Jot Magazine Issue 1

Page 1

Jot

Issue 1 2013

documenting life. telling stories. taking pictures. paper crafting.

A

paper crafting magazine

for the modern

day memory

keeper

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etZClub your creative community>>

Your membership gives you total VIP access to all areas of the EtzClub>> • A HUGE selection of products, including workshops, ebooks and tutorials from Kim Archer. • A selection of our most popular past paper crafting workshops • ALL back issues of Etzcetera magazine • A gallery for sharing your work • Forums for chatting • Exclusive tutorials and mini workshops • Access to ALL new products Kim releases during your membership.

Come join us

www.etzceteramagazine.com.au

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Jot magazine is finally here. In 2003 I picked up a scrapbooking magazine and my friend peeked over my shoulder and announced, “Oh you could do that.” It took me a while to believe her but when I finally dived into all the supplies I had amassed and started making layouts, well, the rest is history. I’d found my niche. I had a pretty awesome ride in the world of scrapbooking publications, design teams, travelling around teaching workshops and even designing scrapbook product along the way.

noticing that more and more people were undertaking Project Life and that many friends who no longer scrapbooked were diving back into memory keeping again because of it. It had rekindled in them the desire to document their lives through stories and pictures in a simplistic way. And it had also reawakened that passion for paper crafting and memory keeping in me again. Lets face it -- most of us these days are memory keeping without realising it. Sharing a photo of your cup of coffee on Instagram, tweeting about the morning traffic or posting about one of your kids on Facebook --- it’s all documenting life. In a very simple way. And that is pretty cool.

A few years ago I stepped back a bit and took a leap of faith, starting my own lifestyle/craft publication, Etzcetera. There were plenty of ups and downs and lots of learning to do. Etz soon found its feet and began to grow in readership and took on a life of its own. I then decided I wanted to launch a second publication.

And with the rise in popularity in Project Life, pocket style scrapbooking, everyday moments, social media, documenting life, telling stories and taking photos I had found my new magazine.

Fast forward to January this year and I was

And Jot was born. I hope you like love it.

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A paper crafting/documenting life publication for the modern day memory keeper.

editor/art director Kim Archer editorial assistant Lisa Pate style editor Tamar Bostock writers Mardi Winen Sian Fair Julie Kirk Janelle Wind advertising manager Lisa Pate

lisa@etzceteramagazine.com.au

Contact Us

PO Box 37 Wallsend NSW 2287

e: kim@kimarcher.com.au

Published by Kim Archer ABN: 88 649 297 554

website:

www.jotmagazine.com

submissions

Interested in submitting to Jot Magazine? We accept submissions of creative project tutorials or written articles that are in line with our paper crafting/modern memory keeping theme. We also put out certain gallery calls from time to time (check our site). Email submissions to: kim@kimarcher.com.au jotmagazine.com 4

in this issue.

contents.

117

what’s inside? 01 03 06 08 12 15 23 33 35 40 47 56 64 76 83 88 99 104 117 146 148 152

COVER Our cover project EDITOR’S LETTER by Kim Archer QUICK LAYOUT CONFETTI with Tamar Bostock CONFETTI EXTRA with Lisa Pate FLIP ALBUM by Mardi Winen POCKET PAGES -- AN INTRO FACEBOOK handwriting v’s computer JOURNALING CARDS project SIAN FAIR From High In The Sky WHAT TO SCRAPBOOK ABOUT.. KIM JEFFRESS interview AMY MELLICENT Fusion videos BLOGGER Janna Werner FLAIR BUTTONS PHOTO BOOTH scrapbooking INSTAGRAM VINTAGE BOOK MY MONTH IN NUMBERS Julie Kirk POCKET PAGE SHOWCASE SCRAPBOOKING FROM SCRATCH MOOD BOARD CHALLENGE INSTAGLAM Zina Zraikat

New to Project Life? Feeling a little overwhelmed by where to start? Turn to page 23 for Kim Archer’s guide to beating overwhelm, getting organised and starting out with Project Life.

08 jotmagazine.com 5

035 104

I’ve used my all time favourite Basic Grey white chipboard letters for my title. They just seem to find their way onto all of my projects.

Layer it up -- I like to group lots of elements and in this case, I’ve tied them all together by adding some red machine stitching.

quick

layout Kim Archer

Subject prompt: Choose a favourite coffee house you like to visit and tell your story. Did you take the challenge? Head to our CHALLENGE PAGE to share your layout.

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I’ve created a 9 x 9inch layout as that size feeds nicely through my printer allowing me to journal directly onto my cardstock background

I love kraft cardstock as a base -- especially when I use lots of other colours in my embellishments and photos. jotmagazine.com 7

confetti little bits + pieces from around the www. Curated by Tamar Bostock

Cookie Cutters

Instax Mini Cameras

These cute as cameras print credit card sized photos on new Fuji film, but still have an instant analog look. The true blue Instax Mini 8 is the newest addition to Fuji’s instant camera line. Available from Photo JoJo

ABOVE: For all the photo lovers now you can have your camera and eat it too. Check out The Camera Cookie Cutter Set! Each set has three different designs: an SLR, a classic range finder and an oldschool twin reflex camera. Available from Photo JoJo

Instagram Shadowbox

We are in love with this gorgeous DIY by Sarah from Just The Bees Knees. Using pegs and washi tape, she steps you through how to make the perfect shadowbox for showcasing your Instagram photos. Read more here. jotmagazine.com 8

confetti

Washi Tape Pins Hands up if you are guilty of hoarding a stash of washi tape? Check out this clever idea from Ayda, all the way over in Istanbul. Now there’s no need to feel guilty because you NEED that tape to bling up an everyday push pin. In actual fact you may even need more. Read more>>

Camera Lovers Forget boring flash drives. Here is the perfect solution for carrying photos and files. Just like a real DSLR, the lens detaches from the camera body and becomes a USB stick. Read more here>> jotmagazine.com 9

Click This pencil sharpener from Kikkerland would make a great talking piece for on your desk and of course combines your love of stationery and all things photo related. Click! See more here>>

Instagram Wall We are inspired by photographer Kevin Hail’s Instagram wall. His photos look amazing with simple black frames and wide white matt board. Time to get your photos out of your phone and into the real world. See more here>> jotmagazine.com 10

confetti

Projecteo Connect with Instagram and select nine of your images. Projecteo develop your images onto a 35mm film and sets them in a custom wheel. Then the magic happens! The mini projector and your wheel of images arrive together in the post. It works just like a standard projector by projecting the images onto the wall. Seriously? Imagine the events you could use one of these for. Adorable. Visit the site here>> A Collection of Thought’s blogger, Tamar Bostock lives on the Gold Coast with her husband Richard and twin daughters, Talia and Sofia. jotmagazine.com 11

Compiled by Lisa Pate

Card

sentiments Can’t seem to find the right sentiment for your card? Head over to From High in the Sky to check out blogger, Sian Fair’s gorgeous card using quotes from her favourite books. She has included a lovely list to get you started. Read more here>>

nautical style Get a little nautical with these super cute Cherry Flair buttons from A Piece of Cake Designs. The buttons are extra slim design, perfect for pocket styled memory albums. From APOCD here>>

P.S. I love you.

Dress up your next paper crafting project with these super cute vintage typewriter tags. Each tag is printed onto white cardstock complete with a hanging cord. From The Paper Birdcage here>> jotmagazine.com 12

confettI EXTRA

Connect with us.

citrus washi Want to add a quick burst of colour to your paper craft project? These gorgeous citrus coloured washi tapes from Craft Queen might just do the trick. Read more here>>

Grab a

cuppa &

head to our

blog

for more Jot stories and inspiration.

day by day Love to take a little memory keeping craft with you? These pocket sized handmade daybooks are perfect for the travelling memory keeper. From Polka Dot Designs. See more here>> jotmagazine.com 13

or follow us on

social media.

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flip album

flip album of monthly memories.. Make a

mini

Mardi Winen creates a simple flip board memento using her collection of 2012 daily photos captured using the Project 365 photo app on her smart phone.

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flip out I was pretty chuffed when I managed to take a photo each day for the entire 365 days last year in 2012. I used fabulous iPhone app called “Project 365� which allowed me to collect a daily picture. At the end of the month, the app then saved all of my daily photos into a nifty collage. I thought these cute little monthly photo collages were too sweet to just stay on my computer so I printed them out and made a REALLY quick and simple flip book with 365 memories stored inside -- the perfect overview snapshot of our year.

M ardi

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flip album

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1

2 How to make a Photo 365 Mini flip book

gather your supplies • Sturdy cardstock +

•

•

•

• •

a fabric scrap for making your cover. Embellishments of your choice stickers, buttons, trim etc. 3x sheets of cardstock for your pages Month tags or use letter stickers to define each month Split rings 12 photos - one photo collage for each of your months.

1 Each collage was created

using an iPhone app called Project 365 which allows you to take and record a photo a day. At the end of the month simply hit “save” and you have a cool collage of your daily photos for that month.

