Carolyn Your Personal Memory Works Consultant

Current Mood:

I love to use foam stamps and paint on my layouts. Using my foam stamps became a chore because I had to pull several bags of stamps out of my cabinet, look through each bag to find the style I wanted to use and then dump out the whole package to find the specific stamps I needed. While surfing through some websites I found this grand idea for storage. I’d share the site with you but I can’t find it again.

Below are the steps I used to create my storage boards:

Buy a large piece of black core board and the small round Velcro dots with self adhesive glue on the back. (I found my very thin core board at JoAnn’s for $4.99. Most Art stores will carry it as well.)

Next, measure and cut the board into uniform sized sheets using an exacto knife. (I decided on 9 X 11 inches because they would hold a whole set of stamps and fit easily into a file box.)

I was able to get six sheets out of one board.

Cut the Velcro circles in half to save a little on money. After cutting them match the Velcro pieces to another attaching half, creating half circles and leaving the adhesive side out. (I left mine on the backing sheets to protect them.)

Lay your stamps on your sheet in the order that you want to place them and leave a little bit of space between each letter or figure.

Place a Velcro set on the back of each letter and stick the other side on the board.

Now my letters are in ABC order on the board and easy to find what I like to use. Storage when not in use is easy peasy too. I just put them in a file box until I want to use them. It’s easy to flip through the boards and find the style letter I want and then to find the letters needed. I am beside myself with excitement.

Posted on May 1st, 2008 by Carolyn
Filed under: Organization | No Comments »

When I began scrapbooking over 15 years ago, I scrapbooked for two reasons. First and foremost was to preserve my personal photos and memorabilia. I was invited to a Creative Memories party and learned about acid and lignin and the havoc they were wreaking on my pictures. My photos were held in one of those old fashioned scrapbooks where you lay the pictures on the page and a plastic sheet lays over the top of them sticking to the page in between the photos. I went home and took a good look at my photo albums and saw that what the woman said was true. My pictures were fading and turning yellow and stuck to the pages. I removed my photos gingerly but instantly from the albums they were hosted in. I purchased a Creative Memories album and started putting them in this new album to protect them. The process was painstakingly slow. Every page took a great deal of time to create and frankly the layouts were a bit lacking of design.  When I go back and look at my first album I am amazed at how simple they were.  Even so, I still enjoy looking at them.  The pictures are in the same shape as when I first placed them in there over 15 years ago.  So they should be protected for many more years to come.

Going to scrapbooking parties and spending time with friends who were also scrapbooking was my other reason for picking up this hobby. As I attended these parties I learned many new techniques and became much faster and more proficient in creating my pages.  The look and feel of my scrapbooks gradually changed over time.  I learned about the importance of journaling on my pages to tell the story and how to add color and balance to my pages. My pages came faster and looked better the more I did and the more I created.

After many years of working on scrapbooks the industry has changed and progressed incredibly. There is much more available for creating and so many sources of inspiration. Books are written, magazines published, stores dedicated to scrapbook materials and teaching scrapbooking techniques, and the web has brought online stores and classes. I find I enjoy the artistic side of creating handmade projects for gifts and personal relaxation, expression and enjoyment. My pages have grown and changed just as I have grown and changed as a person. Just like the furnishings in my home, my books and projects reflect my special style. I am proud to have them on display for family and guests to view. It is like sharing a special part of me.

The side effect of this great hobby ‘o mine is that I have, over time, collected a mountainous treasure of supplies.  My goal for the next several months is to organize and reshape my hobby while sharing with others.  I hope you will join me on this journey of cleaning up, clearning out, and organizing my space and supplies.  I will share with you ideas others have shared on their methods of organization as well as what I select to try for my own.

Posted on January 13th, 2008 by Carolyn
Filed under: General Information | No Comments »