Friday’s are a day for fun… that way you get your weekend off to a good start!

Want to see more in the Fun Friday series? Click HERE.

Have yourself a wonderful weekend!

Alice.

Welcome to the very first episode of a new series at Scrapbook Wonderland, the Scrapper Showcase!

I’m excited to introduce you to Wendy Grimstad-Davidson. Wendy is a close friend of mine and has been a member of my scrapbook club for several years.

I originally met Wendy through swimming, our kids are on a competitive swim team together, but we bonded over our shared love of scrapbooking… and wine!

I asked Wendy questions about how scrapbooking is a part of her life.

Meet Wendy!

When I asked Wendy for a photo of herself she said she’d try to find one that she doesn’t hate. This is the perfect choice, how could you hate a photo with Santa? Lol!

Wendy, when did you start scrapbooking?

I went to a Creative Memories party back in the mid 90’s. I made a volleyball layout.

How did you get hooked on scrapbooking?

I liked the idea of telling the story and not just having photos and maybe some dates. It took a long time to get over the fear of cutting the pictures back in the day of negatives!

What was your style like? How has it evolved?

I used to cut photos into shapes. No patterned paper. Embellishments were stickers. Now, I’m not great with patterned paper, but I try to use it and layer. I like to use multiple photos in my layouts because I’m cheap!

What type of scrapping do you do now?

Mostly the kids, mostly 12×12 layouts, although 6×8 pocket books are some of my favourites. They are fun because it is easier and using 3-4 papers make it easier and it was finished. And travel albums.

How often do you scrap?

Not often enough! Honestly, lately, only once every couple of months.

What kinds of topics do you scrap?

My kids, travel, events, pages in memory of. One of my favourite pages is called “She”. I had my nieces, nephews, brothers and sisters all share something about my mom. ie.) She made the best chocolate chip cookies. I gave it to my mom and it was a nice memory for my dad after she was gone.

What is your process?

Generally I start with photos, then choose background paper and accent paper. I always use at least 2 colours, then I pick embellishments and titles. All of it comes second to the story and photos, sometimes I don’t even add a title.

What helps you get more done?

Having a project helps. Not searching for things! I’m not the most organized scrapbooker but for a project, like my Japan book, I have everything together. If I don’t have enough time to scrap I put things together, so I’ll be ready. I also like to drink wine. It helps the creative process.

What do you love about your scrapbooking?

It’s my only creative outlet. I like that my kids can look at the scrapbooks in 20 or 50 years and they’ll know what was happening. Our travel and baby albums are pulled out the most to relive the memories. Usually another story is told and I think that it should go in there, but it probably won’t happen.

Frame of Mind

I love Wendy’s attitude towards scrapbooking. She dives right in and creates gorgeous pages that tell her stories and share her beautiful photos of her family. One day at our scrapbooking club she saw a layout I had created…

You can see more details about this layout HERE.

She turned to me and said, “I’d like to make a layout just like that!”

I said, “No problem!” and we pulled out the supplies so she could recreate this page. Here’s her creation.

I find it inspiring that Wendy wasn’t worried about copying a layout she loved. She happily created this page because she saw something she liked. Her page will probably never be displayed next to mine. (Well, I guess it was here. 😉 No one will know that she didn’t design the page, and no one will care. She made a layout that shares highlights of her life, and that’s the reason she scrapbooks, to capture the stories of her life.

By keeping the reason why she scrapbooks in mind Wendy has created many beautiful layouts that her family will cherish for years.

Thank you so much Wendy for being our first featured scrapper on the  Scrapper Showcase!

Alice.

Big, exciting news!!

Tiffany and Tracie invited me to share in a very special episode of the ScrapGals Podcast, the 100th episode! Whoo hoo!

I had a blast talking to them and their other guest, Crafty Jen Schow, about becoming a more prolific scrapbooker. What scrapper doesn’t want to accomplish more?

It’s not always easy, but Jen and I had lots of tips, that we ACTUALLY use to help make our scrapbooking easier and faster. If you can scrapbook faster, you can get more done.

Tracie was a sweetheart and she created a list of the 15 tips we discussed in the podcast. You can see the entire list AND download a handy PDF here: How to Be Prolific.

