Photo by Ali Edwards

You guys know that one thing (of many) that Ali Edwards and I have in common is our passion for documenting the everyday – and helping others feel inspired to do the same. She has such a gift for writing and recording and photographing … and inspiring those who read her blog or take her classes to be better about those things for themselves.

Ali is about to start a new online class on Big Picture Classes that will inspire you to write your stories and document your everyday life with more depth. The class is called 31 Things and it begins tomorrow – Thursday.

So check this out. I got this email from Angela in Indiana this week:

I am enrolled in Ali Edwards’ 31 Things Big Picture Class. I am a 36-year-old wife and mother of 8 kiddos. I am currently homeschooling four of the children. We are pulled in lots of different directions, together and individually. So Project Life has been wonderful in fulfilling my need to simplify my scrapbooking/memory keeping. 

Also, I see that it is super important to preserve my normal, everyday life stories, as well as our family’s. I am completely intrigued by the upcoming 31 Things class. It is going to inspire me to get my stories on paper. My children and grandchildren will be thankful for that. I could go on and on.

Angela goes on to say that it crossed her mind that someone else might really love to take Ali’s class but perhaps they don’t have the extra means right now for one reason or another. She would like to pay for someone else’s spot in the class. Actually – she would like to pay for TWO spots.

Seriously? That’s what they call paying it forward. This is genuine generosity at its finest. I am so thankful to Angela for reaching out this way, and so thankful that she asked me to host the giveaway on my blog.

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So – let’s do it! Our friend Angela is giving away two seats in Ali’s class (you can read more about what it is and what it isn’t – HERE on Ali’s blog). If you would like a chance to win – either for yourself or for someone else – please leave a quick comment with your first name, city, and state or country. And be sure to check back later today or tomorrow to see if you’re a winner!

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Ali Edwards

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Cathy Zielske

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Deb Duty

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Jennifer Woodbury

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Jessica Sprague

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Lindsay Teague Moreno

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Liz Tamanaha

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Marcy Penner

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MaryAnn Perry

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Michelle Wooderson

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Monica McNeill

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Sheri Horton

If you’re available to join us at 9:00am Pacific Time – I’d love to see you there! Some of you might know that I’m going to be teaching an online class in the last quarter of 2012. I’m in the early stages of developing content for my premier 12-week class called Project Real Life, where I hope to provide plenty of inspiration for cultivating a good life and recording it. Stacy Julian’s vision is for me to share bits of my own life. Between Stacy and her team and myself, we have ideas floating around, a vision of what this will look like, and we’ve had some great brainstorming.

But mostly – I want to hear from YOU. I want to know what you want out of the class, and even perhaps some specific ideas of what you’d like to see – related to Project Life or not at all.

And that’s why we’re having the live chat this morning. I will happily gather your ideas and suggestions and even answer some of your questions. We’ll see how much we can cram into 45 minutes.

If you are already a member of the Project Life Community at Big Picture Classes:
Simply login to your account at Big Picture Classes, and enter the Project Life Community classroom, and click on the “Chat” page to view the live feed.

If you’re NOT a member of the Project Life Community:
It’s completely free to join!
Create an account at Big Picture Classes (http://www.bigpictureclasses.com/register.php).
Once you’ve created an account you can enroll in the Project Life Community (http://www.bigpictureclasses.com/projectlife.php).
Once you are a member of the Community, simply login to your account at Big Picture Classes, and enter the Project Life Community classroom, and click on the “Chat” page to view the live feed.

Hope to see you there!

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Coming up later today: The monthly Creative Team post where I’ll share snippets of Project Life inspiration from at least a dozen women who are documenting life and inspiring others to do so too. Be prepared to be inspired.

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Added later in the day: Missed the live video chat? No problem. Here you go! Just skip the first 4 minutes – seriously. Unless you find it fascinating to watch me talking on the phone with Kayce as we work through technical issues.  : )

Happy to announce some winners from the giveaway I announced on Tuesday. The randomly-selected customer to receive the American Crafts paper trimmer is Helen Yu! Helen – email elizabethg@americancrafts.com and she’ll hook you up.

The following (5) winners were also randomly selected to win some 6×12 Page Protectors and Design E Photo Pocket Pages, which I featured in my most recent video.

Tamara Hamilton

Gary Storer

Connie Cook

Emily Sweeney

Lisa Beavers

You guys can email your shipping information to kari@beckyhiggins.com and she’ll get the goods sent your way immediately. Congrats + Enjoy!

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{ your questions }

Love the sketch! What colored pencils do you use? The colors look so vibrant – I love them!

They’re called Prismacolor by Sanford, and you can find them HERE on Amazon. These are the colored pencils I’ve used since Mrs. Winkles introduced me to them in my High School art class. Prismacolors were also my sidekick for those beloved years of creative lettering. Anyone remember this little artifact? It’s my very first published book from 1999. Good times.

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Becky! You have GOT to do something for me. Well, for all of us. Please fix your blog so that when we click on one of your links it opens in a new tab and does NOT take us away from yours. Most of the time, when I’m reading along, I really want to click on that link and see what you’re referring to but I want to finish what I’m reading at your blog first. Or finish catching up on the last week’s worth of your posts. Or whatever. The point is – don’t make us leave you!

You know, I’ve been blogging for 5 years and I’m always learning something new. Thanks for pointing this out! I didn’t realize that my links were sometimes opening a new tab, and sometimes not. And now I know the trick and will definitely be aware of that moving forward. Go on. Test all the links in this post. I dare you.  ; )

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You mentioned in your Getting Organized with Kids’ Stuff video that you scan in a lot of their artwork and then print it. Can you share what you have for a scanner and printer? Thank you!

I answered this same question HERE a couple months ago and it’s a question that comes up once in a while. I certainly don’t expect that everyone reads everything I post … but here’s a little blog tip: If you ever wonder if I’ve shared about a product or topic or anything … just plug it in the search field at right and you’ll probably find out pretty quickly.

For your convenience, this short answer is … I use THIS ONE to scan most art, as well as pretty much any other papers & photos that need to be scanned.

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Why are 12×12 albums so popular? Isn’t it difficult to fit them on shelves? I love all the space and the square shape of the 12×12 albums but the 8.5 x 11 fit better. Am I missing something? If anyone can give me tips on where to display the bigger albums, I’d love to switch – thanks!

Great question, actually. I asked myself that for a long time, as I did 8.5×11 for the the first 7 years of my scrapbooking. I ended up switching to 12×12 because I loved fitting more onto a 2-page layout. But I’ve done about every other size scrapbook as well.

After 18 years in this hobby, trust me – I put a lot of thought into the size of the Project Life system before I jumped into developing an entire product line. The 12×12 page size makes perfect sense for the configuration of 4×6 prints. As you know, 4×6 is the ultimate standard size photo print. Simply put: It works. As for tips on displaying the larger 12×12 albums, I hear the IKEA Expedit shelving works well and I’ve also shared a picture of the Cropper Hopper cubes that I personally use (click HERE if you missed that post).

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Will Project Life ever be available in another size besides 12×12?

I’d like that very much.

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Any idea when the baby version of Project Life will be out?? First baby due in September and I absolutely want to start using Project Life right off the bat.

Congratulations on your pending arrival! I haven’t shared much about this yet, but believe me – behind the scenes, there has been a LOT of baby talk around here (not personally, mind you, but product-related). Soon I will be able to share SO much more, but I completely want you using Project Life for your baby. We have been working so hard to develop THE perfect kit for that first year album, and that’s what we’re going to deliver. Lucky for you, the Baby Editions should be delivered in time for your delivery! In other words, we definitely expect the arrival before September.

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Has anyone used more than one Core Kit in an album? Right now I am using Amber but I am loving the Clementine Edition, too. I am thinking about ordering Clementine when it becomes available and using it as well. Would it be crazy or seem unorganized to use both Amber and Clementine in the same album?

No rules. Make it yours. Do what feels right and keeps it fun for you!

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I am so confused how to do something for our family with everyone in it, yet how to make something for my kids individually too. I am at a position where I am procrastinating because I’m paralyzed from the ‘Where to begin’?

You’re in good company of folks who feel paralyzed in getting started with scrapbooking. Project Life is designed to simplify the process. We’ve taken so much of the guesswork out of it for you. As for getting started … if you’ve never done scrapbooking, I recommend just sticking with one album instead of feeling like you need to do one for each child. You might be inclined to do that later, but start with one for now. Perhaps it’s a family album with pictures that include all family members and various events.

Layout from Deb Duty‘s Project Life album.

