Angie Pedersen's The Blog of ME

Review: An Amazing Month of Memories series

I recently had the opportunity to take a sneak peek at one of Katie the Scrapbook Lady's recent projects - An Amazing Month of Memories, a series of downloadable classes available at A Cherry on Top.  I've followed Katie's work for several years now, enjoying and learning from her many ideas on journaling and organization, and this offering did not disappoint.

The Amazing Month of Memories (AMM) series, offers monthly journaling and scrapbooking ideas by unique holidays, such as Nothing Day, Black History Month, Shakespeare's Birthday, and Humor Month.  You can get the material in single-month segments, or buy all 12 months together at a discounted rate.  The segments are available as downloadable PDF ebooks, about 30 pages each.

Each ebook starts with some information about the class series, and some insight into why Katie started compiling the information.  She explains that "scrapbookers everywhere have plenty of beautiful designs to work with, but are looking for the ideas and prompts to make their creations truly meaningful."  I couldn't agree more.  So often I look at layouts and projects I see online, and can't help but feel a little sad at the lack of content, the lack of meaning and personal significance.  So often the stories are missing.  The prompts and ideas in Katie's AMM series help steer scrapbookers to include meaningful thoughts and journaling in their projects.

She emphasizes that the material is intended to help scrapbookers "find new ways to celebrate and record every day."  I like that every day is some sort of holiday, some reason to be celebrated.  It would be easy to look through the ideas in these ebooks, and plan ahead for fun activities and outings, enjoyed alone, with friends, or with family.  Kids will particularly appreciate any reason to celebrate!

After the introduction, each month's ebook continues with the monthly themes -- whatever special occasion is celebrated the entire month.  For example, January is Get Organized Month.  Each special occasion is defined, and paired with a weblink for extra background info.

After naming each holiday/occasion, Katie breaks each one down into several easily digestible ideas.  These "journal-able" topics could be questions or journaling prompts, design tips, font suggestions, historical background, or web resources.  No real thinking required here -- read the questions or ideas, respond, and you've got your journaling.  Katie also provides suggestions for suitable photos, to help build your layout.  I've always preferred this process for building a layout -- choose a topic first, draft the journaling, THEN choose the photos.  Katie's material walks you through exactly that process.  I also liked "experiencing" Katie's thought process in breaking down each holiday into digestible journaling topics -- seeing how she came to each topic or prompt makes it easy to look at other holidays or themes, and come up with your own prompts.  And of course, I loved that many of the prompts are very well suited for Book of Me projects.

She closes each class/monthly segment with a one-page printable calendar that you can keep by your scrapping area to remind you of potential journaling and layout topics.

Katie has marketed the series as a class -- and essentially it is.  There's certainly enough content -- with prompts, activities, tips, and web resources, she has gone above and beyond as far as information is concerned.  Plenty, but not too much - it's not overwhelming.

Unlike other online classes, this material is presented in full -- a work-at-your-own-pace workshop, without a facilitator, nor a forum or online gallery for student interaction.  The material is entirely self-paced and guided.   The reader picks and chooses what prompts and activities to do, when, and in what order.  For some, the amount of choices for topics might be overwhelming, without a "do this, then do this" sort of structure, but I think it works.  The lack of deadlines, coupled with the freeform choices allows the content to be worked in as needed and as inspired.  I didn't find it overwhelming, but rather quite do-able.    Scrappers interested in a more structured class might want to set up a timeline for themselves, using the content provided, or to seek out others who have purchased the same month's content, so they can follow it together and draw inspiration from each other's related projects.

Definitely two thumbs up for this series - you'll have more journaling and layout ideas than you'll ever be able to get to, and each can inspire more ideas for future projects.  Katie has done her homework with all the research and resource material - all that's left is for you to pick it up, be inspired, and go scrap something!  With Katie's Amazing Month of Memories, there's definitely cause to celebrate!

Book Recommendation: Breakup Babe

I just finished an entertaining read: BreakupBabe by Rebecca Agiewich.

Cute story.  Very entertaining.

From the back of the book:

"Blog: an online diary.

My Blog: How I got over the worst, most humiliating breakup in web-recorded history–and became stronger, smarter, and better off without the biggest Loser on the face of the earth.

Life is sweet for Rachel. She’s living with her boyfriend of two years in Seattle and is starting a new high-paying job at the same snazzy computer company where he works. Then Rachel’s system crashes. Her supposedly adoring almost-fiancé cheats on her, lies to her, dumps her, and hooks up with someone else–specifically, her own boss’s boss’s boss. Talk about tacky.

