Learn how to tell "your" personal story. Remember if you don't tell the story, no one else will. Hopefully this will inspire you how to honor your memories, photos and how to tell the story of those people and your relationships.
I love looking through the BPC Student Gallery...you guys are amazing! When I saw this layout by Jen Day, I knew she must be taking Cathy Zielske's Type class (stay tuned...I believe this class is going to be offered again in the not-so-distant future if you missed it the first time). I asked Jen to share a little with you...here's what she had to say!
I've always struggled with type design when it came to journaling my digital scrapbook pages or other typing projects, especially with size and spacing. When I read that Big Picture Classes was going to offer Ten Tips for Type I knew it was just what I needed! Cathy taught us several of the most basic, but highly useful tips for choosing fonts, type size and alignments, and I also picked up a few Photoshop tips. All of this was interjected with Cathy's typical wit and straight-forward, easy to understand manner. She guided us to create a layout that helped to reinforce these concepts.
I chose some fun pumpkin carving photos and wrote a tongue-in-cheek documentation of the event. I am thrilled to be able to put these concepts immediately into effect and hope that with continued practice these "Ten Tips" become easy habits!
Hi BPC goers! Allison Landy here. I am excited to be with you here today on the BPC blog! I’m hoping that my try this challenge to you today is both fun and helpful.
I don’t know about you, but lately I’ve been invited to lots and lots of parties...and here I thought the holiday party-going season was over! But it’s birthdays and anniversaries galore amongst my family and friends. That means I’ve been in need of a variety of cards to share with my hosts. When time is short, I always go back to basics with simple designs.
One of my favorite design principles is the idea that “angles love curves.” It’s a great adage to remember. It’s why we often round the corners of our photos and place them on a square page background. Curved lines add softness to a design, and they give the eye something different to look at. When working with cards, the principle holds just as true. Here’s a card I made recently using this principle.
Imagine if the stamped image in the center was square instead of circular. It just wouldn’t be as “interesting.”
Tonight it’s a birthday party, so I decided to whip up a quick little birthday greeting for my friend. For this card, I wanted to incorporate several different size circles into my design. I was going for an energetic, fun look. So, out came my punches and my brightly colored papers, and I went to town.
Your try this challenge today--should you choose to accept it--is to make a card with the angles love curves principle by using circles somewhere on your card. Remember to load your finished card to the Big Picture Classes sharing gallery or Facebook Album! Be sure to also pop on over to the Simple Stories blog at www.simplestories.com where we are doing a fun giveaway!
For more card making inspiration, check out Allison Landy's card class here at BPC, Cooking Up Cards.
My paper piercer is always in close reach when I’m working on a project. I love how it makes placing a brad or adding some stitching a breeze. One of my favorite uses for it is to separate the prongs on the back of a brad. Just stick the point of the piercer between the prongs and press the tip down towards the center of the brad. It saves your fingernails, and it helps the prongs to lay flat on the back of your project.
Learn from a pro how to establish an effective work flow for loading pictures from your camera to your computer. Also I share tips on how to clean up the digital mess on your computer.
Hi Guys! Aaron Morris's workshop, It's All About Me,starts soon (March 1st, registration is open now!) so I asked if he would write up a short "all about me" prompt that we could share on the blog...just to give you a little idea of the kind of topics you'll be learning about during class. Here's what he wanted to share with you guys...Thanks Aaron!!
When we're scrapbooking, it's easy to identify the things that make the ones we love special. I could easily rattle off a list of things that make my two little girls absolutely perfect. It's not always as easy to think about the things that make us special, the things that set us apart from everyone else and make our loved ones love us back. Even thinking about it right now, I would have a hard time putting into words what makes me special.
So let's try journaling a little bit about what makes us special. The first thing I want you to do is sit down and brainstorm a list of things that make you special, and be totally honest with yourself. Think about how you are seen in others' eyes, and the person that you try to be every day. Whatever you do - DON'T ask someone else to tell you what they think makes you special. That's cheating, and as a teacher, I am legally obligated to report all forms of cheating to the government. Ok, not really, but it's a much more meaningful exercise if it all comes from you.
Once you have your list, sit down and pick one of the things off your list. I want you to pick the thing that you feel is the most special about yourself. This will be the topic that you will journal about. You are going to focus on writing a whole passage about this one character trait. Sound daunting? I promise it isn't. Here are some questions to get you thinking....
1. Why do you think that this characteristic makes you special?
2. What about this characteristic sets you apart from others in your life?
3. Where did this characteristic cultivate from? Was it a person? How did they contribute to this characteristic being part of you?
4. How does this characteristic impact the ones you love?
5. Why is this characteristic the one that is most special?
6. How do you hope to share this characteristic with others?
Those are just some ideas to get you going. Try and really think a lot about this characteristic. One thing that I find helpful when I am having trouble writing is to just start writing, even if I know it's not good or something I won't include in the final piece. The act of just getting started will get your juices flowing!
So today, I want to give away one seat in my upcoming workshop "It's All About Me." If you would like to be entered to win the spot, in the comments below, tell me one thing that makes you special. It'll be your starting point!
The giveaway closes Sunday night (2/19) at 9:00pm PST. Winner will be announced on Monday (2/20). Good luck!
And the winner is Alice Jaggard! She said: One trait that is special about me is my intuition. Not a psychic thing, just the way I can read the tone of a voice, body language, a series of small events that others might not notice, or lack of routine behavior. All of these trigger an understanding of what is going to happen.
While looking through the BPC Student Gallery this layout really caught my eye! I loved all teh layers, the stitching, the buttons (I LOVE buttons), and the fact that it was a layout about a student's life! Not about her kids, or her husband, or her mom...but about her! (I'm really bad about creating layouts about myself). Way to go Jennifer! And thank you so much for letting me share your layout with everyone here!
When I asked Jennifer about her layout, this is what she said:
"I did this layout because I was inspired by the photo. I had been doing a 30 day photo challenge, and the day the prompt was to take a picture of what we were wearing, it was Spirit Day at the school I teach at. I made the page as an EVERYDAYpage for the class Twelve. I tend to make linear pages, so I had fun stamping and embossing circles, which are always sort of spirited shapes to me!"
Take the challenge...can you create a layout about something "everyday" in your life?
" I am so bummed that I just recently heard about Project Life. Apparently, I have friends who have been doing this for a couple of years. I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to do this!!! -"
I got to hear Becky speak at The Creative Connection last fall and she shared her vision for Project Life as well as some insight to its evolution. I was truly amazed and am thrilled with her success in creating such an ingenious method for capturing life. Three cheers for Project Life!!
We invite you to join the Project Life community here and exchange ideas with others enthusiasts plus share your creations. (plus it is free)
The winner can pick the color style (from what is in stock) and will receive one of each of the items listed below
Project Life Binder
Core Kit (coordinating with the binder)
Big Pack of Design A Photo Pocket Pages
GIVEAWAY INFORMATION:
To enter, leave a comment below; include your first and last name, and location.
Giveaway closes in 48 hours at 11:00 am PST. Winner will be randomly selected from comments and announced by 2/17.
New to the Project Life concept? Learn more in the short video below.
