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Lesson 6: Paper Empire

A few weeks ago, Ali Edwards had a great post on her blog that included tips about writing a letter to yourself, which I thought was terrific. Cathy Zielske has done a couple of layouts that she's shared on her blog that use a similar approach. This idea of moving through time, in the form of photos and words, is really at the core of what we do as scrapbookers, and it can be very powerful when put into those two forms. Music is another form as well.

Today's lesson, and the final lesson of this free class, is to find a song that speaks to the future you.

A NOTE ABOUT FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE:
When I taught middle school English, we spent a lot of time listening to music and looking at song lyrics during our poetry units. Songs, at the most basic level, are essentially poems set to music. And good music, just like good poems, needs a set of symbols at the center of the message to work most effectively. That's why songwriters rely on the same toolbox as poets -- and one of the real workhorses in that toolbox is figurative language.

Figurative language is defined as any language that goes beyond the literal meaning of a word or phrase.

• Simile: A simile makes a comparison by using the words like or as.
• Metaphor: A metaphor makes a comparison between two unlike things, without using like or as.
• Personfication: Personification is when you give something non-human the characteristics of a human.
• Hyperbole: Hyperbole is the use of over-exaggeration to make a point about a particular feature or detail.
• Symbolism: Symbolism is the use of a noun or image to represent something else, usually an idea or a concept. 

Finding ways to use figurative language in your writing is another way to pay attention to small details that can really have a big impact. Figurative language, especially the use of symbolism, can also provide a controlling metaphor that provides structure and focus to your journaling and helps you extend the ideas you are developing in your writing.

PLANNING:
There are many ways to go about the next step -- I'll leave that up to you. But here are the basics: you need to choose a song that conveys a message you would like your future self to remember and then use the song's title and/or lyrics to help you write a letter to yourself in the future. I suggest taking at look at the Ali Edwards post I linked in the introduction; there are some great sites with plenty of information included there.

WRITING:
As you develop your journaling, you want to look for ways to integrate both the design of your page and the words in your journaling. Symbolism can be a key element in both words and images, and you can easily let the images in the song you've chosen lead the way. Here are a few other things to think about in terms of symbolism and design:

• Color. The use of color can signify many things, as most colors have a number of feelings and meanings associated with them.
• Texture. Texture is another way to create additional layers of meanings. Think about the items you use on your pages in terms of hardness or softness, material, and weight.
• Shape. Just as different colors have different meanings associated with them, so do different shapes. The repetition and variation of shapes on your page can help draw the eye and emphasize a point.

DESIGN:
This is a perfect opportunity to use the album art as a jumping-off point for your page design. For each lesson, I'll give you the option to focus on one component of the album art. Today, we'll be focusing on the SYMBOLISM used on the album cover.

MY LAYOUT:
I'm behind again today. I have the lesson ready but no layout to show. I'm on my way to Louisville for a work trip, but I'll have it finished up once I finish a conference presentation that is due soon. Again, I'll do a quick edit and include it here when I'm caught up.

Lesson 5: Deluxe

On Tuesday, I talked about how I associate certain genres or periods of music with certain events in my life. For example, I noted that "grunge" will forever define the first few years of college for me. But within that larger period of time, certain bands or albums take on additional significance and, rather than representing events, they seem more representative of the stages of my life.

Today's lesson asks you to use a song that evokes a certain age or stage of your life: college, childhood, newlywed, new parent, empty nester, etc.

GENERAL WRITING TIPS:
I have a number of small tips to share with you today. Although there are many things you can do during the prewriting and organizing stages to make your writing more effective, there are a number of easy techniques you can implement during the actual writing process as well that can really make your writing shine.

