Scrapbooking is Changing

What is going on with this hobby passion of mine? 

• Creative Memories is bankrupt (although there is a new simpler line under a new name)
• Archiver's also bankrupt, closing stores all over the country

 (insert temper tantrum, hysterical crying, kicking my legs, and beating my hands on the floor)

• My favorite magazines are ending and some are "online only"
• Favorite websites/stores closing down
• "New" ways of scrapbooking are emerging (hello "pocket" scrapbooking).  Is this really scrapbooking?  

Yet, with today's technology, more photos are being taken than ever before.  It has been decided that the next generation of women, i.e., my daughter, have no desire to scrapbook.  If you ask to see photos of her son, she'll whip out her iPhone and scroll through hundreds of pictures.  I'm the one making his scrapbooks! And...she loves them...but doesn't want to make one?

I read this article yesterday and shared it via FB. 

Minnesota Scrapbook Companies Transformed by Digital Revolution

Heartbreaking.  For "old ladies" like me, is the traditional way of scrapbooking gone by the wayside?   What does this mean for our favorite craft?  Where am I to get supplies?  Where are we girls supposed to gather? The shopping and "gathering" of supplies was a big part of the fun.  Disclaimer:  if I were to live to 100 and scrapbook everyday, I would never use all the supplies I have!

Still...I vow to not quit.  This industry has become a great part of my heart and my life.  I cannot imagine my life without it. 

More Silhouette Love

Today, I wanted to share my very first experience with Heat Transfer Vinyl (HTV) cut with my Silhouette Cameo machine.  When I say this machine is fabulous, I ain't kidding.  I've really gotten to try some new features with it this past month, and I'm more in love with it now than ever.

These two onesies were in Gavin's hodge-podge-box-of-baby-cuteness that Grandma gave him for Christmas.  He coulda cared less, but his mommy loved 'em!

Left side:  What Does the Fox Say, modeled after the viral youtube sensation and the song we play ALL THE TIME, was cut with two different colors of HTV.  I ordered the SISER EasyWeed from Craftvinyl.com.  Loved it!  It transferred like a dream.

Right side:  I <3 Mom, is my original design and was cut with Silhouette's brand of HTV.  I didn't love this brand as much.  It was harder to work with and took FOREVER to transfer.

Both of these were transferred using my regular old iron (which doesn't see much use nowadays) on my kitchen counter.  I used parchment paper as a buffer.

I'm not yet sure how they will hold up to Mr. Seven-Months-Old or repeated washing, but they looked good once...

What's that you ask?  Am I leaving the scrapbooks behind and going into the shirt business?  Ha!

January 2014 | New Beginnings

Hello 2014!

As a new year begins, I've got to get really choose-y about new photo projects to work on through the year. My main photo project this year is to continue Project Life and continue the daily picture-of-the-day practice of collecting photos and stories for my album(s).

But first, a little back-story.

I began Project Life in 2008 when it was Project 365.  I breezed through that year easily, and each of the subsequent years got tougher. Here I am six years later. My 2013 book was current until June.  Then all hell broke loose.  I became a Grandma!  So, naturally I took on the big project of his baby book. Wouldn't it be great to document the first-year-of-his-life?  Oh Grandma, what a great idea! 

ACH!! I'M BEHIND!  I've spent the last few days of 2013, desperately trying to catch up.  I've got lots of notes and a calendar, so everything is preserved, it's just a matter of getting it in the book.

Additionally, I've already purchased my 2014 album and I got the midnight kit as a Christmas gift.  They sit waiting.  Staring at me.  Beckoning.

I will be looking for a better way to keep up with Project Life in 2014.  I may go solely with iPhone photos.  An iPhone and two cameras is just too much.

I'm also researching apps.  I wish I were in the app business.  I'd be rich.

I did see this one recently. It's called Flipagram and it's FREE! It collects photos from your phone, your Facebook feed, and your Instagram feed.  Puts it all nicely into a short, sweet video. You can also put your own music to it.

My first try is a look back @ 2013.

Swoon.

My year in pictures. Makes me cry. I am blessed.

Oh, am I gonna use this for 2014...

For now...I'm back to printing pictures.