May is probably one of the first scrappers that I met in real life, and since then we've worked together on a number of teams and projects. Working with her has always been such an easy process, and her insight and expertise has always improved any project on which we've collaborated. I love May's enthusiasm, her practicality, her sense of humor, and her work ethic. She's a true teacher, in every sense of the word, and she's constantly coming up with great ideas, one of which I'm happy to share with you today. Enjoy.
Once upon a time, there was a crafter named May who loved to play with all kinds of pretty things. When she wasn’t creating up a storm she could be found reading books, her favorites being those that end up with happily ever after.
Hi everyone! My name is May Flaum, I’m the co-author
(with Audrey) of Paper + Pixels, a great guide to hybrid scrapbooking if I do
say so myself, and I’ve been happily scrapbooking my life for as long as
I could write. One thing I’m guilty of is not telling all my best
stories. I’m betting you know what I’m talking about. The stories
that are ingrained in our lives, that are part of the lore and legend that is
known by every family member, those defining moments that you never ever forget.
Things that are so known, often it’s easy to forget to scrapbook them.
We are starting to plan a trip to Disney World, and my husband and I were talking about the start of our honeymoon (in Disney World) where we encountered a family in a restaurant with a kid that literally had too much fun and ‘refunded’ part of her dinner. It was just one of those inside joke/private moments, and has become stuff of legend around here. So why didn’t it make the honeymoon scrapbook? For that matter, why don’t I scrap it now?
I run into problems with scrapbooking these big stories for
a few reasons:
- No photos to coordinate
- Don’t think of scrapbooking it/forget to
- Not sure how to get started
For the first problem (no photos) I simply find one that will work. Some random photo that ties in loosely – either people involved, subject in general, or just something. Or, if the story is long I simply make a photo-free page. No big deal!
Now as to getting started, as I searched for inspiration for this guest blog post it hit me. Books. Stories. I’m a certified bookworm, so why not take a cue from that? You can take a serious or funny, light or heavy approach with this. But writing it as if writing a story about others (vs in first person) is a fun way to mix it up and get that tale down. I suggest starting with a clichéd intro like...
- Once upon a time...
- It was a dark and stormy night...
- One bright sunny day...
- In a land far, far, away...
- A long time ago...
Or try writing from the middle of happily ever after, as a mystery, thriller, or any other genre you like! I have found that my love of books can help my crafting. How? Not only giving me ideas and bringing up memories I’ve yet to scrapbook, but providing inspiration in the form of titles, fonts, and so much more.
In this layout I created I went with “Once upon a
time...” since I’m writing about our honeymoon eight years ago. I
thought putting a photo of my girls instead of us back on our honeymoon was fun
– though including both could be fun too. I tried a number of fonts and
title treatments before deciding that simple printing on vellum would get the
look I was really after. Creative play is fun, but sometimes simple really is
best! There were tons of fonts I loved at www.dafont.com
where I downloaded this free font (the king and queen font) – it’s
such a great resource for fun and unusual fonts.
Supplies: The Girls’ Paperie patterned paper, flower, chipboard
button, die cut clock, and metal accent; Kaiser Craft lace; Jillibean-Soup
gingham paper; Jenni Bowlin large cream and pink buttons; Tattered Angels
chalkboard glimmer mist; Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L crafty power tape and EZ-Runner
permanent vellum adhesive; unknown photo corners, thread, and smaller buttons
I hope that you’ve enjoyed my layout, and if you
create a book inspired layout please be sure to share with me! You can find me
at my blog www.mayflaum.wordpress.com
and also at my new on-line class Camp Scrap http://www.
