SYW247 – My Way with Miranda Webber

[00:01:16] Jennifer Wilson: Welcome to Scrapbook Your Way, the show that explores the breadth of ways to be a memory keeper today. I’m your host, Jennifer Wilson, owner of Simple Scrapper and author of The New Rules of Scrapbooking.

This is episode 247. In this episode I'm interviewing Miranda Webber for the My Way series. My Way is all about celebrating the unique ways memory keepers get things done. We're excited to have Miranda as the January featured artist at Simple Scrapper.

[00:01:47] Jennifer Wilson: Hey, Miranda. Welcome to Scrapbook Your Way.

[00:01:49] Miranda Webber: Hi, thanks for having me.

[00:01:51] Jennifer Wilson: I am looking forward to our conversation and getting to know you a little bit better. Can you start by sharing a little bit about yourself?

[00:01:59] Miranda Webber: Oh, I have a wonderful husband, Joshua. We have been in the military for almost, for 24 years. Um, we just got out in April of this year, and we have two children. My son is 20 and he lives in South Dakota. My daughter lives with me, which is a sixth grader. And we live in the North Augusta, South Carolina area.

[00:02:27] Jennifer Wilson: Nice. Nice. And so are you since you're, you're done with the military life, are you kind of settled there now?

[00:02:34] Miranda Webber: I would say so, yes. Um, that we got a dog too. A little fur baby. Um, during, you know, our fav the favorite time, I'm not gonna say it, but, you know. And we're like, are we gonna be doing this anymore? 'cause now we've got pets. And so we've kind of gotten to the point where we're, we're settled now. I don't think we're, I don't see us leaving anytime soon, for sure.

[00:02:58] Jennifer Wilson: Yes, yes, I can, I'm sure there were, you know, lots of pros to discovering new places, but not packing up everything again, I'm sure is also really lovely.

[00:03:08] Miranda Webber: Oh yes. I lived outta totes for most of my, I guess most of the career for Josh. Um, being in there for, you know, that long and now I can say that the totes are just piled up in a little corner in my garage.

[00:03:25] Jennifer Wilson: Nice. Nice. I'm so glad. So Miranda, we'd love to ask our guests what is exciting them right now. And I'd love if you shared both a thing inside of scrapbooking as well as something outside of your hobby.

[00:03:36] Miranda Webber: Well, definitely outside of my hobby is I am a teacher. I'm in my sixth year, so it has now gotten to the point where I can say, I, I'm rolling with this. This is easy. It's not like stressful as it was. So I would say moving from just a, I guess a teacher to the leadership role has been a really good challenge for me.

[00:04:04] Miranda Webber: So that's kind of exciting for me. I know it might not be for everyone, but it is exciting for me. And then I would say the scrapbooking thing, related thing. Oh. That I, I was thinking of this and how to think of this all day long, like what I should answer for this. And there's a lot of stuff, there's so much changes that I see in the scrapbooking world, um, coming. Like, my, my thing is, is that a lot of, I, I guess it depends on how old you wanna say the OGs of the OGs are, if you know what I mean. You know what I'm saying? Like, like for me, I've been scrapbooking, I know I'm kind of getting into, you know, some of the other things. But, um, I've been scrapbooking since 2003 when my son was, right before my son was born.

[00:04:58] Miranda Webber: So a lot of the designers and the YouTubers that I used to watch are kind of, I'm, I'm not saying retiring, but kind of, getting out of doing what they do that I feel is their best. And now I gotta find new things to look for. And I'd say those are kind of the exciting things is to looking for what can I get into next? Because I don't stay in my comfort zone. I like to go out of it, but I really, it's like the unknown, I guess. That's where I'm kind of looking at. And that's kind of how I wanna answer that question. 'Cause I really, it was hard for me to figure this one out.

[00:05:42] Jennifer Wilson: No, it's okay. There's so many, um, interesting and exciting things. So many new opportunities, changes as you mentioned. I'm wondering if there are kind of, what shifts or changes that you've noticed recently?

[00:05:55] Miranda Webber: Well. I'm not, you know, and I'm not like, everybody's a different, like, we're not all like a one-stop shop. We're not like all the same scrapbookers. So like, for me, it's like who I watch, for example, it's like who I watch on, on YouTube. There's like so many of us that back when I started is no longer doing YouTube. So now it's like, do, do I find someone new that is new to me, that is like a different scrapbooker than me to get me out? Um, it's those types of things. And then of course, you know, American Crafts kind of kicking out some of the . Like the Crate Papers and the, those other companies that were so, like, for me that I'm so loving and used to getting, now I gotta find those types of companies in other products. And that's, that's the shift I'm seeing, at least in my style of scrapbooking.

[00:07:01] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, that's totally fair. And you're right, we are all like the things that one person might notice may be totally different depending on when you started, what you've seen over the years, what your interests have been. I mean, there are people who started scrapbooking around the same time of you as you, but maybe haven't been avid YouTube watchers, so they haven't noticed those same kind of shifts as well.

[00:07:24] Miranda Webber: You're correct.

[00:07:25] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, as someone, like, I watch a lot of YouTube in outside of scrapbooking and you get to know individuals and like, there's that parasocial relationship thing.

[00:07:34] Miranda Webber: Yes.

[00:07:35] Jennifer Wilson: And so it's hard to go to someone new 'cause like, uh, just not like connecting in the same way. So I understand that.

[00:07:42] Miranda Webber: Yeah. 'cause it, I, I, I watch, um, I know a lot of us, you know, like coming on here doing this podcast. Yes, it's all about scrapbooking. But my YouTube channel consists of, and it's gonna sound kind of crazy, but it's, it, it consists of two things. My scrapbooking world, and I watch YouTubers that clean their houses, you know, like those day in lives and.

[00:08:06] Jennifer Wilson: Uh,

[00:08:06] Miranda Webber: You know, the, like, that's what I wa that's what I watch.

[00:08:09] Miranda Webber: And I feel like I get to know their families and then when they say, oh, I'm gonna take a break, I'm like, no, no, no, you can't. I need to know what you're do whatcha doing tomorrow? , I know it sounds weird, but it's like you, it's like that YouTube world or that social emotional world that we're living in, which is through technology.

[00:08:34] Miranda Webber: That we didn't have. And I, I mean, I don't wanna date myself, and I'm pretty sure you probably don't want to either. But I, I grew up with, with going outside and getting to know your neighbors and had to watch for the streetlights, you know, and now.

[00:08:50] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, yeah.

[00:08:51] Miranda Webber: Know what I'm saying? Like, so I grew up in that era, but then I also grew up in the brink of YouTube.

[00:08:57] Miranda Webber: Like I'm older than YouTube and all the, you know, like students now I can go back to kind of teaching. My students are like, you're older than YouTube. You're, you know, and I'm like, I'm not that old But they don't know any better, you know, so it.

[00:09:16] Jennifer Wilson: For sure. I mean, I always tell my daughter like she was born, like her entire life was captured on, has been captured on Instagram. Um.

[00:09:24] Miranda Webber: Yeah.

[00:09:26] Jennifer Wilson: 'Cause that my first account was, I opened it when I got pregnant. So that's just kind of mind blowing to think about.

[00:09:33] Miranda Webber: Yeah. Yep, exactly. You, you are completely correct. Uh, so yeah, so I feel like the scrapbooking world does do that shift like we do in our, in our everyday lives and how it changes and evolves. But if you're not in that industry or an a part of it, some, some way, shape and form, not a lot of individuals or people may not even know what those shifts are. Especially if you are growing up like how our children are growing up, right?

[00:10:11] Miranda Webber: Like they all know technology, but they don't know us. Like how we had to grow up. We had to make a phone call, like to talk to somebody, not through a simple text, you know,

[00:10:25] Jennifer Wilson: Yes. Yes.

[00:10:27] Miranda Webber: So.

