what counts.
You don’t have to have your photos and supplies organized to scrap. Just dig in a do it.
You don’t have to buy every new product especially when viewing tutorials I think that is the best lesson I have had you can use what you already have to make the project work for you.
To make a to-scrap list of my pictures.
Probably that anything can be scrapbooking & you don’t have to feel like an artist to really be one. And everyone’s story is important.
To always, always, always journal on my pages! Before that, so many of my pages were just for pretty. Now, they have some substance!!
Remember that future generations are going to be more interested in the story you’re telling, not whether you meant to do this, or forgot to put something on your LO, or your lines are wonky or you don’t like your handwriting. Think how fab it would be now to find something handwritten by your ancesters!
The best scrapbooking advice I have received is that every layout does not need to be a perfect piece of art. I need to relax more and enjoy the process, and not feel like I am running a marathon race, or that every picture needs to be scrapped. That’s the other nice advice–to take the pictures that really appeal to you, that speak to you and that you love and spend more time on those layouts and less time on the others. Good advice, I think!
don’t strive for perfection, yyou will almost always end up disappointed
Its ok to be perfectly imperfect. We make handcrafted pages, with time, effort, and love. Its ok to make mistakes, just use them in a new way. They are not machine made mass produced pages, they are our memories…cherish them. Thanks for the entry.
You can only scrapbook the way you are organized. From Stacy Julian
The best advice.. hm.. I’m not aware of being given an advice directly, but looking at so many pictures of scrapbook layouts in the galleries and on blogs made me aware of the fact that you have to find your own style and you should not try to copy someone else, because it automatically becomes yours when you bring in your feelings and your own memories.
#1 Advice – don’t compare your pages to anyone else. Everyone has their own style.
#2 Advice – journaling takes many forms and it’s OK to use one or all of them.
Not to stress over making the perfect page. Its the memory that is being documented and remembered. I also am one of those people who is always organizing and seldom scrapbooking so learning to let myself enjoy scrapbooking even though everything is not organized to perfection was great for me.
I’d say the best advise is to scrap everything, big, small, me, my kids, life… and go with the flow. Try not to scrap in a cookie cutter – do what you feel is right for you.
Thanks for the chance!
I’m looking forward to the release of the book!
Don’t lose sight of who you are scrapping for… remember you’re doing it for you and your memories.. not to get on teams.
Beautiful layout. Looking forward to reading this book.
To captured the good and bad things, life isn’t always sunny and there’s no wrong or wright how you scrap, its your book of memories. Thx for the chance
To start with the story. I always had nice pictues, that had forced journalling, because I really had nothing to say…
Now I tell the story, and find the stories to match.
The other pictures get included, but they don’t HAVE to be a scrapbook page, right?
Thank-you, the book looks great.
Not every photo needs to be or should be scrapbooked; focus on the stories, not necessarily the photos.
Done is better than perfect. Good advice to a perfectionist!
to just have a go! its a personal thing, so it doesnt’ have to look good to other people (though I’ll bet it usually does!), but just make a start, and see how it goes! thanks for the chance to win!
That is doesn’t matter, I do this for myself and if the everything isn’t perfect it’s ok. Thank you for the opportunity!!
The best advice I ever got was to simply sit back and enjoy the process, there is NO right or wrong just go with it and tell you herstory.
Keep it You is the best advice I’ve gotten
Practice and embrace imperfection. That advice has greatly helped the perfectionist in me to just get the page done!
To have time to scrap you have to make time to scrap.
Done is better than perfect. I am a perfectionist and I can take too much time trying to get a layout perfect when really it would just be better to have it done! Thanks for the chance to win what I’m sure will be an amazing book!
To scrap what you love.
Scrapbooking is a personal thing..you should do your layouts..the way you like them…we all have have own special way to scrapbook….Thank you for the chance to win….
You don’t need to scrapbook EVERY photo and EVERY memory; just get SOME stories told.