2 Printing your photo collages -- Now you have your photo collages saved to your computer, it’s time to print them out. I had my photo collages processed at Big W as 4x6” prints. You will need to make sure you have them “uncropped” so they will print correctly. When printed, each 4x6” photo will have some excess that needs to be chopped off one side when printed. Alternatively, you can print

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each photo collage at home on 4x6” paper if you prefer. Front + back cover -- gather your supplies. Make a front and back cover from sturdy cardstock. My cover and pages measure 6x6”.

3 Decorating your cover --

Embellish the front of your flip book in any way you wish. Mine is made by covering my 6” square sturdy cardstock cover with patterned paper first. I then created a separate 4 x 6” piece of cardstock covered and decorated with fabric and embellishments. Once this 4 x 6 piece was finished, I simply layered it to the larger cover and my front cover was done. Use the photo of my cover as a guide.

flip album

Did you take the challenge? Head to our CHALLENGE PAGE to share your flip book.

4 3

5 4 Making your pages -- Each page is very

simple and repetitious. I cut each page to size -- 6 x 6 inches and decorated each by adding a simple strip of patterned paper, my photo and minimal embellishments. I used some “month� tags to define each month and some simple punched shapes to finish off.

5 Finishing off your mini book -- I kept the back cover simple by using a patterned cardstock and a stamped bird image. To finish, I punched holes in my pages and cover and added it all to two silver book rings. All done!

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Mardi Winen, writes the blog, The Love Supreme and lives in South Australia with her family. She is a mum, wife, sewer, scrapbooker and memory keeper who loves creating and stitching vintage fabric softies and pieces for her Etsy store, Dudley And Grace.

what you need to complete a scrapbook

Project Life is for anyone and everyone! www.projectlife.com.au e: info@projectlife.com.au jotmagazine.com 20

Project Life Project Life simplifies how you document life and preserve memories. With this easier than ever scrapbooking system, designed by Becky Higgins, you simply choose your photos and add your journaling to pre-designed journaling cards and slip them into the Photo Pocket Pages. The result is a stylish keepsake that represents your life or whatever occasion you choose to record. Even memorabilia can be tucked inside the pockets. Craft House brings us the most comprehensive range of Project Life products, accessories and support offered anywhere “down under”. Having had an association with Becky Higgins since 2004, Becky invited Craft House to be part of Project Life when it was first released back in 2009. Craft House is as committed to Becky and Project Life today as it was back then and continues to stock the entire current and original product ranges and designs in support of all Project Life customers. jotmagazine.com 21

“Project Life is a simple yet affordable, stylish system for documenting your life. ”

Craft House website

Scrapbooking supplies. Designer Scrapbook Kits. Designer Retreats. Project Life products www.scrapbookingfromscratch.com.

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getting started >>

pocket style

scrapbooking

What’s it all about, Alfie! What IS this Project Life/pocket scrapbooking

phenomenon sweeping the world and helping thousands upon thousands of people document and record their lives in a simple and doable way?

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BY Kim Archer

getting organised... Words + photos | Kim Archer

Type “Project Life” into google and you’ll be ASTOUNDED (and perhaps a tad overwhelmed) with the wealth of info that pops up about this new phenomenon sweeping the paper craft world. I tinkered with Project Life style scrapbooking in 2012. I didn’t get very far and it was over before it really began. However, this year in 2013, I’m back into it and after much research, I’ve dived in boots and all . And I am LOVING IT. I’m here to share my experiences with Project Life. How I beat the overwhelm. How I got organised and how I’m coping with documenting our life this year. I hope some of my tips may help you too. jotmagazine.com 24

PROJECT LIFE

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keeping it simple

“I’m by no means an expert when it comes to Project Life and this style of memory keeping. However, I’ve felt the overwhelm and experienced the not knowing where to start feeling that other crafters have had. I wrote a series of blog posts on this subject after receiving comments and emails from others who were feeling overwhelmed. This article includes excerpts from my blog and I hope it may help some of you who are just starting out.. ” ~Kim Archer

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who?

what?

why?

Project Life is a “back to basics” system and series of products devised by Becky Higgins and designed to simplify the life documenting process of scrapbooking.

Project Life or pocket style scrapbooking, is the process of creating an album using divided page protectors, a stack of 4x6” or 3x4” photos, some journaling cards and a pen!

Everyone documents their life for different reasons and my main reasons for delving into the Project Life style are:

Having long watched Becky Higgins’ career zoom along from her days working on Creating Keepsakes magazine, her infamous sketches and her constant encouragement to embrace and tell our stories, it was only natural that Becky would devise such an easy and revolutionary system to help make it as easy as possible to document and record our stories.

Of course you can be much more fancy than that but if you are truly embracing the simplicity of this style of memory keeping, it is all you really do need. The simplistic approach means you can slip your photos and journaling cards into the pockets for a no fuss, instant scrapbook of memories.

I can finally store all those little bits and pieces, stories and photos in the one place. It’s a chance to document our year in a SIMPLE format without the pressure to create detailed, embellished multiple scrapbook layouts. It’s the chance to get creative and still sorta scrapbook, BUT the focus is on the stories and photos and not the product and that is the perfect project for me.

PROJECT LIFE

So you’re all set. You’ve chosen your album, grabbed some divided page protectors, printed off some photos, bought some journaling cards, pinned 1001 ideas on Pinterest, read blogs and you’re good to go.

And then the overwhelm sets in. And I know that overwhelm feeling so, so well! I do think the first few weeks of Project Life can be overwhelming and dare I say it, a tad stressful. I know I felt totally confused and wasted a lot of time planning and printing photos and downloading journaling cards from the internet. It became all rather consuming. I’m a member of a lovely little Project Life private facebook group and most of us were in the same boat. I think the key thing is this – IF you’re a traditional scrapbooker, Project Life is a totally different concept to making a scrapbooking layout. • Photos WILL clash • Pages WILL look busy • You’re teaming up photos from different events, days, scenes - all together in the one space and you don’t generally do that with a scrapbook layout. • You tend to use less product and more photos and journaling and suddenly the spread becomes about the photos more so than the products. BUT that is the appeal (for me) of Project Life – it’s documenting real life. Real, colourful, non matchy matchy life. And the focus truly does become about the photos and stories.

And for me, that’s a good thing. jotmagazine.com 27

decisions? decisions? Now Becky Higgins HAS made this system really simple. Buy a Project Life core kit, choose an album, some page protectors and grab a pen and your photos. But for me, I still had questions and some decisions to make.

What size album will I use? How many page protectors will I need? Will I print my photos at home or at a processing lab? Will I use my stash or buy a kit? Will I hand journal or use my computer? How will I keep notes and organise my photos? Do I keep the same style throughout the whole year? Or mix and match styles and supplies? Will I document weekly or monthly? Once I made the decisions and found my groove, pulling together a weekly or monthly spread became much, much easier.

I chose a 12x12inch album that I managed to find on sale through a craft store here in Australia. It’s an Amy Tangerine American Crafts album with a cloth cover. Typically, my research tells me that many Project Lifers need TWO albums to fit their years worth of photos inside. There are many different brands and styles of page protectors and many manufacturers are now coming on board the Project Life juggernaut and producing a minefield of product. However I stuck with Becky Higgin’s page protectors in Style A + D in a big ole 60 pack. This should keep me going for some time! I bought online through Craft House. I can’t fault their service and speed. My parcel arrived super fast! Initially I had my photos processed through Big W. It became a bit hit and miss as far as quality went and some photos were disappointingly dark while others were nice, bright and clear. But the main problem was being organised enough to have my photos ready to go because really, who wants to run to the shop to have only one or two photos processed at a time! Enter, the Epson Picturemate. The convenience of using this mini photo printer truly changed the way I tackle Project Life.

So. Much. Easier!

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I love this little beauty of a machine and it makes it so easy to print whenever the mood strikes. It’s a portable 4x6� printer that delivers lab quality prints. jotmagazine.com 29

sorting. organising. I use the Day One app on my phone for recording snippets of our day. There’s space to add text plus a photo and it all gets saved on my phone ready for when I start making my spreads..

If I’m organised, I work so much better. But getting organised took me a little bit of time. Long gone are the days when I would lug my big Canon camera around. These days I am snap, snap, snapping with my iPhone although I do try to mix it up by grabbing my Canon when I think of it. I use iPhoto to store my photos and iCloud to sync all my devices so that when it comes time to print my photos, I have them all ready to go, within iPhoto on my desktop computer.

If I don’t write something down, I promptly forget it. And I am no where near up to date with my Project Life spreads so it’s VITAL that I record the detail somewhere for easy to refer to notes when it comes time to pull a weekly spread together. I use the Day One app on my iPhone. I am religious about jotting things down in there. I add photos and notes as well as a daily recap (most days).

Post it notes are my best friend. When I’m planning pages, I find it easier to jot down ideas and photos I want to include and where I want them to go .

