Weekend Photos & Workshop Input

Although I'm definitely not wishing away our beautiful summer weather, I *am* looking forward to your class in September/October! My issue is how much paraphernalia I have! I would love to have ideas as to how to include these on their appropriate pages. I sometimes include them in page protectors behind their pages, but I would rather have some ideas as to how to include them directly and subtly on the pages.
Thanks, Ali!
PAM

I'm really looking forward to your class.
I have completed all the traditional grandchildren albums as well as some gift albums for them, all our trips (wish there had been more trips)and a book starting with my ancestors and going through my wedding (I focused on happy memories...didn't think my family needed to concentrate on anything traumatic I had experienced in my life.)
What I need now are 1) ideas that don't relate to the children or grandchildren...ideas about scrapbooking my husband and me, how our life and love have changed through the years. Our life is so full of our family (always has been and that's wonderful) but now it's hard to think of, and harder still to scrapbook, us as a couple.
2)I am also interested in ideas for theme albums (including all the family) perhaps mini albums but primarily ones that follow a theme. Should they be one event, one topic, one holiday. I can think of a topic, but don't know how to develop it. I sure could use some help with that. For example, I love the beach, but have hundreds of beach trips documented in my photo library. How do I pull it together?
So I guess my biggest need is gathering the skills/steps needed to develop a concept...tell a story.
Thanks Ali for the upcoming class but also for your friendly and informative blog. I know, especially with Anna (beautiful!)that some days it must be difficult to give us all that you do.
Sorry this is so long. Perhaps I should do an album on the value of being concise.

I don't know if this was already mentioned, but I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on scrapbooking the things that were once so very important to us, but seem silly in retrospect.

How about the everyday both past and present. My kids are grown and my husband and I are both kind of boring--work--clean--rest---work.... It is hard to remember all the things that happened in the past so I get really stuck with the everyday concept. I have tried 3 times to do a week-in my life and have never finished it cuz life is just mundane!

Ali, I think the most valuable thing we can learn in taking this class is how to take important events from our past and incorporate them with our present storytelling..i.e. telling stories about how things in our past may or may not shape the way we live our lives today... whether it be events brought on by happy times or traumatic events or even family holiday traditions. It would be neat to somehow explore the many things that influence us in our lives today. "Making Connections" - "Heredity", "External Experiences" or "Living in the Moment", and "Taking Chances" all come to mind.

I want to learn how to scrapbook ...the times my heart ached.
The happy times they are a snap...But, I can
t find my voice for the tough times. The it is not possible for a human to live through this pain and survive times....I don't' know how to begin to leave a record of the pain.
A quick reality check tells me....the day to day, the special and the extraordinary times are flat without the painful as well. But...I don't know how to go there.
From the outside we live a charmed life... relative affluence, extremely bright kiddos, good health, respected professionally.....but, I don't want my grandchildren or greats when they arrive...to look at our lives and not know, how we navigated the really hard times.

You have such a beautiful family--and Simon is so handsome in his glasses!

Probably the most challenging is scrapbooking about past... gathering memories, putting them together nicely... I would surely some valuable tips on it!
Ari

Ali, I'm looking forward to your class. I am worried about not having enough of the right photos... I don't
have a lot of early ones and of course I'm the photographer now so I'm not in a lot of the photos. Also, I think someone else said they wanted to be able to retrieve the thoughts and experiences easily. And to tell the story without the picture. I love your blog and your way with the creativity spark.
thanks for sharing your talants and skills,
betty

I want to learn about/scrap about feeling ok about it all-my past, my present and my future. that's my mistake are ok, I'm still a good person. and that my victories are hard earned and I should be proud. In fact, I think I'll add Ok and or Proud to my word of the year!

I have a lot of older pictures and I want to learn out to scrap around them using the new products I love... I often try but I find the picture looks completely out of place. Not sure if you know what I mean... but if I use a vintage-y picture I don't necessarily want a vintage layout all the time! :)

things that come to mind - the important things, people, places, and events from my past and how they connect to me now and the person that I am today...

I may be a minority here, but I done with "me" books. Seems like everyone is producing one. I would love to honor the past and where I have come from.. my heritage, my eyes, my personality. Many people have problems living with their past, but if we could just simplify it a bit, those pesky family issues might fade in comparison to new highlights. Those special facts that if not remembered and passed down, just fade away. I want to remember why grandma's china was so special and that recipe for oatmeal cookies, what a black and white TV was, and just how lucky I grew up when I did..
Ali, you will do just the right concept and I can not wait to register!

Wow Ali, would love to find out how to put it all together - mostly the old heritage stuff so that the order and history makes sense and is not too hard to follow. I have some amazing facts on two of our four sides of the family that goes back to the 1600's on one side and the 1700's on the other, and don't know how to organize it so it makes sense.
Would love to take this course - when will the sign up be?

What would you like to learn about scrapbooking your past?
Accepting the mistakes I made. Recording how these blemishes don't define who I am but are events that happened and choices I made. Only fires that refined me now.
What would you like to learn about scrapbooking your present?
A comparison of my priorities. What I want them to be, to what they actually are on a weekly basis. Doing the 'week in the life' project started to reveal this to me.
What would you like to learn about scrapbooking yourself?
Documenting my thoughts on relationships in my life. Why I appreciate the impact others have on me, and also, truely, why certain relationships challenge me.
Anything else you would like to see/learn in this workshop?
When my children are in their 30's, and having life full in thier face, I want my personal scrapbooking to reflect the truth of my thoughts, not the icing covered version that would bring them false comfort. I want them to see how God took all things and used them for His purpose. How intricately He designed each one of us and loves us dearly. The one thing we can always count on. i realize that this is a faith based request but it's applicable to me and many others in their beleif system, KWIM?
Thanks for asking what we think Ali. -tania

Hi Ali - glad you had a wonderful 4th of July (as did I and my family). Regarding your new class, I'm wondering if you could answer a question. Must I have Photoshop Elements in order to take this class? I am VERY new to computer scrapbooking and don't have this program yet. Thanks!

I'd want to look at the arc of life. What was I like when I was younger which led me to next stage and the next and finally to here. And where would I like to go from here. How to include the messy bits without getting overwhelmed by them, what highlights to document if you are single and don't have children, what other artifacts to use if you don't have photos from when you were younger and how to prioritze what needs to be included!

Old family photos are the hardest thing for me to organize. There are so very few (film was expensive then), and I don't know how to group them. They are too small to put 1 per page. Also journaling is hard when I don't know the names of some of the people in the photo.

I have taken several classes from Big Picture. What would be helpful for me is to know when things are happening right up front.
Also what do you need product line in order to complete this class. I don't want to purchase product that I won't be using.
Looking forward to the class!

There are 2 things i would love to see in this class.
1. I would love to see about scrapbooking the bad things. Not tribute pages, but experiences that were not pleasant. Break-ups, friendships ending, regrets, accidents and failures.
2. I would especially like to see some suggestions for pages that did not involve being a mom or being married. As a single woman with no kids (and no plans for kids), I am often left out of scrapbooking projects that are supposed to be all about me and are really a place for people to reflect on their roles as wife and mother. And while I have seen some beautiful pages and have been able to adapt some of the ideas to my situation, I would love to see more that is universal.
I so enjoy your blog!