[00:10:28] Jennifer Wilson: Well, and I think, you know, one thing that's always kind of served as this benchmark of change for me is walking into Michael's like every six months or every year. And, 'cause it's very rare that I'm actually walking into a store and realizing, oh, wow. Like the scrapbook section gets smaller, but then there's all these stamping things, or the cricket things, or sometimes it's the planner things.

[00:10:51] Jennifer Wilson: Um, so I kind of, I feel like I can get a pulse on at least the, the, the broader crafting sector by just seeing what Michael's is putting upfront.

[00:11:04] Miranda Webber: Yeah, and I, you know, I don't, I mean, I, I try to dabble into, like you said, planning, right? Like I tried to dabble into that and I, I don't see why. I love when other people do it. Like I love how they can turn all of them dots into something or take their planners for the week and do what I do on a layout that is fantastic for what it is not for me.

[00:11:35] Miranda Webber: I'll watch it.

[00:11:36] Jennifer Wilson: Sure.

[00:11:37] Miranda Webber: But it it, you know what I mean? But, and it went to that, like when did that shift happen? But at the same time, they're probably thinking, well, when did this scrapbooking come into play?

[00:11:51] Jennifer Wilson: So before we get into more about what goes on inside of your hobby and the things you love and don't love. Um, do you have a story on your memory keeping bucket lists. So this is something that feels really important to capture, but for some reason you haven't done it yet.

[00:12:06] Miranda Webber: Oh, this was the other question I was struggling with. Um, so here's the thing about how I scrapbook and the way I do things. And the, the bucket list isn't really my, thing that I have like my, like what I have to be like, look, I need to get this, this, this done, right? Like my bucket list is places to go.

[00:12:33] Miranda Webber: So then I have something to tell. And when I was thinking of this question when I got, you know, when I got the list and I was like, Ooh, this one's gonna be really hard for me to answer. But when I started to think about it, it's really not hard for me to answer. My bucket list isn't stories that I haven't.

[00:12:55] Miranda Webber: That are sitting there like photos or paper or things sitting, sitting in a, in a, in an envelope being like not wanting to be done. You know what I mean? Like not wanting to be done. Mine is what stories am I getting ready to tell? Do I want to start in on my family vacations that I'm still trying to finish while I was stationed in Europe?

[00:13:23] Miranda Webber: 'cause I was stationed in Europe or in Germany for three years. I still have those types of things left for me to do that I haven't told yet. But it's not like I don't want to, it's just I haven't done it yet. And those are what's on my bucket list. I mean, I could ramble off what I have left to do and then, but do I want that trip to be done?

[00:13:51] Miranda Webber: That's my like. I always think of it this way, if I have the photos down there, 'cause I have a box, not a box, I should say, a door where all my photos sit in and they're all organized. Um, I have the date, everything. Do I want that trip to be done yet? And that's what stops me sometimes. I'm like, that's why, why on my YouTube channel, I haven't done London yet because that's one of my last big trips that I took in Europe. And I'm like, but if I do that, I'm left with what they call Fasching in German. Those are my only other photos left. Do I really wanna be done with Europe? And so they're kind of sitting there being like, Nope, I'm not ready to be done with Europe. I don't wanna finish telling my story:. So it's not.

[00:14:36] Jennifer Wilson: That's such a fascinating perspective. I think like you're feeling such a deep connection to the experience of it, and you don't want it to be over.

[00:14:45] Miranda Webber: Yes.

[00:14:45] Jennifer Wilson: I'm thinking about a trip that I took that I haven't scrapbooked yet. It was actually in March of 2020, and I'm like, oh, I wonder if there's some part of that is why I haven't finished yet, because it feels so, un the trip itself felt unfinished. Uh

[00:15:01] Miranda Webber: And, and, and I know the, the era that you went into, right? Like you, and so if you think about it, like I, I, for me, Europe was something that was a bucket that I never thought I was gonna fulfill. Um, and it's not because the military wouldn't take me over there. It was something that I'm like, are, are we gonna be able to do it?

[00:15:28] Miranda Webber: Because, you know, going from one country to the other country, it's expensive, right? So you're like, that's like one something like, oh, I'm gonna go to Europe, but that'll always be on the bucket list and it'll never get done. But, I did it and I did it for three years. I went to all of my spots that I wanted to go to and I did all of them.

[00:15:50] Miranda Webber: And the last one I have not touched, and I feel like I don't wanna touch yet is London. Because London really hit my heart. But it's not that I don't wanna tell it. It's, but then I'm gonna be done.

[00:16:02] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, I love that. I love that perspective. I think our audience is really gonna resonate with that too.

[00:16:09] Miranda Webber: I hope so.

[00:16:10] Jennifer Wilson: So let's dive into your way a little bit. Um, I always like to start off with a little teaser. Um, in January we're gonna be talking about habits. And so what has been successful for you in developing habits around your scrapbooking?

[00:16:24] Miranda Webber: Um, the one thing that I can honestly say is I scrap my habit is every day for 15 minutes. No matter what it is, I'm in my, I have my office and my office is my scrapbook room. It's my business, my office. It's got everything that I need. And I shut my door. And my family knows when my door is shut. That is my 15 minutes.

[00:16:49] Miranda Webber: I scrapbook every day for 15 minutes. Now that habit doesn't have to be that I'm physically taking a piece of paper and I'm filming something because Lord have mercy. My, my, my layouts do not take just 15 minutes. I take up to an hour because I'm a scrapbooker on YouTube. So it's a lot of turning it off, turning it back on, editing this, that, and the other. But that's my 15 minutes. I could be prepping for my week. I could be prepping my photos that I wanna use for a particular trip. And I look at my calendar and be like, okay, I know what layouts I gotta get done, you know, like the requirements and the free, I call 'em freebies, the ones that I can just do whatever I want.

[00:17:36] Miranda Webber: Um, that could be the 15 minutes, or it could be at the end of the month and I'm setting up my calendar for the next month. Um, I do 15 minutes every day. And that keeps my mojo going because there's a couple other questions down the row that I know we'll get into on why I keep my mojo going.

[00:17:57] Jennifer Wilson: Yes, yes, yes. Now, I'm curious, what time of the day does this 15 minutes typically happen?

[00:18:03] Miranda Webber: Ugh, I'm a teacher, so it's after work.

[00:18:06] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah. Yeah. Is it before or after dinner?

[00:18:09] Miranda Webber: After dinner, I typically, my daughter's a sixth grader, so I typically try to get her off to bed or at least squared away. And then, um, it's like between when I go to bed, before I go to bed and after like I close, I call it closing the kitchen down. You know, doing the dishes, cleaning it up, you know, turning the lights off and saying, do not go in here until the next day.

[00:18:34] Jennifer Wilson: So let's go back a little bit before we come back to the present day. Can you tell us more about how you got started scrapbooking?

[00:18:41] Miranda Webber: I was in high school. And I know I'm gonna date myself and I say this, but I was, I was born in the eighties. I grew up in the nineties and I remember taking out eight and a half by 11 copying pieces of paper, going to Walmart, getting those yellow stickers with all those smiley faces and all of those, um, stickers that had like the puppies and stuff.

[00:19:10] Miranda Webber: I can't even think of their names. And that's what I used on my photos. And I would take page protectors and I would put them all in there. And that's how I got scrapbooking. Well, then my senior year in high school, I took all of our senior photos, all of this stuff, and myself and two other classmates that we're still friends till this day.

[00:19:36] Miranda Webber: Um. Took them out and we made up scrapbooks that sat out. 'Cause I was a te a class size of 17 students and I was a 17th person. And so it was very easy to get all of our pictures put into an album. And it still at this school to this day in a vault. That, um, once we hit our, yeah, our 40th, we did our, we've already done our 20, so it's our 40th. And going from there and getting it back out.

