If I could buy anything on iNSD...

Every year International/National Scrapbook Day( iNSD) comes around bringing with it some awesome sales and deals on both digital and paper scrapbook supplies. Deals so good that it's like Christmas has come in May. Over at the Get It Scrapped forum, the question arose about how much we'd be spending this year.  With the posed question came a very unscientific but fun quiz designed to help you make a budget. Mine came out to be around $120.  I am on a bit of spending freeze this year, but still the question got me to thinking. Just what would I get with $120 if I had that in my budget to spend?

I had quite a wishlist of CHA items this year. A few of them have made it into my Cocoa Daisy kits which generally leaves me satisfied and not feeling the need to spend. I did get the Fuse tool from We R Memory Keepers. There are a few items though, that I still might like to get. By the way, the following are affiliate links. Clicking them means that you are contributing to the possibility that I might have money to spend on iNSD.

Basic Grey's Prism Collection
I did receive a few papers and embellishments through my Cocoa daisy kits. Sometimes, there is a line I love so much that I want more pieces. This collection falls into that category.

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I chose more paper, a stamp set, wood veneer( because I can't have too much of this stuff!) and some die cuts. There was another stamp I would have liked and some stencils as well. However, upon examining my supplies, I have some older products that are similar enough to work with this collection. No need to take up space with something very much like what I already own.

Basic Grey's Adrift Collection

Nautical themes are always well used. I have spent much of my life in Florida and the Caribbean.

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 Often times, I find I can mix and match older papers with new ones. For that reason, I think a 6x6 paper pad would suffice.

Pink Paislee's Atlas Collection
I always adore travel papers. Like the nautical themed papers above, I can mix and match some travel supplies with older ones. No need for the large patterned paper pack.



I know I have a tendency to overdo things when I shop for a collection. Since I don't want to buy more than I can use, I chose just two packs of embellishments.

Prima Wood Icons 

I am still not tired of wood veneer. I just love the gold foil accents on the new Prima Wood Icons.

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I think I kept things pretty close to $120. I have learned that I need to shop smart so I don't over buy products. Now, if only I really did have that $120! I might also check out a few of the digi store sites too!
If you'd like to take the quiz to see your iNSD spending budget, pop on over the DigitalSrapbooking HQ. Remember, it's just for fun. Use your own best judgement about your personal spending allowance.

If you'd like to join in with the discussion about the quiz results and your iNSD spending habits, head over to the Get It Scrapped forums.

Don't forget! The DigiScrapGeek Podcast will be hosting a live show on Friday for pre- iNSD fun( you can subscribe to the live link here). There are also some fabulous prizes. You don't need to be present to win, but you do need to submit an entry. 

Also, we'll be scrapbooking live with the Get It Scrapped Gang on iNSD. It's free to join in the fun. Just head over to the Get It Scrapped forum for details.

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Scrapbooking with a Rain Motif

I am a pluviofile. That's a fancy way of saying that I love the rain. I find rainy days to be calming and quite beautiful. Some of my fondest memories include puddle jumping with my grandparents. Perhaps it's because of them that I always let my son play in the rain every chance he gets. A little rain is never anything to be afraid of and it's a wonderful opportunity to take some awesome candid photos.

Now of course, being both a memory keeper and a pluviofile means I love to hoard supplies with the rainy day motif.You can imagine my delight when I saw the latest kit from Traci Reed Designs and Jady Day Studio. Being part of Traci's design team meant that there was no way I was going to hoard these supplies. Nope. My first choice was to go out and splash in the rain with my teenage son. Sadly, the weather didn't cooperate. It's times like these that I am grateful I never got around to scrapbooking all of his early childhood photos.

Rain Rain Don't Go Away by Christy Strickler |Supplies Cardstock: Bazzill, Jewel: Pinkfresh Studio; Digital Kit- All Year Round Precipitations by Traci Reed Designs and Jady Day Studio; based on inspiration from the Simple Scrapper Premium membership













With my schedule packed full this week, I chose to lean on some inspiration from Simple Scrapper. This particular layout is based on an 8.5 x 11 template.  I am not used to working on a canvas smaller than 12x12 which makes this a great opportunity to stretch my design style. I did end up allowing myself to work a little outside the 8.5 x 11 boundaries and loved the results. I seem to be on a trend of  scattering small items such as sequins around my layouts. Here, I chose to use some small heart die cuts. I popped then up over the tops of hearts in the patterned paper.