• Use strong verbs and nouns. The verbs are the action words -- they do all the work in a sentence and put things in motion. Nouns are persons, places, things, and ideas. The English language consists of multiple words that mean the same thing. By choosing the most specific noun you can, you create additional layers of meaning without adding additional words. For example, write "The pine bent in the wind" instead of "The tree bent in the wind". Simple changes like this add a level of detail that's easy to achieve.
• Don't overuse adverbs and adjectives. If you are using strong verbs and nouns, you don't need additional descriptive words (adverbs modify verbs and usually end in -ly, while adjectives modify nouns and pronouns). Instead of saying "The tall, tanned boy ran quickly to the store", replace it with something like "The surfer raced to the store." The noun "surfer" conjures up an image of a tall tan boy, while "raced" implies running quickly but adds a level of haste and possibly danger to the meaning.
• Use active voice. With active voice, the action is being done BY someone or something, rather than TO someone or something. That can be confusing until you look at these examples. If I say "The boy kicked the ball," then the main focus of the sentence -- the boy -- is shown IN ACTION. He's making something happen. But if I say "The ball was kicked by the boy," then the action is happening to someone or something and the reader feels less involved. Active voice is stronger and moves the action along, while passive voice just sits back and lets things happen.
• Use parallel structure. Putting the details of your writing in a series that follows a certain pattern helps your reader make better sense of what you're saying. Parallelism is where the items in a series all follow the same grammatical format. For example, if you are listing three activities that you are doing, you want the verb forms to all look the same: running, jumping, laughing, playing, singing. Notice how they all end with -ing? But if I were to write "My daughter loves running, jumping, and to play" that last item really throws you off. It's jarring and confusing.

PLANNING:
There are many ways to go about the next steps -- I'll leave that up to you. But here are the basics: you need to choose a song that takes you back to a particular place and time in your life and then use the song's title and/or lyrics to help you make connections among the details you use to set the scene and the lessons you can take away from that age. This is one of those instances where you'll want to choose your details carefully and build them in a way that moves you from a general depiction of a particular age or stage in your life to how that stage/age helped form you into the person you are today. We're digging deeper with this prompt, using lots of specific details to encourage more self-reflection.

WRITING:
As you begin your journaling, you'll again want to think about how you are going to organize this information. We've discussed a number of organizational styles over the past couple of days, but with the focus of today's journaling lesson, it makes the most sense for the last paragraph or part of your journaling to be the one that packs the most emotional punch. When you organize in this manner, then  you build toward a climax, which keeps your reader engaged and wanting to find out more.

One of the key components of building climax is conflict. Conflict is defined as a struggle arising from two opposing forces. In simple terms, a conflict occurs when you have two things that you want, but you can only get one. Overcoming conflict is what brings fiction stories to a resolution; in real life, overcoming conflict is how we learn lessons and grow as individuals. As you work on your journaling for this lesson, try to identify the forces (there may be more than two) that are creating conflict for you. What have you learned from the decisions you had to make?

DESIGN:
This is a perfect opportunity to use the album art as a jumping-off point for your page design. For each lesson, I'll give you the option to focus on one component of the album art. Today, we'll be focusing on the COLORS used on the album cover.


credits: sweet + tart collab by Paislee Press and Leora Sanford Designs, Winterberry by Audacious Designs (journal strips), A New Leaf collab by Paislee Press and Audacious Designs (leaves)

MY LAYOUT:
I chose to combine lyrics from two different songs: "This Time of Year" and "Cry in the Sun" from the Deluxe album by Better Than Ezra. I was in college the first time I heard this album, and for me it's come to symbolize not just the freedom and endless possibility that seemed to exist at that time (when I felt like I could "rule the world if I wanted to, yeah") but also the beginning of my relationship with Chris. My life was getting ready to turn upside down in so many ways -- ways that changed me forever as a person -- and those late summer and early fall evenings seem to hold on both my innocence and my growing up in equal measure.

Lesson 4: Closer

Key events in our lives -- big or small -- can ripple down through so many different aspects over a period of time. The more significant the event, the bigger the impact. While these changes may occur gradually over time, it's interesting to trace them back to the turning point.

Today's lesson is to use a song to "frame" an event that has impacted your life. (When I say "frame," I'm thinking in terms of providing a soundtrack or narration for the event).