My favorite part of this idea is getting the family involved in taking pictures and writing on the little Journaling Cards. Super easy. Anyone can do it. And what a fun collaborative project!

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How do you recommend I get started? Currently a CM Picfolio cropper and really want to get going with your great albums.

I have no idea what a “CM Picfolio cropper” is … but I’m thrilled to know that you’re interested in a simpler way to document life. This is what we recommend. Stick with the basics. Everything else is fun to add, but this really is all you need:

As you may know, all of the Core Kits are currently sold out but being reprinted and made available again soon. We were really hoping to make it possible by the end of this month but it will be sometime next month before we see these. Next week I should have a full update on why everyone should be pretty stoked about these reprinted Core Kits. Stay tuned.

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Will you be stocking the metal bookplates that are on the spines of the newest albums on their own, so that we can put them onto our older albums? Or is that maybe a We R Memory Keepers product?

No, we don’t have plans to offer that. They just come built into our Binders (as shown), identical to the other WRMK binders. I don’t believe WRMK offers that bookplate as a separate item.

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Will there be new core kit designs for 2013, like Cobalt and Clementine were released for 2012?

Absolutely. In fact, we have two new designers already in the early stages of this design work now. I can’t leak the information quite yet, but you know we aim to please. And I think you guys are going to be very, very pleased with the 2013 editions. But – it’s only May! Way too early to even think about that. In the meantime, we have PLENTY of products we’re releasing and re-releasing between now and then.

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I’m interested in doing a Project Life album dedicated to my wedding. Do you have any suggestions for me?

Encourage me to hurry up already with a Wedding Edition … like I don’t have much else going on.  ; )  In the meantime, choose the Project Life Edition that best suits your wedding style when those become available next month, and slip those pictures into an album – simple! Just like any other scrapbook, but it’s focused on this one event/occasion/theme.

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As I was taking my photo each day I found myself wondering if I needed to take a vertical or horizontal picture, because it wouldn’t work to take horizontal one day, vertical the next, and so on, because the sheet protectors aren’t like that. How is everyone dealing with this?

Short answer: We love Design G for getting horizontal + vertical pictures onto one page! Easy breezy.

Page in Jennifer Woodbury‘s Project Life album. Notice the page at right with both horizontal and vertical pictures. This is Design G and it’s 10×12 instead of the full 12×12 size.

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Are you still doing 12 x 12 albums for your kids or is your digital project life taking place of those albums now?

Yes, I am doing actual, physical, 12×12 albums for each of our 3 kids. I share more about this in the currently featured video on my Videos page.

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{ your feedback }

Lisa wrote: You know you’re onto something good when your husband says “Glad someone thought of a system for scrapbooking that is economical, organized, and really makes sense!”

Jen wrote: I love your home Becky, I love the style, the colors and the little touches you have done! Thank you for not only inspiring me to document our family’s story with PL, but thank you for inspiring me to paint my walls and getting house projects done!

Marcia wrote: Received my cardstock last night…ordered one of each package; LOVE IT!!! I have already made two layouts using the coordinating cardstock….LOVE IT…and it was soooooo inexpensive!!!

Becky wrote: And…….reason 5,242 that I adore Project Life. Was in tears as I got ready to throw away my toddler’s favorite footie pajamas. {they are worn to threads}. Then I thought….why not cut out his favorite dinosaur on the pj’s….stick it in a Photo Pocket Page and journal about them! Hurrray. Becky you saved me from a mini emotional meltdown this morning. Now I will keep a little piece of them preserved!

Britney wrote: In one week we are moving overseas for 6 months.  All I am taking with me is Project Life! I am very nervous about not having hoards of paper, stickers and embellishments around me. However, I am so thankful and happy that I do have Project Life and I can continue to record our history that way!

So many of you took advantage of our 50% OFF cardstock sale this week. Smart move.

But here’s the thing: I can see on the back end of our Amazon sales that there are hundreds of cardstock packs sitting in shopping carts, that aren’t actually purchased yet. If I change the $3.99 price back to $7.99 and then you check out, you will have missed out completely on that 50% sale. If you thought you were getting the 50% OFF, I want you to get the 50% OFF.

So here’s what I’m going to do: I’m leaving the 50% OFF price in tact through Friday.

To-do: Check your Amazon shopping cart.

If you have Project Life cardstock in your shopping cart, go ahead and check out now. Otherwise you’ll go to check out in a few days or a few weeks – and you’ll be paying the regular $7.99 price per pack of 24. Make sense? I’m just watching out for our customers.

Those of you who missed the sale, or who want to take advantage of getting more Project Life cardstock? We’ll call this your lucky day. It’s all 50% off for anyone and everyone through Friday night. But be sure to actually check out. Simply putting it in your shopping cart doesn’t guarantee the sale price.

PS – The 6 winners randomly selected from recent cardstock purchases? That window has closed and we’ll announce the winners tomorrow in my Feedback Friday post. Be sure to check back to see if you won!

Faster scrapbooking = more time to really live life.

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Right now all of our Project Life 12×12 Cardstock (featured in the video) is a whopping 50% OFF for National Scrapbooking Day. This is the time to stock up. The sale goes through tomorrow – Wednesday – and applies only to U.S. sales on Amazon.com.

We have already sold out of Amber + Turquoise Collections, but there is some remaining inventory for the Cobalt Collection + the Clementine Collection. They’re regularly $7.99 for a 24-pack but right now they are marked down to $3.99 for a 24-pack. Holy smoking awesome deal. No need to enter a special code. The discount is already applied.

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Just to sweeten the 50% OFF deal even more, we’re adding a little more fun to this current promotion. Did you like that American Crafts paper trimmer I used in the video? Anyone who purchases any of our Project Life 12×12 Cardstock between now and Wednesday night at midnight PST will have a chance to win that paper trimmer for FREE. We will randomly select an Amazon customer and announce that winner here on Friday – so be sure to check back.

The Cutup Trimmer is easily portable; variety of blades to choose from; no need to worry about cutting yourself with the cartridges concealing the entire blade; cartridges are super easy to interchange; the cutting area is 13 inches, making it easy to cut 12×12 paper without removing the extra strip. Very nice.

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We won’t just be choosing just one random customer to win during this promotion. We’re also going to choose 5 additional customers to receive the plastics I featured in the video! That is, Design E Photo Pocket Pages + the 6×12 Page Protectors. Each of the 5 winners will receive BOTH packages!

For a chance to win the trimmer or the plastics, you don’t need to leave a comment here. We’ll check out Amazon purchases between now and Wednesday night at midnight PST and randomly choose winners that way.

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Keep it simple. Creative doesn’t have to = time-consuming.

 Hope my video is a sweet reminder of this principle.

Claire (6), on the other hand, was totally game for this. Several weeks ago she took the camera into the backyard and took pictures. A lot of pictures – of anything and everything that was interesting to her. I printed those pictures and invited her to choose her 7 favorites. She also chose her title card and journaling cards from the Clementine Core Kit … and she was all set.

Porter helped her with spelling on some cards, and she was on her own for others. I’m not worried about consistency. I just wanted her to have fun and feel great about the fact that she was scrapbooking! She not only took the pictures completely by herself but she loved how easy it was to place the photos & cards in the pockets.

Claire is six years old. She can do this. Kids can do this! Start ‘em young.  : )

As for the context of this layout (and any others that she makes, or our boys eventually make) … I am just placing this in her scrapbook in the Kindergarten section, since she did this as a Kindergartner. For our kids’ albums I don’t separate school stuff and the rest of their childhood. It’s all part of life and it’s all part of their story and I put it all together in chronological order. That’s how I roll. If you want to learn more about my system, check out the currently featured video on our Videos page.

And by the way, I’m going to answer a question that I bet has popped into some of your minds, especially since I mentioned that I hope my boys will want to do some scrapboking at some point. This is not a girls-only hobby. And yet – most products would indicate so. Am I right? Even most of our Project Life editions are pretty feminine. So here’s the deal: YES – We are developing a Project Life edition that you will absolutely be able to hand over to the guys in your life (those that have an interest in doing something with their pictures without all the frill and fluff). Can I hear an AMEN! for that?

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Speaking of kids – I received a touching email from Katherine in Colorado – age 14:

Dear Becky,

I’m here today to spread the word about something that’s truly amazing. That thing is my hobby, my expression, my passion, my life. People ask me from time to time which things I would save if my house was on fire. My answer is always the same: my childhood doll “Baby”, and childhood blanket “Blankie”, and my scrapbooks.