[00:20:08] Jennifer Wilson: My husband was in the class size of 17 as well, and he has so many, like, that's like the, the recipe for so many stories that starts with

[00:20:17] Miranda Webber: Yes, yes, yes. And so that, that's what got me started. And then kind of fast forward a little bit, 2003, 2003 is when I found out that I was, um, pregnant with my first son. And so he was born in November of '03. So kind of backdated, I'd say February-ish is when I think I found out. Um, it's been so long, but, uh, a friend of mine , was like, Hey, I need you to come and do, you know, do this, do this thing with me.

[00:20:51] Miranda Webber: And I was like, what is this? And that was my first experience to a scrapbooking retreat. And I was sold after that. And he's got, he's got . 10, five albums himself. He's all caught up. I will say that my son is all caught up. But he's at that stage, he's 20. He doesn't care about photos

[00:21:13] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah.

[00:21:13] Miranda Webber: So you know, you know how that goes. Right? Like, but my daughter

[00:21:17] Jennifer Wilson: My 12-year-old doesn't care about photos.

[00:21:19] Miranda Webber: Right, right. And, and then my daughter was born in 2012, so then I started that all over and she has four, eight, she's working on her 12th one.

[00:21:34] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah.

[00:21:36] Miranda Webber: So yeah, that's what got me started was a scrapbooking retreat back in the early two thousands.

[00:21:42] Jennifer Wilson: And And what sizes and formats are you typically creating in today? Are you 12 by 12 all the way, or do you use a diversity of different sizes?

[00:21:50] Miranda Webber: I am 12 by 12 all the way. But I have dabbled into traveler's notebooks. I've tried the mini, mini album sizes, you know, like your six by eight or the six by six or the four by fours. And I start 'em and I never finish. 'Cause they, I don't, I don't know, they just don't. 12 by twelves are what makes me go to everything, I guess. I think it's because I'm always more, is more and not less is more. So you can't fit more and more on a six by eight or a traveler's notebook. You can't get as much on there on, you know, in a book or in an album. So I would say 12 by 12 is, is my main one.

[00:22:32] Jennifer Wilson: Is the more, is more part. Does that apply to your photos and your supplies or just one of the two?

[00:22:38] Miranda Webber: I am typically one to three photo layouts. And then everything else in between there is the more is more. So I am, I will say I'm a heavy embellisher. Mixed media is pretty much on almost all pages of some sort. I do like to do a lot of layering, so a lot of my layouts will have like maybe three to four pieces of paper behind the photos, depending on how many photos I have. So it's kind of more of my, my, my golden rule that I tell everybody 'cause they're like, I don't know how you can do all of the pattern papers on a layout, or how do you put all those colors together and make it work? And I look at it this way. Whatever color tone you take, whatever color it is, if it, who cares if it's a, I know some of them are literal scrapbookers.

[00:23:37] Miranda Webber: So if you have a pineapple on your layout, you gotta have a pineapple in that photo. I'm not that person. I'm like, the pineapple matches the collection, so it's gonna go on there, whether I got a pineapple or not, type of thing. So I go based on color. So my thing is, is that if the color matches, it can go on the layout despite what the photos are.

[00:23:58] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah. Yeah. And I think there's so much, like even a pineapple offers like texture and kind of more hard edges and maybe you have other soft items and it's balancing those out. So yeah. I love that We have such a, a fun array of products today.

[00:24:13] Miranda Webber: Oh yes. Because back in the day, we did not, we, we, we, we would get four stickers, five pieces of paper, and you try to make a double page layout outta that. And, and you wanted to make sure, I remember, and you're probably the same way, I remember that both sides of the papers had to be the same paper. So if you use the same background paper on one side, that had to be on the other, and they, and they had to be the same. And if you did the one color or one paper on one side of the double page, it had to be on the other side, like almost in the same spot.

[00:24:51] Jennifer Wilson: Yes.

[00:24:51] Miranda Webber: And I'm like, I remember those days. Ugh.

[00:24:55] Jennifer Wilson: So I actually started as a single page digital scrapbooker, but I am, um, very familiar with what you're referring to.

[00:25:03] Miranda Webber: I, I didn't, I, I, I dabbled like I, I'll I'll say a minute into digital. And I was like, Nope, not for me. And I think, it's not that I don't, it's not that I don't know software and I know how to use this stuff. I think I need to feel it and see it like in front of me. 'cause digital was, was hard for me. Not that I can't run computers or any of that. I think mine, mine is I have to tangibly touch it. It's gotta be in front of me. I love what some of these ladies out there that does with those digital scrapbookers though. Sometimes I can't even tell the way it is now. I can't even tell if it's digital or if it's like an actual layout.

[00:25:54] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, yeah. Sometimes I'm not sure either.

[00:25:57] Miranda Webber: Yeah. Where before you could tell, you could tell if it was or not.

[00:26:02] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah. I think that that tactile experience is something that even, even some of the most diehard digital scrapbookers, I know they still like to sometimes play with other things. Because, you know, that's, there's, there's a, I don't know, the nostalgia childhood when you're crafting, and I think there's a lot, there's a lot to it for sure.

[00:26:24] Miranda Webber: I, yeah, and I all, I think sometimes I think too, we have to look at the, I, I look at it this way, the era we were brought up in. Um, a lot of US OGs or the older, the older generations, we, we were brought up by touching stuff. Where now the, the, you know, like my daughter coming in, she likes to touch things, but she knows all the computer stuff.

[00:26:52] Miranda Webber: So I'm pretty sure if I would buy the digital stuff, she could probably knock those digital layouts out a lot quicker and not think like probably you and I. Because we were more tangible. And we, we, we, once you bought it, we had it. It wasn't somewhere where we could store it on the, you know, on the computer.

[00:27:15] Miranda Webber: I mean, I, I remember the first digital camera we would get and you could only house five pictures on there because the SD card was nothing like they are now.

[00:27:29] Jennifer Wilson: Well, I remember one of the first ones, um, yeah, there was, I definitely had one that had one of the smaller cards. But the Sony cameras back then, the Mavica they used a, like a, you know, a three and a half inch disc.

[00:27:42] Miranda Webber: Yes, yes, yes.

[00:27:44] Jennifer Wilson: And what did that hold? 24 megabytes maybe? I think. I don't know.

[00:27:48] Miranda Webber: Yeah. And, and you're, you're hoping that it wasn't megabytes and it was doing the kilobytes because. If it took one MG you were, you were done for it.

[00:27:59] Jennifer Wilson: Yes, yes.

[00:28:00] Miranda Webber: Yep. That was my, um, Sony was my first, my first camera. And I remember you would take the photos, you would look at it quickly, oh, no, no, no, we gotta retake this photo. We, we, we gotta delete this photo off that card because it, it's no good for me to print it out.

[00:28:16] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah.

[00:28:17] Miranda Webber: You know? So I think, I think, I think it kind of deals with like, kind of going back to how we kind of grow up and kind of learn how to do things just in life in general. And I think we put that into our hobbies.

[00:28:35] Miranda Webber: And I know for me, I'm very much a tangible person. Um, I don't, I. I don't need something from people, if you know what I mean. But I don't, but I know, like for me, if I can be able to touch it, see it, feel it. I think I know if I can use it or not. Better than maybe seeing it in, at least in the hobbies, everything else.

[00:29:00] Miranda Webber: I don't really need to have it in front of me. You just give it to me in the email and we're like, good to go. But, um, scrapbooking and things like that, it's a little bit different. I gotta like feel it, touch it, see it.

[00:29:12] Jennifer Wilson: So, so what products are you obsessed with or really into what? What's often in your shopping cart?

[00:29:18] Miranda Webber: I, it's not trends, but I think it's more of what am I running out of. That I have to constantly put in my cart? So like, I know this is gonna sound like cliche, but it's like your page protectors. I want those in my cart so that anytime that I order crafting stuff from, you know, like my favorite websites, I get a package of those. 'Cause I always run out of them things. Or white paper, like white card stock. I have a certain card, white card stock that I use for my cut files and it's like I, I don't wanna have a FOMO like a fear of missing out.

