Ta Da!

Jill says:
I got it finished tonight. 2010 is all done and dusted. I love it. I am very happy with what can be achieved from using scraps and photos of every day items to provide an overview of a year in my life. I'm almost contemplating going back to taking photos of things (rather than taking photos of myself everyday) as now looking back, I love this type of recording of memories.

To finish off 2010

Jill says:
I was hoping to get my Lifescrap365 for 2010 squared away nice and early. Unfortunately that's not going to happen. My Husband got an ipod for Christmas and in his excitement he has used up all the memory on the hard drive of our desktop computer which is also, surprise surprise, where all our photos are stored and where I print photos from. It will be going in to get someone to have a look at it tomorrow when everything reopens after the Christmas New Year break.
I have already started my Lifescrap365 for 2011-There is a daily record of it here: http://inspiremotivatecreateachieve.blogspot.com/. I think Mel and I will be having a "meeting" this coming week with a blog from each of us to come after that. Oh, by the way, Happy New Year!

And triple Ta da!!!

Melissa says:

And finally I can put the entire month of November to rest.

Double Ta da!!!

Melissa says:
Here I am completely caught up. No months half done. No photo's laying dormant and gathering dust. It feels like a massive weight has been lifted. The pressure I put on myself is crazy!!!

Ta da!!!

Melissa says:

Here's October all squared away with Novemeber hot on it's tail. I guess Jill might be onto something. Though I often find that sometimes a project can be a great distraction at the best time.

One less and counting.....

Melissa says:

It's been only a matter of hours and I have managed to get all of my journalling caught up for everything and finish October. Here it is as I get started on Novemeber.

October, November and December in unison...

Melissa says:
Right now I deserve a good ribbing as I really feel like I've dropped the ball on my Lifescrap album. With only a matter of weeks left to go, I've pulled myself out of the slump and have cracked the whip overhead. For the past few days, I have been finalising the title pages for all 3 months at once, embellishing pages, printing photo's like a demon and putting it all together. Tomorrow is all about typing up my journalling notes and that should make a huge dent in the pile gathering on my workspace. Jill always says I work best under pressure. I always laugh. But lets test the theory anyway. Watch this space... I'm really close to achieving the triple threat.

Where Lifescrap Takes Me

Jill says:

Thanks to a fantastic scrapping retreat, organised by http://www.scrapbookingwarehouse.com.au , I have pumped out two pages today. Only single layouts, admittedly. Two more than I have done on any other given day in November prior to the retreat. I thought I would post this one as I wanted to share how the photos of Lifescrap365 are proving to be very special memories. Originally, this photo was simply to record the day. It now is a record of my and my son's lengthy desire to plant sunflowers and it is also a record of that day when I really needed a pick me up and looked out into the garder and there was this little ray of sunshine shining back at me. Your photos don't always have to be of people or places to record your journey. Something as simple as a flower can be utilised to record passions, moments in time, thoughts, feelings, etc.

As I had been very busy and hadn't checked in with the blog for a while, I looked in today to check out Mel's October Lifescrap365. Sadly, it wasn't here. A quick text message to check if everything was ok uncovered a busy time for a lady who scraps for a living and is at present pumping out the pages with another goal in mind. She says she might have it up by December 31....Can you wait that long? I know I can't. Come on, Mel. Maybe just do half of what you usually do. It wouldn't matter what you did, I know I would be in awe of it.

Project Motivation?

Melissa says:
September was quite a month. Lack of motivation and inspiration pretty much sums it up. It was the first time all year that I had not done something until the month was over. The photo's were taken, notes were jotted down but scrapping wise, absolutely nothing.

Eventually, the mojo and creatvity returned. I must admit, I am not usually a project girl. Jill is the one who loves a big gift album, I'm a page by page kind of person and the whole Lifescrap 365 concept has pushed my concentration beyond it's limits.

A slow finish

Where O' Where

Melissa says:
I get the distinct feeling that my partner in crime has too many photo's to choose from last month. I was feeling quite chuffed that my entry was actually done early but now I'm itching to see Jill's too.

Monday morning checklist

Melissa says:

Love a good productive day. Nothing quite like the school drop off and coming home to an empty house where I can do what I like and when I want. Today, it's all about finishing off the little bits and pieces that have been gathering on my workroom desk. It's only a few days until my next class and I still have a double layout to start. But until I get all of these other things out of the way, there are just too many other distractions. Consider this another item off the list.

Just July

Melissa says:
Yes, it is true that I did have a teeny weeny dig at Jill about posting her entries before the end of the month. Possibly I was just so jealous that hers is always done first. Of course, as soon as the comment passed my lips, I knew there would be a way she would get to turn it to a positive. So each morning I log onto view her pics for the month of August.