CHOOSING A POINT-OF-VIEW
All fiction stories have a narrator -- someone who is telling the story. So it makes sense that nonfiction, which is exactly what you're writing when you journal on your layouts, has a narrator too. Just as fiction writers must choose a narrative point-of-view, so must you decide from which perspective to tell your story. There are three main types:

• First person. The journaling is written from the "I" point of view. This is a good choice when you want to focus on your feelings and your memories. This type of writing is less for an audience and may read more like a confessional or a venting session. The "I" pronoun makes this type of writing very intimate and personal.
• Second person. The journaling is written to "you," the intended audience. Scrappers are often advised to write from a second person point of view because having a particular audience in mind helps to focus the story you tell. In this instance, most of the memories and feelings are intended to evoke a particular reaction from the reader. This point of view also helps your reader to feel more involved in what's going on in the story.
• Third person. The journaling tells what "he, she or it" does. The narrator is less involved in the story, and most of the details focus on action. There are two different types of third person narration. A limited point of view means just that -- the narrator's viewpoint is limited to just information about one character's thoughts or feelings. An omniscient point of view means that the narrator knows what everyone is thinking and feeling.

Determining how you tell your story helps you to determine what details are important and how to structure the entire narrative. But there's another benefit to playing with point-of-view: considering a story from someone else's perspective (your parents, your husband, your dog, Abraham Lincoln) can lead you to some interesting truths. It also widens the circle of your story, so that your family members feel more involved.

PLANNING:
There are many ways to go about the next steps -- I'll leave that up to you. But here are the basics: you need to choose a song that makes you think of an important event and then use the song's title and/or lyrics to help you narrate this event. Additionally, I'll like to think about writing your journaling from a different point of view, or combining point-of-views in your narration.

Once you've chosen a song that reminds you of your specific event, use the graphic organizer to help organize your ideas.

Download POV graphic organizer

WRITING:
As you begin your journaling, you'll also want to think about how you are going to organize this information. Since you are incorporating multiple perspectives, you want to choose an organizational style that will help your reader navigate this information in a way that makes sense and even enhances the telling of the story. Although there are multiple ways of organizing your writing, a comparison-contrast method is most suitable in this situation. There are two ways to organize in this manner:

• Block format. This presents all of the information or details from your first perspective, and then covers the same information from an alternate perspective. In this instance, you would tell your entire story from one point of view, and then tell it from a second (and third and fourth...) point of view.
• Point by point format. This takes a series of details or points and shows them first from one point and view and then from another. In this instance, you would take the first detail of your event and tell it from each point of view, before moving on to the second detail, the third detail, and so on.

DESIGN:
This is a perfect opportunity to use the album art as a jumping-off point for your page design. For each lesson, I'll give you the option to focus on one component of the album art. Today, we'll be focusing on the shapes or elements on the album cover.

MY LAYOUT:
My layout for today's lesson is incomplete at the moment. I spent the day flying back to Nashville from Houston (I've been gone since Saturday for a conference) and then driving home from Nashville. Needless to say, it's been a busy day. However, I'll have my layout ready tomorrow or the next day and will edit this post to include it.

Lesson 3: How Does Your Garden Grow?

I'm a firm believer that the "nouns" in my life are one of the best ways to capture important stories. By nouns, I'm talking about the literal grammar term: a person, place, thing, or idea. Chances are, you probably scrap about important people and places all the time, but you may not spend as much time on objects.

Today's lesson focuses on using a song title or lyrics to jumpstart a story about an important personal belonging.

USING PREWRITING STRATEGIES
The hard part about journaling -- about any type of writing, in fact -- is that the words don't just spring full-blown into your head. Sure, that happens occasionally, but more often the truth is that you have to work for every word, every sentence, every paragraph. The MOST IMPORTANT writing work you can do is the preparation leading up to that final act of recording your journaling on your layout. In terms of writing stages, this is called prewriting.

Prewriting consists of a variety of techniques that are all designed to help you come up with ideas, make connections, and develop concepts. Here are several that I use most often:

• Freewriting. This is like carrying on a conversation with yourself. It may follow a certain train of thought for a few minutes, but then skip to a variety of other images. There are no rules to freewriting -- no focus on grammar, punctuation, word choice. The point is to sit and write and see where the words take you, what kind of connections can be made.
• Brainstorming. This is just another word for generating ideas. There are many ways to brainstorm, but the most common involves making lists. Begin with a general topic and create a list of specific details or related ideas beneath it. These ideas can reveal connections between topics and help you dig deeper into the heart of your ideas.
• Asking questions. This is a technique I use frequently, because it gives my brain that extra boost to recall additional details that I might have overlooked. Begin with the five W's and continue from there: Who? What? When? Where? Why?
• Clustering. If you need to see your ideas in order to make connections among them, then this technique may be the best choice for you. With clustering, you begin with a term in the center of your page and then you create clusters of ideas that branch off from it. I've seen this concept take the form of trees and other objects as well.