Weather layouts like these are always a favorite of mine. They start off with pictures I love and product that I adore which combine to make a wonderful page.

Are you a pluviofile too? Do you collect and use the rain motif? What are you favorite rain themed products?

Supply Options
This posts contains affiliate links when possible. Please shop your stash first, but should you find you need something, consider supporting MSE.

All Year Round Precipitations by Traci Reed Designs and Jady Day Studio















Additional Resources

Follow My Scrapbook Evolution's board Motif- Rain Rain Don't Go Away on Pinterest.

Ideas for Recording the Weather on your Scrapbook Pages. an article from the Get It Scrapped Blog

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The DigiScrap Geek Podcast, Episode 28: Vacation like a Memory Keeper

Vacations are exciting. As memory keepers, we want to capture every moment while finding a way to be present. The burden of capturing those moments doesn't have to fall solely upon your shoulders and there are ways to make documenting your trip a bit easier. In episode 28, we met with May Flaum and discussed how to make scrapbooking your vacation just a little easier.

As often happens after recording an episode, I was excited about the topic. In this case, I wanted to look back through some of my older vacation layouts. I enjoy seeing the pages as well as seeing how my style of memory keeping has developed. 

I created this layout in 2012 for an article at Get It Scrapped. We had joined my husband on a business trip to Puerto Rico. I really loved the beautiful and brightly colored buildings of old San Juan. I chose to bring those color associations into my layout.

Documenting the vacation is always a given. I had never thought to document the travel preparations until I made this layout in 2013. Now the travel prep and even the mode of transportation have become part of the way I document our vacations.

Recording the memories from a day trip can be just as important as documenting a week long vacation. I documented one of my family's short trips across the island in my November, 2013 Project Life pages. I documented the food we ate while we were out and about. One of the pages even included a map showing our travel route for the day.

I don't vacation often, but when I do, I would like to believe that I make an effort to document memories while still being a part of the adventure. However, as I looked back through the pages, It did occur to me that I don't appear in many photos from our trips. Perhaps a few of the tips from Episode 28 will get me in the frame a bit more. How do you document your vacation and travels? Do you find it to be an easy process or does it overwhelm you?

Additional Resources

Join our discussion of vacation scrapbooking in the DigiScrap Geek Podcast Facebook group.

Motif- Have Suitcase, Will Travel Pinterest Board from My Scrapbook Evolution

12 Ideas for Scrapbooking Travel to Cities, an article from the Get It Scrapped Blog

Ideas for Scrapbooking Travel Preparations, an article from the Get It Scrapped Blog

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Tales of a Craft Class Junkie: Style is Leverage and the Reflective Story Style with Get It Scrapped

Even though I have been scrapbooking for over a decade, categorizing my personal scrapbook style isn't easy for me. I  have found my groove and my process flows with ease( most of the time). I can work with just about any product I am handed, molding them and adapting them to my style with ease. However if you  ask me to name my style? Nope. Not Sure. I know who I am as a memory keeper but the name for that identity sits on the tip of my tongue, sort of unspoken like that whatsamacallit you know but just can't seem to say when people ask you. It's really not a problem for me,unless I am applying for a design team and they want me to define who I am.

Rather than categorize my style, I tend to sit back and observe. What do I do? How do I do it? Why do I do that? Do I need to make any changes? If so, what and why? This isn't about making a comparison of myself to others. This is about leveraging my style. Even if I don't name it, it's still mine and I want to use it effectively. I want to understand the way I use specific supplies. Understanding what I do and how I use products helps me work efficiently but it also points me towards opportunities to expand the way I work.

While I do always journal on a page, I tend to fall into a basic pattern. I have a tendency of capturing the event in it's most rudimentary and factual form. I don't know why this is, other than to speculate that, once the page is finished, I am just so ready to move on to a new design. Now there is nothing wrong with event scrapping and being factual. It's just that I want to do more with the way I tell my stories. I have gotten the chance to examine my story style with a layout I created recently for Get It Scrapped  as well as during the Style is Leverage Event.