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Once you’re organised and your decisions are made, it truly is a matter of printing photos and adding your stories. The best piece of advice I can give anyone just starting out in Project Life is -- just do it. Don’t over think things and make sure you enjoy the process. There are no rules. And it’s a wonderful way to document your family’s story.

PROJECT LIFE

I also use Project 365 Pro on my iPhone to record a photo a day. By the end of each month I have a cool little overview collage of the photos from that month. I print these out to add into my album as a nice recap of the month.

I use a combination of downloaded journaling cards and ones I have picked up along my travels. I use the digital version of Project Life - Midnight cards. For the digital downloads I use a mix of free ones and ones I have bought. I bought a pack of plain white A4 cardstock from Office Works. It was about $10 for 200 sheets. It’s totally smooth and I print my journaling cards onto that. Sometimes, for minimal journaling, I use my manual typewriter.

NEXT ISSUE: adding in detail and including memorabilia. jotmagazine.com 31

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ut aling b n r u jo n and rinted I love p ime to sit dow puter et com need th ow as I’m so my h t o hate u work o d!! Haha I als ge ! challen handwriting! in w nie Bre ~Mela

e will be nic it k in th I te.. I hand wri k & see my writing c rents’ to look ba rish my pa e h c I . re kids in the hope my I o s , g n handwriti ine! cherish m te Lam ~Charlot

Mostly I use my own hand writing. It often comes down to how much journaling... If I want to write lots I usually do it digitally. ~Sandra Bunch

I’m only handwriting on the journal cards. I do a separate 6x12 inch page protector that I print the big monthly journaling on too. ~Donna Wilson

journaling jotmagazine.com 33

Hand wr iting for the mos part and t m y v intage typewrit er for wh en to add s omethin I want g a little different . ~Sue B rown

A bit of bo t My weekly h. recaps are mostly typed to fi t mor in, wherea s ad-hoc it e ’s handwritt en. ~Alison Wood

RIGHT: Everyday Photo Ideas >>> Becky Higgins. Website here.

5

<<LEFT: Project Life Printables. Marcy Penner’s blog here.

Top Tips.

Looking for Project Life tips? These blogs are jam packed with ideas, inspiration and really nice people.

ABOVE: Using stamps to make your own journaling cards from Nichol Magouirk >>> Blog post here

Photographing your Project Life Pages >>> Ali Edwards. Blog post here ABOVE: Cathy Zielske’s step by step video tutorials feature digital how-tos including creating your own journaling cards and hybrid scrapbooking. >>> Cathy Zielske’s Video Channel Here. jotmagazine.com 34

By Kim Archer

journaling cards

make

your

own

journaling

cards>>

PROJECT by Kim Archer We are spoiled for choice these days when it comes to journaling cards for our Project Life albums. And sometimes, instead of using pre-printed cards, why not mix things up a bit and get busy decorating and creating your own. jotmagazine.com 35

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journaling cards

keep it simple Decorated journaling cards can be as simple or as layered as you wish. Staple on a few strips of washi tape, fabric and patterned paper and add in a simple handwritten sentence!

Try using: fabric offcuts

hand stitching ims ribbon, lace, tr

teeny tags

washi tape paper clips + staples sequins & buttons

or add lots of layers If you have a little more time up your sleeve, add in some hand stitching, a few painted edges, a teeny tag, washi tape and a coloured paper clip.

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type it up Use a manual typewriter or a typewriter font to add journaling to a scrap of notepaper and staple or machine stitch it into place on your layered card.

mini layouts

Think of each journaling card as a teeny tiny scrapbook layout. Add in mini photos, some journaling, a title + embellishments.

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so simple A simple notepaper lined card is easily decorated using just some arrow paper shapes, a strip of floral washi tape, hand journaling and some machine stitching.

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designer spotlight : INTERVIEW | Kim Archer. PHOTOS: Sian Fair

Sian Fair From High In The Sky

From High In The Sky blogger, Sian Fair lives in the UK with her husband, teenage son and daughter. “I was born in the city, brought up in the country and now I seek out the sea whenever I’m able,” Sian says. “I live in a tall, narrow townhouse and my creative space is right at the top. Whenever I want to make something, I start the climb to the fourth floor and by the time I’m there, I’ll have worked out exactly what I’m going to create. It’s peaceful up there, closer to the clouds, it helps me to think; so, when I started my blog. I knew I’d be writing From High In The Sky. jotmagazine.com 40

SIAN FAIR

My blog showcases my scrapbooking and sewing and gives a home to my stories: family life with two teenagers now, family life when I was little, sometimes nostalgic and usually light hearted.”

Sian wrote her first blog post back in October 2009 after taking an online “Blogging For Scrapbookers” workshop by artist Shimelle Laine. She aims for three posts a week with a mix of scrapbooking, stories and ideas and says she has never been stuck for something to say. “I make heavy use of what my family calls “my dangerous notebook” – I’m quick to write down funny things they say or do and then I’ll think about how to turn them into a post. I do a lot of my planning before I fall asleep at night,” Sian says. I try not to take myself too seriously and most of my stories are told with a wry smile. I write about the good more than the bad: about books I’ve read, clothes I wear, places I’ve visited. I run a monthly Storytelling Sunday where other bloggers come to share a link to a story. I believe that recording your life can be as fast and fulfilling as you want it to be, given the right prompts and the best encouragement. That’s what I like to work on.” Sian draws readers, not just from the UK but from all over the world from California to Canberra and Dublin to Dubai and she’s had the pleasure of meeting up with several of her blog readers in person over the years.

“I recently organised an embellishment swap amongst my readers and we really did go right round the world in sixty swaps.” Always crafty, Sian’s been making things since her grandmother showed her how to hold a pair of knitting needles when she was just six years old. “I used to sew a lot of clothes for my dolls and then I moved on to sewing for myself, right through my teenage years. Even when it wasn’t a popular pastime, I was still sewing outfits to wear on a Saturday night. jotmagazine.com 41

I’ve done cross stitch, samplers and cards, and I like making curtains and sofa covers. I knit in the evenings and I love to put together a good fancy dress costume. I haven’t yet mastered crochet, but I’m working on that! And the paper crafting? Well, I’ve always had a thing for paper dolls.” And how long does it take Sian to pull a layout together? “I think of myself as a slow scrapper (especially if you factor in all that stair climbing!). I do a lot of planning in my head as I go about my day and then I run upstairs whenever I get the chance, usually in blocks of about thirty minutes at a time. I lose my concentration if I work for any longer than an hour. Each layout takes me a couple of hours, sometimes more, and I like to make at least two a week, in between other crafty projects. I’ve been doing more cards lately because they are a fast paper crafting fix.” So what’s next for Sian and her From High in The Sky blog? “Plenty more scrapbooking, I hope and more papercrafting with a purpose – that’s projects as well as pages.

I have always enjoyed writing -- blogging has reminded me of that, and offered me opportunities to stretch myself doing something I love. Every summer we like to travel as a family, and I like to use that time away from the computer to reflect on what I want to write about over the coming months. Maybe I’m moving towards writing a proper collection of stories, we’ll see. But I’m certainly hoping to continue coming up with ways to encourage everyone to tell their story without fear. I’m passionate about the sense of community which comes with blogging; and I’d like to continue to deepen the friendships I’ve already discovered and find some new ones along the way. That means fresh ideas for linky parties, swaps, you name it.

There’s always room for one more From High in the Sky.” jotmagazine.com 42

Sian loves to combine woodgrains and creams with seafoam colours of pale greens and blues mixed with greys, kraft and ledger paper.

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Sian describes her PAPER CRAFTING style as fresh vintage saying, “Many of my pages have a nostalgic feel, which reflects the pleasure I get from going back and retelling an old story. I like roughed up edges, texture and little details – all the things I like in a good story too.” jotmagazine.com 44

Sian likes to add in interactive elements like hidden journaling when she has more of a story to tell. Sian’s blog: From Up In The Sky

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What to

scrapbook when there’s nothing to scrapbook about..

Story + Photos | Sian Fair

There’s nothing I like better than a good story: especially one stuck firmly in a scrapbook. But I also love to play with paper. Sometimes, I just want to cut and stick. I have no story to tell, no journaling and I’m not planning on getting deep or dirty. My list of titles on the following page, is meant for days like these. Choose any one, then stop thinking about jotmagazine.com 47

it. They will all work with non-specific photos or even no photo at all: so don’t think about the picture either. Just enjoy the paper; and I guarantee that by the time your page is done, you will have thought of at least a couple of sentences to record.

M.. and me. Sian Fair, UK

The first books I can remember reading by myself are the stories of Milly Molly Mandy, set in the 1920s and still in print many years later. I think the drawings pulled me in, and maybe that’s where my lifelong interest in history started.

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Choose one.

