Burning the midnight scrapbook

18 July 2007 (around 8:30 pm)

Summer is asleep, and Mom is here. The dishes are done, laundry is folded and toys put away, so we use this opportunity to work on our scrapbooks. Mom is sorting and organizing some embellishments, and I get back to my Biltmore Estate scrapbook.

For the layout of my next gold dust page, I start with the two photos that got pushed off my last page (fog and view). I’m not sure if I want to add a picture from the next group of photos or use the other trivia card instead. The trivia card has narrative on it that goes along with the outdoor theme, which is the next set of pictures. Since this will be part of a two-page spread, I decide it doesn’t matter. I use the trivia card on this page and save the extra picture for my next page. (image 1)

I look through all my mementos to see if there is anything else I might want to include. As I’m making notes, I say to Mom, “It’s hard to believe all of these thoughts go into making one page. You don’t realize just how many individual thoughts you have until you write them down.”

I come across a picture Leslie’s 4-year-old daughter Bianca drew for me. Bianca wanted to draw a picture for each of her mommy’s friends that she would be seeing on the trip. I show it to Mom. I’ll be including that later in the scrapbook. I don’t find any more mementos for this page, which makes me even more satisfied with my decision to use the trivia card here.

The title for this page just popped into my head: A Room with a View. That literary education of mine comes in handy sometimes! Titles are curious things. It definitely helps to think in terms of catch phrases, well-known titles, clichés, etc. Occasionally, a title will just present itself (like on this page). More often though, it’s the only thing keeping me from moving onto the next page. My best advice is to keep an open mind and let your thoughts flow. Consider all possibilities, even if they seem ludicrous at first. Another thing is, not every page needs a title.


In my search for memorabilia, I came across a few stickers I might use on this page or the next, so I put them to the side.

I decide I’m going to mat the photos on this page with photo mounting paper, so I consult my trusty Cottage Storybox again for just the right colors. I consider my photos. Green is a predominant color in the photos, so I’m thinking of bringing out a more subtle color in the pictures with the mats. I consult the sticker possibilities for accent colors as well. Dark orange seems to be a common accent color in the various elements, so I select that color for one of the mats. For the fog in the window pic, I choose a chartreuse mat and because the edges of the drapes in the picture are barely visible I use the patterned side of the mat to help soften the boxy look of the window. (image 2)

Mom asks if I took a picture of the wines I purchased while there. “No,” I say, “but I plan to." Then with a chuckle, "I certainly can't put empty bottles in the scrapbook!”

I turn my attention to the title of the page. I check my supply of ABC/123 stickers to see what colors I have. I consider sassy mandarin but that seems too bright for the tranquil setting of the page. My only other option seems to be classy wine (how appropriate!). I check the colors of the journal boxes in the Cottage Storybox to see if I have a coordinating color. I do, so I select that. I don’t have a lot of journaling in mind for this page, so a small box will work fine. (image 3)

I start thinking about how I want to adhere the letters. Straight? Wavy? Directly onto the page or on a backdrop first? If a backdrop, what backdrop? Wavy would help balance the straight lines of the page, but with no backdrop a lot of awkward “white space” would remain. I have a set of chunky, black, travel rub-on letters. One of the rub-ons is an “H” in a similar serif typeface as my ABC/123 stickers. The phrase “our hotel” is directly underneath the letter. If I rub that onto my page and then wrap the title around it in a circle using the Titletopia, that would add the interest I want. I cut out the rub-on and add it to my layout.

I’m not very experienced with rub-ons. My cousin Stacey is a pro. Too bad you aren’t here, Stacey! I’ll go ahead and give it a try. Heck, I think if I screw up at least I can cover it up with something else! (Back-up plans are wise to have in this craft.) Mom feigns a drum roll, and I rub the icon onto the page. I wish I could close my eyes, because I just can’t look! But I have to look, and, after a few extra rubs for good measure, I lift away the vellum. Success! The image is perfectly adhered. (Stacey, you are right about these things!) (image 4)

Now, I’m ready for the letters. To get them in the right shape, I need to use the Titletopia. I want the circle aligner, so I set that onto the protective backing sheet. This ensures my stickers are exactly where I want them before they even touch my page. The delicate nature of the letters makes it difficult to use my fingers only so I call on my Multi-purpose tool and clips to assist me. (Fortunately, they are unengaged at the present time!)

