A bit of this and that...

Well, the first week of the new year is almost over already. All the decorations are packed away (except the fairy lights on the balcony which help to brighten up the dark winter evenings and which I just cannot face taking down just yet!) and Christmas feels like an awful long time ago.

And so I think it's time for a creativity catch up.

Before Christmas I had to get three commissions done for The Scrapbook Magazine, which although the time was tight, was a great excuse to just sit down and make time for a bit of scrapping. Obviously, I can't share the layouts with you just yet, but here are a few sneak peeks.

 

Then there was the epic journey that was my December journal. What a disaster! LOL! I mean, I'm happy that I did it and finished it and I think it looks kind of fun, but it's MASSIVE! And completely hopelessly fixed together because the format was completely wrong! But it's ok - I'll know better for next time. My main problem was that I decided on a 6x4 format with one side for a date title, one photo, one side for journalling and a "pretty" page. But over 25 entries and many days had more than one photo and you know me, all about the lumpy bumpy - well it has turned out about 7" thick and that's just not practical! I ended up using some complicated string fastening which looks rather ugly on the back spine but I am hoping that no one notices that!

On the positive side, I used up loads of stash that has been sitting around for ages (that feels good!) and also managed to incorporate a few bits of memorabilia from the month. I didn't worry much about colours and combinations, I just used whatever came in my hand so there is plenty of pink and red and green and blue which may not normally be put together - but hey, Christmas needs a bit of kitsch, doesn't it?!?

But it captures a slice of life which is what it's all about!

These were two hand-made tags that Liberty had put on our presents and I thoughts they were so gorgeous, I just had to use them as decoration.

 

This was one of the tags that Ginger had included in my Christmas card for the Nic H class Christmas card swap - when I opened up the envelope, it was stuffed full of gorgeous little hand-made tags - just such a lovely sweet surprise!

And proof that the Christmas crackers really did have paper hats that were worn! This was Christmas eve and yes, cocktails featured pretty heavily on the menu!

Apart from that, there's not much to report. I managed to sit down this week and make a layout for the magazine, only to find that it wasn't needed after all. But it's full of lovely spring colours and so, it brightens up my day and I am hoping it might have given me the kick start I need for creating this new year.

I didn't get around to doing any kind of 2010 round up so I think I will try to do this next week now that the dust of the holidays has settled. Watch this space!

Multi-photo layouts (Part 1)

A few weeks ago, Deb commented that she would like me to go over how I come up with multi-photo layouts as she struggled with them and could I share my tips on them as I seem to do them a lot.

I don't profess to be any kind of design expert but I know what I like and very often, it's to use up a lot of photos in one go. So, I've been thinking about this and I don't know if this will help but these are the things that go into my thought process. As it is a big topic, I will break it down into smaller chunks and post it in a few parts. I will put them up on my blog each Tuesday for the next 3 weeks. They are photo heavy posts as I have included lots of examples (some old, some newer and some most definitely better than others!)

First off, I make lots of single photo layouts and lots of multi-photo layouts - neither one is right or wrong. I just want to say that if you only make single photo layouts and you like to be creative and there's not much story, great! That's your style. If you like to mix it up a bit, also great! We have a lot in common! As my sister always used to remind me - the scrapbook police are not going to come knocking on my door! The only rule is that there are not rules.

So to kick us off, let's see why I am making all these layouts with more than one photo.

For me, a multi photo layout usually has more of a story behind it that just a single photo. I often opt for the single when I am in the mood to be more artistic or "clever" or I am working on techniques but I often have more to say than a single photo can portray. 

There is often a reason for choosing all the photos.

There's a lot of talk online and in classes about your process - photo/story/design/product first. I have to admit that for me, it's changeable and I seem to move from one thing to another as it suits or feels right.

Let me show you some examples.

1. Photo first

This is where I am looking through my storage binders or computer and my eye falls on a series of photos that for some reason, go together.

They might look good together:

They might tell a story when looked at as a group:

Or maybe, one photo then triggers an idea for collecting others together:

2. Story first

I have an idea for a story I want to tell and then off I go to find a photo - but more likely photos - to represent it.

I might just have the story in my mind, but sometimes I've already written it down when I go looking. This happens very often with my Yukon memories. These small snippets of stories are whirring round my mind, just waiting to be captured and scrapped. Some examples might be:

3. Design or product or inspiration first

I take so many photos (literally hundreds if not thousands a month), that I'm always trying to come up with new ways to bring them together on one page. 