[00:29:57] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah.

[00:29:58] Miranda Webber: So it's like that type of stuff. So it's like that, or like dimensionals from certain companies.

[00:30:07] Miranda Webber: Those are always in my cart and I always get 'em ordered with whatever, you know, I need at that time. You know, those are always in there. I never wanna run out. So it's more of that, that I always constantly have in my carts. Than I would say, the next best thing or the new thing that's coming out.

[00:30:27] Jennifer Wilson: Now, what is the white card stock that you like to use for your cut files?

[00:30:31] Miranda Webber: I'm, it's Close To My Heart. Those, that paper is smooth as heck. It cuts like a dream. And I'm a Cricut user. Um, so if, if anybody didn't know. Um, I use cricket and I am, um, on a design team that does do cut files. So I have went through. Now everybody likes to use American Crafts, but the problem that I've found with American Crafts over Close To My Heart is sometimes it's hard to find their stuff. Where Close To My Heart always has their white paper.

[00:31:05] Jennifer Wilson: Yes.

[00:31:05] Miranda Webber: Like, you know what I mean? Like it, and then it's like the weight. Like for Close To My Heart, their paper's only one weight. There's not, did I grab the right weight size for, you know, American Crafts? 'cause I know that they dabble into more, um, thicknesses and things like that. So my white card stock, I would have to say is for my cut files.

[00:31:30] Miranda Webber: And it just cuts like a dream. Like I don't, very seldom do I have to throw paper away when it, when I throw it away, that means I gotta do something with my blade.

[00:31:39] Jennifer Wilson: Yes, yes. No, that's awesome. I may have to check that out. And I think something else that always stands out to me with the white is what's, what's the tone of it? Because I think the, if I'm remembering correctly from my stash, the American Crafts White is slightly cooler, and then the Bazzill White, which of course American Crafts owns them now, is slightly warmer. And I don't know, I find it easier to photograph.

[00:32:05] Miranda Webber: Yes. Um, I have found that Bazzill about 95% of their white is always textured of some sort. Like I, I can't really find a, Bazzill paper that does not have some type of, texture on it. And then if you do, it's the thick stuff, like the a hundred, the a hundred pound, then it's white. Well, if you're not into that or not wanting to use that for mixed media, what the, when else are you gonna use that?

[00:32:39] Jennifer Wilson: Now, what are you typically using for your mixed media foundations? Are you using the same Close To My Heart paper or something different?

[00:32:45] Miranda Webber: Well, I have a com uh, actually, it's kind of like a combination. I will use the white background, but I don't like using white with my mixed media. Because typically you have to use Gesso. And Gesso, if you use white on white there, the white Gesso has this weird color. It's not white. It is not white. I don't care what anyone says, that color is not white.

[00:33:14] Miranda Webber: Because when you put it on white and if you don't get the right paper, it turns yellow. It's like a, it's like a warmer whitish color and it's not white. So then you have to use clear. Well clear Gesso, 'cause I get, and I, and maybe I'm partial to my, my stuff and I use Liquitex for it. But my thing is, is that it, it leaves a grit when you're clear.

[00:33:41] Miranda Webber: So I use Vicki Boutin. I use, and thank God she came out with black. 'Cause I use her black and her white.

[00:33:48] Jennifer Wilson: That's what I was gonna ask if you use black or gray Gesso as well.

[00:33:52] Miranda Webber: I haven't, I haven't done the black or gray Gesso. I stick to clear and white. White I'll put on my black to give it a shadow. Um, clear is typically on my pattern papers if I wanna like, dabble into, um, Therm O Web. If you want, you know, if you do like Therm O Web and they do their deco foiling. Um, sometimes I'll put a Gesso down on it if I'm, if I know that I'm going to use a color after the ther, after the Therm O Web gets put down.

[00:34:25] Miranda Webber: Um, otherwise a lot of times the found the mixed media paper from Vicki Boutin, I do have to say, I don't need to use a Gesso. I could do what I need to do. But if you're wanting to spread your mixed media easier, you gotta have Gesso. That's the only way it's gonna move. Otherwise it just sinks into the paper.

[00:34:46] Miranda Webber: So it, you know, it just all depends on, honestly, it all depends on how you want your mixed media done. ' Cause I feel like everybody's different. There are kind of like three types, I'd say three types when it comes to mixed media. You're the, the sparklers. So you're gonna use, you know, like, um, Nuvo Drops, splatters. Something to look like

[00:35:11] Miranda Webber: you're dabbling into mixed media, but you don't wanna bend your paper. Then you've got the middle people that will kind of start dabbling into, you know, maybe the packaging technique that you don't mind that it doesn't really buckle the paper 'cause you don't use a lot. But you're not putting that Gesso down so it kind of seeps into the paper and, and you're okay with that. And you, you know, you're still kind of using the Nuvo Drops in the splatters, things like that.

[00:35:41] Miranda Webber: And then I call, me. Like the ones that will dip in and sometimes have to throw your background paper out the window and you wanna, you know, I, I, I always say when I do my voiceovers, thank God for you guys not listening to what I actually say in these videos, because you guys probably wouldn't be watching me right now. Because you know, you gotta keep a PG.

[00:36:10] Jennifer Wilson: Yes. Yes. That's why we do voiceovers, right?

[00:36:13] Miranda Webber: Yep. Correct. But I do try to, um, I. I have a friend that can 100% vouch for me. When I met her while we were stationed in Europe together, I never once put a single drop of mixed media on my papers. I was like, you want me to do what? You want? No. That, no, no, no. And now look at what I do. I'm on, a couple of design teams that does mixed media. I'm using Deco Foiling that is on my backgrounds. I've went from, no, not doing this at all, to I will do and try just about anything.

[00:36:53] Jennifer Wilson: Well, I think once you find, uh, a technique that really, uh, brings you joy is fun, is always like a great experiment, then you just wanna keep doing more of it.

[00:37:04] Miranda Webber: Yeah. Yep, you're right. But in the beginning, whew. She, she could tell you, you, you couldn't get me to even do a splatter. I was like, Nope, nope.

[00:37:16] Jennifer Wilson: Now, besides mixed media, is there anything that you use or do on most of your pages?

[00:37:21] Miranda Webber: Oh, I gotta have splatters of some sort. I, I mean, no matter what I, I'm gonna be honest with you, my end result is two things. I will grab my pop of color, it's like the black Nuvo Drops, or Nuvo Drops, whatever. And I gotta do three dots all over my pages just to add that last touch and splatters. Uh, I, I don't think I have a page without one or those two or both on it.

[00:37:46] Jennifer Wilson: And what's your favorite technique for splattering?

[00:37:49] Miranda Webber: I just open up the bottle. This sound sounds so simple, but just open up the bottle, bottle, grab a a paintbrush and splatter it. And go to town and, you.

[00:38:01] Jennifer Wilson: Everyone has their preferred method.

[00:38:04] Miranda Webber: Yeah. Yes. Yeah. I, I, mine is, mine is just simple as it can, you know, as it can get. And then, um, maybe I'll cover my photos. Maybe I won't, but I mean, I'm gonna knock on wood.

[00:38:20] Miranda Webber: But for the most part, I never really get splatters on my photos. And I always get comments in my u on my YouTube channel. I don't know how you missed your photo. I never see you cover up your photo

[00:38:33] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, I think I often, because I have a lot of mists still even from many years ago. And so I will just unscrew those and then like, you know, flick the, the little tube.

[00:38:45] Miranda Webber: Yep. Yeah, I'll use the end of the tube. Um, I like the, the, you know, like the nozzle of it or whatever, and I'll drop those. Because I like the, those droplets tend to be a little bit bigger than like, say my paintbrushes. So I like doing that first clear. I guess I kind of, if I think about it now, that, that I'm going through this technique with you.