After maneuvering the stickers a couple of times, I achieve the desired result. (image 5)


I lift up the circle aligner from the backing (stickers coming along) and affix the stickers where I want on my page. I press them down and gently pull up on the circle aligner, a little toward me for the stickers above and a little away from me for the stickers below. This allows the letters to separate from the aligner and adhere completely to my page. I finish off the title by adding the dots for my “I”s. (image 6)

With the title complete, I study the page, and conclude that the excess white space is too much for me to handle, so I try to think up something I could put there without detracting visually from the title. But what? A sticker might be too much, but, still, I keep it in mind. I have a grapes sticker and a leaf sticker that might work. A light bulb comes on. I reach into my CM archives for a border stencil I received as a giveaway for attending an event eight years ago. I play with the various openings and finally decide on on one. Should I place the accent lines at opposite corners of the title or around the entire perimeter? I decide on opposite corners for a couple of reasons. One, there is really only one area of white space that is bothering me (lower left). Two, they won’t create another box shape on the page.

One big question leads to another. What color ink will I use to draw the bordering lines? While I ponder that, I begin adhering the rest of the elements to my page with the Tape Runner (all except journaling box). I include one of the stickers I previously earmarked for the page as well (wine country). I wipe off the photos with my polishing cloth.

It’s about 11:30 pm. Mom is getting ready to leave. She's brought an article about Emma Watson for me to read. We discuss the latest Harry Potter film and book for a bit, pondering whether or not Rowling will write another. I suggest, she’ll write a prequel or start another series. Her fans will definitely want more, even if she is doesn’t. I predict that by summer 2010 will see something else from her. “See you Saturday for Ethan's party,” Mom says, and gives me a hug. I watch her get into her car, then I shut the door and return to my hovel.

Ink colors. Ink colors. My initial inkling (ha ha, get it?) is to go with purple to match the wine-colored letters. But, then I decide it’s too purple. I test metallic copper and think it would coordinate well with the orange photo mat. I test out metallic patina as well, but, like the purple, it is too green, and I decide against it. Black, as simple as it is, might trump them all. One quick strike onto my scrap paper and I’m convinced. I draw the lines, and immediately feel much better about that irksome white space. (image 6)

The final element of the page is my journaling. When I first started scrapbooking – Kathy will remember – I would write out my journaling separately before transferring it to a journaling box. That’s how paranoid I was of making a mistake. Now, I just think a moment or two about the gist of what I want to say, then I just write it. Nine times out of ten, I have just enough to say to fill my box, nothing more, nothing less. The longer you do it, the more comfortable you’ll get with the pen and the paper.

Since I used black ink on the title area border, I use black on the box, too. Because I described the trivia cards on the previous page, I don’t need to reiterate them here. Instead, I focus on the pictures. While writing, I have to look up a word to double check its spelling. I keep a pocket dictionary at my work table for these occasions. In fact, this dictionary belonged to my late grandfather. Every time I use it, I think of him and silently thank him for sharing his wisdom with me all those years.

I’m happy with my journaling so I adhere the box to my page with the Tape Runner. (image 7) I wipe my pictures one more time with the cloth, then slide the page protector back on. I add this page to my album, turn the lights out and go upstairs to bed.

A Page in the Scrapbook of Heather Walls

15 July 2007 (afternoon)

Album: Trip to Biltmore Estate, August 2006
Coverset: Premiere Coverset 12 x 12 Ruby

The first thing I need is scrap paper to record my notes on for this post. I look around and see nothing useful nearby. I really don’t want to go upstairs and risk waking Summer up, so I scrounge a sheet from the trash I tossed away earlier. Unfortunately, it has already co-mingled with other trash and it’s useless. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I spot my stack of packing slips from my recent CM order folded on the dining room-turned-scrapbooking buffet and decide they’d make a great makeshift booklet.

For this page, I start with three photos: one of our room at the Inn, one of the fog that settled on the Estate the next morning and one of the view from our window after the fog lifted. I have one piece of memorabilia to include (a trivia card left on our beds for the turn-down service). The photo of our room contains a bit of my purse on the right side. I think that detracts from the focal point of the picture, so I crop my purse out with the Personal Trimmer. The other two photos are fine.

I lay all of these out onto the page and select a journaling box. I choose the color of the journaling box (from the Cottage Storybox) to coordinate with the color of the bed spread in one of the photos. I choose the size and orientation based on my layout so far (image 1).

During this process, Adam walks into the room and notices me sort of staring at the table. He says something like “Are you daydreaming about scrapbooking?” he asks. “Nope,” I respond with a half-smile, “just trying to think of what I want to do next.”

I then remember I have quite a bit to journal about on this page as well as another piece of memorabilia to include. (I want to cut the image of the Inn with the pool from one of my brochures.) As a result, two of my pictures get pushed to the next page, and I select a larger journaling box in the same color. Now, I have room for a title plus sticker or other embellishment (image 2).