You can use each of these strategies as is, or you can combine them; there's no right or wrong way to use them. But taking the time to explore your ideas before you begin writing can be the step that takes your writing from so-so to SO AMAZING!

PLANNING:
There are many ways to go about the next steps -- I'll leave that up to you. But here are the basics: you need to choose a song that makes you think of a certain object or personal belonging.  Here are some ideas and activities to help you narrow down the list:

• Read through the titles on the back of the CD case. Do any of them make you think of a certain object?
• Print out the lyrics to a couple of songs. Go through and circle any objects. In the margins, make a list of any details that those objects bring to mind.
• With the CD case in hand (or the album playing on your stereo, computer, or mp3 player), walk through your house and just look at the things that surround you. Do any connections make themselves obvious?

Note: That last technique is what I did. I was looking through a list of song titles and happened to glance at my inspiration board. The picture (below) of my parents was hanging there and the starry background brought this song to mind.

Once you've chosen a song that describes your important place, use one of the prewriting techniques above to brainstorm specific details about this object. Even though your layout will be focusing on a particular object, you still need to generate ideas to help you get at the story represented by that object.

WRITING:
As you begin your journaling, many of the tips from yesterday's post about describing a setting can also apply to describing an object. Another thing to think about is how you organize your description, because the order in which you reveal details affects how the reader "sees" this object. There are a few options:

• spatial order: You present readers with a general description of the entire object, and then reveal details in the order in which the eye would naturally perceive them
• thematic order: You divide the object into mental categories, much like classification, and then group details based on how they support this theme rather than how they are literally related
• impressionistic order: You reveal details based on how you think they would catch your reader's eye -- what would they look at first? second? and so on

DESIGN:
This is a perfect opportunity to use the album art as a jumping-off point for your page design. For each lesson, I'll give you the option to focus on one component of the album art. Today, we'll be focusing on the overall design -- be inspired by the arrangement of photos, title, journaling blocks and embellishments. I've found that if I think of them in terms of different colored blocks (red for photos, blue for journaling, yellow for titles, etc), then I can break the design down more easily into its related parts.

credits: A New Leaf collab by Paislee Press and Audacious Designs, Est. collab by Paislee Press and TaylorMade Designs (date stamp, dot border, and word strips), Photogenic collab by Paislee Press and Audacious Designs (star)

MY LAYOUT:
I chose the song "At the Stars" from How Does Your Garden Grow? by Better than Ezra. There honestly wasn't much in terms of the lyrics that I was able to include, but sometimes just the title of a song is enough spark to get a layout going. In this case, I focused on a photo of my parents when they were just out of high school and hadn't been married more than a couple of months, if that. I don't have many pictures of them at all, so this is really a treasured object to me.

Lesson 2: Friction Baby

Different genres of music always bring to mind different places. Just as many regions of the country (or the world, on a larger scale) have their own music, so do the individual landmarks that dot our own personal landscapes. The more we associate certain locations with certain songs, the more those songs come to define that place for us. This can be quite general --the "grunge" movement will always symbolize college for me -- but it can also be much more specific -- "Take the Money and Run" will always evoke the basement of the Alpha Gamma Rho house at WKU on Thursday nights.

Today's lesson asks you to use song lyrics to evoke the sense of a location or place.

USING SETTING TO EVOKE MOOD
One of the most important things to remember when it comes to writing is that everything has to take place somewhere. Nothing happens in a void. Even the most basic newspaper article has to answer the question "Where?" at some point. The same applies to your journaling. Whether you are writing about a person, an event, a conversation, a favorite hobby, etc., there has to be some type of physical location involved. The great thing about this is that developing your description of this physical place not only helps orient your reader, but it also helps you to evoke a certain mood and response in your reader. 