Scrapbooking is a revolutionary, brilliant method of preserving and forever cherishing your beautiful memories in a way that is practical and allows you to look back on that spectacular thing called life whenever your heart desires. Whether you glance at last summer’s entries for a few minutes before running out the door in the morning, or spend three hours with your family looking back on the past ten years of your lives one night, you are doing something to bring back the days of old, as well as inspire your children to ask questions and even one day record their lives as effectively as you have.

It’s been said that pictures are worth a thousand words. Then how much is a picture with words worth? In my opinion, it’s worth every minute that you spend putting it all together, because for every minute you spend making a scrapbook, you get the rest of your life and your kids’ lives to enjoy it.

Project Life makes it all so easy, so clean and fast, and so fun. Everything is clean-cut and ready, decked out with cute designs and colors. I just wanted to write this to express my feelings of thanks to Becky Higgins, thanks that I owe her for creating such a magnificent product that, in my opinion, is the largest step toward simplicity that the scrapbooking society has taken since double-sided tape – and also, for truly changing me as a person.

I now realize that I only have one life and that I must live it to the fullest. I now hug and kiss each member of my family, telling them that I love them, before they go anywhere, because I never know if they’ll come back. I am honestly grateful for every breath I take and every day that I wake up on this lovely earth. Becky opened my eyes to so much more than initial appearances, to what lies behind those seemingly insignificant moments in my existence.

Life is a one-time deal, so work hard to make it the very best that you can. Take too many pictures, laugh too often, and love too much. Thanks Becky.

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Um, pass the tissue. Katherine, you are a remarkable young woman. Thank you for inspiring us.

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Whether you buy 3 of everything we make, or you’re just getting started with our products, or you simply like to read my blog and haven’t yet spent a dime on anything we make … WE LOVE YOU. We appreciate you. “Thank you for your business” – sure! But more than that, THANK YOU for embracing the idea that cultivating a good life and recording it is a joyful way to live life.

Scrapbooking … memory-keeping … photo journalism … story-telling … Project Lifeing … call it what you want. It’s simply awesome. I’m grateful to be a part of it, and I sure as heck am grateful you’re in this as well. I hope you’re celebrating your hobby this weekend!

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{ amazon }

In honor of National Scrapbooking Day – which is celebrated the first Saturday in May (that would be tomorrow) – you know we have a freshly and fully stocked supply of all existing Page Protectors, Photo Pocket Pages, and other plastic accessories for scrapbooking and Project Life.

We also put all of our 12×12 Cardstock on sale at 50% off. Incidentally, you guys did SO much shopping yesterday that 2 things happened:

1. Our products are on Amazon’s Best Sellers List (scrapbooking category) – 18 out of the top 20 products at the moment. It’s updated hourly. We have 12 of the top 20 Best Sellers in the entire Arts, Crafts, and Sewing category right now too. Rock on.

2. Amazon noticed a crazy amount of sales on cardstock that were changed to 50% of our regular price. Keeping a watchful eye, they contacted us late last night out of concern that something may not be right, so they froze sales on those 4 items. Yikes. We immediately notified them that the 50% off was absolutely intentional and they promised to unlock that freeze ASAP. At the time I’m publishing this post, all cardstock says “currently unavailable” but we do have some left (not much), so check back soon. I just wanted to explain what was going on because I know many of you are still hoping to snatch up more cardstock. At $3.99 for a 24-pack of super fun papers – you don’t want to miss out, and I don’t blame you.

***UPDATED over the weekend: The technical issue has been resolved. Sales have now resumed. Turquoise Cardstock Collection is sold out … Amber is just about gone … but we have some Cobalt & Clementine left in stock. Get it while it lasts!

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{ winners }

I haven’t forgotten to announce our 2 winners from Wednesday’s print art giveaway. Congratulations to Michelle L. in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Nicky in Okotoks, Alberta, Canada! Email Kristina and she’ll hook you up with a darling piece of print art!

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{ morning conversation }

Before I sign off, I have to share a little of our conversation on the way to school this morning. I thought it’d be fun to ask the kids about their perspective on scrapbooking. It went a little something like this (I actually recorded + transcribed it because I’m geeky like that).

Me: Hey Claire, what is scrapbooking?

Claire: Scrapbooking is where you remember stuff from the olden days and when I’m like 10 – um, we … I will remember when I was like zero, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine.

Me: Awesome! So that’s what scrapbooking is?

Claire: Yeah, that’s what I think.

Me: Porter, what is scrapbooking to you? What does it mean?

Porter: Um, I think scrapbooking means you take a picture, easily slip it in a binder, and – pretend it’s been a couple of years. You can go back and look at that picture or else you don’t know what to do with the picture and you could maybe throw it away and forget what you look like and what things you did when you were a younger age. That’s what I think scrapbooking is.

Me: So it helps is to remember? Why do you think it’s important to remember stuff?

Porter: Uh, I have no clue. Goodbye.

(laughter)

Me: Do you think it’s cool that Mommy does scrapbooks?

Porter: Yeah.

Me: What’s your favorite part about it?

Porter: That we get free scrapbooks.

(Oh, for crying out-loud.)

Me: Claire, what’s your favorite part about scrapbooking?

Porter: (chiming in again) That we don’t have to pay for scrapbooks! We don’t have to buy it on Amazon; we just have it. (Can you tell who our money-conscience child is?)

Me: Claire, what’s one of your favorite things about Mom scrapbooking?

Claire: That we could remember stuff. That (enter silly accent) – we could poop in our pants. (I gave her “the look” for that comment) … And throw up on Dad’s head.

Me: You remember when you did that? How?

Claire: Because of the scrapbook.

Me: What’s one of the funny moments from your scrapbook, Porter?

Porter: When I was born my legs were like – sticking up. (He was breech for a while and they stayed like this for several days after his birth!) … and I was really small, but now I’m really huge. I mean I’m really tall.

Mom: Claire, what about you? What’s one of your favorite memories from your scrapbook – besides spitting up on Dad’s head?

Claire: Um, also when we jumped on Dad … in our pajamas.

Mom: Oh, yeah! That’s one of my favorite memories too.

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I hope you’ll take a moment to ponder why you do this, why memory-keeping is important to you – and even, if you dare, ask your family about their view on scrapbooking. You just may receive a little bit of insight that will validate what your doing … or motivate you to look at the it a little differently. May you feel inspired to approach memory-keeping in a way that allows you to LIVE your life more fully.

Want direct links to the items on Amazon? Simple. Just go to our PRODUCTS section and you’ll see the categories there. All the stuff that arrived today can be found in the Big Packs section or the Small Packs section. Each item listed links directly to that item on Amazon. If something you want is currently unavailable, you’ll see the approximate arrival date of that item – right with the item image.

Big Packs = box of 60 pages (enough to fill an album)

Small Packs = package of 12 pages

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Happy Shopping!

]]> http://www.beckyhiggins.com/blog/2012/05/the-plastics-are-here-again/feed/ 15 http://www.beckyhiggins.com/blog/2012/05/the-plastics-are-here-again/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/beckyhiggins/~3/2MWZKfAmG6w/ http://www.beckyhiggins.com/blog/2012/05/blowout-sale-happy-scrapbooking-day/#comments Thu, 03 May 2012 17:34:27 +0000 Becky Higgins http://www.beckyhiggins.com/blog/?p=13807

How’s that for celebrating one of the coolest holidays ever? National Scrapbooking Day is Saturday May 5th and we’re giving you a head-start on the festivities.

When we say ALL we mean ALL of our 12×12 Cardstock is 50% off. It’s beautiful. It’s something that works well in any scrapbooker’s stash – whether they do Project Life or not. The best part? Our collections coordinate beautifully with the Project Life edition that you most likely already have.

This is my favorite part: All of our plastics are scheduled to be delivered to Amazon TODAY. So it’s the perfect time to stock up on all the Page Protectors and Photo Pocket Pages your heart desires … and add some cardstock in your shopping cart while you’re there!

How to get the 50% discount? No tricks. No gimmicks. No special codes. Just find the collection(s) you want and the price is already marked down on Amazon right now. A package of 24 is regularly $7.99 but in honor of National Scrapbooking Day and the re-release of our plastics, the price of a 24-pack is $3.99!

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Go to Products & click on 12×12 Cardstock.

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Friends: Project Life stuff just doesn’t go on sale like, ever. This is a screaming deal. I’m just saying. Don’t miss out. If your favorite collection sells out during the sale, it sells out. When we bring back more Cardstock inventory, we’re right back to the regular price.

I’m just saying.  : )

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Click on any of the links to go straight to your favorites.