I am not planning to use any background paper on this page because it is Gold Dust and the speckled texture works well with the items I’m including.

Summer is awake. Adam brings her downstairs, and I fix us a snack: cheese and watermelon. Summer eats all of her cheese and most of her watermelon. She looks cute with the melon balls tucked inside her cheeks. I resist the urge to take a picture. I clean her up, and send her to the living room to play with Adam.

Back at my scrapbooking table, I start thinking about how I want to title the page. Selecting a title can be one of the most challenging aspects of scrapbooking, especially if there is limited space. For this page, I know my title needs to be succinct. Fortunately, the theme of my page relates to “bed” which is a short word – at least in English. I think: I might be able to improvise on the phrase “time for bed” by using icons instead of letters. I search my stash and tools and come up with a clock + the number 4 + a moon with a hat = time for bed. Since I am able to professionally cut these icons myself, I choose paper in colors that would coordinate with the colors in my photos and the other items on the page (baby blue, yellow and brown). I use leftover scraps and adhere all of them to the cutting mat. I cut each image individually, because each one is on a different cartridge.

After removing the icons from the mat, I assemble them and add them to my layout (image 3).

Summer toddles over. She wants to get in my lap (and get into my stuff!). I show her what I am doing. She is more interested in the pencil than my scrapbook page. Adam lures her back to playing, so I can finish up.

I have some space below the trivia card on my page. I’d like to find a sticker or vellum accent to go there. I have a set of stickers that fan open like a Pantone color guide. I think there might be a sticker in there I can use, but I can’t remember where I put it. (See – it pays to be organized!) I look through my drawers, on the table and inside my pink plastic project tote. Not in any of those places. I look in my nearly empty CM canvas bag. I don’t see it, so I continue looking elsewhere. Eventually, I go back to the bag, and find it hiding at the bottom. I flip the sticker set to the friends section and see a sticker that is about the right length. It reads: “Life is a journey, not a destination.” This is the one I want. I set it to the side.

I adhere the sticker to a piece of blue paper and cut it so it’s just the right size for my leftover space. I notice the left and right edges of the sticker have a sort of scalloped shape, so I use a pair of decorative scissors to mimick that design around the blue paper (image 4). The scissors don’t make a perfectly clean cut on the longer sides, so I use my all-purpose scissors to finish the job.

Next, I write in my journaling box. I want to use a fine-tip pen for precise writing. I choose an ink color that is similar to the other colors on the page, but not too similar to the color of the journaling box. I also want a color that will be readable against the box. Based on what I’ve done so far, blue seems to be the obvious choice, but, not to be too hasty, I also consider green, brown and gold. Since gold is a metallic pen, it might not show up well on the box. Green is not a predominant color on my page, so I think it will stand out too much. Part of the title and memorabilia are brown as well as the sticker, but because blue is near the three other corners on my page, and it’s brighter than brown, I opt for that to balance out the accents.

Our niece Katie is on the phone with Adam. She wants to talk about our trip to NYC later in the year. What time will we leave that morning? What time will we get to NYC? Will we have time to walk through Central Park? What is the name of the place we were going to go to for lunch? What time is the show? What do I need to wear? I help answer her questions from the table. I’m so happy she is excited, but I'm so easily distracted.

Back to journaling. Now that I’ve selected an ink color, I consult my travel journal for some guidance on what to write. (A travel journal is an excellent item to take on a trip. You can record thoughts and details that are long lost after you get home.) After journaling, I realize I forgot to mention the name of the creepo guy from the elevator, so I asterisk the word “guy” and, at the bottom of my journaling box, I add a small footnote: *Niles. (image 5)



This is a good time to mention that it is okay to make mistakes. Mistakes often serve as the platform for a new idea (necessity is the mother of invention), but they also lend a personal quality to your scrapbook. So, don't be worried about making them!

Now, I adhere all of the items to the page using the Tape Runner. I start with the icons that comprise the title. Then, the journaling box because it’s the item closest to the page (it overlaps nothing). I adhere the photo next, then the trivia card, followed by the mounted sticker. I run the image of the Inn with the pool through my sticker maker. That image completes my page. I wipe the photo with my photo polishing cloth, slide on a Page Protector, and I’m done! (image 6) Time to make dinner!

Welcome to my scrapbooking blog!

I hope my musings here will help inspire you to complete your projects, give you some ideas or, if nothing else, entertain you.

I'll try to post as often as I can, and I welcome your comments and feedback.

Heather