I look out for designs that incorporate several photos and then I can make it again and again. Such as:

(originally from a Nichol Magouirk class)

or

(originally from a Nic H class over at BPC)

Or I respond to some kind of challenge

(as a response to a LOAD challenge by Katrina Kennedy)

Or I just play around:

Just looking back over last year's LOAD scrapping, maybe more than 25% really have multiple - more than 4 - per layout. I love the challenge of fitting a lot onto one layout. But of course, the overal design process is different (we will begin to look at that in the next part).

From three months of LOAD I can see that I made 36 single photo layouts and many of these were related to technique heavy classes where a single photos are more usual. But then 23 had 2 or 3 phtoos and a grand total of 31 had 4 or more.

I have so many photos that it almost seems a shame to only use one!


Next Tuesday will be about the options you have when you have decided that you want/need to use up more than just one photo on your layout.

When you look back over a pile of your finished layouts, what are the numbers for you? Mostly singles? Or do you break out the multi-photo from time to time?

Happy New Year's Eve!

Well, tomorrow will be the start of a new year and I have to admit to being happy to see the back of 2010. Not a good year overall. Close the door and say goodbye to all that and hope for better times in 2011.

There have been so many cool blog posts I read this week with reviews of the year that has been (current 4 list, top ten this and that lists, favourite blogs/pages/blog posts, Christmas in review etc) that I have loved reading and so wanted to do a few of my own but the time is now too tight and I just wanted a short post to finish off the year. So I will just post a few of my favourite decoration photos and call it a day! I will try harder in the new year and already have a three part entry lined up to post.

We had a very pink Christmas (yes, I have total control over the main decorations in our home and can dictate very girlie, pretty colours!!!).

I was thrilled with how my tree turned out - even if it's as dry as a bone and will no doubt be completely bald by the time I have de-decorated it!

We had a pink Advent wreath - stunning

And plenty of pretty, mostly pink touches around the living room.

I will be sad (but also so ready) to take everything down tomorrow and Sunday. Mostly I miss the twinkly lights everywhere...

And what about New Year ("Silvester" in German)?

We are off out tonight to celebrate the new year with family and I will be taking these little piggies with me.

Pigs are traditional for new year in Germany as a symbol of good luck (along with 4 leaf clover and chimney sweeps) and over the years I have received many collected many pink piggy cuddly toys! But it's very traditional to eat these little marzipan cuties to so I have bought one each for us (R will be delighted to get two as I am not a big marzipan fan) and I prettied them up with some labels that I downloaded here.

I will have a full basket of goodies with me as I have made two desserts: Crème Brûlée and Chocolate Mousse which have also been decorated with the cute tags. Christmas and New Year is not a time to count calories in the Hausmann household!!

And I have a whole pile of crackers which are always fun as my German family were not familiar with the British obsession with the crappy present, crappy joke and crappy paper hat filled packages of fun until they met me! And BTW, the crappier the present and joke, the better the cracker in my book!

So there you have it. 2010 is at an end and all that remains is for me to wish you all a very happy, fun celebration tonight and I wish you all the best for 2011!

As we say here in Germany, "Ein gutes Rutsch ins neue Jahre!" 
(literally: a good slide into the new year)

Merry Christmas!

Just to say a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

Here's to health, wealth, happiness and the love of family and friends for 2011!

Thanks for dropping by during 2010. I look forward to seeing you again next year!

Making me smile this week

Three wonderful, scrappy friends have brought huge smiles to my face this week. All three times were unexpected and all the more lovely for that.


I want to take the chance here to say THANK YOU to all of them - each of you made my day!


First off, I received this

in the mail from Deb! I had ogled coveted admired it on her blog (here) last week and was just in love with it. It was inspired by the Elvis song Blue Christmas (one of my Christmas faves) and features sparkle and snowflakes - what could be better? When I realised what was in the envelope, a huge grin appeared and it totally made my day. Deb - thanks for being such a sweetie and for thinking of me. I am still thrilled - the card is here next to my computer and I keep looking at it. It's gorgeous.


Recently, I received blog contact from one of my LOAD friends, Danielle and her blog (here) was duly put onto my "follow" list. You have to check out her blog - she has loads of scrapping and creative goodness on there and is currently posting some simple tutorials for very sweet projects. She was celebrating her 100th post - CONGRATS Danielle! - and had a giveaway. And I won! I was so pleased and can't wait to see my prize in the mail - MemoryWorks Simple Stories Life Documented Scrapbook Kit. A compact kit to document a whole year of memories! How cool is that?!? 