[00:39:08] Miranda Webber: I guess I take the nozzle, drop, whatever is in the nozzle on my paper first, then go in with the pa, then go in with the, the, um, paintbrush.

[00:39:18] Jennifer Wilson: Nice. So you get different sizes of splatters.

[00:39:22] Miranda Webber: Yeah. Yeah. That's pretty much what it is.

[00:39:24] Jennifer Wilson: So I'd love to turn back to talking about finding the time and energy and how you stay motivated.

[00:39:32] Miranda Webber: I, I will be, I'm gonna be 100% real. And if these, and anybody in this whole entire year of 2024, and you ask this same question and they say that they never lose their mojo, they are wrong, wrong and wrong. Because we all lose mojo. I mean, I'm gonna be honest. You get into slumps and it happens. Um, I, I mean I got into a slump the end of October, you know, um, yeah, the end of October to about the middle of November.

[00:40:08] Miranda Webber: And I'm like, I literally snapped a picture of my desk. Had the same layout that I prepped that, like we've talked about in the beginning about how I, you know, prepped my 15 minutes and I took a photo. And it was during my, um, virtual crop that I have in my, uh, Facebook group every month. And I said, how do I get out of this slump?

[00:40:37] Miranda Webber: I don't know what to do. I'm looking at this layout like, like I, I, like, I just don't wanna do it. Like, I could care less of coming in this room. And we all get in slumps. But the thing is, is that it's what you do to get yourself out of it. And I feel like sometimes my 15 minutes might just be sitting in my room, turning on some type of crazy YouTube video or Netflix or, you know, Hulu, whatever, you know, whatever, whatever stuff you watch when you're scrapbooking.

[00:41:13] Miranda Webber: If you watch anything music and just sitting here for those 15 minutes and not really doing anything but kind of going off into space or whatever. And I feel like sometimes reaching out to another person to give you a jump might be the right thing to do, or maybe put that layout off to the side and grab a sketchbook.

[00:41:38] Miranda Webber: I am, I'm huge into sketches. I love making sketches. Um, I love doing sketches. I love changing the sketches up. Um, and it might be that. Grabbing something that, oh, I can't do this. But it, it gives you the mojo back. That's what helps me stay on track and keeping me motivated every day or every other day. Or when I get to the weekends, when that's the time that I do all of my filming. All of my filming and all of my editing gets done on the weekends.

[00:42:16] Miranda Webber: And then my Monday through Thursday will be my prep of making sure, did I upload that video on time? Do I my social media? My social media could be my 15 minutes too. Sometimes it's just not even coming into my room, but sitting down after I put the, you know, my kiddo to bed. I only have one. Some of you may have more so your kiddos to bed. And it's just doing social media and just connecting with, you know, the people that respond to you on your YouTube channel, if you have one. Or your layouts that you've posted in Facebook, Instagram.

[00:42:53] Miranda Webber: And that's how I get my mojo back. Because they're, they're filling in that, that bucket that may be low of your mojo to be able to keep going. So that's kind of how I get myself back into the routine of things. And ultimately just step away. If you, if, if it feels like you are walking into your room or wherever you scrapbook or whatever you're doing, and this is just life in general and it's like a chore, you need to leave it, go for a minute. And if that's a day or two, give it. And then come back in. And I'm gonna tell you, the energy will be back there. The time will be back there. And then you'll be ready to go.

[00:43:34] Jennifer Wilson: I think you always have to trust that this isn't going to last forever and you will feel differently, I think. Um. Persons who menstruate also have a hormonal shifts as well that influence our, uh.

[00:43:49] Miranda Webber: Yes.

[00:43:50] Jennifer Wilson: Motivation and energy for things

[00:43:53] Miranda Webber: Yes.

[00:43:54] Jennifer Wilson: And so just know, like, just because you feel a certain way today doesn't mean that in two more days, you're not gonna feel a different way.

[00:44:00] Miranda Webber: Correctly. I mean, I my, so I have a counterpart teacher that's going through that same stuff that you're talking about. And we were talking about what we're gonna do for our kids for, um, the holiday. We call it holiday break. Um, and our last two days of school is Monday, Tuesday. Monday's a full day, Tuesday's our half day, and then we're out. And she's like, Hey, let me know the amount, because we always, like one of us will purchase,

[00:44:36] Miranda Webber: what we're getting for the kids. And then we always go halfsy. And I happened to tell her, she's like, yeah, just let me know the amount. I said, you don't need to get me anything. 'Cause last year you are going through whatever at one moment and decided not to do the ornaments, with your set of kids. So we have all of what you did last year. And then I ordered just to kind of make up for it and get the rest of it. And we have everything else. So I said, you really don't owe me anything. 'cause you still need to use what you didn't use last year.

[00:45:10] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah. Well and how many of us have something like that? We have a kit that we purchased that we had a good intentions for, and it's still sitting there a year later or more. And, um, we could dive into it.

[00:45:22] Miranda Webber: Or half those half done. What? What do you, I, I don't really do this, but those half, is it like half done projects or, or you start, started a, a book and then you have never finished it. Like I, I commend those people that will start 40 projects and not finish a, a single one. 'Cause I couldn't do that. When I start something, I gotta finish it. Like I can't, I can't have unfinished stuff laying around. I don't know how they do it and.

[00:45:55] Jennifer Wilson: I say we don't do it well. I mean, it hangs on us. Like we can always mentally inventory the things that we didn't do, even if it was 10 years ago. Um, so yeah, we are, uh, often admiring those like you who have a compulsion to get it finished.

[00:46:15] Miranda Webber: Yeah, I can't, I can't, I commend you guys that do the, or ladies, gals, guys that can just have 'em sitting wherever. Or like, you know, those, um, those carts that I think, I think I saw 'em on a Cherry On Top. I'm not sure who does 'em. Maybe it's, We Are Memory Keepers. But it's the ones where you can put your layouts to dry.

[00:46:37] Miranda Webber: But they all have their kits. Yeah. Or those are all those kits. That you have sitting there with the photos that you started a project on and they just keep getting piled and piled. I, I don't know how y'all do it. I can't do it.

[00:46:51] Jennifer Wilson: I have the trays that go inside my Kallax from Scrapbook dot com and like I try every year to clean them out. Because it's just this perfect home for, oh, I gathered these things for a layout and then I never made it. So let me just put that in there so I don't lose these items, and that it just gets stacked up.

[00:47:11] Miranda Webber: Like I said, I don't know how you guys do it. But I, I know. And then it goes to the other side. Like my, my friends and stuff are always like, how are you so organized? Nothing's dirty. So, you know, I'm, I'm that other person, like, how do you go? Like, they, they always are like, well, when I come over your, you know, your scrapbook room doesn't have any dirt and there's no, like, stuff's not laying around.

[00:47:38] Miranda Webber: And it's, 'cause I can't, I, I cannot, like, I can't deal with dirt and or a mess more than anything. So I'm cleaned up. And if I come in here, like anybody comes in here, you will be able to find whatever you're needing. I can point you into the right box to whatever. And it's organized

[00:48:00] Jennifer Wilson: Wow.

[00:48:00] Miranda Webber: To the t and, and.

[00:48:02] Jennifer Wilson: Party at Miranda's.

[00:48:03] Miranda Webber: Yeah. So it's like the other way, right? Like, i, I'm, I can't do like the ones that can have all those unfinished. But I do know those un finishers can't do, or are stru, I shouldn't say can't do, struggle to be like, well, how can you keep it all like clean and straight.

[00:48:24] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah. That's so interesting. Do you feel like that your need to stay tidy, um, like infringes upon your creativity at all?

[00:48:37] Miranda Webber: No, because I grew up this way. My, my, my mom, oh, now I'm calling my mom out, even though I know she doesn't listen to podcasts. So, well, she may listen to this one, but, um, my mom would take the white glove test.

[00:48:53] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah.

[00:48:54] Miranda Webber: Every time. If I wanted to go anywhere, it didn't matter. And if I wanted to watch football games with my dad on Sundays, chores had to be done.