Fiction writers do a lot of early development with setting when they begin a short story or novel. Your own journaling can benefit by using some of the same techniques they use, especially if you are focusing on a description of a certain place.

Setting involves a number of components:

• time, which includes the year and the season
• place, which includes city and state, as well as the more general geographic region. You can also include more specific locations, such as the dining room of your first home
• circumstances, which I think of as "what's going on." How do people in this time and place go about their daily activities? Those details are a necessary part of creating and establishing setting.

PLANNING:
There are many ways to go about the next steps -- I'll leave that up to you. But here are the basics: you need to choose a song that makes you think of a particular place or location. Make sure that the song contains plenty of connections -- you want to be able to use specific lyrics and lines from the song to extend and elaborate the ideas in your journaling. Here are some ideas to help you choose:

• choose a song that brings to mind an important place from your childhood
• pick a song that holds significance in terms of your relationships
• select a song that reminds you of being at some kind of specialized location -- cruising town in your best friends in their car, for example. (Note: In this instance, the focus is not on the event -- driving in the car -- but on the car itself, and particularly the front passenger seat with the window rolled down, music playing, conversation happening, etc)

Once you've chosen a song that describes your important place, use the graphic organizer in the file below to brainstorm specific details about this place. For those of you who are visual learners, it even includes space to sketch out this place. Special songs create an emotional reaction in us, and your goal with this layout is to describe the place you think of when you hear this song in such a way that your reader will feel the same emotions you feel. 

Download SETTING graphic organizer

WRITING:
As you begin your journaling, look for ways to create a specific mood or set of emotions. It may be that particular lyrics from the song offer you a way to include certain details, but there are other things to consider as well:

• Suggest rather than explain.You don't have to say that it's winter if you include details that show someone shoveling the sidewalk or the sound of screaming children as they whoosh down a hill on their sleds.
• Keep length in mind when considering the number of details to include. If you want an extensive piece of journaling, then spread your details out so that they build to the point you are making. On the other hand, if you want briefer journaling, then be selective about the number and type of details you include.
• Include all five senses. I know I will sound like a broken record by the end of the week, but when it comes to creating effective writing, the key is truly involving and engaging all five senses.

A note: Many scrappers don't want to hear this, because they think it means extra work. But if you want your journaling to improve, you're going to have to do a couple of things. 1) Stop thinking of journaling as the last thing to add to a page before finishing. 2) Revise, revise, revise. Write out your journaling and then read back through it with a critical eye. Think about the goal you are trying to achieve and honestly evaluate what you've written. Make changes -- learning what to cut is an important skill to hone. And remember, it is much easier to write too much and then delete bits and pieces than it is to not write enough and try to figure out how to plump things up a bit more.

DESIGN:
This is a perfect opportunity to use the album art as a jumping-off point for your page design. For each lesson, I'll ask you to focus on one component of the album art. Today, we'll be focusing on the PHOTOS-- be inspired by the number of photos, placement, color, or texture.

credits: TTV Frames, Sketchy Stamped Alpha, Spring Sing kit (papers, photo corners, music notes), Family Tree elements (tape), Just My Type elements (journal lines and stitches), all by Audacious Designs

MY LAYOUT:
I chose the song "Desperately Wanting" from the album Friction, Baby by Better than Ezra. This song frequently closes a number of their concerts -- at least the ones I've attended -- and to me, it just characterizes what it's like to be there in the audience, jumping up and down and singing along as loud as I can (especially to the la-la-la's). The title also captures my feelings about attending the famous Christmas shows each year, which is where these photos were taken and what sparked the idea for this layout. I mimicked the photo treatment on the album cover by using the Heartland action from Pioneer Woman and topping it with a photo overlay from Emily Powers and the Songbird Avenue Port au Prince kit. The photos were taken at the annual BTE Christmas show several years ago -- my birthday is the 23rd, and my friends made a huge card for me. All my online friends from the BTE message board signed it, and then the guys in the band posed with the card and signed it as well. It was incredible to wake up and find those pictures in my inbox. Definitely a memory to cherish.

Lesson 1: Before the Robots

For me, music is one of the strongest connections I have to the other people in my life. Songs remind me of family members and friends, of things we've said and places we've gone, of important lessons learned and small moments celebrated.