Thanks so much to Danielle (and to MemoryWorks) for such a lovely giveaway. 


Today, there was just one card in my mailbox - all the way from sunny California! Another LOADster but originally, we "met" through the 12 on 12 challenge and Cathy is also very active in BPC classes, so we often find ourselves on the same course. I love her scrapbook style - she has such a wonderful eye for product combinations and her layouts are always so lovely to look at and her subjects are so interesting too. We are both participating in a Christmas card swap as part of the Nic H class "Colour! or is it Color?" and she sent me a card too! Thanks Cathy if you are reading this! I absolutely adore my card. So pretty and using BG - how could I resist?

I feel very grateful for the friends I have made over the last couple of years through scrapbooking. They really keep me going when I am feeling a bit down. And they never fail to bring on a smile. 


Thanks girls!

St Nicholaus Day Monday musings...

Happy St Nicholaus!

Whilst most of Germany was waking up to boots or boxes full of chocolate and gifts outside their front door this morning, I woke up to the alarm screaming at me to get up and get going at some unearthly time of the morning! When I don't have my 8am Monday class for a few weeks, it's always a bit of a shock to the system when it kicks back in again. And this morning was exactly one of those mornings! Going down the communal stairs, I noticed that one of our neighbours had left out St Nick presents for four other neighbours and it made me a little sad that I wasn't one of them! I bought myself a small chocolate St Nick for myself but not being a huge fan of German chocolate, it's not exactly the best present I ever bought myself! So as a treat for myself, as soon as I get home tonight, I am going to do some scrapping. Sounds like an ideal present, doesn't it?

I have plenty to keep me busy. I have three layouts to do for The Scrapbook Magazine and my December album to update and photograph and I am woefully behind on my BPC class by Nic H. I'd love to do the main layouts before class end at least.

You might have noticed that I have given my blog a bit of a facelift. Thought it was about time having had the same layout and blog banner for the last two years and my intention is to change it up each month with a few photos to represent the month to come - thanks to Danielle for the tutorial about creating such a blog banner that gave me the push to stop thinking about it and finally do it.

And I'm thinking about being a bit more consistent with my posting. Something like a theme for each day of the week (even if I don't post every day) so that I would have some structure to follow when I do want to post. Maybe something like Monday Musings, Tuesday Tips, Layout Wednesday and so on. But I'm not sure - what do you think? Or is this too restrictive? I'm not really sure. Maybe I need to think about it a bit more! Am I perhaps just thinking about this too much?!? Sounds like me though, doesn't it? It's all about the control.

Later...

So, after spending a total of 3.5 hours travelling, 1.5 hours window shopping and more than 3 hours in Starbucks (nursing one single coffee!) for only 4 lessons, I am back home and have managed to catch up a little. I have completed today's December page and photographed them all.

Several things to note that tell me that I should have planned this out a bit more than I did before I launched in:

1. It's enormously thick already and it's only day 6! I can only imagine how huge it will be by the 25th. Mmmm... 
2. The 6x4 format is limiting my journalling and photos so if I have more to say/show, I need to add more pages. And here comes point one into play. Mmmm....
3. I have put the day number on the left which means that when the pages are together like a book, all I can see is the back of the labels. If I had put them on the right, the edges would have been visible from the front of the mini-book. Mmmm....
4. I haven't really decided if I am just winging it and recording the everyday or if I am following Shimelle's prompts. Hope it doesn't turn into a mish mash. Mmmm....
5. I have not decided on a title for the book/album nor have I thought about a cover. At the moment, this part of it looks über-ugly. I really need to decide what is I am making here. Mmmm....

On the positive side, I am chopping up papers and throwing down bits and pieces of Christmas goodness with abandon. It feels good to see these pretty things (and to be honest, some not so pretty things - must sort out and get rid) used up. I have a couple of blank or more blank pages that I will go back to at the end to embellish up. And I have a bag of embellishments to pretty up the whole album at the end (if the binder rings will stand the thickness that is!) The main products I am using here is the Shimelle Christmas kit 2009 which of course, I had to have, but never touched. I have it all in a drawer and am just opening and grabbing. And then all my other Christmas stuff is in another drawer so it has really turned into a bit of a lucky dip. Go me!

Here are the pages so far (apologies for the poor photos - it's late and even though I sorted out extra light and adjusted the white balance, they are pretty groggy) :

 

Just a little silly to brighten up your day

This is hilarious. Watch it all the way to the end - just a happy, feel good couple of minutes! So creative!