Simple Studio

Quizzes and Questions special issue

was one of our favorite special issue's ever. Remember this one?

I would like to provide you with a handful of my favorite quizzes this week and to kick it off I look to the master, miss CZ herself.

Her quiz is about your everyday life now, right now. So answer the questions and make a page, or save the journaling for a project in the near future. Share some of your answers in the comments. I will post my answers and page tomorrow.

The last person I sent a card to:

What I ate for lunch today:

Something I just learned:

My favorite song this year:

The last book I read:

What I am wearing right now:

The last phone call I made:

Inside I don't feel very different from when I was:

The last restaurant I ate at was:

My favorite TV show is:

 

 

My take on the quiz was to answer just three of the questions with journaling and photos. That is what I love about quizzes, answer one question or all. (sorry that the journaling is so fuzzy-will try to write it in later)

Weekly challenge: Simple Schemes

This week’s challenge comes straight from the “Simple Schemes” column from the January/February issue. Your challenge if you choose to accept it is…create a layout using the Simple Scheme (for 8½ x 11 and 12 x 12 scrappers) on page 55 of the issue. Adapt this scheme to fit your photos and your scrapbook style (if you need help check out the tips in the article.)

 

8.5" x 11"

   

 

12" x 12"

 

Post your layouts in the Simple group gallery by Sunday, January 11 for your chance to win a mystery prize pack with goodies from Making Memories, Jenni Bowlin, BasicGrey and more! Be sure to title the file (not the layout) “Simple Schemes Jan/Feb” so we can find the contest entries. (Note the quote marks are important).

Winner from the last weekly challenge is: Buffy fan. Good Job!

Happy January

Thanks for visiting-
We are working on some exciting changes for the new year and can't wait to share.
In the meantime, check out these great scrapbooking articles!

*Angie at Scrapscene.com published a best of 2008, awesome content!

*Cute project at Making Memories repurposing packaging

*Read Nancy Nally's top scrapbooking stories of 2008

*Fantastically cool digital calendar 'stuff' from Emily Adams at Polka Dot Potato

what are you excited about?

Happy New Year!

Hope you are enjoying this time with your family and loved ones, and taking lots of photos.

I am going to highlight some awesome layouts from last year's Simple Studio gallery that illustrate good use of shape.

Circles- why are they so happy? I don't know, but they are.

 

perfect example by Candice Palmer

 

another great use of shape as a dynamic focal point, by Lisa Dickinson

I love the these two layouts use shape to create a trail of movement

 

can you guess who this is? Linda Barber as a baby.

Think this is a great use of chipboard shapes, good job Erin Sweeney

more to come!

Ryan's Photo Album

A couple of weeks ago I got an email from an online newsletter, advertising something or other. The email started out by saying, "None of us probably remember the first photo we ever took..." I read that and became so sad! I really have no clue what the first photo I ever took was.

I decided that my son Ryan WOULD always remember what the first photo he ever took was. A couple weeks before I got that email I had handed over my iphone (with supervision) and let him play around a bit with the in-phone camera. He was in HEAVEN. He took photos of his every day things around the house--his toys, the show he was watching on TV, his feet, even his shadow. As I started to scroll through the pictures, I was amazed at the things a three-year-old notices--things at his "level" that I may have never seen. I quickly printed the photos he had taken and decided to somehow preserve them for him.

I hope most of you have seen this fabulous SS issue by now:

 

If not, you're so missing out. I read through it a couple of times and was totally inspired! I felt justified in printing photos, slipping them into a photo album, and letting the rest go. I do not have to scrap every single photo! So here's what I came up with:

I bought a simple, neutral photo album to house Ryan's new photos:

 

I created a simple, basic title to go in the front window, and little message to Ryan for the first page (telling him why I made this for him). I decided to use just one product--a journaling book from Making Memories' Noteworthy line.

 

I filled the album with photos and embellished my title a bit:

 

 

Then, I simply tore out pages from the journaling book and wrote little notes for various photos--just a few words, describing why I liked that photo so much.

 

I only adhered one side of the journaling page, so that you could lift up the other side to see the whole photo underneath.

 

Super easy, super quick, and something that I hope Ryan will maybe appreciate a little bit when he gets to be older and becomes a photographer (I hope!).

Oh! And are you still wondering what the first photo Ryan ever took is? Here you go:

 

I love it. And THIS is what Ryan's getting for Christmas this year:

 

I have so enjoyed being the host of the Simple Blog this week! I hope that I've inspired you at least a little bit. I wish each of you a Merry Christmas and a wonderful holiday season!

Inspired

I am so inspired by the world around me--in every aspect of my life. I'm inspired to dress better after looking at fashion magazines. I'm inspired to be a better cook after reading cooking magazines. I'm inspired to keep my house looking beautiful after reading home magazines. And of course I'm inspired to be a better scrapbooker and photographer after reading magazines, blogs, websites and more on a daily basis. Seriously. I soak it in.

So I thought I'd share a few places to go online that are inspiring me right now.

• I'm continually amazed at the talent of my fellow board members and check each of their blogs every day. For links, just look over to the left.
• I check HER blog and HER blog and HER blog and HER blog every day for inspiration. And believe me, I get it!
• Some places I like to go for inspiration (that I don't think too many people think of) are sites that feature "best web design" such as www.coolhomepages.com. Click on the links that say "Color schemes" or "Photography" or "Very Clean" or "Typography". Just click through some of the thumbnails and you're sure to find something that inspires you.
• And of course my most favorite place to go is the Simple Scrapbooks Gallery. Oh my word, you guys are so amazingly talented. I just click thorugh that gallery and I'm SO ready to get my scrapbook groove on! Here are a couple of layouts that I'm in love with right now:

"How To Be Merry" by Stephanie Howell

 

"Smile" by SoBlessed (awesome use of type!):

 

And this Christmas ornament by Davinie:

The talents that other people posses just amaze me. Wow.