Today's lesson asks you to use song lyrics to characterize an important person in your life.

DIRECT VS. INDIRECT CHARACTERIZATION
Stories are about people, although we normally refer to them as characters when we are discussing fiction. Authors have two ways of developing a character, and we can use those techniques just as easily in our own journaling for our layouts. 

When a writer comes right out and tells you what a character is like, that's called direct characterization. For example, if I say, "Derek is a loyal friend, and he's always willing to help a friend in need," then I've directly revealed aspects of his personality. This is an easy way to describe a person, but it does limit how much we can say about a person.

On the other hand, indirect characterization gives us almost limitless details to use to reveal personality. With indirect characterization, the writer reveals information about a character using words, actions, and thoughts, including the reaction of other characters. In this instance, the author shows you the character's personality.The mnemonic device STEAL can help you to remember the methods of indirect characterization: Speech, Thought, Effect on others, Actions, and Looks.

PLANNING:
There are many ways to go about the next steps -- I'll leave that up to you. But here are the basics: you need to choose a song that describes a special person. Make sure that the song contains plenty of connections -- you want to be able to use specific lyrics and lines from the song to extend and elaborate the ideas in your journaling. Here are some ideas to help you choose:

• select a song that illustrates the role a particular person has played in some stage of your life
• choose a song that captures how you view your relationship with this person
• pick a song that matches or enhances the physical appearance of this person, including how they walk, talk, laugh, etc.

Once you've chosen a song that describes your special person, use the graphic organizer in the file below to link specific lines from the song to specific details about this person. The purpose is to develop journaling for your layout that really delves into the personality of this special person and brings them to life. The key to strong journaling for this layout is to really dig beyond the obvious things you could say about a person and to use their actions, their thoughts, their looks -- all of those specific personal details -- to build a visual representation of WHO this song brings to mind for you each time you hear it.

Download STEAL graphic organizer

WRITING:
As you begin your journaling, look for ways to include specific lyrics to support the details you provide about this person. Consider using these lyrics both as part of your writing and part of your overall design. Here are some additional techniques to consider as you write:

• Use dialogue. Let your reader "hear" the voice of your special person. This can reveal emotion, mood, and character.
• Use sensory language. Don't just show your readers this person. Allow them to experience things through taste, smell, sound, and touch too.
• Use figurative language. Making comparisons is a natural part of speech -- we compare one thing to another in order to point out similarities and differences. These contrasts can help fill out your descriptions.

DESIGN:
This is a perfect opportunity to use the album art as a jumping-off point for your page design. For each lesson, I'll ask you to focus on one component of the album art. Today, we'll be focusing on the TEXT -- perhaps the album art uses a certain font or type treatment, or you are inspired by the placement and size of the text.

credits: Pieces of Me (papers, paint strokes, puzzle pieces, string), Organic (frame), Lovestruck (heart frame) all by Audacious Designs

MY LAYOUT:
I chose the song "Breathless" from the Better than Ezra album, Before the Robots. The song essentially describes one person acting as a refuge for another -- a safe place of love to run to when the world comes "crashing down around your feet." I've always associated this song with my friend because that's the role he played in my life at one point. I used lyrics from the song above the title, and then wove elements around my title, including a small photo. The puzzle pieces symbolize the concept of picking up the pieces of my life, as I discussed, as well as the way one person can fit into a specific place in your life. The brushwork behind my title, which mimics the image found on the album cover, actually has an additional meaning -- it's created from a photo of Chicago, which is where my friend is originally from.

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!

pairing photos + words

(supplies: Morning Glory paper pack, 6th Hour History elements)

That's what scrapbooking is all about, right? And there are millions of ways to go about it: heavy on the photos, light on the words -- or vice versa. Or any number of other combinations to consider, especially when you start thinking about embellishments, like chipboard letters. Or felt flowers. Or ricrac. Or glitter. Or....okay, you get the point.

But push all that aside and in its most basic form, scrapbooking is about pairing photos + words. I remember back when I first started my job here in Murray, I got an email from Amy, a lady who works here on campus. She'd been following my blog and had some scrappy questions for me. One question in particular stuck in my head, and every time I start an article or a class or even just a blog post about journaling, I come back to this question.