[00:49:03] Miranda Webber: And that's including my room. So I was always Friday night or Saturday getting my stuff cleaned. So all we had to do is little bit on Sunday after church if we didn't go to church, you know, Saturday night. Um, I could get on because I lived in the Midwest. I was, um, in that area for the Midwest growing up for most of my life.

[00:49:25] Miranda Webber: And so. All the games for us started at 12. 'cause Eastern Time was one. Right? So if we got everything done by 12, my dad and I could sit down and watch football on Sundays. And that was always our time. So I think it stemmed from there. And I, I tried, I tried to not let it get to me, growing up, it didn't work.

[00:49:49] Miranda Webber: College was the same way I requested no roommate. 'cause I didn't wanna have to deal with people being gross.

[00:49:57] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah.

[00:49:58] Miranda Webber: Yep. I requested my, I, I paid when my parents paid for the extra so I could have my own room. Um, like e even still this day, I love my husband to death, but man, I have to clean up after him nonstop.

[00:50:12] Miranda Webber: I, I can't, he, he just knows. He just knows when I start getting into my cleaning tangent in his man cave, he's like, just leave me alone. Let me get this clean. 'cause I can't do this no more.

[00:50:25] Jennifer Wilson: I remember my freshman year in college, I did have roommate every year and our biggest fight is I was so upset with her for all the stuff she had on the ground and I was like, you're just, you're just such a slob. And I was like, I was really not very kind to her. And I said, just clean it all up please.

[00:50:42] Jennifer Wilson: And she cleaned up her stuff and it turned out that most of it was mine.

[00:50:46] Miranda Webber: No . See, that's, that is why I can't do a roommate

[00:50:52] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah. Yeah. So we've talked a lot about things that maybe aren't for you. Uh, maybe digital, smaller formats. Is there anything else we haven't covered that you've decided is not part of your scrapbooking hobby?

[00:51:06] Miranda Webber: Um, I, well, I don't wanna say that I, I'll try everything once. I'll, I'll at least dabble into stuff once. I know that simpler layouts and double page spreads aren't really a thing for me. So when my scrappy friends, my, um, real life scrappy friends, and then my digital scrappy friends, social media friends, when they go onto my YouTube channel every time or when I post in like social media, Facebook, Instagram, whatever. Um, they're like, oh, you did a two page spread.

[00:51:45] Miranda Webber: Or, oh my gosh, you did more than two photos on a layout. And so I think a lot of those are things that I really. Don't do all that often. So when I do do them or I'm like, I just don't know how else to do these set of photos that I've gotta do a two page or have four, you know, cut the sizes down to do, you know, four or five photos on a layout. Because there's no other way in my brain that I could wrap, wrap around on trying to do a page or two or whatever.

[00:52:20] Miranda Webber: That, those are the things that I see a lot more comments come from social media. Not on a bad thing, it's just they're pointing it out that they're like, oh, I haven't seen you do this in a while. Um, 'cause I typically stick to like one page, um, with, you know, one or two photos and then a complimentary page with the one or two photos.

[00:52:43] Miranda Webber: But typically those things that I say that I really don't do, it's not that I don't want to, it's just not something I gravitate to on a daily basis or a consistent basis, let's put it that way.

[00:52:58] Jennifer Wilson: Well, I think sometimes some of those are just, they take more time and maybe it's not the fun kind of time. Like I love a really good hybrid layout where I have very organized grids of journaling and, and like very precise two inch photos. But it takes a lot of effort to like, to put that together. And in the end, sometimes those kind of simple, minimal layouts take far more effort than one that is, that looks more complicated visually. Um, because of the, the control and restraint that it needs.

[00:53:32] Miranda Webber: Yeah. And, and, and you're completely right. Um, because like a double page spread now for me, I'm always more is more, right? So like a double page spread that takes like an hour. 'Cause remember for somebody that is new to YouTube or is not sure on the backside of how this all works. Um, and I'm pretty sure with, you know, podcasts and things like this, you know what I'm talking about.

[00:54:00] Miranda Webber: We've got, you gotta film it, you've gotta edit it, you've gotta take your photos. So by the time you get done with one page probably could have lasted me maybe two hours. You know, if you add from start to finish, which means starting the layout all the way up to editing film, you know, getting all that done and then posting it to the YouTube channel. In a sense without, without doing any of the, the sharing that takes like two hours, right?

[00:54:33] Miranda Webber: Like I'll give or take two hours. But a double page spread or something that's taken my brain longer to process what we need to do or what I need to do in that, those take up two hours just on the filming process.

[00:54:51] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah.

[00:54:51] Miranda Webber: Then I gotta edit, take the photos, voiceovers, update. Like these individuals that follow us, you know, follow your podcast, follow, you know, whatever we do social media wise, right?

[00:55:09] Miranda Webber: Like Instagram, Facebook, whatever. They don't understand the amount of work it takes to get from point A to point B. Like there's a lot. And sometimes that's just draining

[00:55:22] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah.

[00:55:25] Miranda Webber: And I feel like not a lot of us talk about it. Because the minute we do, then we sound negative. Well then just stop doing what you're doing.

[00:55:34] Miranda Webber: No, it's part of the business. It's part of the job. It's not that we don't like doing it, it's we're just telling you how this works. And be a lot kinder or a lot nicer or, you know, if you're thinking on that negative train and you know, you get that negative comment or you get that thumbs down. You know, on YouTube. Um, that takes a toll on us too, because it's like, well, if you didn't like it, I get it.

[00:56:04] Miranda Webber: And I mean, you gotta be real with yourself too. I mean, I'm not saying that negative is never gonna happen. But it takes more effort to be negative than it is to be positive.

[00:56:15] Miranda Webber: That's For sure.

[00:56:16] Miranda Webber: You know, and we, the, a lot of the viewers don't realize what we go through to make this our business or our brand or you know, whatever it is.

[00:56:28] Miranda Webber: It's a lot of work. But we like doing it and or, you know, I love doing what I do. Um, otherwise we wouldn't be doing this. Or, you know, like for example, you love doing, you know, the podcasts, I've listened to your podcasts, things like that. You love doing it. But I know at the same time there's been nights that you're like, oh man, do I really gotta do this You know what I mean? Like, because I do it on my end too. Like.

[00:56:56] Jennifer Wilson: You know what's so interesting that I always, like, I don't have a lot of, like, I, even though I'm an introvert, I don't have a lot of like stage fright or whatever anymore. Even with, um, regardless of like who the guest is. Um, and I think one of the biggest things that keeps me going is that every conversation always gets me excited about scrapbooking.

[00:57:18] Jennifer Wilson: So I would say that's the strategy I use to stay motivated is that I spend, you know, a couple hours every week talking to people about scrapbooking. Um, and that's, that's what helps me and keeps me going. And hopefully our listeners kind of feel the same way on the other end.

[00:57:32] Miranda Webber: Yeah. You know, when you're doing that or you know, if it's a, you know, obviously this is a podcast. So, but we all know, like, now we're, you know, this far into the podcast, right? I've talked about YouTube, my social media platforms or anybody, and it's not just me. Any one of you, you, that you do do this interview and you're, we're talking about all of this and we're always positive about it, but at the same time.

[00:58:01] Miranda Webber: Viewers and listeners, and people that are on YouTube and all of this, they have to understand too that we're doing this for you guys to listen as a podcast or to watch on there, to get motivation, to get the inspiration, to keep doing this industry. And if we don't do these things, I feel like it's gonna die out. Or it's gonna go back to what we talked about in the beginning of the, you know, the beginning of this about the eras that you and I grew up the eighties and nineties where didn't do any of this

[00:58:39] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah. Yeah. No, and I think that's, over Black Friday. You know, I used to do Black Friday promotions, but I stopped doing it because I really wanted to shift the focus on the people who make the stuff for our industry. Because if that that stuff doesn't exist, then I have nothing to talk about.