CHALLENGE

1.. The first poster you ever put on your bedroom wall and where it came from. 2.. The first gift you ever bought all by yourself and who you gave it to. 3.. Your favourite kind of crisps and what you think they say about you. 4..The most evocative smell you know: not your favourite, but the one which best conjures up a picture or story. 5.. A shop you miss from your childhood. 6.. The highest place on earth you have ever been. 7.. The worst meal you have ever eaten. 8.. “Today is worth remembering because” - and it can be anything, large or small. 9.. The last time you grabbed an opportunity and how it turned out. 10.. The first book you remember being able to read all by yourself 11.. Something you are frightened of. 12.. Your favourite kind of weather and how it makes you feel. 13.. “I’ve never told anyone this before...” 14.. If you had to leave home, disappear and never come back, which five things would you take with you? 15.. Your favourite catalogue. Do you buy or just enjoy looking? 16.. Are you good at mending things? What’s the last thing you fixed? 17.. A cooking utensil you can’t do without and why. 18.. “I never leave the house without...” 19.. What would you like to find at the end of the rainbow? 20.. If there could only be two brands of cereal left in the world, which would you choose? Healthy or not? 21.. A dream which came true. 22.. The teacher who made the biggest impression on you. At what stage in your life? 23.. Choose one favourite song from each decade of your life. 24.. What did you buy with your very first wage packet? 25.. Do you believe in ghosts? Ever think you have seen one? 26.. If you could be a fly on the wall anywhere, where would it be? 27.. If you found a banknote in the street what would you do? Have you ever found something valuable? 28.. A bad habit you have managed to break. 29.. What do you think about in the dentist’s chair? 30.. Sweet or savoury? What’s your pleasure?

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What the

Support

team

chose to scrapbook about >>

We invited Support Team girls, Mardi Winen, Lisa Pate and Yvette Adams to choose a journaling prompt from Sian’s list and come up with a scrapbook layout.

Did you take Sian’s challenge? Head to our CHALLENGE PAGE to share your layout. jotmagazine.com 50

The Wyomi Beach Store

Mardi Winen, South Australia

Mardi chose the prompt, a shop you miss from your childhood and was reminded of the story by her daughter Briony about her summer holiday childhood corner store and her penchant for a tube of condensed milk instead of chips or lollies. jotmagazine.com 51

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CHALLENGE

That Nanna Smell Lisa Pate, NSW

I’ve sat at my craft desk so many times shifting paper, wondering what exactly I should be journaling and what memories I should be recording. I loved having quite a random list to work from - lots of ideas for fun and quirky layouts. For some reason the “smell that conjures up a memory or story” prompt really triggered a memory for me. And it was super lovely to think of all the scents that remind me of my Nanna. PS yes – I did say to the real estate agent, “I need to buy this house. It smells like my Nanna”

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Music Through the Decades Yvette Adams, ACT

The prompt to choose a song from each decade really inspired me, but it was too difficult to choose just one song, so instead, I chose my favourite artists from each decade. I had to include a photo for each decade because the hair and fashion really set the scene! jotmagazine.com 54

www.tarisota.typepad.com

Tamar Bostock - sharing life, creations and inspiration

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kim jeffress

Crafting a colourful life.

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making it.. Kim Jeffress lives in Brisbane with her husband and two young sons. She has been scrapbooking since the year 2000 and started just after meeting her husband who was her boyfriend at that stage. “We were living in Sydney and he worked out of town so it was a way to keep me busy during the week,” Kim says. Kim describes her scrapbooking style as clean, funky and colourful and feels like her style has definitely changed over the years. “I have learnt that less is more. When I look back at my early pages, they were crammed with every embellishment possible. Now they are more refined and I choose my papers and embellishments very carefully.” Here we chat with Kim more about her paper crafting style and being part of Heidi Swapp’s Media Team. What three products always find their way onto your work? At the moment it would be word and phrase stickers, sequins usually stapled on for the boyish touch and ColorShine mist. Do you plan your pages or do they evolve as you work on them? I definitely do not plan. I have tried that over the jotmagazine.com 57

years but it just never works for me. I do have an initial concept of what the page is about but that’s all. The rest comes as I play around with photos and papers. How often would you scrapbook? I scrap most week nights as my husband works at home most nights and some days during the school week when my youngest is at kindy. I have a lot of deadlines so I always have some sort of project ready to go. What other crafts do you do and have you always been creative? I have dabbled in folk art and ceramics over the years but my true passion is definitely scrapbooking. I studied art at school and then went on to be a kindergarten teacher so I have always been cutting and pasting to some degree.

How did your gig on the Heidi Swapp Media Team come about? I have always been a huge Heidi Swapp fan. I followed her blog, her trip to China and back and when she came to Brisbane a few years ago I went and did a class with her. Early last year I did a 12 week online class with her called “The Art of Observation”. It was my first real introduction to the Memory File concept. After that, there was a Media Team call on her blog and I thought I would throw my hat in -- never in a million years did I think I had a chance of being chosen. What’s your role as a Heidi Media Team member? There are five of us on the Media Team. Primarily, our role is to “make pretty stuff” with her product line: her Memory Files, patterned papers, ColorShine Mists and embellishments. We then promote our own as well as the other girls and Heidi’s beautiful work on the Heidi Swapp blog and across various social media outlets, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest. It’s a way of building up the Heidi Swapp story, of celebrating and commemorating our own stories and memories and engaging with the awesome Heidi Swapp fans. How are you enjoying your media team position? To say I LOVE IT, is truly an understatement. I have been on several scrapbook design teams over the years but this really is the pinnacle. It is the most positive, fun, exciting, challenging and rewarding experience. I am truly humbled by it all. You recently had the opportunity to meet up with Heidi and the rest of the team in the US at CHA (Craft & Hobby Association’s trade fair) - tell us a little about that? A few months before CHA, Heidi asked all the girls on the team if they would like to join her at CHA. We all jumped at the chance of course. We decided as a family to go over to California and visit the theme parks for a week before the show. The night before, we all met for the first time. It was the warmest and most heartfelt of meetings. Heidi took us through a special project just for us and then she told us of her hopes and dreams for the future. jotmagazine.com 58

“I created the collage of my photos on a free online photo editing site called picmonkey.”

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What would be your all time “go to” colour scheme? “Anyone who knows me, knows I love yellow. So basically any combination with yellow including hot pink/yellow, lime green/ yellow, brown/yellow, aqua/ yellow are all great go to colour schemes.

Tell us about the rapport you have with the other girls on Heidi’s Media Team? We have all become very close friends, encouraging and supporting each other not only with our scrapbooking but life in general. I knows these girls will be friends for life. A day before CHA my oldest son had come down with what we thought was a vomiting virus. My husband encouraged me to go to the show as I couldn’t do anything at the time but sit in the hotel room. Just minutes before the first day opened my husband contacted me to say the doctor had been called again. I left the convention centre and we went to the hospital. Later that night my son had to have emergency surgery as his appendix had burst. We had to stay in the hospital for five days. The night the show finished, Heidi and the girls came to see me. I was very overwhelmed, even though they were exhausted they still took the time to come and see me. This is the kind of relationship we all share on a daily basis on our private forum. Your work is really rich in colour, layers and techniques - how long does it take to pull a layout together? Ahh, the million dollar question. On average probably three hours, including editing and printing photos, choosing papers and embellishments and then finally putting a page together. Sometimes it flows really easily but then there are times that I really struggle and that can take me longer. What other designs teams are you involved with? Currently I also design for BasicGrey, Bella Bvd, Pebbles Inc and a small online flair shop here in Australia called Greatest View.

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Characters Mini Book I created this memory file to hold all the photos (30 in fact) from meeting the different characters from our trip to California in January. I have used two Heidi Swapp Regular and 1 Mini Memory File joined together to create all the openables and flaps.

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Heidi Swapp Media Team “We have all become very close friends, encouraging and supporting each other not only with our scrapbooking but life in general.�

Kim has punched circles from patterned paper, chopped them in half and created a scalloped border for her layout.

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Fly Girl “Having two boys I don't scrap girly very much. This is my son's best friend Kate, having fun in our pool. I am loving using hand stitching on my projects at the moment.”

Kim’s blog: Glass Half Full

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a girl named

summer Queensland photographer Amy Mellicent joined forces with film making brother Geoff to create a gorgeous fusion video (photos/film montage) for 11 year old Summer. Here is their story.

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AMY MELLICENT

Amy Mellicent: photographer Photographer, Amy Mellicent lives in Jimboomba, about 45 minutes from Brisbane with her partner Greg and they have five boys between them ranging in age from 10 through to sixteen. Mainly a portrait photographer, Amy’s favourite subject to photograph is children. “They have the most wonderful little personalities and there is something so special about capturing them in that particular moment in time.” Amy has had a love for photography since she was in primary school when she purchased her very first camera to take along to her school camp. “I can still recall that feeling of getting that very first roll of film developed!” Amy studied photography in high school but since then is wholly self taught. Her own children have provided endless opportunities to learn and grow as a photographer. Deciding to turn her passion into a business happened without too much planning when friends began approaching her to take their photos. Before long her photography business was born and flourishing.