How do you decide which pictures go with which stories?

Well, obviously, I thought, the story you tell is what's going on in the photos. But then I started thinking about all the stories I've told about what's going on in the background of a photo, or what's not even shown in the photo. And what about those stories where the photo and the story aren't even related -- because seriously, doesn't every scrapbook mom have a bazillion close-up shots of their gorgeous kids? Freeing yourself from the idea that your photos and your words have to match can be one of the most liberating steps you can take when it comes to telling your stories.

Autumn Baldwin makes the same point in a recent post she did for Write.Click.Scrapbook., an inspiration collective from many of the former Simple Scrapbooks team. (If you haven't checked it out yet, you should; some of my most favorite scrappers in the world are involved: Elizabeth Dillow, Linda Barber, Sara Winnick, and Celeste Smith, to name just a few).

I'm not going to go back over the points made by Autumn -- just click over and read her post. But I do want to share an easy-to-use technique with you that I frequently turn to when it comes to pairing photos + words. Maybe it's the English teacher in me, but I love the brainstorming process. The idea of coming up with idea after idea after idea -- and NOT CENSORING THEM -- is so enjoyable to me; I love the freedom of exploring new ideas, new options, the constant "What if?" and air of possibility involved. Any time I'm assigned a project, I need that time at the beginning to let it all percolate in my mind; I go about my daily business and the whole while, ideas and colors and patterns and themes and materials are mixing together in my subconscious -- usually I'm not even aware that the process is going on. I just know that, if I give myself a certain amount of free time at the start of any project -- time where I'm not actively focusing on (and stressing out / worrying over) the project -- then when it comes time to get down to business, the details all seem to fall into place. I've come to rely on and appreciate that process because it truly is a valuable tool.

So the technique I'm getting ready to show you basically takes that process and makes it less organic and subconscious and instead turns it into a more conscious, active process, one with steps and even a graphic element to organize everything. I find myself coming back to this technique again and again, because it really is the building block of my whole scrapbooking process, which is all about finding the right words to go with the right pictures. Here's what I do:

 

Pull out a handful of photos from your album or from one of the folders on your computer. Pick one (or a series of related photos, if they are all from one event), and use it to complete the above graphic. I normally just list all of this information on a sheet of paper (or, if I'm at my computer, on a blank Word document or in Notepad); feel free to experiment and find what works best for you.

1. I start with the obvious things: what's going on in the photo? I answer who, what, where, when, and why. (You can add How? if it is applicable). Try to be specific -- include the date, the time, the season -- all those little details. You never know what bit of information might spark the perfect story.

2. Next, I move out a bit; my observations start to get a little broader. I'll focus on as many sensory details from that moment as I can remember -- what did things taste like? smell like? sound like? I also include any details about information and events in the background of the photo.

3. Here's where the circle really widens. At the third stage, I include anything that I can about what you don't see in the photo -- what happened just before and just after? What's going on in the background that's conveniently cropped out? What details about the day in general don't show up in the frame? Also, what kinds of memories or other associations come to mind when you look at that photo? Are you reminded of a similar experience or another person? Does a certain song or smell or emotion come to mind? Write them all down as well.

Once you get used to looking beyond the basics of your photographs, you'll find lots of great ways to pair your photos + your words. As you grow more comfortable with the process, you'll find yourself automatically making connections; for example, when I heard Julie's mom make this comment about Cassidy, I immediately knew that I wanted to pair it with this photograph. Everything just clicked for me.

If you'd like more ways to generate these kinds of details and stories to go along with your photos, why don't you give my self-paced journaling class, Defining {you}, a chance? It's possible that you might be thinking that characterization is nothing that you want to bother with on your pages, but I promise, it's an easy technique to learn, and it opens up a world of possibilities for you. Plus, the class comes with 80 journaling prompts and 5 templates -- and you know you can ask me questions any time you need. If this one doesn't fit your needs, then check out the other options and keep your eyes peeled for new classes coming soon.

On a final note, do you have any questions about journaling that you'd like answered? Leave a comment and I'll devote a post to answering them. It'll be fun!