All is Well by Christy Strickler |Supplies Patterned Paper Pebbles, Basic Grey,We R Memory Keepers; Crate Paper; Letters: American Crafts; Punch: EK Success; Labels: Evalicious; Enamel Dots: My Mind’s Eye; Die Cuts: Basic Grey: Journal Card: Basic Grey: Other: ribbons; Appears in an article for Get It Scrapped; Based on a sketch from the Simple Scrapper Premium membership

I know I can get a bit lazy when is comes to journaling. Having a prompt helps me out quite a bit.When I created this layout, I started with the idea that I wanted to tell a reflective story and then found the photos to work with that story style. Let's look at this page, for example. These are photos of my husband and myself in the NICU with our son.Though it may not be obvious from these pictures,he was born premature. We were close to going home, but still had a long unknown path ahead of us.I would probably have written a brief explanation of the photos. Perhaps I might have mentioned how worried we were at the time. What did I do instead? I chose to write from my present perspective, telling my former self that I wish I would have known then that everything would be ok. My son grew up just fine with few health issues. It's something that I also wish to tell other parents of premature babies.

This is my second year participating in Style is Leverage. I came back to it, once again, to reevaluate where I am now. I like who I am as a memory keeper, but understanding more about how I tell my stories will give me what I need to move forward in the telling of richer tales. Story telling is definitely an area I want to work on. I personally feel that, no matter what lever or style of memory keeper we are, we can always benefit from taking stock in ourselves. Now for me, it's just a matter of making story telling experiments a habit and not falling too far back into old routines.

Have you ever taken a look at your personal story style? How do you feel about it? Does it convey enough of what you want to tell in your journaling?

Supply Options
This posts contains affiliate links when possible. Please shop your stash first, but should you find you need something, consider supporting MSE.

Some supplies are from the January 2015 Cocoa Daisy Kits. I am not an affiliate but I am a subscriber.

View blog post for supplies

Additional Resources

an article from the Get It Scrapped Blog

The Story Styles Lookbook which is part of the Get It Scrapped Membership
Click here to visit Get It Scrapped.

Related articles

• get it scrapped!: your style. your leverage.
• Scrapbook Challenges: In the Sink?

Scrapbook Challenges: So Happy To Give

Mondays should be about the beginnings of a new week. A fresh start. It's just that it's very hard for me to not see it as the demise to my weekend. For that reason, I try to keep my Monday schedule light. I try to find something to be grateful for and to uplift my day. Cute photos of my son from the days when he was small are always a sure way to uplift my spirits. I guess that's why so many of these photos have been making their way onto my layouts for Scrapbook Challenges. After all, Monday generally means that there is a new sketch available.

This week, I chose to work with a set of photos in which my son has just helped wrap a gift for my husband. He was so excited to have helped and to be nominated to bring the gift to his dad.

So Happy To Give by Christy Strickler |Supplies Patterned Paper: Amy Tangerine; Letters: American Crafts; Die Cuts, Stickers, Transparency: Pink Paislee; Wood Veneer,Stamp: Cocoa Daisy; Ink: Versacolor; Other: Tag, Ribbon, Doily. Glossy Accents; Based on Scrapbook Challenges Sketch # 436

Sketch #436 is one that, once again, took me out of my comfort zone with a larger photo. Sketches with large photos make it so simple to feature one picture in particular. I am definitely pulled into this page when I see the picture of my son. Much of the real estate is taken up by photos in this sketch which diminishes the busy look of the bright and energetic patterned paper prints. My large photo is a tad bit smaller than the sketch called for. That's fine with me. It just leaves a bit more white space on the bottom under the title.

How do you handle Mondays? Need some inspiration to get you back in your groove? Check out Scrapbook Challenges Skectch #436 along with inspiration from the SBC sketch crew. Don't forget to link up your projects on the SBC blog. We'd love to see your work!

Supply Options

This posts contains affiliate links when possible. Please shop your stash first, but should you find you need something, consider supporting MSE.

Many of the supplies I used on this page came from Cocoa Daisy's April kit. I am not an affiliate but I am a subscriber.

View blog post for supplies

Additional Resources

Using Larger Photos on Your Scrapbook Layouts

The MSE Big Photos Pinterest Board

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• Scrapbook Challenges: In the Sink?
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Project Life 2015: Starting on April

Here I am starting on my April pages when I haven't even finished March yet. I know that's not how a lot of people work, but it's the way I work. I create my pocket page spreads in the same manner that I approach my scrapbook pages. I am either A. excited about a certain set of photos or B. excited to work with a specific set of supplies. Today's page will fall in category B. Traci Reed's April 2015 Pocket Life collection is available now. So why not create with it now? I have enough photos to at least start my April pages. So yes, this is a very good idea.

