Scrapbooking should be hassle free and plastic free! Gasp…no page protectors? So how do you keep the pages together then? Use a stapler! Not just any stapler though. Besides being hassle free, stapled-together (meaning already put together!) scrapbooks are so easy to take with you wherever go. You can write your thoughts while they are fresh in your mind. Having many more details in your scrapbooks make them more fun and meaningful to look through for you and your family. Pretty weird looking tool isn’t it? But it works so well for putting together our Memorable Journals that we use for journal writing and for scrapbooking. (If you are not already familiar with these journals that can also be used as scrapbooks, check out the shop here to see what they are like.) Once you get used to doing it this way, you will never go back. I love… read more
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I’ve never counted how many journals I’ve made so far, but I’m pretty sure there are at least 100! This “right triangle” (if I recall my geometry correctly) pocket style is my absolute favorite to use. From experience, I know that this style is the most secure and holds quite a bit. Sure I have seen tutorials about gluing your pockets to your pages, but sewing them makes more sense to me. Here’s an example of a hand-sewn pocket that is secure and can hold lots of photos and journaling cards. This particular journal is Crater Lake National Park and is from the National Park series. The directions apply for journals that are printed on US letter-sized paper and then folded…like all of the Memorable Journals sold in the shop. First, print up a page that you want your pocket design to be. Preferably on cardstock. Usually, I attach the… read more
Ready for a new way to journal? You have seen a lot of journals out there. The ones with pretty covers but all the same pages inside. A journal should have both a pretty cover and a delightful variety of pages inside! This may sound like it would be complicated to make. Absolutely not! Read on to find out how to make your own quickly. You will have fun making many for yourself and gifts. Never worry about “using up” your journal or cards as you can print up many more. Here is what you will need to create your journals: US letter-sized paper (8.5″ x 11″) Cardstock of the same size above for outside cover and for journal cards Printer and printer ink Stapler and staples (having the right stapler is important…see materials list for details) For even more details, check out this blog post! Scrapbook papers cut down… read more
What do you want your future generations to know about you? I’m very fortunate that I have many keepsakes from previous generations. Photo albums (one from the 19th century!) Scrapbooks. (the old fashioned kind without plastic!) Diaries. Letters. Cabinet cards with no labels. While I treasure all of these family memorabilia, there is something that I wish for. Stories and photos TOGETHER. In my grandmother’s memory-filled album, she has photos, report cards, newspaper clippings, etc. tucked inside. I wish that I can go back in time and have my grandma tell me the stories behind each of these souvenirs! Wouldn’t it be neat if the people of the photos inside the albums could tell me their names, how they are all related, and what they were doing? What family keepsakes do you have and want to be passed down? Don’t get me started about all the photo albums that have… read more
For the past four years, I have been making handmade fabric-covered journals with hand-sewn pages. Then about three months ago, I decided to make my journals to hold inserts with elastic. Why did it take me so long to finally do that?? This way, I can make the inserts without any pressure to have them “perfect” as I am not permanently sewing them into the journal cover. Now I am having so much fun making my inserts!! It’s so much quicker using my stapler rather than my needle and thread. However, this is not my “big” change that I am announcing! While making my inserts, it occurred to me that I could share my designed pages with many others via digital downloads! I’ve spent the past few months getting my website ready and secure and to learn how to set up a digital shop. Ready or not, my shop is… read more