The most helpful advice I’ve received is that you don’t have to LOVE every page you do! 🙂
Stacy Julian’s Library of Memories class was absolutely jam-packed with advice that completely changed my scrapping – I now focus on the important stories, whatever they are!
Thanks for the opportunity to win this exciting book!
START! DO OR DO NOT! Thanks for the opportunity.
the most helpful advice I’ve gotten is to relax and have fun. If you are happy with the way it looks then it’s good enough.
The most helpful advice is to look for balance. Thank you for the great book!
The best advice that I have ever received about scrapbooking is to organize my supplies the way I scrap. That’s when I organized everything by colour and it revolutionized my scrapbooking! I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of that on my own!
Make sure your workspace is clear and clean. Be able to spread out and leave it there for a while …..
xoxox Carly
” to blaze your own trail when it comes to scrappin…don’t worry about what everyone else is doing…!!”
Best advice came from Karen Grunberg….Embrace Imperfection. I can’t tell you how that freed me to just relax and enjoy the experience.
Thanks for the chance to win. Can’t wait for the release 🙂
Perfection is overrated! Preserving your memories, photos, stories, etc., is way more important than the “perfect” page.
The most helpful piece of scrapbooking advice I have gotten is to use templates to learn what you like..
scrap what you love!
Just DO it!
Don’t get too caught up on whether or not you’re “doing it right” – they’re YOUR memories, so it doesn’t matter!
Carry a notebook and get those stories down while the memory is fresh and you can convey the emotion.
Scrap what you want. Don’t worry about what other people think.
The most helpful advice I’ve received is to not strive for perfection in picking out my products. If something will work- use it! Thanks for the chance!
Scrap for yourself, don’t scrap for others!
Excited for NSD, thanks for the chance to win this book. I think the best advice has been to just start with the here and now and later you can go back….I always struggle with where to start or which direction to go…
You don’t have to scrapbook everything. Scrapbook the photos that inspire and stir your creative juices now.
Don’t worry about perfect, just do it.
It doesn’t have to be perfect. Thanks for the opportunity to win the book. 🙂 Looks like it will be most inspiring and helpful with all the input from so many awesome designers/scrapbookers/storytellers.
I love Cathy Zielske’s concept of less stuff, more space—WHITE SPACE. It makes the page look cleaner, takes less work to fill up, and leaves room just for the statement you’re trying to make.
Keep it simple and don’t over think. Also to start with current events, etc.
30 minutes a day, is better than nothing at all! Think small and you’ll get great results!
Most important piece of advice: tell your OWN story. No one will have experienced the same way as you have. Recapture the emotion associated with the event and speak from there. Avoid telling the reader what you suggest he see/understand about the story – let that be his discovery! So, the underlying principle for me is write it now because it will probably not ever impact you again as it does this minute.
To let go of the concept/guilt of “being behind”. Thanks for the chance to win.
Don’t overthink it. Just get it scrapped.
Best advice, there is no behind. Every page you do is one more memory held on to and should be celebrated!
Most helpful? Just Do It…that is the only way it happens LOL! Thank you!
Scrap what makes you feel good, forget about the rules. There are none!
To scrapbook for yourself
You don’t have to start chronologically!
Hi! The most helpful advice is that it is OK! Perfection is overrated. Thanks for this great blog hop! I am very excited to read the book! Thanks for creating this giveaway!
Have fun! This is a hobby enjoy it!
“There is no such thing as caught up” and “it all counts”
Best advice, don’t worry about perfection. Just keep.calm and scrap on!!
It doesn’t have to be perfect!!
Thanks for the chance to win. Best advice: do it now and have fun!
Your kids and family won’t care if the design is perfect or if there are misspellings. They just want to see the memories. Thanks for the chance to win!
perfection is SERIOUSLY overrated! And perfection is definitely in the eye of the beholder! 🙂
Thanks, Jen! This is really exciting!!!!!!!!!
Hugs,
Candi
candice1973 (at) comcast (dot) net