[00:58:58] Miranda Webber: Correct, correct. And, and if I don't, and, and my thing is, is that we could go all the way back to American Crafts and their designers, right? 'cause that's who's I'm thinking on my brain. If they didn't have designers to make their products, I wouldn't be able to do what I do.

[00:59:15] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah.

[00:59:15] Miranda Webber: I wouldn't be on this podcast with you doing what we all love to do, which is scrapbooking. And we're just one small hobby in this big world. But at the same time, we have to make sure that it can stay alive too. I'm, I'm, I'm gonna be honest with you, my parents never, they, they put their photos in an album and they collected dust. We, we never, we never did this when I was growing up. I did my thing in what I thought was scrapbooking at the time.

[00:59:54] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah.

[00:59:54] Miranda Webber: What really opened my eyes to being like, you know what, my family doesn't do this and I'm still the only one out of my whole entire family that I can say that I can touch my hands on and say, yep, I know who you are. You're part of my family. I'm the only one that does this.

[01:00:09] Miranda Webber: And that's interesting. When I had to get it from somewhere. I had to, I had to figure out where I got this. So sometimes maybe going back to where you got your ideas from may help your mojo going. I know I like doing this because taking that album that collected dust, looking through photos just was boring, for me. So I know that I'm gonna make it. Hopefully that, and I, and I feel like my son and my daughter will definitely go through these albums over and over and hopefully, you know, they'll have grandchildren. You know, and I can show them that, hey, this is how they grew up versus what I showed my children in the beginning of what my mom and dad had. Which is just in an album collecting dust.

[01:01:05] Jennifer Wilson: That's so interesting to think about. I think that's like, that could be a whole conversation in itself with our broader community. Of what memory keeping influences either in a positive or negative way did you have, and how do you think that impacted how you value scrapbooking and how you choose to do it today. So that's really fascinating.

[01:01:30] Miranda Webber: Yeah. And you know, and I never thought of it. And I know I, I know I tend to like, think of things and I, I, my parents will always say, my mom especially will always say, oh Randy, you're going off on a tangent. But on certain things, if you look at it, if we don't go back to the very beginning of what we do and why we do what we do, we need to know what our why is.

[01:01:55] Miranda Webber: And I feel not just in this industry, but in anything in general. You need to know your why. And if you don't know your why, you need to go find your why. But I can't, I can't do that for you. Just like nobody else in this industry can do that for you. You have to find your why on why you do what you do.

[01:02:19] Miranda Webber: And then you can show the world, why you do what you do. Because you don't want it forced. You know what I'm saying? Like I feel like if you don't know your why, you're forcing your things. And is that giving you the best, is that the best version of you or is that I'm just doing it for the sake of doing it.

[01:02:41] Jennifer Wilson: I think that's part of like what we do at Simple Scrapper and, and so even some of the broader conversations in terms of like, let's just stop what we're doing and really think about what we're doing, why we're doing it. Is this the right path? Is this both filling me up and fitting the time and energy I have right now?

[01:03:00] Jennifer Wilson: Um, and then one thing that's kind of popped up through that process, both in scrapbooking and and in my life is that what are those things that, that keep popping up for you every time you do some sort of like annual reflection, every time you sit down to think about what you wanna do. I know you're always thinking about a couple things that always pop back up.

[01:03:20] Jennifer Wilson: And so I think there's something really valuable in, in listening to those. 'Cause it means either you, you still wanna do it, you need to pay attention to it. Um, and these, these other things can sometimes be very pretty delightful distractions.

[01:03:36] Miranda Webber: Yeah. And, and I, I also feel like if those, those things, whatever those things are, whatever those intangible or tangible things are. That is why you do what you do on a daily basis. It doesn't have to be with our scrapbooking, right? Like, it, it, this isn't, this is just a hobby for most of us. And, you know, I, yes, I have a brand to uphold.

[01:04:09] Miranda Webber: I know for you, you know, for you, this is, you know, this is your, you know, your business, your job, your, you know, your livelihood. In that sense, this is my brand. And I always want to give the best version, but that best version has to be authentic.

[01:04:27] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah.

[01:04:27] Miranda Webber: I don't want it forced. I don't want to, you know, I'm on design teams, right?

[01:04:34] Miranda Webber: Like, I don't wanna be on the design team that I feel that my worth isn't their worth. Like, is it worth being on a bunch of design teams? Just for the free pro, you know, let's be real. A lot of us think about it as free product, whatever, um, you know, whatever that reasoning is in that, in that sense. Or are we doing it because we actually really enjoy using those products or being with that business and then influencing it with your brand.

[01:05:09] Miranda Webber: There's always those different ways of looking at it. And we all have, I say we all have our brand. Now, of course, my brand has a name. It's hashtag my scrappy life. You know? Um, I know you have a brand. There are ones of us that actually have a brand out there. Right. But we all have a brand. It's, it's how we scrapbook.

[01:05:34] Miranda Webber: It's how we look at what we wanna do and how we wanna do it. If we are the literal scrapbooker or the illiteral scrapbooker that will, you know, kind of pick and choose. I feel like that's how this industry is gonna stay to grow.

[01:05:50] Miranda Webber: 'Cause if we don't, and we keep looking at the negative side, or we keep being, like for example, oh well this designer left and this designer left.

[01:06:01] Miranda Webber: Well, I don't want a scrapbook anymore because, I No, you can find other things to replace that. I remember, and maybe you remember this too. You remember when Heidi Swapp stopped doing Color Shine Gold, Color Shine. And everybody's like, oh my gosh, I am not, I'm gonna be out of Color Shine. I'm never gonna find this perfect gold splatter.

[01:06:27] Jennifer Wilson: This one, you mean? I just pulled it out of my drawer.

[01:06:30] Miranda Webber: So here's, here's the funny thing is see, here's the funny thing is I didn't like Heidi Swapp's. I know, I know, everybody's gonna be like, I was not a Heidi Swapp person. And you wanna know why I didn't like the oil? There was always a ring around her, her drops, and it would never dry on my layouts. I did not like that. I hated it.

[01:06:55] Jennifer Wilson: I'm a blotter, so I think I, I often absorbed it so.

[01:07:00] Miranda Webber: You know, I, I, I was not. And I know, I know that we're gonna get like, gasp, especially if you were in that era of Heidi. Swapp. Okay, , I know. I'm gonna get that gasp. Or, you know, as they're listening, however they listen to this. Right. But, um, I remember I was not that I, I just couldn't believe it, but I never was negative about it.

[01:07:22] Miranda Webber: And I know that in turn, other people are be like, well, Miranda that just took you a notch down or whatever. But you know, and it's all in fun. I did have another one. I was, when, when that all went out, I was like, I was kind of giggling. Because I was like, he, he, you guys don't have to worry about it or you, you guys have to find something.

[01:07:42] Miranda Webber: I don't have to worry about it. Because my favorite one was Shimmerz Paints. Mine is Sunset Strip. And I use that on a daily. Like, I, I don't know how many I've purchased at this point.

[01:07:55] Jennifer Wilson: I have a, I have a a silver from them. I don't know if it's still good though. It's in another drawer.

[01:08:00] Miranda Webber: But you know what I'm saying though, like to your, you know, to everybody that did a Heidi Swapp, that was my Heidi Swapp. Now if they would, you know, if Shimmers Paints would ever get rid of that, I, I would be sitting with the same spot of you guys Heidi Swapp.

[01:08:14] Jennifer Wilson: Kind of the heart of what we're circling around here is when you are creating in authenticity, in alignment with yourself, you're gonna find like the ease that you're looking for. Um, and oftentimes when we're following trends or what's popular or what everyone else is doing, if something's not quite working, it might be because it's just not really for you.