Heartbroken, beyond depressed, and stuck in nine-to-five hell, Rachel follows a recovery regimen that features an arsenal of meds (including General Celexa: "the holy pink pill"), deliciously detailed daily entries in her newly inaugurated weblog Breakup Babe, and a string of dates–from the irresistibly bad Little Rockclimbing Spy, who proves to be full of surprises, to the high-flying ladies man Sexy Boy, who loves weed almost as much as he loves women.

With her shoulder-perched alter egos Sensible Girl and Needy Girl vying for her sanity, and a growing legion of supportive online fans threatening to snap her out of her grand funk, Rachel somehow survives, thrives, and discovers just how risky and liberating love, loss, and blogging can be."

I mean, seriously, how can you not enjoy a snappy quick read that features blogging??  Then to see some actual character depth and growth...  I was actually a bit surprised by the ending, but was proud of her for it (both the main character, and the author). Good stuff.

Reading this book led me to realize a few things things...

Real Women Scrap Contest Winner

I just realized I didn't pull a winner for my Real Women Scrap contest this weekend!  Pooh on me!

Debbie is the winner!  Congratulations!  I'll be emailing you with more information!

Thanks to everyone for sharing their thoughts on balance.  It was interesting reading, and comforting even -- realizing that not many of us have the balance we want, and that we're all struggling.  At least we aren't alone in our struggles!  Let's hear it for the Sisterhood of Chaos!  ;)

Don't forget about Tasra's Real Women Scrap Contest to win lots of fabulous goodies.

Book Review: Scrap Everything

Scrap Everything, by Leslie Gould; 320 pages.
Reviewed by Angie Pedersen
http://angiepedersen.typepad.com

“’It feels like everyone else is living their perfectly normal lives while we’re in survival mode, for who knows how long.’ Rebekah hesitated. ‘Patrick said…that he felt God had forgotten us.’

"…‘It’s hard for me to leave this up to God. I wanted my plan to be his plan.’ Rebekah paused. The truth was that she no longer had a plan, no layout in mind, no outfits to match the specially chosen designer paper, no arrangements to create a perfect album.”

How often have you felt something like this – like everyone else’s lives are “normal”, and you can barely keep your head above water? Like if everyone just paid attention and listened to you, everything would work out fine. And how often does that happen? Yeah, I have no idea what “normal” looks like, either, and I have a hard time letting things just "happen".

These comments sum up one of the central themes of Leslie Gould’s new novel, Scrap Everything. Much of the storyline deals with change, and how different people view it and cope with it. It’s a story of faith, of learning to let go of what you cannot control, and learning to accept help from others. It’s remarkable how hard a lesson this can be. Perhaps that’s why this particular message hit home for me.

Scrap Everything is the story of two very different women, and their families – how they become involved in each other’s lives, and how they struggle to give and accept help in times of need.

Elise Shelton is an army wife with two teenage sons. With her husband’s retirement from active duty, she and her family move to her husband’s hometown, a small town in Oregon. She is not excited by the idea of living in “the best little town in the world”, and is relieved by the knowledge that it’s only temporary. In ten months, they plan to move on to Seattle. Which is more than fine with her. She has no intention of settling into life in the small town, and no intention of getting involved.

“Involved” could be Rebekah Graham’s middle name. She throws herself whole-heartedly into every project, whether it’s scrapbooking, meeting new people, or her home life. We see evidence of her obsessive nature in her thoughts of getting a part-time job or maybe opening a business. A month later, she opens a scrapbooking store.

It's at the scrapbooking store that the two characters meet. At the suggestion of her husband, Elise grudgingly attends the introductory workshop at the store. Elise immediately nicknames Rebekah "Miss Perky", mentally describing her as speaking "in italics and exclamation points…" Rebekah welcomes her into the store, and essentially into the lives of the other women gathered there. After chatting with her a bit, Rebekah impulsively invites Elise to come horseback riding at her ranch that weekend, even though she thinks Elise seems "awfully pretentious". She mentally compares Elise to the "popular girls" in middle school. On this note, they begin their relationship.

Contest: Real Women Scrap...to find balance

One of the main themes of Tasra Dawson's new book, Real Women Scrap, is "finding room [in your life] to breathe, time to purse your passions, and the energy to get everything done".  (Sounds nice, doesn't it?)   Finding the balance between work, home life, and self is something most of us struggle with, I think.  I know I do.  So I'd like to hear your thoughts on "balance".

There's a section in Real Women Scrap called "Losing Your Way".  In it, Tasra writes:

...Scheduled to the max, busy women tend to place everyone else above themselves.

I'm not talking about outlandish desires or selfish tendencies, but basic needs.  Women need to exercise, eat well, and drink enough water to live a healthy, full, energetic life, but we put these things too far down on our priority list.  We allow ourselves to give until there is nothing left and we find ourselves empty...