Rather than recap the tips, Tracie already did that, I thought I’d share some of my favourite quotes from this episode. 😉

Quotes from Episode 100 of the ScrapGals

Tracie made my day when she said this after my first tip…

I LOVED this tip from Jen…

When you scrapbook something that you are inspired by it is SO much easier! I can’t believe this wasn’t on my original list of tips! I’m so glad Jen shared it!

As we talked about inspiration I was reminded that…

When Tiffany said this line I was thrilled! But is it just an excuse perfectionists use to justify their actions? Nah!

After my big confession, and revelation about how I learned to let go I said this…

It seems that Tracie, Tiffany, Jen and I are all on the side of scraplifting!

When Jen said this we were in awe! Exactly!!

This is what I discovered when I completed my first LOAD challenge!

Oh dear… does this mean NO MORE HOARDING the pretty stuff? 😉

and finally…

If you want to be a more prolific scrapbooker… go do it!

Hidden Gem

P.S. If you listen to the episode you’ll hear that I shared a special page with the listeners of the podcast… don’t miss it! Hint, hint!

More Tips to Scrapbook More

Don’t miss this post where I shared 10 tips to scrapbook more! 10 Tips

The ScrapGals Podcast

Thanks Tiffany and Tracie for inviting me to be part of your 100th episode. Chatting with you is like hanging out with friends, which is why everyone LOVES the ScrapGals so much! I love that you release new episodes every week and I’m always excited to hear about your next topic.

If you want to listen to this podcast, and you don’t have it on your iPhone, (What are you waiting for? Get it!!) you can listen to it here: The ScrapGals.

Now, go and be crafty!

Alice.

Want to be a faster scrapbooker and get more done? Me too! 😉

Here’s my top 10 tried and tested tips that I’ve used to make my scrapbooking faster and more productive.

10 Tips to Scrapbook More

1.Define your process. How do you create? Where do you start? When you know your scrapbooking process it is easier to use that as a jumping off point for future pages.

2. Chunk it. Break your process into chunks. What small tasks make up your scrapbooking? Editing photos, printing photos, finding sketches or designing, writing journaling, creating kits; all of these can be done in small chunks of time.

3. Define what slows you down. What’s the hold up? What slows you down? Where do you get stuck? When you identify the parts of creating a layout that slow you down you can address those parts and find ways to speed things up.

4. Use sketches. If the overall design of the page slows you down you can use a sketch to help speed things up. That way you’ll know that the finished product will look good and you can focus on finding a photo to go with your story.

5. Scraplift yourself. Most of the time you think about scraplifting you think about copying pages designed by someone else. Let’s turn that around with a different style of scraplifting, scraplift yourself. Pull out 5-10 of your favourite layouts.

6. Limit supplies. It seems strange that limiting supplies can help you do more, but it does, and here’s how it works. When you have fewer supplies you have fewer choices to make. You can get right to the basics and create your pages. Using a kit is an easy way to limit your supplies and everything is already designed to match and work well together.

7. Be organized. This one can be a real struggle! The great thing about being organized is that even small steps towards better organization can be felt immediately. When you know where everything is you won’t need to spend time rummaging around trying to find the perfect embellishment, or the pen you need.

8. Let go of perfection. There truly is no such thing as the perfect scrapbook page. There are many possible options when you create a layout. When you stop trying for perfection and focus on what will work it can help you get more done. Chose a photo that is good enough. Find papers that will work. Select embellishments that will suffice.

9. Remember why. Why do you scrapbook? What is your purpose? Whether you enjoy the process, love to be artistic, or you want to tell your stories, or a combination of all three, when you connect with your reason for scrapbooking you’ll be more motivated to get pages done.

10. Do MORE scrapbooking! The thing that worked to get me on the path to more scrapbooking was the LOAD challenge. The Layout a Day challenge will inspire you to scrapbook every day for a month! (Yes, it IS possible.) Here’s why more scrapbooking works: You get better as you do more. You learn about what works. You become more efficient. You learn to get it done. You focus on the stories. Scrapbooking more actually helps you to scrapbook more! It sounds funny but it works. (If you want to learn more about LOAD click here.)

Make it Monday

Planner stickers, hot air balloons & dreams? It all came together for Connie! Don’t miss her post here!

What are your tips to scrapbook more? Share your ideas in the comments!

Alice.