At times, I've wanted to take a more streamlined approach to scrapbooking. But at the end of the day, I love the busy and highly embellished look. It's reflected in the way I live my life, the way my house is furnished and how I fill my days with creative passions.

As Lifescrap progressed this month, I have started to rethink how I want to change the overall look of my album next year. Jill suggested, "Why wait". Great point. However, I want to see through what I started and continue on, so it looks the same for the remaining few months.

Today's Adventure

Jill says:
Today we(Mel & I) took a 'creative trip' to Brisbane. We were home very close to midday so we took the rare opportunity to sit and enjoy lunch and some stimulating conversation.

We were talking about some things that have come about from us part-taking in our very own Lifescrap 365. For me, I have a simple style of scrapbooking. At times I like to do fancy stuff however mostly my scrapbooking style is simple, no fuss. I scrapbook to display my photos and to tell a story, with a little creativity. Don't get me wrong, I love the creative process of scrapbooking. I guess I just don't spend hours over designing and creating my pages. I mostly choose scrapbooking products by whether I like the look of them or not and to use Mel's old saying "Can I use it 5 times?". As for names of products etc, I leave that up to Mel. Usually I can explain how something looks and Mel can put a name to it.

Mel is very in touch with all the latest cool and funky scrapbooking supplies. She usually knows about them before anyone else I know. She stays connected to the main trend leaders in scrapbooking and she has a real passion for everything scrapbooking. It's usually Mel who introduces me to products and at times I may have already seen them in magazines etc and Mel puts a name to them for me and shares with me her own spin on the product.

It is fantastic to be able to see things through other's eyes. I find it very inspirational to hear Mel's ideas and uses for products. She thinks outside the box. This kind of thinking inspires me to think outside the box also. Usually after a conversation with Mel, I have come away with a new use for something in my stash.

The example from today is using different sized album refills. I have over my time bought different sized albums for one project or another and inevitably there are always album refills left over. I have always thought that I can't use the leftover refills so they have sat in my cupboard collecting dust. After discussing Mel's Lifescrap album today and another project she is working on, I realised there are no rules about using only 12" x 12" album refills in a 12" x 12" album. I realised that I can also use other size album refills as well; 8.5" x 11", ATC's, anything really. And as Mel says, if it doesn't have the right holes, I can use an anywhere punch or crop-a-dile to put holes where I need them. I was thinking you could either keep all the different sized pages/refills together or you can mix them up and place them throughout the album (this would probably take a little more planning than I am used-but it's still an option). I do get a bit bored with always scrapping 12" x 12", hence my passion for scrapping "projects" like different sized albums for gifts and 'off the page' scrapping, just to spice it up a bit. My revelation for today is I can still mix it up and at the same time continue scrapping my photos in my own simple style.

The last of May

Melissa says:
This month I really got into the swing of taking more photo's than previous months. Using my camera phone was just so much more convenient, especially when I tend to use mini prints in my lifescrap album and the quality was really good.

A little reminder to Jill when she reads this. You promised to create a post about how you plan your month. I'm dying to see how you do it.

Lovin' April

Melissa says:

When I look how Jill's April went, I'm reminded of something we said to each other all those months ago when Lifescrap first began. We loved the idea of documenting a whole year in the life scrapbook, but wanted to make it easy to keep up with and maintain. Despite a challenging month, we both managed to achieve great glimpses of day to day activites and create a legacy to treasure. So take a deep breath! Exhale! And embrace the final pages of my April!

On Top of it

Jill says:

On the home front, the health issues aren't as pressing as before and I have found that since the pressure is less, I have felt a heightened need to create. This morning I sat down and finished off March's Lifescrap365. Look, I even took a photo of it and have already posted it here! This month as I didn't have too much of an opportunity to carry my DSLR with me, I relied more on different media to tell my story. You'll see parts of a brochure for the craft expo, a cut out letterhead from an email, wrist bands from hospital (my son didn't want his photo taken with the tube in his nose-I guess a memory he didn't want to keep looking at forever and fair enough) and a clothing label. I even used my phone camera in the hospital because I had enough other stuff to cart in there, I didn't want the added responsibility of lugging my good camera. Ah! It definitely feels good to finish March's record of my goals.

Motivation

Jill says:
I have been away on a very relaxing, no computer, no phones, no electricity type of camping holiday (ok, they turned the generator on for a couple of hours every night so we could have a hot shower) and came back to this great link from Mel. Have a read. I found it to be very motivating and really put things into perspective. It doesn't matter how far you fall behind in anything, really, an extra 20 minutes spent each day can catch it up before you know it. http://www.beckyhiggins.com/blog/2010/04have-you-fallen-little-behind.html
And I loved the bit about it all really being about reminding us what a great life we have and feeling gratitude for our family and friends, our homes, our lives, everything we experience. It's not about stressing that we are behind, it's about enjoying the little things every day.

And just one more!!!

And there's more!!!