Clementine Collection

Cobalt Collection

Amber Collection

Turquoise Collection

Hey, guess what? Penelope in Austin, Texas and Jeanne B. in Totowa, New Jersey … you are the winners of the iPhone case from yesterday’s giveaway! Congratulations! Send your shipping information to info@lipstickshades.com and enjoy that cute new iPhone case.

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{ plastics re-stock update }

We finally have an actual, official appointment for our Amazon delivery this week! If you don’t know what I’m talking about, many of our “plastics” (Page Protectors + Photo Pocket Pages – which are the awesome divided page protectors that make scrapbooking easier than EVER) … have been sold out for a little while. We’ve manufactured a mass amount to replenish our stock and they’re almost to Amazon. We have zero intentions of selling out of this stuff any time soon.

So … when is it? We expect to see the inventory showing up on Amazon around THURSDAY EVENING. Tomorrow. We’re soooo close! Of course I’ll update you when they arrive.

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{ another giveaway }

Kristina Proffitt has the cutest etsy shop – Baby Bird & Bub Bub: Print art for the young at heart. Check it out for sure! These sweet prints are perfect for a baby’s nursery, child’s bedroom, or play room. Even if you don’t have little ones at home, I happen to think these prints would be such a sweet baby gift.

Kristina is giving away an 8×10 print of the winner’s choice to two (2) of my blog readers! Leave your first name, city, state or country and we’ll announce a winner right here on the blog by the end of the week.

We are waiting for the arrival of the plastics re-stock to show up on Amazon. I will post on facebook, twitter, here on my blog, and via eBlast when they become available this week. In the meantime, let’s do a giveaway, shall we? Lipstick Shades would like to giveaway a Simply Stated iPhone4 Case
 to two (2) of my blog readers!

Who is Lipstick Shades? In their own words: We are the original designers and creative peeps behind all our preppy techie accessories on our site which have been insanely popular! We love to design and introduce inspiring fun new products to all our customers and hope they love them too!

Leave your first name, city, and state (U.S. only please) for a chance to win. Winners announced tomorrow. PS – Want better chances of winning? Like Lipstick Shades on facebook and leave them a comment. Good luck!

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I am trying to make an iMovie, after being inspired by your 12 videos of Christmas in Dec. ’11, and I am unable to access my iTunes songs (there is no arrow next to the iTunes icon in iMovie).  Any idea what might be wrong?

Adding an iTunes track to your iMovie project should be really easy to do, which makes me think there isn’t something I’m understanding here. Just in case there isn’t, all you need to do is look for the iTunes button on the right side of iMovie. Clicking this will reveal your iTunes library. From there, it’s a matter of dragging and dropping into your project.

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I recently switched to a Mac and am having such a hard time editing in Photoshop but still effectively using iPhoto for organizing – I’m not using the organizer and need some tips.

For the most part, PhotoShop (and even PhotoShop Elements at that) should be very similar between the Windows and Mac versions. Similar enough to make the transition relative easy when using those tools, at least. As for organizing your photos, there are lots of good how-to videos available on YouTube for using PhotoShop Elements’ Organizer tool.

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I had a paid subscription to me.com before iCloud came.  Now that I have moved over to iCloud and set everything up, do I still need to pay the annual fee in order to access my iDisk and the sync – up of my calendar/ to-do/ contacts, etc?

No – unlike its predecessor, MobileMe (and .Mac for that matter), iCloud was designed to be free for everyone! You will be able to sync most everything exactly how you do now, with a couple exceptions. Apple plans to discontinue the use of iDisk, MobileMe Photo Gallery and iWeb hosting after this Summer. Calendar, Tasks, Contacts, Email, Bookmarks, etc will remain in tact. I’ve actually had really good luck with all of those syncing services since migrating to iCloud. With the exception of the items that will be discontinued, I think you will be really happy with iCloud. I am still hoping that Apple announces equivalent services to compensate for the ones that we will lose shortly. Stay tuned.

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I am new to iMovie.  Do you know of any online classes that would teach me how to use the program?  Do you know of a PC counterpart?

Apple has some really great how-to videos on their site that helps you to get started with using iMovie. I really recommend you spend some time watching some of those. The other recommendation I have is that once you have some of the basics down, schedule an appointment with your local Apple store to go in for further help. Those guys are really, really good at spending quality time with you helping you to understand the ins and outs of your questions. It’s a one-on-one session, and best of all… it’s free!

As for a Windows alternate to iMovie… ArcSoft has a pretty good solution called ShowBiz 5. Check that out. Price is $79.99, but you also have the option of a 15-day trial.

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Any recommendations for organizing your pictures in iPhoto?  How often do you download your pictures?

The answer that I would give here totally depends on a couple things: 1) how large your internal hard drive is 2) how many pictures you take in a period of time. If you have a big hard drive and don’t take a lot of pictures, there really isn’t too much a need to archive older pictures off to an external storage device. However, if you are taking a lot of large (RAW) shots, it’s worth archiving off once in a while. I personally archive my pictures about every 6 months to make sure I have plenty of free hard drive space available. When that time comes, I usually leave about 2 months worth of shots on my local hard drive, the rest are stored elsewhere. Regardless of how you attack this particular challenge, be sure you are BACKING UP your photos! I can’t say that enough.

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I just got an android phone.  I see that the iPhone has an app called ‘Notica.’  Any recommendations for an android app that is similar?

I’m not too familiar with Notica, but I did some quick research for you. The closest thing that I could find for Android would be an app called “Photo Diary“. I’m not necessarily endorsing or recommending this app, but it might be a good place to begin your search. Good luck!

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I am using ‘Transfer.”  Do you know of another app that will move a large number of photos between all my devices: iPad, phone and computer?

As a one-time photo share project, you may want to consider syncing your photos to your computer, using that as your new primary copy, and then simply syncing the photos to your various devices. If you want to continually be in sync (not to be confused with ‘N Sync), you should definitely consider using iCloud’s Photo Stream service. This service (as part of the free iCloud service) syncs your images automatically from one device to another as you take them.

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What size dpi should I be scanning my photos at?  Also, what is the best file type to save them in for archival purposes?

Most consumer scanners have the ability of scanning images at very high resolutions. If the images are significant enough, you may want to consider scanning them at a really high resolution to ensure you are protected going forward, regardless how large you want to blow the images up. That, however, does result in much larger file sizes, so there is a fine line to walk. I scan my images at a 600 dpi resolution, which is good enough for most applications. Keep in mind that when you print these images, you typically don’t go much higher than 300 dpi.

As for format, that again depends on how significant the images are. If you want a really good compression-less format, you will want to use TIFF. Again, that will result in massive file sizes. If you save them in a JPG format, your images will be compressed, but A) you usually can’t even tell, and B) you will save yourself a LOT of hard drive space.

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My iMac just arrived this week.  Any “start doing this now so you don’t spend hours doing it later” sort of tips?  How about any must have software?  And why do I see the little blue box with the question mark instead of pictures?

First of all, congratulations on buying a really nice system! I hope you’re enjoying it. If this is your first Mac (moving from Windows), check out “Learn the Switch the Mac“. It costs $0.99, but walks you through (interactively) how to make the jump from Windows to Mac. Some other apps to look for would be the Pages, Numbers, Keynote, Evernote, Caffeine and Twitter.

As for the “question mark instead of an pictures” issue, head over to my site and send me an email with more details. I’ll help you out.

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My iPhone won’t access all that I have on my computer when I am using Wi-Fi.  Is there a way to access it without having to load it?

There are some limitations to use the mobile version of Safari (the browser built-in to iOS, and thus iPhone/iPad). One of those limitations is the use of Flash video. Apple has made it pretty clear that they don’t intend to support Flash on these devices because of stability concerns.

That probably isn’t answering your question, but if you want to visit my site and provide me with more details, I can help you out.

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Does the iPhoto app allow you to do the same things that iPhoto on a Mac does?

Because iPhoto on an iOS app (iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch) is strictly touch-based and has a smaller display, you will be somewhat limited on what you can do. Having said that, Apple has done a really great job of incorporating the necessary filters and processes to make it a really useful tool. I have it on my devices and use it almost daily.

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How do you take a DVD you own and upload and watch it on your iPad?

This is a great question. I actually get this quite often, so I have a write-up on how to do it (step-by-step) here.

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I take most of my videos on my iPhone because it is always with me.  However, I cannot figure out how to get them on a DVD so we can watch them on the TV and not just on the computer.

