Scrapbooking Q & A

words+photos related question.
how are you able to find that one perfect embellishment to emphasis your words or message you are trying to convey on your layouts?
blessings,
Jami

Hi Ali,
When you print photos yourself on your home printer...what is your printer model and what is your favorite printing paper? I've experimented with a few brands and keep coming back to HP papers. Also, is there a certain thickness on photo papers that works best? I find the thicker the paper, the harder they are to crop, yet they hold up well in albums.
Thanks, Susie T in Portland, OR

Hi Ali,
I am interested in organization tips. How do you organize your digital files (maybe see some screen shots)? How do you organize your photos on your hard drive/flikr, etc? How do you organize your space so that you can reach everything you want to easily, yet still keep your area tidy? Any suggestions for those that only have a teeny tiny space to work with? What about suggestions on portability? For example, those that have to create at the kitchen table and have to put it all away before dinner? Any suggestions for ease of lugging craft supplies and photos to crops away from home?
Hey, thanks for letting us ask away! Although, I get the feeling that you have an "open door" policy on asking you questions anyway. :)
-valerie

What comes first ... the layout or the size of your pictures? This is a stumbling block for me ... I take a TON of pictures and most of them are good, I do weed out the okay ones but I'm still left with about 9 pictures for one topic. (I do like multi-photo pages) So do you crop/resize your pictures first or do you have a layout in mind before you pick your pictures?

Hi Ali!
So, so excited for you and your new baby!...can you tell us how you are preparing 'scrapbook-wise' for the baby?...are you doing pages ahead of time? Are you purchasing a baby book or making your own...I remember that you printed out about 1000 photos at one point...how to you organize photos that aren't in books?

Since you like 3's I've got 3 questions.
1. Do you have any tips on writing on TEXTURED cardstock? Mine just doesn't turn out.
2. Do you print your pictures out differently when you going to be covering parts of them up? example: your Seattle Simon layout
If I tried this I would have all the faces covered.
3. Do you normally stamp directly on the main layout or do you stamp and then cut it out and adhere?
thanks,
{vicki}

I see a lot of sewing on scrapbook pages... Is there a tension setting on the sewing machine that works well on cardstock? I am scared I would mess up a layout if I sew on it.

Tons of great questions! I can't wait to read all the answers!!
I really would like to know how you keep to such a simple design with all the cool stuff? How do you know when it's enough without being not enough??
Also, how do you store like ribbon, brads, flowers, etc. By color? Size? Leave it in the package or what? I have most of mine stored by color, but the problem is for publishing purposes they want to know what brand each thing is and I mix it all together!!
THanks in advance!!

Will you ever do a page of Simon singing for us at CKC Portland? There has to be someone who took photos and sent them to you. One of those little recording boxes with his voice would be incredible. I'll never forget that moment.

I need some specific information. I love the font you have "Hello Life." but how do I get it and then how do I actually use it?
Thanks.
Rebecca F.

How do you store and organize your supplies, especially your photos? Also, how do you organize your digital supplies?
I've only just started reading your blog in the last couple of months, so if you've answered those questions previously, maybe you could just point to the post?
Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions!
Melissa

Okay, this isn't really a question that requires answering. After seeing that your quote is from Rilke, I was curious if you have checked out the cd Ancient Tower. It is a beautiful collection of Rilke poetry read by Meryl Streep and then each poem is set to music in a modern chant style and sung by New York Voices. In my opinion, a very inspiring cd. Anyway, when I saw your quote, I thought that I would share in case you've never heard it.

Hey Ali, wondering what you do with all your scraps? Do you purge a few times a year? I feel guilty throwing away scraps, but want to leave room for new stuff too, without ever expanding my space. I'm trying really hard to 'contain' my hobby to a certain amount of space. =)

Hi Ali! On your digi overlays, I purchased the 8.5x11 ones instead of the 12x12 because I have a 8.5x11 printer...can they be resized to 8x8...like you said in a previous post or do they have to be a 12x12 overlay, and most importantly how do I do it, step by step!

Do you have a routine each day where you spend a certain amount of time doing house stuff, Simon stuff and scrapbook stuff?
I find that when I get a project idea it totally consumes me and I let other things fall apart until I have to attend them. Can you imagine my family wants to eat? lol Anyway I work away from home and I really want to start to do more creative stuff but it's hard to fit it into my schedule.

Being that you are a scrapbooking 'celebrity' I am sure tons of different companies send you freebies to try. Do you ever go to scrapbook stores to shop, you know for yourself...your stash??? If you do, do you walk thru the whole store and then pick out stuff or go know exactly what you are buying? If not, don't you miss it? Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions!

I'd like to know how you keep your mini-album once terminated? Do you have a special container or place to protect them? Do you look at them often?
Thanks for sharing this time with us.
Magali (Montréal, Québec)

Ali....I'm just saying thank you today. I was reading thru LIFE ARTIST before going on vacation and took your advise. I grabbed a book and each day I journaled. I knew how I felt and I knew the pics I was taking. So then I used a few stamps, pencils and black pens to embellish the pages. My photos came in yesterday and I completed an entire book with over 100 photos. I had journaled 18 pages and then I wrote "other moments not to be forgotten" and threw in the extra photos. I'm always going to do vacation/event albums like this. The best part is that I actually journaled. Thanks.. Mac

How did you learn to embrace your own style? I am looking for inspiration on how to move through a discovery phase of some sort and find mine. I'd like to throw out the "it's supposed to be this" and just enjoy the process. My process & my spin on creative projects. Maybe learning about your journey will help. Thanks!

I have recently been going through my parents pictures because they were displaced due to flooding and I am trying to organize them for them. Any suggestions on combining several generations of photos as well as many different sizes (ex: wallets, 3x5, 4x6,5x7)? I am perplexed as to whether to scrap them all or place in photo albums or any photo boxes. So any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated. I am strongly leaning towards what you did for CK with the different size page protectors and scrapping that way.
Best wishes to you and your family for your new blessing!
Thank you,
Shawn