be AUDacious

welcome to r3wind!

I'm so glad you've decided to join me for this week-long project. This is an idea that I've had kicking around in my head and sketched out in my planning notebook for quite some time, and I'm so excited to see it come to life.

Granted, using music for layout inspiration isn't a new idea -- many of you have been turning to songs since day 1 as a means of creating special pages for your albums. What I hope this class will do, though, is teach you to look at those songs from more than one perspective, so that you can pull out ALL the memories that each one brings to mind for you. 

Here's how this week will work. Each day, I'll put up a new lesson (6 lessons total). The lesson will include the following components:

• a journaling topic inspired by a particular song
• a writing technique drawn from an aspect of that song
• a sample layout to illustrate the lesson
• design suggestions drawn from the album cover art

Please do not think that you  have to complete all 6 lessons -- or even one lesson, for that matter -- during this week-long time period. If you are able to complete a layout each day, that's fantastic! I urge you to post a link to your layout in the comments so that we can all admire your work. But I know how busy life can be, so these lessons will be permanently linked on my tutorials page; that way, you can come back to them as needed.

In the meantime, I have created a page-planning-template for you, so that you can jot down your ideas now, as they occur to you while you read through the lessons, and then complete the layouts later as you have time.

Download Layout planner

There's one other step to complete before Lesson #1 begins tomorrow. You need to select one band or musician to focus on during the course of this project. While each of these lessons could be completed using a variety of songs from a variety of artists, using just one band or musician helps us to achieve a couple of things: 1) It provides cohesion and focus for the entire project, and 2) it allows us to focus on the skills and techniques being taught, since we'll have to dig deeper into these songs (rather than using the more obvious ones that might originally come to mind for a certain prompt. Chances are, you've already used that bit of inspiration, anyway...) 

When I envisioned this project, I was originally inspired by the idea of developing a life soundtrack. I quickly noticed that many of the songs on my list all came from the same artist/band; my guess is that each of you have a "favorite" band or musician whose songs play a recurring role in your life. Here are a few questions to help you identify a musician/band for this project:

• Who are your favorites? Think about groups or solo artists whose work has inspired you, album after album.
• When you are emotional, what music do you turn to?
• Think about a time in your life that was full of big steps or transitions. What music was popular at the time?

I chose the band Better Than Ezra. As I mentioned before, this was a pretty obvious choice for me. These guys released their first album during my freshman year of college, and their subsequent releases have been with me through a number of significant life changes, not to mention countless ordinary moments. In fact, one of their songs (and a snippet of the lyrics, too) inspired the title of this class. I'd love for you to post your choice in the comments on this post.

One final note: These lessons are intended to be flexible. Use what inspires you as you read through them. There are so many great ways that these techniques can be used; you aren't limited to just single-page layouts. In fact,  while I was developing these lessons, a number of ideas for mini-albums came to mind. Here are just a few:

• Create a "Love Songs Playlist" album for your significant other. Include a list of 10 or 15 songs that document important events and places from your relationship.
• Create a "Timeline" album or layout of your life, using the songs that were popular at the time. Look up the songs that were hits on your birthday at certain ages (birth, 5 years old, 10 years old, etc). For your journaling, use the memories that those songs bring to mind to help recreate your self at each age.
• Create your own "Greatest Hits" memories album. Use all the song titles from one particular album as page titles to document important events in your life.

That's all for today! I'll see you here tomorrow with the first lesson; in the meantime, feel free to share your band/musician choices in the comments, as well as any questions or additional comments you might have.

so busy...with no break in site

Today kicked off the first of thirteen consecutive days out of the office and on the road instead. I'm administering grant surveys this week, and then I fly out to Houston for a conference on Saturday at 8 am. I return home on Wednesday and then spend the next two days doing ACT prep with juniors, plus a weekend event in Louisville. Whew! I'm teetering on the verge of overwhelmed, so I'm going to keep this short. As long as I can get my to-do list taken care of this by Friday night, I'll be fine. :)

Just a reminder about my r3wind class -- it's FREE! -- which begins February 7 and runs through the week. Stop by each day for a new lesson with layout inspiration, journaling techniques and more -- all drawn from the meaningful songs in your life.

 

Also, if you're looking for some fun scrappy times this weekend, check out the Super Crop Bowl at Ready Set Create. I'm sponsoring one of the prizes, so it's a great chance to do some scrapping and win some of my digital goodies as well.

And one last thing -- I stopped in and grabbed a much needed haircut this afternoon and decided to get some short bangs. I haven't had bangs in a LONG time, but I think I like them. What do ya think? You can't see them super-clearly because I have them clipped to the side (I'm trying to train my hair to part farther over; it's what my stylist recommended).

something new on the way: r3wind

Music  has always been a HUGE part of my life. In fact, one of my earliest memories involves music and my dad -- two elements of my life that will always be entwined when I think about them.

I couldn't have been more than four or five. I can think of events that happened before this, but they don't arrive with the clarity, the fullness, that this moment carries. It's as though those moments have been dictated to me, and I've constructed the events as I think they've happened. With this moment, though, I'm there; I see it happen, feel it unfolding around me every time I think back to it.

I am in the car with my parents, driving through Fulton, where Highway 45 Y's and becomes Mayfield Road and 703. I am leaning forward between the seats, my hot skin sticky against the burgandy vinyl, the windows down, whipping my long blonde ponytail into my eyes. "Fly Like an Eagle" by the Steve Miller Band blasts through the speakers. From my spot between the seats, I can see Daddy's calloused hands on the steering wheel as he turns to look at me, his smile flashing white in his sun-darkened face.

That moment is just one of literally thousands of moments that play through my mind with their own accompanying soundtrack. Music has always been an integral part of the key moments -- significant or trivial -- that define my life. That's where this idea had its genesis.

What if, I thought, I created a FREE class on my blog where scrappers -- traditional, hybrid, digital or anything in-between -- could be led through a series of journaling exercises to help them use their own "personal soundtracks" as a starting point for some really meaningful layouts? As a result, I present to you:

Each day, beginning with an introduction to the project on Sunday, you'll get a new blog post, right here. You'll get sample layouts, journaling tips and exercises, layout sketches, and lots of encouragement and inspiration. We'll examine the songs that bring to mind important people, relationships, places, objects, lessons, and more -- and we'll use song lyrics and titles as jumping off points for telling these deep stories and to spark our page designs too.

There are no requirements for participation, and since the lessons will be posted FREE here on my blog, you don't have to show up at a certain time or pay any kind of class fee. The lessons will be linked to my blog header once the class has finished, so if time is not on your side right now, you'll can always stop in later and check out each lesson. While there are no official participation guidelines, your comments and questions will be welcomed each day in the comments section, and you'll also be encouraged to share a link to your layouts. (I'm considering a FlickR group as well -- would that be something you are interested in for this project?)

I'm so excited about this, as it's just the beginning of many fantastic things planned for this space in the upcoming months! I hope you'll join me and play along. I've included a sidebar ad (currently it's 300x300 but you can resize if needed) as well as blinkie (of the non-blinking variety, I should add). If you'd like to display these on your blog or on your forum signatures, that's great -- please make sure to save to your computer and then upload to your own account before using them.

I welcome your comments and feedback -- let me know if you're planning to participate! Also, if you can help spread the word on your blogs, in your forums, on Facebook and Twitter -- that would be fantastic!