Being pushed and pulled in so many directions with personal, family, and career responsibilities can make balance seem unattainable.  If we add goals, dreams, and hidden desires to the package, it's nearly too much to handle.  But it's not impossible, for two reasons: We have innumerable resources at our disposal for implementing practical life-balancing strategies, and we have a Helper who can guide and direct us onto the right path every day.

Tasra has given me a signed copy of Real Women Scrap to give away.  So here's a contest.  To enter to win, please submit a comment to this post -- I want to hear your thoughts on balance.  Here are some ideas to get you thinking:

• How do you find/make balance in your life?  Any tips to share?
• Where do you most need balance?  Where is your life off-kilter?
• In your ideal life, what do you imagine "balance" might look like?  What would you have time to do?
• Share a link to a time-management site/resource you've found helpful

The contest is now open.  It will go until noon Central on Saturday, November 4th.  I'll pick a name at random from all entries, and award the book.  I look forward to hearing from you!

P.S. Don't forget about the Real Women Scrap contest, too -- starting next Wednesday, running through the end of November.

technorati tags: scrapbooking, Tasra+Dawson, Real+Women+Scrap, balance, time+management

Salt Lake Tribune: "Books on scrapbooking: Three cynical offerings..."

A link to an October 1st article in the Salt Lake (UT) Tribune: Books on scrapbooking: Three cynical offerings can't overcome their soullessness.

Hold on a second.  I have to wipe the tears from my eyes and blow my swollen nose. I just finished reading an excerpt from Chicken Soup for the Scrapbooker's Soul and I'm overcome with emotions: joy, fear, anticipation, apprehension, frustration, anger. Let's settle on rage.

How stupid do these people think we are?

This book, the latest edition of the bestselling Chicken Soup schlock-fest, is meant to be like the others: full of inspiring little nothings and amusing stories. But - and I hesitate to say this - this collection of essays from rank-and-file scrapbookers isn't even as good as the original. The prose ranges from maudlin to overwrought. And the manipulative stories are predictable.

Yikes.  Writer Rebecca Walsh doesn't hold back in this piece.   Not only doesn't she like the Chicken Soup book, she also isn't looking forward to the forthcoming The Complete Idiot's Guide to Scrapbook Projects Illustrated, nor is she at all interested in Wendy Bagley's Scraps: Adventures in Scrapbooking.

The probably I have with vitriolic [def] essays like this is that it's all "clever" turns of phrase, highlighting the "problem", with no suggestions for improvement or replacement.  It's all well and good to point out the failings of a system, but I believe you should also offer comments on how to make the situation better, if not ponying up and becoming a part of the solution. 

If the writer is not a fan of these "flowery", "reductionist how-to books", fine.  What else should scrapbook enthusiasts (particularly beginners) read?  If she doesn't like these three, what three DOES she recommend?  How is this essay disparaging books currently on the market supposed to help her readership?

All complaints with no solutions doesn't really help anyone.

And for the record, I thought Chicken Soup for the Scrapbooker's Soul was just fine.  Yes, it's sappy.  But it was also sweet.  And as a scrapbooker, I could relate to many of the sentiments.  And sentiment is what scrapbooking is all about.  I am the target audience, and I didn't mind the sappiness overmuch.  If I noticed it, I looked past it to the writer's main point and overall message.  It reminded me what I love about scrapbooking, and to keep it in mind when I take the hobby too seriously.

I've read the Idiot's Guide -- the first version (Un-Illustrated), and I thought it was a good primer for beginners.  In fact, it has been the main textbook for my online class, Scrapbooking Basics, at Barnes & Noble University.  I haven't heard any complaints from the beginners (and veteran scrappers) in my classes -- for nearly four years now.

My suggestions for good reads:
Simple Scrapbooks by Stacy Julian (and I would assume, The Big Picture)
Becky Higgins' Sketch maga-books
Becky Higgins' My Creative Companion
Simple Scrapbooks' A Simple Guide to Scrapbooking with Color
Simple Scrapbooks' A Simple Guide to Scrapbooking Celebrations
Scrapbooks ETC's Techniques (Spring 2005)

And, of course, The Book of Me series of books: Book of Me, Growing Up Me, and The Book of Us.  But then, those are classics. ;)

Your thoughts? (Be nice....)

Book of Me Backstory

backstory: the history behind the situation existant at the start of the main story

I was talking with someone about Book of Me recently, and she asked me (basically) why I wrote it.  This really belongs on a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) because it's probably the question I get most often.  And I realized that, even with all the interviews I've done over the past several years, I haven't really "gone public" with how the book really came to be.