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“Summer was very keen to take part so I went about planning the session. Most of the creative planning was done by me but Summer also got involved by gathering all of her favourite things to include in the session.�

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AMY MELLICENT

Amy has recently moved into fusion videos - a concept where a photographer and videographer use both photos and film footage to create a video backed by music. Amy has recently collaborated with her brother Geoff to create their fusion videos. “Much of the inspiration to create moving footage came from an amazing photographer and film maker by the name of Hailey Bartholomew. Our fusion videos are essentially a snippet of your photo session captured on film that compliment your images. Whilst I am busy taking photographs, Geoff is behind the scenes taking moving footage. Once the session is over I work on the images and Geoff edits his footage, then gives it to me to piece together and set to music. One recent fusion session saw them working with 11 year old Summer. “You can see from Summer’s session that it provides a beautiful insight into the day and captures those extra special moments that can’t be caught with still footage.” Summer’s fusion video had come about after Summer’s mum, who had seen Amy’s website, approached Amy about the possibility of having some photos taken of Summer. It was around that time that Amy decided she would love to have a go at fusion videos and she saw Summer as the perfect subject.

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being eleven

Amy and Geoff spent about two and half hours with Summer on the day of filming. “Once we had the footage, I began working on it with video editing software which was pretty time consuming but I’m sure I’ll get quicker the more I do. I guess it took about a week to pull together from start to finish.

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“Summer is a gorgeous girl both inside and out.� jotmagazine.com 69

behind the scenes

Behind the scenes, and Amy works with Summer, shooting photographs while Amy’s brother Geoff takes some candid video footage of the photo shoot so that Amy can piece the whole thing together into a beautiful keepsake.

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Amy Mellicent website.

Amy is the only girl in a family of five little brothers and Geoff is baby brother number three. “I have a great relationship with all my brothers. Over the past year or so I had watched Geoff’s love for video filming grow as he assisted with a friend’s short film production. He has a real talent with film and adds a wonderful component to my business that I couldn’t do on my own.”

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I loved being a big sister to five little brothers. Whenever mum was busy with one of the boys I would take over and play second mum and I loved every minute of it. Looking back it was wonderful preparation to raise five boys of my own.” All of Amy’s brothers are all creative in some way. “Mum always made an effort to provide opportunities for us to make and create things. She is a music teacher and her creativity and musical talent has rubbed off on all of us in some way.” So what’s next for this talented photographer? I look forward to taking more photographs and growing my client base over the next few months. I have interstate travel plans in the works and hope that Geoff and I can work on more projects like Summer’s in the near future.

behind the scenes Click through to see Amy and Geoff’s amazing fusion video of 11 year old Summer.

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amy mellicent photography

www.amymellicent.com.au jotmagazine.com 73

shopping

let’s go

shopping

Looking for quirky + unique embellishments to help you whip up your papery projects? We’ve found some fresh and fun boutique Etsy stores to tempt you.

Compiled by KIM ARCHER

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shop profile

Lille Syster Flower making began at an early age for designer, Katie Antonson from Easton, PA, United States. Katie’s Etsy store, Lille Syster came about after searching, without success, for sophisticated yet unique decorations for her sister’s bridal shower. After experimenting with paper, Katie’s floral garlands were born. They proved to be such a hit that she went on to create hundreds of metres of flowers to decorate her sister’s wedding venue. The Lille Syster store is loaded with strings of vibrant hand made paper flower garlands, perfect for bridal showers, weddings and parties. Visit Lille Syster here.

Vintage Scrap Shop

Pretty Tape

This delightful store is filled to the brim with vintage goodness including the sunshiny yellow crepe paper garland pictured above. This is the place to visit if you love vintage lace, trim, linens and fabrics. SHOP HERE.

Washi tape is proving to be very popular amongst paper crafters and the washi tape collection at the Pretty Tape store, is gorgeous. They also stock packaging ideas such as the kraft pillow boxes pictured above. SHOP HERE.

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Chocolate Cupcake Designer, Fiona Smith creates all sorts of goodies for her embellishment shop, Chocolate Cupcake. You will find handmade embellishments, paper kits and journals, beautifully crafted in glorious colours. SHOP HERE.

let’s

meet designer and

blogger Janna

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blogger profile

Janna Werner Janna is a freelance writer and designer from Oldenburg, Germany. “I am married to Jesper. We live in a nice house with a small garden, together with our dog Sindri, two rabbits and a few fish and frogs”. Here we chat to Janna about her approach to Project Life this year and take a peek at her studio.

What is the best thing about Project Life? Documenting the everyday, not only highlights and good times, but also not so good things. I like to create an album that I can show to our future children, so that they understand what our life looked like during that year.

Is this your first time tackling Project Life? I started my first Project Life in 2012, but perfectionism was my enemy. I got so totally lost in layering and details that I was so behind in the end. I just couldn´t keep up anymore. It was really frustrating.

And I also love that there are so many fabulous products you can incorporate and work with.

But I always wanted to give Project Life another try, not doing the same mistakes again. So I started again in 2013 and I am getting better and better at it.

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I really like the concept. That Project Life is meant to be something fun, not too complicated or time consuming.

Tell us a little about your Project Life approach/ process? Hmmm...well let´s say I tried doing it weekly. But I noticed that this gets a bit hard sometimes, so I also have a few pages where I combined two weeks. I mix different pocket pages and add 12x12“ layout as well.

Janna’s light filled studio is overflowing with beautiful samples of her work and lots of fun products.

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Washi tape envy!

I need variety, otherwise I would get bored at some point. How long does a Project Life spread take you to pull together? Depends on how much time I’ve got. If I have an entire day to work on it, I would most likely create a very detailed spread, with lots of layers. If I am short on time, I´d say maximum one hour - I would rather use a kit instead of collecting single pieces and bits. Do you find you stay up to date or do you play catch up with your Project Life? I am playing catching up all the time, but that is okay. In the beginning I felt I needed to do it every week. At some point this was too stressful and I embraced imperfection. Do you use a kit or do you tend to just use up the supplies you have on hand? I do both. I have the Olive Edition by Becky Higgins and Photo Freedom supplies by Echo Park, for example. But I also use “normal“ scrapbooking supplies from Crate Paper, American Crafts, Elle´s Studio or Sizzix, for jotmagazine.com 79

example. I love mixing things. It makes the album more lively and for me it is more interesting to work with different things. Tell us about some of the amazing opportunities you have had? My love for paper crafts and mixed media art evolved in 2010 when a friend of mine introduced me to scrapbooking. Since then I have been working together with well-known papercrafting companies such as Kaisercraft, Stampavie, Hambly Screen Prints, ColorConspiracy, Glitz Design, Chic Tags, swissgirlDesigns, Pink Paislee, Heidi Swapp and Prima Marketing. I have also worked as (guest) designer and writer for (international) magazines and have been editor in chief for a German scrapbooking magazine throughout 2012. I’m currently doing design work for Crate Paper, entreArtistes magazine, Sizzix and Two Peas in a Bucket.

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Furthermore I am teaching online classes and in-person workshops. I just finished writing my first book called “Paper Art“ and it will be released on July 11, 2013. Whats next for Janna? I am currently working on translating my last online class into English. It includes scrapbooking pages, mini album, cards and gift wrappings. It is called SummerTime and will soon be available through my Etsy store. I’m also planning a few more online workshops and collaborations with other designers and artists. I will be joining a Design Team I always wanted to work for, so I am very excited about that.

Find Janna Etsy Store>> Janna’s Blog>> Pinterest>>

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all the

funof the flair>> Raquel Bowman’s Cherry Flair buttons are the perfect finishing touch for paper craft and Project Life pages. jotmagazine.com 83

a flair for

buttons >> Raquel Bowen lives in Geelong, Victoria with her husband and baby daughter. A desire to create scrumptious kits filled to the brim with the latest and greatest scrapbooking supplies inspired Raquel to form her business, A Piece Of Cake Designs (APOCD).

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In January 2013, Raquel decided to add her exclusive Cherry Flair buttons to her product range. “Cherry Flair are the cherry on top of our scrapbooking kits; that perfect finishing touch. I am so proud of the feedback I have received from customers. They appeal to regular scrapbookers, card makers and Project Lifers.” Cherry Flair are 1inch flat back buttons, designed and manufactured by Raquel and used as embellishments on scrapbook and paper projects. “The Flair are flat backed which means you could even add a magnet to the back and pop it on the fridge.” Raquel recognised an increased interest in the buttons within the scrapbooking industry and saw a gap in the market here in Australia. “I strive to continuously improve the standard of my scrapbooking kits and wanted to create a product which would be an exclusive to my kits and my store. That’s where the Flair came in, plus I personally love them!” Each button is design by Raquel so therefore is an original and unique to other Flair buttons on the market. “I like to release designs that coincide with important events in Australia too, like Australia Day, Anzac Day, etc. But, what I love most about my Flair, and those who purchase from me will know this too, that they are the flattest Flair on the market that I have personally seen so far.” jotmagazine.com 85

With their flat, not concave back, Raquel’s Cherry Flair buttons are easy to adhere to your project with liquid adhesive or foam tape and being thinner makes them ideal for a Project Life spread as they fit beautifully within the pockets of the page protectors without creating too much bulk.