[01:08:44] Jennifer Wilson: And that's okay. You can appreciate it. Think it's beautiful, like know that you might find some fun in it, but to also know in your heart that you might not finish it. Um, this particular technique is either too messy or not messy enough for you. Um, and we can appreciate those things, so.

[01:09:03] Miranda Webber: Yep. And you, you are completely correct. It's, it's not everything is gonna be for everybody. And, or it might not be something that after you try it at, I always say at least try something once. At least try it and say, Hmm, okay, yep, I can, I can keep using this. Or, eh, maybe that's not something I would wanna keep doing. But I can say at least I tried. And that's where I feel like kind of. I guess wrap, like wrapping all of this in, like if you wanna wrap it into a balloon, right? And like kind of wrap it up and get it closed in and say, look, if you can at least say that you stayed motivated, you have learned something new, tried something new, found that what you liked and disliked throughout your process of life in general, scrapbooking, hobbies, life, job, whatever. Then you can say, you know what, I did my job for the, day, the year, the month. The, you know, the month, the year. You know what I'm saying? You know, you know what I mean? In that, in the sense that this is our hobby that we do, whether it's on a daily weekend or whenever you can get to it. Or if it's only for crops, because that's the only time you have time to do it. What, whatever that is. This is just a small portion of what we are as a person, as a human being.

[01:10:33] Miranda Webber: This is only one part of my life. I mean, you know, I'm, I, I wear many hats and I feel like we all wear many hats no matter who you are. And if we can find time to be present in everybody else's moment in time, life, we need to find present for ourselves. And if that's scrapbooking, which is what you and I do and our listeners do. Or if you're new and haven't, you know, came, you know, you come across this, find whatever that is and find it for yourself.

[01:11:09] Jennifer Wilson: Yes.

[01:11:09] Miranda Webber: Because I feel like a lot of individuals, as human beings aren't finding time for themselves. And they're stretch, they're stretching themselves so thin. That they're forgetting about them. 'Cause if you aren't yourself, how can you help others. Or be there for others? Because you can't. And I'm gonna be one to tell you, you can't. Because I, I've, I've, I've spread myself thin.

[01:11:41] Jennifer Wilson: Yes. We all have.

[01:11:43] Miranda Webber: I think we all have.

[01:11:44] Jennifer Wilson: It's, It's very easy to do.

[01:11:47] Miranda Webber: Yes. Yes. And that's why mine goes all the way back around. And I know we've been, you know, talking for quite a while. But it all goes back to that's why I do 15 minutes a day. Because that's my time. That's me being me. And if that's just me sitting.

[01:12:07] Miranda Webber: You know, obviously recording this today was not just 15 minutes, right? Like we've been going for a while. But that, that's my 15 minutes today. I knew when I decided to do this, like for example today I knew that this is what my 15 minutes was gonna be. Tomorrow is, you know, organizing or what, you know, whatever it is.

[01:12:31] Miranda Webber: But I feel like you have to, you have to be present for yourself before you can do anything else. And if your hobby is scrapbooking and this is what you do, make that your present. Make that what you are gonna do for yourself daily or you know, every couple of days or whatever. ' Cause you know, I'm a reader too, so I like to read or you know, whatever your other little hobbies are, make them present daily. ' Cause I feel like that is the only way those habits are going to stay.

[01:13:01] Miranda Webber: They're gonna stick throughout the school, you know, throughout your, I was gonna say school year, Lord Jesus.

[01:13:06] Jennifer Wilson: Throughout your life.

[01:13:08] Miranda Webber: Throughout your life. That's what I was trying to get at . Not just my job.

[01:13:14] Jennifer Wilson: Miranda, this has been such a refreshing conversation. Can you share where we can find you online and anything that might be coming up for you in 2024?

[01:13:25] Miranda Webber: Okay, so my, my social media handle is MirandaWebber82. Literally kid you not, if you type that into Google, everything will pull up. Instagram, Facebook, YouTube. Um, that is where you will find me everywhere. Um, so it's Miranda Webber 82. And then, um, what's coming up for me is if you are new to following me, um, I just joined a new, um, design team, so I'm part of already Confessions of a Paper Addict Cut file shop.

[01:14:02] Miranda Webber: She is cut files. Um, obviously Shimmerz Paints 'cause I've, I know I've talked about them. So I am a, um, design team member for Shimmerz Paints and I am now going to be a design team member for Color Cast Designs that does acrylic and acrylic pieces and veneer, wood veneer pieces. Oh, and I'm sure, and I'm, uh, SpiegelMom Scraps, which she sells sequins um, for design team.

[01:14:31] Miranda Webber: But yeah, I'm excited to join that and honestly, my new shift is just to, um, focus on my brand and my design teams is where I'm going into new, into 2014. So I'm excited.

[01:14:47] Jennifer Wilson: Sounds fun. We'll be linking up all, everything that you've mentioned in the show notes for this episode, and I can't wait to check out more of your YouTube channel. I want to, I feel like I have a lot of mixed media supplies, but I've not, like I love painting. I love a little bit of mixed media on my layouts, but I want to kind of merge those worlds a little bit more. Um, so I think I probably actually need to bring my Gesso to my scrapbooking.

[01:15:12] Miranda Webber: Uh, you may, you may need to. It just all depends on how you wanna roll with it. Um, just know that I'm just one person. Um, but the, here's the funny thing is I always tell anybody that is brand new to mixed media, or not new, but wanting to dabble into it. Go to my YouTube channel, which, um, was said here for the club notes.

[01:15:34] Miranda Webber: So make sure you go check that out. Type in on the search section, there's a search section that says newest to oldest. Click on that. Go down to the oldest to newest and all my very first videos that ever popped up on YouTube that I started doing process. You gotta check out those videos and then do my newest ones and you will see out of the seven years

[01:16:00] Miranda Webber: Nope, I'll take that back. Eight years out of the eight years that I've been doing YouTube now, 'cause I just turned eight years in November. You will see a huge change in my mixed media. I, I just grew now, I grew my way, but everybody grows differently. So, but that would be something that would be interesting to see your guys' takes on.

[01:16:22] Miranda Webber: So if you, you're here and you get to the end of this, I always say this, if you got to the end of this podcast or the end of my process, video . Um, I'm glad that you're here. But I want, I wanna challenge you guys. Go out there and check anybody's YouTube channel and type in their oldest to newest and look at how we started and where have we become, where have we came to or what have we. You, you gotta check it out because I do it, I do it all the time and I, it gets me humble. It gets me humble. 'Cause it's a treat.

[01:17:01] Jennifer Wilson: My first YouTube video, I believe, was how I had one of those like Sterilite drawer systems. You know, it's like maybe three foot tall.

[01:17:10] Miranda Webber: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yep. Yep.

[01:17:12] Jennifer Wilson: All of my supplies fit in that at the time, and now that one's in the closet holding just paint. And I have an entire room full of things.

[01:17:23] Miranda Webber: So, here, here's, here's the funny thing is too, when I look at that, my video, my videos now are all nice and white and clean and big and all of that. Those very first ones, you could see my, my tripod. You could see me shaking the heck out of my layout. Like that is why you need to just, anytime you wanna humble yourself or get a good giggle.

[01:17:48] Miranda Webber: 'Cause I'm, I giggle all the time when I do this, especially to my layouts, um, or my process. Do the oldest to newest and just check it out and see, see where they have come from because we have, we have grown ourselves. But sometimes doing it yourself. Take that 15 minutes, play a couple of those videos and look at where we have come. 'Cause it helps, I tell you it does. And then it's a good giggle.

[01:18:17] Jennifer Wilson: Miranda, thank you so much for spending time with me.

[01:18:20] Miranda Webber: Yes. And thank you so much for having me, and I hope that, um, everybody got at least something out of, this conversation tonight.

[01:18:29] Jennifer Wilson: I, I know I did so at least one person did for sure. But I know everyone else did as well. I'm, yeah, I'm excited to go make some things. And to all of our listeners, please remember that you have permission to Scrapbook Your Way.