First, you will need to transfer the images from your iPhone to your computer. Once they’re on your computer, it’s a matter of burning them to a DVD. Some DVD players will allow you to play a slideshow from a disc containing a series of images, and others require you to use iDVD (or something similar) to build an actual DVD menu. If your DVD player is like the latter, then it can be a painful process.

Another option that you may want to consider is to pick up a $99 Apple TV. These are awesome devices for streaming content to your TV, including photos. It has a feature called AirPlay that allows you to display a picture taken on your iPhone on your TV with a quick tap of the button. It’s very slick.

To be quite frank, the days of the DVD are very quickly going away. I personally wouldn’t spend too much time working out how to use DVDs to accomplice this.

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How do I re-size and purchase pictures using my new iPad?

You can crop photos using most third-party photo-editing apps available for the iPad as well as the built-in Photos app, but cropping isn’t really applicable here. Depending on the size of the original image, there can be an option to resize on the fly when you send the image via email, but outside of that scenario, I’d be curious to know why you need to resize it.

Purchasing photos… is there a specific source that you are trying to purchase these images from? If you’re interested, head over to my site and let’s start a two-way dialog about what you’re trying to accomplish.

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I have an android phone and I see now an app for instagram.  How do you use it and print the 4 x 4 picture?

Yes – Instagram for Android was launched not too long ago. There are two ways to print an image on your Android. The simplest way would be to email the photo to yourself, open it on your computer and print from there. Alternatively, you can print directly from the device. Keep in mind that Android doesn’t support the ability to print from the device by default, but here’s a quick write-up on how to work around that.

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I don’t get instagram – What exactly does it do for me and how do you use it?

To be honest, I’m not a big fan of Instagram myself. Having said that, Instagram is a social photo-sharing app. It’s sole purpose is to allow you to easily share your photos with family and friends. Think of it like a photo-only version of Facebook or Twitter. In fact, Facebook recently acquired Instagram for $1,000,000,000 because they feel so strongly that it will compliment their social network nicely.

Becky chiming in: GASP! Not a fan of Instagram, Kevin!? I just wanted to say that I love Instagram for the quick filters that make my everyday pictures look cool. I don’t have it set up for social sharing at all. I don’t follow anyone, and no one can follow me. It’s just for taking personal pictures, which I then implement into Project Life, etc. I know a lot of people love it for the social sharing, and I just felt all these little gasps across the world wide web when Kevin said he wasn’t a big fan.  ; )

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I need help organizing photos in iPhoto.  Previously, on my PC, I have folders organized by year, month and date.  With iPhoto I am finding it hard to organize and find a file easily without having to scroll through my whole library.  Do you have any tips to make the process easier?

There are a few things you can do to make it easier to find your images quickly in iPhoto. First of all, iPhoto has a feature called “Faces”. This technology automatically finds and catalogs the faces of your family and friends. For example, if Sally is in one of your pictures, it will then put a link to that picture in Sally’s personal collection of photos.

Another method of organization would be to use Photo Albums. Using Albums is similar to creating/using albums in iTunes. Your album entitled “Rock” can contain songs of rock and roll. Likewise, your album entitled “Grand Canyon – 2012″ would contain photos of your trip to the Grand Canyon.

The last organizational method includes using tags. You can tag your photos with certain words, then have iPhoto search for all photos matching that tag. For example, if you tagged a series of photos with the words “vacation”, iPhoto would then list those images when you search for that keyword.

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I have a Canon 60D camera and I shoot in the best HD video possible (so I can create quialty home DVD’s).  I have iMovie/Quicktime.  How do I re-size the video/formatting so it does not take hours to upload to Facebook?

iMovie has a very easy-to-use video export feature that allows you to export a video using various sizes and qualities. Be sure to look under “Share”.

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How do I print downloads in the sizes I’d like?  For example it says ’3×4′ but I get a full page when I open it.

It sounds like you might be using Preview to print? If not, I apologize for a misleading answer, but if you are, read on…

The default setting in Preview is to print an image at full page size. Simply change the setting in the print dialog to “Scale” and “100%”.

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What online storage system do you recommend as another backup for photos?

For online backup, I recommend using Carbonite. Mozy is another service to check out.

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I have taken a few instagram photos on my iphone and uploaded them to my iMac.  I plan to transfer them to my USB stick to print along with all the ‘normal’ photos I have taken.  Can you please tell me, when I go to print these off, will they automatically print out as a 4 x 4, even if I select 4 x 6 size?  Will I need to copy them onto the USB separately?

The end-result paper size will be a direct result of the size you request from the printer. If you select 4×6″, you will get 4×6″ paper, even if the image you submit is 4×4″. You will definitely want to check with the specific print house you plan on using to find out how they handle this specific request. I can see this being handled differently, depending on their equipment and individual preference.

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I just got a new iPad 3 and it will not connect to our Wi-Fi network.  Our other devices connect just fine.  The first time I tried to connect my ipad, it was successful but the connection was lost within an hour and will not reconnect.  When I try to select to it again in the Network Settings it just hangs there (i.e., the rotating gear next to the network name just continues to spin).  I’ve tried resetting my network settings to no avail.  Any ideas?

First, let’s try and remove your wireless network connection, then we’ll reestablish. This will effectively reset it on your iPad.

On your iPad, go to Settings > Wi-Fi. Tap on the blue arrow to the right of your home wireless network, and then tap the “Forget this Network” button. When that’s done, go back to your Wi-Fi settings and try to re-add the network. That should do it. If not, head to my site, and we can start a two-way dialog.

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I want to be able to read and write to my new external HD, on both my PC and mu iMac (running Snow Leopard).  My old external HD worked perfectly with both.  My iMac won’t write to my new external hard drive which I think is formatted to NTFS.  I came across a product called NTSF for MAC OS X 9.0 (Paragon Software).  Is this the product I need or is there another way this can be fixed?  Also, when using my external hard drive on my PC it won’t let me save directly onto it from within a program.  It tells me the external HD is full (which it is not).  The only way I can save onto it is to copy and paste from within Windows Explorer.  What am I doing wrong?

This is a good question. First of all, there’s no need to purchase anything to make this work, and it’s easy to work around.

Before we dive in and fix this for you, you need to make sure that you have a copy of everything on the hard drive that you want to keep. If not, make a copy somewhere while we reformat it. If it’s an empty drive, you’re ready to go.

Next, let’s connect your new hard drive to your Mac. On your Mac, go to Finder > Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility. Select the new hard drive from the list to the left (again, be careful to select the correct drive as the next step is destructive). With the drive selected, click on the tab called “Erase”. From here, change the format to “MS-DOS (FAT)”, give it a name and click Erase…

MS-DOS isn’t the most efficient file system out there (certainly not like NTFS for OS X Journaled), but you can read and write from both Windows and Mac. That’s it! Now you can enjoy using your new drive.

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I was attempting to burn photos onto a DVD that already had 4 months worth of pictures on it.  While in the process, the pictures that were already on the DVD somehow disappeared.  Is there any way of recovering these pictures?

There’s a very good chance there isn’t. If a file has been overwritten, it can’t be recovered because that space has been reallocated for other use, and another image has been overwritten on top of the old. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I hope you have a copy elsewhere!

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{ Idea #5: Frame It }

From my own home … and something I bet some of you have done in your homes as well. It’s simple, really. Need a splash of color in an otherwise boring frame? Don’t want to spray-paint the frame? Just cut a piece of your favorite patterned paper to the right size and place this in the frame. That’s it. (This piece is from the Clementine Collection.)

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{ Idea #6: Handmade Photo Book }

Alison in South Auckland, New Zealand: Since getting a Zutter I have been making lots of different notebooks and albums. I make my own photo albums for all those photos I want to print and keep, but that don’t make it into Project Life or our standard scrapbook albums.

I love the Project Life cardstock and the Cobalt colours went well with these photos for this little album I made. I put DuraSeal onto the cardstock (on the cover) to protect it from little fingers and to help it keep a bit longer. The photo pages have strips of cardstock glued to them and then its all punched and bound together for a very personalized album. It takes some time folding and gluing the strips but the end result is so worth it and these albums make great presents.

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{ Idea #7: Instagram Backgrounds }

Lisa in New Jersey: Like many people, I am documenting our family’s year for 2012. I purchased the Clementine kit and the additional pack of cardstock and have been putting it to good use! Many of the pictures I include in our album are smaller than the 4×6″ photo pocket (some 2×3″ and LOTS of Instagrams sized 4×4, 3×3, and 2×2).