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Raquel also has Cherry Flair designs that coordinate beautifully with the colours in the Becky Higgins Project Life kits, making them a popular choice amongst Project Lifers. Releasing 6-10 new designs each month, it’s difficult to pinpoint her most popular design, however, her customers seem to really love ‘Hello Birdie’, ‘Everyday Olive’, ‘One Little Word 2013’ and ‘Everyday Woodgrain’. Each month A Piece of Cake Designs releases a Main Cake Kit and a Cupcake Kit each containing exclusive Cherry Flair buttons not available elsewhere as well as numerous Cherry Flair Designs. And to inspire her customers on how to use her kits, Raquel and Design Team member Ebony van der Starre create layouts and projects to feature on the APOCD blog. APOCD kits are popular, limited in number and sell out fast and many customers choose to sign up for a 3,6 or 12 month subscription to ensure they don’t miss out.

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Visit A Piece Of Cake Designs here on Raquel’s website.

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scrapbooking

project

PROJECT BY Kim Archer

photo booth fun Using the PocketBooth app for the iPad, and a basket of props -- hats, feather boas and a felt moustache or two, we recently had some photo booth fun at a family get together. I printed out some of my favourite photo strips from the day to make this layout. Here’s how you can make one too >>

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1

Using the PocketBooth app for iPad, we asked family members to jump in and pose for the camera.

2 The app saves your photos as “photo booth” style strips which can the be printed out onto an A4 photo sheet and cut into strips.

How to make a photo booth layout gather your supplies • cardstock, patterned paper • embellishments - buttons, teeny letter stickers, date stamp, washi tape, photo tab • letters for title • journaling pen, hole punch, embroidery needle + thread • access to a sewing machine jotmagazine.com 90

1 Use the PHOTOBOOTH app to collect fun photos of family members.

2 Provide a bunch of props - hats, funny

glasses, feather boas and a felt moustache or two and stand back and watch the fun begin.

3

4

5

6

7

My photo strips are 3x15cm and I could fit five strips onto an A4 sheet. Cut each one with a narrow white border. Start by cutting base cardstock 8.5 x 11 inches from cardstock or paper.

3 To make a mega sized flower,

cut SIX petals from cardstock.

4 I’ve hand drawn the petal

shape and used that as my template to cut all six petals.

5 Use a smidge of double

6 To define your flower,

machine stitch around each petal. Punch one large circle plus a smaller one from paper for the flower centre. Now, attach your large and small circle centre to your flower and adhere a button in place to finish.

sided tape to hold each ADDING IN PHOTOS petal in place. The flower sits 7 Choose three photos strips to the left hand side, lower and layer them to the right edge of your base. jotmagazine.com 91

>>TIP

To save time, you don’t have to machine stitch your flower petals. Simply adhere each petal securely to your layout using double sided tape. hand side of your layout, about 6.5cm from the top edge and at varying distances from the top of your layout. Use my sample as a guide for your photo strip placement.

8

9

10

11

Using a hole punch, add some holes along the top right hand edge of your layout.. 8 ADDING DETAILS: Add

a torn scrap of washi tape on the top of each photo. Add in some little details – a button and a scrap of patterned paper and pop on a photo tab to the bottom of one of your photo strips. (See main photo).

9 Add in your title. jotmagazine.com 92

Add in some hand journaling to the top left of your layout.

Add some teeny letter stickers over your photo tab in the right hand corner. If desired, head to the sewing machine and stitch across your photo tab plus along the extra patterned paper strip above your far right photo strip. 10 Add a date stamp.

11Last few steps – add some rough hand stitches to your flower centre for a pop of colour. I’ve used two strands of embroidery thread and pre pierced my stitching holes with a thumb tack to make it easier to sew through several layers of paper and cardstock. ALL FINISHED.

What our

Support

team

created using our tutorial >> We invited some of our Support Team girls, to use our tutorial to create additional samples for this project so you can see just how different the layout can turn out simply by choosing different supplies or changing things up a little. Let’s see what they came up with >>

Did you take the challenge? Head to our CHALLENGE PAGE to share your layout. jotmagazine.com 93

Sheree Forcier Sheree modified the instructions to create a larger 12x12� format. She chose to add some computer printed journaling strips and used only two strips of photos. Sheree created her flower using a different patterned paper for each flower petal. jotmagazine.com 94

A crisp white background makes all of the colours Sheree has chosen really pop off the page.

Mardi Winen Mardi chose not to use the PhotoBooth app and instead took silly photos of her family using her iPad. She cut each photo out individually and then stacked them into a strip on her layout. Because her photos were a little wider, Mardi only added two strips to her layout. jotmagazine.com 95

Mardi says, “I chose to print my pics at home onto 6×4” photo paper. I printed each picture about 3×2” in size which meant I could get four photos per sheet.”

Mel Nunn Mel says,�I used a square punch and cut the pieces of paper in half to create triangles. I thought that even though the layout is soft in colour, the triangles would be a more masculine shape than the flower.� jotmagazine.com 96

Mel used two landscape orientated photos instead of the photo booth style strips.

Janelle Wind Janelle used some photo booth photos her family had taken on a recent trip into Newcastle. She used a book print patterned paper for her base and computer printed strips for her journaling. jotmagazine.com 97

Janelle created several strips of journaling, printed onto white cardstock.

pateygirl.com jotmagazine.com 98

make. share. move. inspire

Instagram

upcycledvintage

mini book

PROJECT + PHOTOS | Janelle Wind For all of 2012 I took at least one photo a day and shared it via Instagram. I was so proud of myself for staying with my challenge for the whole year and now that I had this collection of every day photos I wanted create something more tangible with them. I decided to combine my love of vintage with some of my printed 4x4� photos and make this cute and achievable mini book. jotmagazine.com 99

1

2

4

3

5

6

how to make an instagram mini book gather your supplies • vintage hard cover book large enough to fit your photos. • 4x4” Instagram photos • Sharp craft knife + metal ruler, anywhere hole punch • double sided adhesive, 2 large book rings • patterned paper, small embellishments, letter stickers for decorating inside pages jotmagazine.com 100

Choose and process your favourite Instagram photos or print them at home. Mine measure 4x4” square.

How to construct your basic mini book 1 Choose your vintage hard

cover book and gather your supplies.

2 Using a metal ruler as a

guide and your craft knife, carefully cut the inside pages out of your hard cover book. To make it easier, cut through just a few pages at a time. Neaten the edges using your craft knife.

3 You should now have two

covers, your pages and your book spine. jotmagazine.com 101

4 I used a small plastic page

protector as a guide for marking out my holes I wanted to punch on my covers. Use an anywhere hole punch to punch holes through your cover, ensuring the front and back holes in your covers line up.

5 Use your cover as a guide

and centre your inside pages, mark your hole placement and punch holes through all of your pages.

>>cover

Keep your cover simple by wrapping a paper doily to the front cover, adding a few strips of your favourite paper and a small photo or picture plus your title. Done! 6 Slip your cover and pages

onto your book rings to complete the construction of your basic mini book. It’s time now to decorate your front cover.

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It’s time to start decorating each of your pages. I used one Instagram memory per page. I used each book page as one page in my mini album, scrapping it as though it were a mini layout. Therefore, choose your photos for day one, create your page, add your journaling and a number to show what day it was from. Quick, easy and fun! Continue adding photos and pages as you wish, changing the layout per page or doing them all the same. Remember this is about memory keeping and having fun! At the end of a year you will have one vintage mini album full of every day memories. I am sure it will be an album you and your family will enjoy looking at for years to come.

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Patchwork designer, Janelle Wind, blogs regularly about her love of patchwork, her family, what she wears, Blythe dolls and thrifting. Head over to check out her blog, The Janelle Wind Collection here.

my month in

numbers>> documenting the moments

that count!

Story + Photos | Julie Kirk

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counting on it... It all started with an old cupboard and a town covered in snow. No, not The Chronicles of Narnia … but My Month in Numbers a monthly memory keeping feature on my blog Notes on Paper. Back in January 2010 we had noteworthy snow here in the UK, deeper and longer lasting than I could remember for years and, in the same month, I gifted a vintage cabinet to a friend who was moving away. Something about the combination of miles the cabinet travelled and the low temperatures inspired a post featuring all the numbers making up January’s story … and my long running blog series was born! Ever since then, at the end of each month, I’ve blogged a summary of the previous four weeks using numbers as a hook to hang my moments on. They offer me a place to begin, they help me focus and look beyond the obvious events [birthdays and such] and they somehow bring out the ephemeral, the eccentric; the smaller experiences; those more likely to be forgotten.

And often those are the snippets that add the colour and texture to life’s crazy patchwork.