My publisher Elaine always rolls her eyes and gives me a bit of a shove when I give my usual answer -- I started working on a Book of Me scrapbook in 2001, and in the process, shared it with friends at crops.  They told me they had never done a page about themselves. As I was gathering resources to work on my own album, I decided to put it all together in one place and write a book. I researched the book proposal process and sent one out to several publishers.  That is how it happened, but a very condensed version of the story.  My publisher Elaine doesn't think my Reader's Digest version of why I wrote the book really does the real 'backstory' justice.  So...here's the Real Story.

This backstory could have the subtitle, How A 30-Year-Old Mother of Two Saved Her Own Life With Scrapbooking, because that's basically what happened.

After staying home with my children for six years, I began to have an identity crisis. Or what I now refer to as an “anti-identity crisis”. I felt like my life could be summed up in my roles of wife and mother. That’s all there was to me. Period. 

Do you ever feel that way? Like you’ve lost track of who you were “before”, and who you are now?

As I went about my days, I found myself thinking about all the tasks and chores and errands I did. I wondered if there was anything special about the fact that I was doing them. I felt like we could hire someone to do the dishes and the laundry and the cooking and running errands, and I wouldn’t even be missed. I felt like I had failed to make a mark, and I could easily be replaced. I even thought about taking my own life.

I can vividly remember one night, laying in bed, crying uncontrollably, and thinking about going to the store to buy sleeping pills.  But I couldn't stop crying long enough to go get them (and didn't figure they'd sell sleeping pills to a hysterical, crying woman, anyway).  It's strange now to think that not being able to stop crying may have saved my life.

But instead of ending my life, I decided to scrap it. 

Instead of abandoning my husband and two kids, and taking myself out of their lives, I decided to share myself with them more fully.  I decided to give them the gift only I could give -- My stories.

I started working on a scrapbook about myself.  It became a tool to showcase what made me unique, and all that I valued about my life.  And it quite literally saved my life.  Because right there in front of me, created by my own hand, was proof that my life was worth living, remembering, and celebrating.

As I showed this album to my friends, I saw that they were almost startled -- so many of my friends had never thought of doing a page about themselves, let alone actually done one.  Just like me, they were also absent from their own albums. 

As much as I enjoyed the process of creating my Book of Me, and when I recognized how healing the process had been for me, I realized other scrappers might be searching for ways to create such a book for themselves.  I wanted to help them by providing a roadmap for them to follow, compiling all the resources I had drawn on. 

I became absolutely passionate about helping other women tell their stories -- about helping them not feel replaceable, helping them not feel invisible in their own lives.  I didn't want other women to feel the same emptiness, the same hopelessness, the same feeling of being lonely even surrounded by loved ones.  I wanted to help them work through that -- not just past it, but THROUGH it.  And if you've attended any of my classes, you'll know that passion is still there, and that I care deeply about the stories of each of my students -- because their stories are much the same as mine, and I see myself in them.

So, this book was born. 

And now you know the Real Story. 

I bet you have a Real Story, too.

Book of Us up for Katrina Auction

Update on Katrina fundraising efforts...
I have donated a signed copy of The Book of US to Lifetime Moments' auction.  100% of the proceeds from this auction will go to the Red Cross, and I will ship direct to the winning bidder.

Hey -- it's a win-win situation here!  The winning bidder contributes to the hurricane relief efforts AND gets a great book!

So get over there and bid! 

Be sure to keep checking back on other relief efforts in the scrapbooking community -- bookmark this permalink, because I keep updating it.

Your Scrapbook, Your Story Launching Soon

As Michelle on Scrapability pointed out, there's a New About Me Book Coming Out.  Memory Makers is launching Your Scrapbook, Your Story on September 1st.  While I haven't seen the final book yet, I'm still proud to say I worked on this project, contributing the foreword and eight sidebars.  (I mentioned that fact way back in March.)

The promotional copy reads:
Many of us focus so intently on preserving the stories of others that we forget the importance of sharing our own. You are more than just a narrator of your family history, an invisible presence behind the camera, an anonymous teller of other people’s tales … You are a key part of your family, an important chapter in your descendents’ history, and the hero of your own life adventures. YOU are worth celebrating, and this book will inspire you to tell your stories the way only you can!

I couldn't have said it better myself, though I've been "preaching the word" of all things Me-related for over three years now.

If you pick up a copy of YSYS, you'll have to let me know what you think!

Book of Us Review at SS Reflections.com

Sharon Caldwell, "Ship's Librarian" at SS Reflections.com has posted a review of my third book, The Book of Us.

I recently received Angie Pederson's new book, The Book of Us. Angie's latest endeavor is all about how to scrapbook your relationships. Any meaningful relationship needs to be recorded in your scrapbook. A special scrapbook may be the way to show another friend, relative, or co-worker just what they mean to you. Angie gives you some basic ideas for exploring these relationships and giving meaning to journaling of what makes your "us" work.

Check it out!