I have been cutting down Clementine Cardstock sheets to the 4×6 size and using that as the background to these smaller photos. It is quicker and so much easier than rummaging through all my other “regular” scrapbooking cardstock to find a piece to coordinate with my layout. I am enjoying this process so much! Thank you again for developing Project Life and for all the new products. It just keeps getting better & I can’t wait to see what else is on the horizon!

Peyton in Virginia has the same idea. In fact, this is a picture of her stash of pre-cut cards from the Clementine Collection of 12×12 Cardstock. You’ll notice she even cut some 3×4 cards as well.

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{ Idea #8: Greeting Cards }

Naturally, cardstock is a great staple for making cute cards. Kristen Spencer in Texas says, I love to have kids’ birthday cards on hand and I think these turned out so cute! I have to say the weight and texture of your cardstock is PERFECT for the Cricut! It cuts even the tiniest details flawlessly! (Cobalt Collection shown.)

… we totally recognize that many of you have that desire to get creative and do more than the beloved slip-the-photos-and-cards-in-and-be-done method. This is why we have additional products – to support your need to create, and help you keep it all looking good together.

So let’s talk about the Project Life Cardstock. You don’t have to have full 12×12 cardstock for a Project Life album, but you asked for it, we listened, and so of course we have it. We have a collection of designer paper to go with each of our Project Life Editions:

Many Project Lifers have put the 12×12 Project Life Cardstock to good use with a creative spin. Today I’m sharing 4 recently submitted ideas. Tomorrow I’ll share another 4 ideas. Each idea comes from readers/customers who submitted their own pictures. We’re grateful for their willingness to share so that you can be inspired.

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{ Idea #1: Manila Folders }

Pedita in Newcastle, NSW, Australia: I covered some manila folders to brighten up my desk. (Papers from the Amber Collection are shown.)

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{ Idea #2: Mini scrapbook pages on one scrapbook page }

Megan in Nashville, Tennessee: I use the cardstock with Design E Photo Pocket Pages to do 4 mini layouts for each of my sons each month. I highlight what they are doing that month. (Papers from the Cobalt Collection are shown.)

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{ Idea #3: Chore System }

Regan in Texas: I used the Cobalt cardstock to make a new chore system for my two daughters, ages nine and five. My girls helped me cut the papers into cards, then we added a chore to each front and a gold star to each back, and then laminated them and punched a hole in the top. We hung them on our fridge on hook magnets. When the girls complete the chore, they turn it over to the star side and put it on the hook below (we love that the papers have such fun patterns on both sides!). Each day I select the chores that need to be done that day (the extras live in an envelope at the top), and at the end of the day they receive a tally mark for the completed jobs (and they lose a tally mark for the ones they did not finish). They also have the option to select additional jobs for extra marks. They have both set a goal for their reward when they reach a certain number of tally marks. It is extremely flexible, and more importantly, extremely cute! The girls each chose which papers they wanted for their own jobs. So far, so good!

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{ Idea #4: Wrapped Boxes }

Carol in Washington state: I think these boxes are great sizes and yet I just send them to recycling. SO … I covered them with cardstock (papers from the Turquoise Collection are shown) and keep the things I am working on in them. Plus, they match my Project Life album. From baggie boxes, to supply boxes …

]]> http://www.beckyhiggins.com/blog/2012/04/creative-uses-for-project-life-cardstock/feed/ 13 http://www.beckyhiggins.com/blog/2012/04/creative-uses-for-project-life-cardstock/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/beckyhiggins/~3/lzL9akU7s0c/ http://www.beckyhiggins.com/blog/2012/04/diy-memory-game/#comments Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:00:28 +0000 Becky Higgins http://www.beckyhiggins.com/blog/?p=13396

Anyone who has Project Life knows we give you plenty of supplies in that little box. Chances are, you have some extra cards in your stash. Right?

Creative Team member MaryAnn has put her extra cards to excellent use. She whipped up a DIY project that you’re going to want to pin. (No – I’m still not on Pinterest. I’m holding strong, ladies.)

This is a memory game that she made using filler cards from the Amber Edition of Project Life, and the cards are stored in a 3×4 journaling card box. MaryAnn says, When I was a kid I loved to play Memory. I can recall countless hours of fun playing the game with my parents and siblings. I wanted something fun and small to take with us while we are traveling by plane cross country on our summer vacation this year. It’s a twist to the traditional game of memory match-up using family photos.

I have also started working on a Go Fish game using the same concept as the memory game. I love it! The best part about both of these games is that just when my girls think they know all of the cards or have it mastered, I simply switch the photos to more recent ones and totally update the game. Love it! Well … really the best part is the look on the girls faces as the play the game. That is priceless and it just makes my heart smile!

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Of course you don’t need to use Project Life 3×4 Journaling Cards. It’s just convenient with those because they’re pre-cut and pre-designed. You can certainly use full sheets of cardstock and trim to your desired size. I did this several years ago and used the same pattern on the back of ALL the cards.

Download MaryAnn’s PDF of instructions: Photo Memory Game

Speaking of creative uses for patterned cardstock … keep your eye on the blog this week for more DIY goodness. We have oodles of fun ideas on the way and I’m certain you’re creative juices will be flowing.

]]> http://www.beckyhiggins.com/blog/2012/04/diy-memory-game/feed/ 6 http://www.beckyhiggins.com/blog/2012/04/diy-memory-game/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/beckyhiggins/~3/2OO2dhgfh64/ http://www.beckyhiggins.com/blog/2012/04/feedback-friday-10/#comments Fri, 20 Apr 2012 16:40:11 +0000 Becky Higgins http://www.beckyhiggins.com/blog/?p=13503 I remember you blogged that you bought some Williams-Sonoma kitchen towels a couple years ago. How are those holding up?

Hands down, these are my favorite kitchen towels that we’ve ever had. I am so pleased with the towels, and they’re holding up beautifully.

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What is your opinion of the Nikon 1 J1 Camera?

Honestly, I’ve never heard of that one. I like the Nikon D90 that we’ve had for the past few years and am not currently in the market for another one, so I’m pretty clueless about the latest & greatest dSLR models. But have you checked out dpreview.com? Anyone in the market for a new camera should check out this review site.

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How did you choose the new designs of Photo Pocket Pages and Page Protectors? Like, were they what you needed as you put together your kids’ scrapbooks?

The whole Project Life concept came about because I had a problem and I wanted to create a system that would solve the problem. So – yes, many product ideas come from my personal experience and my desire to bring out the practical side of an otherwise “creative” hobby. But this is just one factor. Another key element that plays into our decision for what products to make? Your voice. Your feedback. Your suggestions.

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Do you think you will keep designing page protectors and coming up with new designs like you used to come up with new sketches?

It’s pretty much looking that way, isn’t it? Interesting for you to bring that up. In my season of sharing sketches, I really was trying to take the guesswork out of scrapbooking. That’s why people loved them. Funny how things have evolved. Now I look at sketches and think – If that is made of actual pockets, THEN we’re really solving the problem! What’s easier than slipping pictures into pockets? Pretty much nothing. Easiest scrapbooking ever. So – yes. We will continue to grow our line of plastics because they are creating solutions. Mine and yours.

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Are you doing the 12×12 or 8.5×11 inch size for your family’s albums? Is the physical Project Life binder 12×12 in size?

Yes, the Project Life Binder is the classic, standard 12×12 size. I’ve done a lot of 8.5×11 albums, then transitioned to 12×12 in 2001. Now, with 43 volumes of these albums in our home (ouch), I do 8.5×11 Project Life photo books on Shutterfly for our family memories. I am carrying on with the 12×12 size for the kids’ individuals albums. I show & talk about this in the very beginning of my video featured here.

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Do you ever show your own pages?

I sprinkle my personal pages in once in a blue moon, but no – not very often. I’ve been in this industry for 16 years. I have shared plenty. But I have become much more protective of our personal memories, stories, pictures as we’re raising our little family. That is the only reason I don’t share more often, and why I am very strategic in what I do share from our personal scrapbooks.

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I was wondering what you do with photos that others send you, like family? My family will periodically send me few photos of their vacation or other events. I’m never sure what to do with them in Project Life. The images aren’t part of our story, but I still like it when they send them. Thoughts or ideas?

I really had to think about this one for a minute, because I can’t remember the last time someone randomly sent me a physical print. So much is shared electronically these days. If you like to hang on to the pictures sent your way, it seems easy enough to just slip them into Photo Pocket Pages and perhaps, since they don’t really “go” with your own life story, you could put that page (or those pages) at the very end of the album.