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Here’s a taster of some of the odd, but memory-rich, numbers I’ve recorded in the last three and half years

Monthly numbers >> • There’s the 125ml of hair conditioner given

to me by one of my favourite writers at a book signing [it’s a long story!] • And the time I had a little feature in a local newspaper and, when they asked for a short bio I stupidly, and inexplicably, told them I was one year older than I really am! • Or how about the rare time my crafting work desk was so uncharacteristically clean and clear that I measured its surface area to mark the occasion [0.617m2 if you’re wondering!] Can you see what I mean? These aren’t exactly the occasions you’d mark with an official family photograph? Yet when I look back at those numbers, the very specific details have the magic effect of returning me instantly back to those moments. And this is the fun thing about the Month in Numbers way: it’s not really about the numbers, they’re not an end in themselves; it’s the story I add after the numbers that make them worth recording. The numbers are just the raw ingredients. Today, after 41 posts [and counting!], I remain as inspired and motivated by this regular, flexible means of memory keeping as ever and I’m always encouraging others to join in the fun [and that means you too!]. jotmagazine.com 106

After receiving positive feedback from my blog readers I decided to throw the idea open to all. And gradually, over the years more and more have begun documenting and sharing their ‘moments that count’ and we collect new number-crunchers on a monthly basis now. To help foster an expanding international community, I set up a dedicated Month in Numbers Pinterest Board and whenever someone links me up, I pop over to visit their blog and ‘pin’ their post. This way all our posts are housed together making it easy for people to click through, read each others vital statistics and make new connections all from one fixed spot. When I take a trip around everyone’s blogs, one of the most rewarding things for me is seeing how others adapt and interpret the idea in their own way; to suit both their own lifestyles and their creative styles. Plus, in amongst counting all these general comings and goings you can also set yourself challenges to deliberately count specific things each month, for example: this year my number habit is helping me keep track of how many books I’m reading while last month I decided to use it to audit how many hours of crime drama I watched on TV [turns out it was a lot more than I would have guessed].

Occasionally I’ve created a scrapbook layout, mini-book and even an art journal page as a way to present my finished facts and figures but my regular method is to share a blog post filled with numbers, the stories behind them and photos to illustrate.

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There’s no single ‘right way’ to record your Month in Numbers and people have responded in so many creative ways including; traditional scrapbook layouts, no-photo layouts, mini-albums, original info-graphics, text overlaid on photographs and collections of Instagram snapshots. Also, in recent years, with the growth in popularity of multi-pocket memory keeping, there’s been an exciting crossover with many ‘Project Life’ participants introducing elements of My Month in Numbers into their existing albums.

Layout by Julie Kirk. April. My Month in Numbers.

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What do you think? Are you ready to start counting life’s details with us?

Tips for getting started>> • Start by opening a new draft blog

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post at the start of each month or flip open a blank notebook and start recording! Jot down noteworthy moments while they’re still fresh in your mind. Sift through photo files each month and choose stories you want to tell, then seek out a number link. Here it helps to think back to school mathematics; with money, size, weight, height, time, distance, temperature, frequency all coming in handy. It’s not so much about collecting as many numbers as possible, but using them as a way to add clear structure to the story of the previous 30+ days. And with numbers, there’s always the chance to present random events as lists -- and who doesn’t like a good list?

FOR more examples, visit my How-To guide here on my blog.

Julie’s blog:

Notes On Paper here. jotmagazine.com 109

To encourage more life documenters to jump aboard the number train, I designed, in collaboration with designer SJ Dowsett of “Little Musings”, a set of 21 Month In Numbers printables. Available here in my Etsy store.

Alternatively, rather than capturing a ‘month’ in numbers, others have adapted the idea to document a oneoff event like a holiday or birthday, recording everything from aeroplane seat numbers and theme-park queuing times to the number of jellies eaten or candles on a cake. And, trust me, once you start thinking about memory-keeping in this way … not only do you begin seeing numbers everywhere, but friends and family start throwing them at you too [like a text from your Dad telling you the earliest date he’s gone back to when researching the family history!].

So … what do you say? Are you going to start catching all those facts, figures and statistics that life’s throwing at you and join in the memory-keeping-by-numbers crowd? Come on … come and add your number to our list!

Julie Kirk lives in the North East of England with partner James. Her blog, Notes on Paper, is a place for Julie to share creative projects including scrapbooking, art journals, cards and mini books. She also blogs tutorials, interactive themed series and classes, her latest being, The Push-Up Bra Approach to Blogging to inspire anyone who wants to blog more consistently and confidently.

More..

my month in

numbers>> layouts

Julie Kirk’s Month In Numbers regular blog post attracts creatives from all around the globe. While some of the participants write a blog post documenting their month in numbers, others decide to celebrate their month by creating a scrapbook layout or mini book.

Let’s take a peek... jotmagazine.com 110

Nathalie’s blog: An Ounce of Creativity.

Nathalie Leonelli San Diego, CA

“The amount of photos I have for a particular month determines whether I will create a single or a double spread for that month. That way it is stress free for me. May was not too eventful therefore it ended up being a single page layout:” jotmagazine.com 111

Nathalie documented her month in numbers as a Project Life spread for this month of May.

Effie Effie has created a mini book for the month of May and recorded her numbers and details onto cardstock “dipsticks” to tuck into the mini book pockets. jotmagazine.com 112

Effie’s blog: Efemera-Ink

Sian Fair “Some months, the numbers I want to remember lodge themselves easily in my brain. Other months, I’m not sure what to count because mostly, to be honest, I retain colours and textures and words better than numbers. That’s why I find the challenge of this so enjoyable!” Sian’s blog: From High in The Sky

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Sian’s Month In Numbers was summed up in a striking scrapbooking layout, detailing the distance they travelled during the month of July.

Louise Brooks United Kingdom

“Not only is this the perfect way to record each month’s activities, I think its a brilliant way to record a day out, occasion and even a holiday.”

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Louise’s blog: Boys, Bugs and Beautiful Buttons

Nathalie Leonelli San Diego, CA

“Just like Julie from Notes on Paper and many others, I am summarizing my months with numbers (for the second year in a row).”

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Nathalie’s blog: An Ounce of Creativity.

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PocketPage

showcase>> Project Life/pocket style pages catching our eye.

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Chris has used a Studio Calico wood veneer word and recoloured it using a copic pen.

Chris Cid “I use Becky Higgin’s Project Life products but I also add a lot of my own stash to it as well.”

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Chris uses a combination of hand journaling and computer journaling.

Chris’ blog, Based On A True Story

Chris mixes black and white photos with full colour photos which gives her pages a nice contrast. jotmagazine.com 119

Chris used her Cameo to cut out the “One Little Week” title.

Chris Cid Adelaide, SA

“I love Project Life, it’s given me back my passion for scrapbooking and I love recording our crazy life.”

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Chris created the weather photos using Instaweather Pro, an iPhone app.

Using one of Cathy Zielske’s Tiny Template digital files, Chris created this mini collage of photos. jotmagazine.com 121

Chris’ blog, Based On A True Story

“I used embellishments from the Maggie Holmes collection and cut images with my Silhouette Cameo.”

Janna Werner Oldenburg, Germany

“Throughout my (Project Life) album, I like to add a layout from time to time and to vary the sizes of my photos.” jotmagazine.com 122

Janna’s Blog

I love to sew on my scrapbooking pages. Usually I use white thread. For this layout I mixed a white and a black thread (upper thread: white, lower thread: black) -- just love the contrast it adds to the page. jotmagazine.com 123

Aimee has used all digital printables for this spread except for the black thicker letter stickers used on two of her journaling cards.

Aimee Dow Bendigo, Victoria

“When I’m not writing, I’m flooding Instagram with my new found photography skills.” jotmagazine.com 124

Instagram: aimeec27 Aimee’s Blog

“I think what I love the most about this layout is that it represents a typical week -pancakes on Sunday morning, movie night, getting mail and just hanging out around the house.” jotmagazine.com 125

Petra has used mainly Becky Higgins Project Life Seafoam kit for this spread.

Petra Corcoran Queensland, Australia

“Why Project Life? It’s simple. It’s flexible. It’s whatever you make it.”

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Petra used a bi-fold journaling card to house extra journaling.

Petra’s blog

Petra has included some memorabilia in a pocket this week by adding some movie tickets. jotmagazine.com 127

Chris uses a mix of page designs plus inserts when she wants to include more information.

Chris Cid Adelaide, SA

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Chris uses digital stamps and creates her own templates using Photoshop as shown here featuring a trio of photos plus her journaling.

“I wanted my girls to not only remember Margaret Thatcher as an important figure in history but to admire her strength and determination in the face of adversity.”

Chris’ blog, Based On A True Story

Chris uses the Epson PictureMate to print her photos so can only print up to 4x6inch in size. She shares her tips for printing across two photos in her blog tutorial here.

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“I used mostly Amy Tangerine goodies. The Around Town Kraft paper is so cute and perfect for baby/childhood pages.”

Sue Ko

Queensland, Australia

“I love Project Life, traditional scrapbooking, digital design and everything in between!” jotmagazine.com 130

Sue’s blog: The Making Table.

Sue has added some hand stitched detail using the Amy Tangerine embroidery kits.

Sue uses the Project Life system not only to record present day moments but to document photos from the past.