And as far as photography goes, there are a MILLION places (literally) that you can go to see beautiful photos. But I wanted to share just one site that I recently discovered that I'm addicted to! It's http://boston.com/bigpicture/. Whether you're a photographer or not, you'll love it.

Putting The Words On Paper

I love to create scrapbook pages (obviously), but one thing I sometimes struggle with is the journaling. How do I say what I need to say? And how do I translate my thoughts and feelings onto my layout? I spent a few minutes looking through some of the layouts I completed this last year. Doing so helped me discover my "journaling style". This style consists of two components: letter-writing and short paragraphs.

I discovered that one of the easiest way for me to journal is to actually write a short little letter to the person I'm doing the page about. Here are a couple of examples.

This one was written for my son, Kyler, when I was still pregnant with him.

 

This next one was written to my husband, Matt, as a way of telling him how proud I am of him for pursuing his jogging (come rain, snow, sleet or hail). Click to see it larger.

 

The other journaling style I like to use is short paragraph journaling. I think we sometimes feel like there's a "rule" as to how long or short your journaling needs to be on a layout. But, big surprise, there's not! Sometimes all I need to say about a photo can be said in a couple short sentences.

 

 

And other times, a picture itself is worth a thousand words (as the old saying goes):

 

 

Basically, the bottom line is say what's in your heart. Say what needs to be said. No fluff, no frills--just get it down on paper--however you want.

Winner From Last Week and NEW CHALLENGE!

Okay, just how stinkin' cute is this layout?

 

And guess what! famille1999 is the winner of last week's button challenge from Margaret! Hooray!

So are you ready for a new challenge?

We’re trying something new this week. Instead of a layout challenge, we’re challenging you to a photo challenge. Go grab your camera, and turn to page 41 of the January/February issue. This challenge comes straight from the “Focus on Photos” column. Your challenge if you choose to accept it is to spend one day taking “everyday life” shots of you, your family, your home, your daily habits, and more.

This is actually something I like to do about every three months. I'll just grab my camera and take photos of my boys and "things" that tell a story about that particular day. Here are some photos from my latest photo diary.

My drink of choice (and none of that diet stuff, thanks):

I am ALWAYS cold:

A fun little toy (anyone else have one of these?):

And noodles made from scratch, drying in the oven (to be used for homemade chicken noodle soup!):

And just for the heck of it, here is the recipe I use for Chicken Noodle soup. It's REALLY good (and easy)!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 1/2 cups wide egg noodles
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 12 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 tablespoons salt
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 cups diced, cooked chicken meat

DIRECTIONS

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add egg noodles and oil, and boil for 8 minutes, or until tender. Drain, and rinse under cool running water.
2. In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, combine broth, salt, and poultry seasoning. Bring to a boil. Stir in celery and onion. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 15 minutes.
3. In a small bowl, mix cornstarch and water together until cornstarch is completely dissolved. Gradually add to soup, stirring constantly. Stir in noodles and chicken, and heat through.

Also that day I decided to snap some photos of my boys doing what they do best: playing! They love pushing cars and trucks (and pretty much anything with wheels) up and down our long hallway:

And I love that you can see my husband in the background of this one, doing what he does best (watching sports):

They also love pretending to talk on the phone to grandma:

So can you do it? Are you up to the challenge? It's so fun and it's a GREAT way to document the daily details of your life--a way to create your own daily photo diary.

Post your photos in the Simple group gallery by Sunday, December 21 for your chance to win a prize pack from AdornIt! Be sure to title the file (not the layout) “Focus on Photos” so we can find the contest entries. (Note the quote marks are important).

Ready, set, GO!

So Excited!

I'm so excited to be hosting the Simple Studio blog this week! Especially now that it's all new and improved (and oh so fancy!). My name is Elisha Snow and I've been with Simple Scrapbooks for over five years now. Can you believe it? I can't. And it's been SUCH a fun job (and really, how can it not be?).

So here is a little bit about me. I've been married to my wonderful husband Matt for 4 1/2 years and we have two young sons, Ryan (3) and Kyler (1). They keep me extremely busy, but in my "spare" time I'm a professional photographer, specializing in family and children's' portraiture. I LOVE what I do, and hope that my love of photography shows through in each and every photo I create.

Some other of my hobbies include reading, playing the piano, doing crossword puzzles and SHOPPING. Oh, how I love to shop! I literally get a natural high when I find a good bargain.

Something that many people don't know about me is that I'm also a singer. These days I do solo performances in the comfort of my own car, and you can find me serenading my boys while they take a bath. But once upon a time I did perform often in Church and high school.

So that's me. Short and sweet (and petite). I'll leave you with a little digital scrapbooking project by yours truly. This is our official 2008 Christmas Card. I'd love to send a printed one to each and every one of you, but let's face it: stamps are expensive. So here's the good old digital version.

FRONT:

 

BACK:

 

Digital Materials: patterned paper (Jessica Sprague for Creating Keepsakes) - Porcelain and McGarey fonts - 5x7 card

I'm looking forward to sharing more with you this week, and we might even have a little giveaway! (Actually, we'll for sure have a little giveaway!)

Oh! And if there's anything specific you'd like to know about me, my photography, scrapbooking or anything else, just ask!

So long, farewell...

Well, it's been a fun hosting the studio blog all week. Thanks for reading along and for all your kind comments and input. Before I hand over the blogging torch, I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. And since I don't have all your addresses, let's just pretend you got my card in the mail today! Here ya go:

Hope you have a great weekend! :)

Oh, and one more thing before I officialy go...don't forget to submit your challenge layout before Sunday, December 14! For more info about the challenge, click here.