I’ll share another thought with you. A couple years ago I came across many years’ worth of Christmas cards that I had collected. I had an epiphany that I am not the keeper of other people’s memories. That doesn’t have to be my responsibility. I’m recording my own family’s story and that is plenty. Why was I hanging on to all these Christmas card pictures when we honestly never even went back and looked at them? I love our family & friends, but I tossed those pictures with no regret. In fact, I felt like a weight was lifted with that simple decision. Just something to consider. Perhaps you have a few recent photos on your fridge for a few months or a year, but eventually – it’s okay to toss the pictures that aren’t super significant.

The significant and sentimental pictures? Absolutely you should keep those.

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I am looking for ways to document my pregnancy on weekly basis. Ideas would be greatly appreciated!

You could certainly use any edition of Project Life if you wanted. They are theme-less and versatile for so many topics. Your life is your life – married or single, pregnant or not, working or at home. Just photograph the little details of your journey – no matter what it looks like.

Speaking of babies and those who want to do a baby album … well, let’s put it this way: I pretty much haven’t done much with Crew’s baby album. He’s three. And I’m pretty much not going to do it until our Project Life: Baby Edition products come out. Because they’re going to make my life soooo much easier and his album will look completely amazing. I’m unbelievably stoked about what we’ve been cooking up for you guys. I don’t have a release date yet, but at least you know the wait won’t be years since we’ve already been working on it.  ; )

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For your kids’ personal books, the way I take it from reading your blog, you combine personal activities and school stuff in the same book. How do you separate? Do you have a “school section” by grade or is it all just chronological and mixed in with the personal stuff? What do you do– what works for you?

You should absolutely do what works best and makes the most sense for your situation. Since you asked about my system, I am all about telling the LIFE story. School is not a separate thing in my children’s lives. School is an integral part in their story, and who they are – just as much as other activities, sports, friends, extended family, travel, hobbies, and mundane stuff at home. So for me? I tell my kids’ story chronologically by year. I am not concerned about the order of pictures and pages and stories within that year. But if I want to know all about my child when they were in, say first grade? I can quickly identify that section (thanks to the Scrapbook Dividers – one of my absolute favorite products that I think every scrapbooker should have) … and enjoy the pictures & memories from that time in their life.

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What do you do with all of the photos that don’t make it into the album?

I don’t print pictures that I’m not going to put into an album or a frame or use in a project. So all the pictures I don’t use are in the same place that most of you store your pictures: On the computer (and of course backed up). I refer to them often, share them electronically, work them into an iMovie, etc.

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I’m wondering if you have any advice on how to catch up when you’re behind on Project Life! Has anyone addressed this?

It sounds to me that you’re locking yourself into an expectation that you will document the year with a picture every day, or a layout every week. Do not make this more complicated than it needs to be. It doesn’t need to be hard. In fact, Project Life is designed to SIMPLIFY the process of memory-keeping. So if you’re getting stressed about “keeping up” … get that phrase out of your mind. It’s not about keeping up. It’s about having a convenient place to slip your photos and memories into a book – no matter when or how often.

Now. Raise your hand if you’re thinking, “But that’s not like me. I have to stay on-track with my goals to document life they way I started this thing.” Truth be told, that’s totally my personality type. All or nothing, right? So let’s be real. If you really, really, really have to follow your own rules, then this is what I suggest: Let’s say you want to keep up with a picture-a-day. Very ambitious, but certainly rewarding. I did that a few years in a row and am not much more relaxed about that in 2012. I use a handful of pictures per week but it’s certainly not a picture for each day.

But anyway – to “catch up” on a couple weeks worth, simply walk around your house with the camera. Take pictures of the little details of everyday life until you have enough pictures to fill in your gaps. That’s it. Take pictures of things that were the same a couple weeks ago, like where you store your makeup or the kitchen sink full of dishes, or what’s on your iPod, your pet’s favorite place to chill, or whatever.

Need inspiration? We have a whole list worth of great ideas to get the wheels in your head turning!

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Becky I know you are working on your new school products but could we have a little idea of what it is? Is the school kit like Project Life with a school theme or something completely different? I know you have said that it will be out this year. Does that mean next couple of months? Summer? Fall? Christmas??? A ball park idea would be wonderful! Thanks for all you do!

Short answer: Summer 2012 (that means Winter for those of you in the Southern Hemisphere). This is what I can tell you right now: The childhood/school products that we’ve been working on will help you tremendously in documenting ALL of childhood. Not just school. The designs are remarkably awesome. I am itching to put this stuff to good use in my kids’ books – and even my own childhood stuff – and David’s. I want so badly to share the details of these products but it’s a little premature. The good news is that it won’t be long before I can share more and you’ll be totally clear on what to expect. Get excited.

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I have a scrapbook room full of pictures, paper, embellishments, etc. that I have planned on scrapbooking for a long time now. Is it even reasonable to think about using Project Life for all of these past photos or should I continue to use traditional scrapbooking for those and use Project Life for now? My kids are 20, 19 and 15 already! I am a procrastinating scrapbooker who needs some help … sigh.

Keep your chin up. Do yourself a favor and simplify. You could go back and do all those years in traditional scrapbooks by designing full pages. Absolutely. If you have the TIME + the DESIRE to get creative, go for it! If that thought overwhelms you however, I promise you that the EASE of Project Life is going to be a huge weight lifted from your shoulders. No more mom guilt. This is precisely why I designed Project Life to be what it is. It solves problems! It saves time! It’s easier to involve your family so that it can even become a TOGETHER project instead of Mom tucked away in her scrappy corner.

And now I sound like an infomercial. But wait. There’s more!

All those supplies that have been collecting? They’re fun. They’re gorgeous. And they were expensive. You don’t have to waste all that. Put them to good use in the Project Life pages if you want. Or … pass it all onto your kids to use, or donate to your local school or children’s shelter or another great cause. Plenty of people will appreciate your generosity.

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Do you journal as you go along before you print your pictures?

Sometimes, yes. For example – because my kids’ albums are physical scrapbooks and I’m using the Project Life system, I always have the 3×4 Journaling Cards handy to write down things they say, etc. Some things need to be written while they’re absolutely fresh in your mind. I love the 3×4 cards for this reason, and then I can slip them into the Photo Pocket Pages whenever I want.

For our family yearbooks, which I mentioned that I do on Shutterfly … my ideal routine (sometimes I get behind) is to do a layout per week. Each Sunday (again, this is ideal) I gather the pictures I want to include in last week’s layout, and add my journaling at the same time. It’s all on the computer. I print nothing. When I get a few weeks behind, it is super fast to catch up. I keep things simple and I couldn’t be happier.

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What do you do for months (i.e. summer or during Christmas or vacations) when you take lots of photos? That is my biggest issue with Project Life. I feel limited for these situations that I can’t include them all. But I guess my book would be huge if I included everything.

That’s it. You nailed it. If you included every picture you took, you’d have a ridiculous amount of albums. I’ve living proof of that from my earlier scrapbooking days. I am so into consolidating memories. You can tell a very rich story just as well with fewer pictures. In fact, if you include “too” many, that could just water everything down. Make sense? Case in point: We went on a big trip for our Spring Break. Guess what? That entire trip is on ONE layout in our family yearbook. That trip was no more important than life at home. It was simply part of our story, part of our life’s journey. But it didn’t define who we are any more than our everyday happenings in our everyday life.

I can’t say this enough: Project Life is what you want it to be. If you want 20 layouts from Christmas, then why wouldn’t you do that? Don’t listen to me or anyone else. Taking in suggestions is great, but go with your gut. Prioritize the real estate inside your album based on what matters most to you. Period.

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What tense do you write in? Are you writing to your kids? To a general audience? To yourself? I can’t decide which one I would like yet.

Personal choice. For me, I write to my kids in their individual albums. I never put words in their mouth. And I absolutely quote them or have them write their own journaling as much as possible. For our family yearbooks, I write to a general audience because while we are the ones enjoying these books right now, eventually they’ll end up in the hands of grandchildren or extended family. They are my general audience.

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I’m trying to get all my old photos out of those albums we used back in the 70s that had sticky pages with a plastic film overlay. What size pocket pages will work for those little square pictures?

I’d have to know the measurements of your pictures. There were a lot of interesting sizes over the years! I have plans to continue growing our plastics family (as mentioned above) so anyone who wants to put in a vote for what size pockets you’d like to see, especially when it comes to old pictures – let’s hear it.

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If ever there was a product I’d like to sell to my friends and family… THIS IS IT!!! Any chance you will be opening up to use individuals as sales reps in a Mary Kay, Scentsy, etc. party type program?