All of my Project Life spreads feature a monthly format. This means that, should I need to shuffle a few cards around, it will be no big deal. Namely, I am considering moving the video game card on the upper left side. I have a few other game related cards I will be making later on along with cards about our favorite tv shows this month. Depending upon other photos and my currently list cards, I might find it a good idea to move it and keep all of my media related cards together. We'll see. 

Meanwhile, I love the title card. I love the photo featuring spam( a home cooked meal that my mom used to make-> don't judge) and the row of silly cat pictures along the bottom. Those cards will all stay put. Since I knew I was keeping them in place, I decided to play around with adding a visual triangle to my pocket page. It is one of my go to design principles for traditional layouts and I thought that I might like pocket pages better if I started trying to use it. My triangle consists of the same type of flower in 3 places: the title card, the filler card, and in the cat card on the left. Already, I like my page much more. I think I am going to try to work with one specific design principle in mind every time I create a pocket page from now on.

I know some people are very strict about finishing all of their Project Life pages each and every month or they feel behind. Not me. It stresses me out. I don't want to feel behind. I just want to get my pages done when they inspire me to work on them. Giving myself the freedom to jump around chronologically still means pages are getting finished and placed in my album. I will finish March. Most likely in the next week or so. When I do, rest assured that I will share them in a round up post so that they all sit together where they belong.

How about you? Does Project Life stress you out? Do you feel behind? Try my method and let me know how you feel after. Start with photos you love or choose a product you just simply have to use. I am willing to bet that pocket pages will become less of a chore.

Supply Options

This posts contains affiliate links when possible. Please shop your stash first, but should you find you need something, consider supporting MSE.

April 2015 Pocket Life Collection by Traci Reed Designs

365 Unscripted: 4x6 collage Cards by Traci Reed Designs

Additional Resources

The Traci Reed Designs Team Inspiration Board on Pinterest

The My Scrapbook Evolution Project Life Inspiration Board on Pinterest

Related articles

• Project Life 2015: Weekending
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• Project Life: February 2015

Catching up with the Digiscrap Geek Podcast

I know you might be thinking it's been too quiet on the blog. Really, it hasn't. I have just found myself posting quite a few articles over on the main MSE page this week. In fact, I have more to post and those will be coming soon. I am still balancing my need to write more posts with my need to create more projects. It's a constant tug of war, but I would be dishonest if I said I wasn't glad for it. Having things on your to-do list that one actually wants to do is never a bad thing. Meanwhile though, I do believe I have neglected to share what's been happening over at the DigiScrap Geek Podcast.

Heritage scrapbooking is a vast subject to cover. So, in episode 25, we revisited it once again with Katie Scott. Being a part of these heritage related episodes has inspired me to break out some older photos. I had planned to have a layout finished and ready to share regarding this episode. However, I had the grand plan of handstitching all over this page and it's taking me longer than I thought to finish it. Plus,my cat stole several small squares from my patterned paper grid( I am not kidding). I only had one sheet! I figured that it might be best to just refer you over to the new episode while I figure out what to do with this page. Rest assured that I will complete it. Somehow.

Carrie kicked off a new series for the podcast. In essence they are mini episodes with the benefit of getting to know the staff of the DigiScrap Geek Podcast. Yours truly was the first lab rat  guest. It turned out quite nice actually. So much so that I ended up editing and tweaking my about page with a link to this podcast included. I am looking forward to hearing the mini episodes about Summer, Carrie and Karen.

Episode 26 aired, featuring a discussion of gallery standouts. I must confess that the nerd in me was quite interested in this show. Mainly because I keep trying to figure out if there is some magic algorithm related to the how and the why of certain layouts being chosen. Though I didn't discover the magic formula, I did pick up on a few tricks for posting to galleries. I also found that The Gallery Standouts blog is an exceptional source of inspiration( even for paper girls).


We did talk a bit about adding the proper credits aka supply lists to your work in the galleries. I thought it was quite apropos to share how I propagate my personal galleries and create my supply lists. So I wrote a whole article on the subject. 

You will also be excited to note that we have a live event coming up to get you pumped up for iNSD. If you want to be part of the audience, pop over to the DigiScrap Geek for more information.














Since it's Friday, it means that it's a typical recording day for the DigiScrap Geek. I am super excited to talk to our guest today. I wish I could share more, but sadly, you will just have to wait until the show posts( and somehow, I have to keep it a secret). Meanwhile, if you need a memory keeping geek fix, you can find us chatting in the DigiScrap Geek facebook group.

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