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I love to use stamps on my layouts. It’s the embellishment that never runs out. I used only black ink so it did not detract from my colour scheme.

Aimee Dow Bendigo, Victoria “I tend to colour coordinate my Project Life spreads.”

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Instagram: aimeec27 Aimee’s BLog

In week 24, I acquired a vintage typewriter that was just made for Project Life. I love the imperfections of the type and the vintage feel it imparts on the spread. jotmagazine.com 133

My photos for the week had a winter vibe, so I decided to pull some of the black and orange cards from my Seafoam kit.

Bec has used dot points of some of the highlights from her weekend away.

Bec Miller Yarra Valley, Victoria

“I was a traditional scrapbooker for five years but have just discovered the world of Project Life and loving it.� jotmagazine.com 134

“This was a fun week and a fun spread to do. I lifted the orange from the orange jumper in the photos.”

With quite a lot of photos to be included, Bec created photo collages so she could make sure she could fit them all in.

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Bec’s blog: Scrap Fruition

Holly’s digital pages are clean and uncluttered with a focus on her photos.

Holly Connors Queensland, Australia

“I only discovered Project Life in January this year, as it seemed like the perfect solution to an in depth baby album for my newborn.” jotmagazine.com 136

“The crisp, uncluttered look of digital pages really appeals to me, just as much as the messy, imperfect look of a physical album.”

Holly has added her journaling directly onto her photo.

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Holly’s blog: Harmony DIY

April has used gold Amy Tangerine thickers for her titles across both pages of her Project Life spread.

April Joy Hill San Diego, USA

“I do not use a Becky Higgins core kit. I cut up paper from different product lines instead. I also have a stash of kraft cardstock that’s my go-to.” jotmagazine.com 138

April has included two flip up pockets to enable her to fit more photos into her spread. To see how April created her flip pockets you can visit her blog here. jotmagazine.com 139

April Joy’s blog: The Quirky Craftyneer

Rebecca has used Simple Stories Pocket Pages Design 10 for her Project Life spread which is perfect for her Instagram photos.

Rebecca Keppel Gilbert, Arizona. USA.

“I love using Instagram photos and I have fun playing around with the Instagram app A Beautiful Mess to add fun doodles and text to them.� jotmagazine.com 140

Rebecca uses photo app, A Beautiful Mess to add quirky elements to her photos.

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Rebecca’s blog: My Cluttered Corner

Melinda Spinks

Melinda’s Blog

Victoria, Australia

“The main attraction (for doing Project Life) was the ability to keep up-to-date with memory keeping and use all my photos ‘warts and all’ rather than just my favourites on a single layout.

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“I decided I wanted to include some of my facebook posts as I share lots of my photos on-line with family and friends yet my husband or children never get to see the beautiful comments about their photos. I simply took a screen shot of the original post on facebook, sized it to fit then printed it onto photo paper.�

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“Almost all of my tags and pocket cards are free downloads from very talented and generous designers via the internet.”

Mardi Winen SA, Australia

“I tend to keep my pages simple with minimal embellishment. I stick to simple tags, washi tape and a few alphabet stickers plus some machine stitching.” jotmagazine.com 144

“Each week I let my photos dictate the colour palette of my spread -- this week we had the girlies living with us so pink was very much the focus.” jotmagazine.com 145

Mardi tends to repeat the same formula each week. For example, she always makes a pocket for the weekly tag which includes what week it is. She also includes a pocket of journaling as a recap of what’s been happening that week.

Some of Peta’s lovely creative ladies who come along to her SFS Designer retreats

scrapbooking

from scratch Owner of Scrapbooking From Scratch, Peta Macbeth lives with her husband and four kids in the beautiful Hunter Valley, NSW. Scrapbooking From Scratch website.

Peta regularly packs her online store into her purpose built trailer, nicknamed Barry, and heads off to run her very popular scrapbooking retreats held all over NSW. With plans to take her retreats to Victoria and Queensland in the pipeline as well as embracing the Project Life/pocket style scrapbooking trend by stocking products and kits for enthusiastic memory keepers, Peta is a busy lady. We catch up with her for a chat about her business.

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“Enjoy. Create. Share.

That’s been my catch phrase since I started the business.”

How did you get started in business? My business was created around my Designer Kits -- with kits ranging from $45 down to $10 where you get all the product co ordinated for you to just sit and create. My Everyday Moments kits are based for the Project Life style scrapping. These include a few papers and a couple of embellishments to ‘stuff’ your page protectors and help you get those photos into albums using all the latest ranges. I have a small online shop but the extent of my product range exceeds that, so those attending retreats get to see A LOT more of what SFS has to offer.

At retreats I show product demos such as background ideas using mists and masks, Project Life/Sn@p ideas as well as SMASH albums. All of these create a buzz of excitement and a buying frenzy, and everyone gets involved in doing some ‘different’ things in their creating time. Tell us a little about your Scrapbooking From Scratch (SFS) Designer retreats? Our SFS Designer Retreats are held three times a year on the shore of the beautiful Lake Macquarie at Summerland Point. I hold two large retreats with 36 or more people plus a smaller retreat of just 15 ladies each year.

What makes your retreats special?

What made you start stocking Project Life type products? Before Christmas I had stocked the EP Photo Freedom kits and liked working with them but then started seeing online the buzz that Becky Higgins and Project Life was going to be available in Australia. I started to investigate and I liked what I saw. This style of scrapping could incorporate such a wide range of product and knew I had to give it a go – and as they say the rest is history.

The whole package is what it’s all about at SFS. Great location, home cooked/catered meals, demos and classes, challenges, gifts and a fantastic group of scrappers.

I think I have now got all the ranges that come in under the “Project Life” style of scrapping – including older papers that are perfect to cut up, known as tag papers.

I will be attending a total of 18 retreats in 2013 as “the retreat shop”. These are held in various locations such as Castlereagh, Barraba, Meroo, Hunter Valley Retreat and the Dandenongs VICTORIA.

Echo Park Photo Freedom is the biggest selling range I have in my shop and then the Memory Works Simple Stories is a close second.

What’s next for Peta and Scrapbooking From Scratch?

Do you think that traditional scrapbooking has had it’s day? Or is there a place for both styles of memory keeping? I think there is room for all styles of scrapping, from traditional to Project Life, SMASH, Sn@p and Art Style as well. I see all of these being equally created at retreats everywhere so no style has ‘had its day’.

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We have classes which are an extra for those who wish to join in as well as demos which are included in the retreat cost.

What future plans do you have for your SFS retreats?

2013 has 18 retreats in the diary. 2014 is looking to be the same with a possible venture into QLD too... so a busy and exciting time ahead. I am starting to plan day crops in various locations organised by others where the SFS shop comes to let everyone have the shopping experience – so if you are within a two hour drive of Branxton and want to organise a day crop with the SFS Shop attending give me a call 0414567464... weekends & weekdays/nights can be arranged.

Layout by Kim Archer

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Joinour

mood board

challenge on the Jot blog >>

every week or so Every week or so we have a Mood Board challenge on the Jot blog. Come and join in the fun and show us your work! We have great prizes to win, a stylish Mood Board to challenge you and you can link us up to your blog so we can see your work. <<LEFT Kim Archer’s take on our very first Mood Board Challenge. “Our first challenge featured crisp whites, cool aquas and black chevron,” Kim says.

See the MOOD BOARD 1 here. See all of our Mood Board challenges here.

Check out the winners of our very first challenge >>

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etzcetera magazine

living a creative life

Lifestyle magazine, Etzcetera is filled to the brim with creative projects, quirky stories and food ideas. Visit our site for more info.

www.etzceteramagazine.com.au

advertise here>> Email Lisa Pate for pricing and details

Challenge

winners

Ebony van der Starre

Our challenge winner, Ebony created this gorgeous mixed media layout featuring lots of stamping, paint and layers.

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winning layout

Sandra Bunch Sandra’s layout is clean and simple and you are immediately drawn to her photo which features the colour palette beautifully! Sandra’s layout was voted 2nd place in our challenge.

Anna Allan Anna’s beautiful layout uses the colour palette of our Mood Board perfectly and is filled with lovely layers and texture. Anna’s layout was voted third place in our Mood Board challenge.

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LilyWillow Designs Zina Zraikat, from the Gold Coast, Australia, has an eye for detail and an abundance of creative ideas.

lilywillow_designs

blog facebook

Running her own event styling business, LilyWillow Designs, Zina’s Instagram feed is loaded with photos of parties and weddings she has styled, candid family photos, design ideas and home decor projects. Look out for her quirky signs and prints featuring Zina’s distinctive handwriting.

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InstaGLAM

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Jot the

project.

The search is on>> Think you’ve got what it takes to be part of our team?

We’re looking for 5 talented paper crafters to join our brand new

Jot Creative Team. If you’re passionate about paper crafting, possess strong writing and photography skills, create awesome Project Life and scrapbooking layouts and are passionate about documenting the everyday plus would love to be part of our team -- we want to hear from you. FULL details here on our blog>>

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