That is not at all in our plans right now, and yes – we did consider that. Again + again + again: We love you, loyal customers, and we are very grateful any time you spread the Project Life love and share this with your friends. Thank you a million times over!

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{ i’m blusing. }

From Beth: I had an epiphany today. Project Life is impacting our *quality of life*!!! What I realized is that Project Life motivates me to get off the couch and do things! It makes for a more interesting album, and a more interesting life. So on weekends or special days, I’m constantly thinking about what we could do in our home or community that will make me look back and say… “Wow, we did a lot of things.” It makes my kids more rounded and healthy, and it makes me feel like a better mom. Project Life motivates me to get out of a rut and really live. Thanks, Becky!

From Kiley: I just wanted to say thank you. My family loves this project! I also just completed a digital version on Shutterfly and made smaller versions of last year for my kids to have their own copy they love them so much. It took two hours. I love love love this project. I know it won’t be long before all of my years of collecting the bits and pieces of life will find their way to a book to be displayed the way they should be. I’ve been a fan since CK days. Thank you for creating this, sharing with all of us and for constantly keeping us up to date, for listening to feedback and adding more and more to project life!! Thank you!! 

I love when you speak up. I love when you tell us what you want. In case you haven’t caught onto that aspect of our brand and how we run our company … we don’t just say “we value your feedback”. We actually do value what you have to say, and that is reflected in the products we’re making.

The moment we realized you guys not only want these new plastics, but you also want the option to purchase Variety Packs … we thought, ABSOLUTELY. So friends, I’m pleased to tell you that we’re adding 2 Variety Packs to the shipment of plastics coming in July. They will be 12-packs and packaged just like all our 12-packs.

Just to be clear, these are the 13 new plastic items in the making right now:

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{ pre-orders }

U.S. customers: Pre-ordering is not available because Amazon simply doesn’t offer that as an option.

International customers: Pre-orders will become available very soon. Check with your local distributor. Don’t know where to purchase our products? That’s what our SHOP BY COUNTRY page is for.

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{ plastic re-stock }

Speaking of our ever-growing plastics family, the items that have been sold out are very close to becoming available again. If you live outside the U.S., check with our international distributors on what kind of timing you can expect.

If you live in the U.S., you know that Amazon is the exclusive place to find our products. We still expect to see the re-stocking of inventory show up to Amazon by the end of April (sometime in the next couple weeks) but the exact date is not up to us. As soon as we hear from Amazon when they will accept our shipment, I will let you know.

These are the items that are part of this next big shipment to show up:

Photo Pocket Pages – Big Pack of Design A (box of 60)
Photo Pocket Pages – Big Variety Pack 1 (box of 60)
Photo Pocket Pages – Big Variety Pack 2 (box of 60)
Photo Pocket Pages – Design A (12-pack)
Photo Pocket Pages – Design B (12-pack)
Photo Pocket Pages – Design C (12-pack)
Photo Pocket Pages – Design D (12-pack)
Photo Pocket Pages – Design E (12-pack)
Photo Pocket Pages – Design F (12-pack)
Photo Pocket Pages – Design G (12-pack)
6×12 Page Protectors (12-pack)
12×12 Page Protectors (12-pack)

As always, you can see everything on our PRODUCTS page. All products are nicely organized so you can easily find what you’re looking for. We’ll add the 13 new items very soon.

Sammie in Torrington, Wyoming: You are the randomly selected winner of a seat in the upcoming True Scrap event! Email Lain and she’ll hook you up. Congratulations!

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{ new product reveal in video format }

Let’s get to the part that will make the rest of you happy.  : )

I am pleased to present to you a first look at the next 11 plastic items coming from Becky Higgins LLC:

These are due to arrive July 2012.

It’s just a few short months away that these new pages will be in your hands. Like you, I have big plans to put these to good use and I can’t for the big arrival. The video includes answers to most questions you may have but certainly feel free to ask any other questions in the comments.

By the way, the development of these new items has not caused the delay of our Core Kit reprint or the development of our childhood products. I’ll have an update on all of that in the next couple weeks.

In the meantime, we’re still on-track to receive the re-stock of all our other, existing plastics by the end of this month. That’s only a couple weeks away. We won’t know the exact date until right before the delivery to Amazon. As always – I’ll keep you posted as we get closer – especially on facebook + twitter, where it’s easier to give quick, anecdotal updates.

All of you Project Lifers who follow what’s going on around here understand everything I’m talking about but I do realize that we have many newbies all the time. Welcome! If you are interested in learning more about this fantastic solution for getting your memories & pictures into a scrapbook without all the time, money, creativity, effort, and “fuss” that traditional scrapbooking usually involves … take a minute to learn about Project Life. It just might change your life.  ; )

This reader is referring to my favorite flats that Oreo loves to chew on. I shared a close-up picture on facebook & twitter yesterday and here’s another picture so you can see the pair of shoes. I love these mustard-colored flats. I could seriously wear them all day, every day.

The brand is Me Too. The style is called Nini Flat, and I probably picked them up at Nordstrom Rack a few years ago. I just did a little research and sadly, I don’t know if this color is carried anywhere anymore. But I did find them on DSW.com, in what looks to be the exact same style in bronze, pewter, navy, and black. And I found a super similar flat in red on endless.com.

And … I stumbled across something else in this crazy amazing shade of green that is causing me to have a serious shoe crush. But I don’t need them. I’m not buying them. Go me.

I don’t need them. I don’t need them. I don’t need them.

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Dying to find out how hard it was to house train Oreo? This is my first puppy so I am new to this part of the training. While I know they have accidents, I hope my puppy learns quickly.

We’re so not there and I am so not the person to ask. Oreo is not totally house-trained yet. In fact, we just called in the experts and have an appointment set up for one day next week. I’m really hoping this professional can give us magic tricks so that we can get through the house-training phase soon. PS – He’s getting a haircut today.

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Ok, call me an Instagram newbie… where/how do I get these babies printed? Costco is my go-to, just FYI.

Great question. I’ve been using Costco for many, many years too. So what I’ve done in the past is just drop my 4×4 Instagram image on a 4×6 canvas in Photoshop and save that new JPG to upload & print. Once I get the prints, I simply trim off the extra 2 inches.

However – I am really ready to try Persnickity Prints. I really like what they do and how they do it, and I’ve seen the prints in real life. I’m really impressed. I just haven’t printed anything recently. Of course there are other apps & websites for printing Instagrams but I don’t have personal experience with any of them … yet.

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What is the paint color in your office?

There is no name for it because I color-matched a swatch of chartreuse from a piece of fabric or something when we painted this room 6 years ago. Sorry that’s not helpful.

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Do you use anything for your iPhone other than the lens? I feel like your pics are always SOOO much clearer than mine.

Be sure you hold your phone very, very still – just as you would with a “real” camera. My iPhone pictures look the way they do because of the apps I use. My two most-used go-to apps are Instagram and Camera+. In fact, every picture in this blog post is the “Lo-fi” filter in Instagram. I should also mention that in the Camera+ app there is a “Clarity” setting that will give your picture extreme clarity, if that’s what you’re looking for.

You can see more of my favorite apps here.

There is just one lens that I have for my iPhone, but it’s not for clarity. It’s the Olloclip 3-in-1 Lens for iPhone 4 & iPhone 4S (Fisheye Lens, Macro Lens, Wide-angle Lens). It literally slips onto the corner of your iPhone, covering the built-in lens. Pretty cool. The picture below is a macro shot I took of my favorite brownie on the planet (found at Kneaders Bakery & Cafe).

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Did you receive that new camera you ordered?

The Lytro? No. Thanks for reminding me. I should check into that since it feels like I ordered it forever ago.

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Do you know the name of the tile on your backsplash? Brand… anything??? Thanks!

I really had to dig around and I think I found some helpful information. We got the tile from Craftsman Court Ceramics in Scottsdale, Arizona who carries tile made by Pratt & Larson Ceramics. I believe it was a custom color but on the back of one of the extra tiles, someone wrote W62 RUSTIC 3×6. The tile size is 3″ x 6″ and I’m wondering if the W62 RUSTIC is their code for our color.

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Did you notice that nowhere in this post did I mention scrapbooking or Project Life? Just a nice little change of pace, of course. I am always happy to answer questions – related to my work or not. I won’t be able to address each one, but please know that Brandi (my Project Manager who just got the birthday surprise of a lifetime – watch the flash mob video) … does a great job collecting your random questions from all over the place. Emails, facebook notes, comments here on my blog, etc. Each Friday I try to address a handful from the ever-growing, on-going list. Next Friday I’ll get back to your Project Life questions.

Have a terrific weekend!