Design Team Call

Memorable Seasons, an on line scrapbook store and message board, has one opening for a design team member. We will be accepting applications until July 15. The decision will be made by July 22 with the term starting August 1. We are looking for someone who is not currently on another store design team and ask that you do not join another one during your commitment. Kit clubs( as long as there is no store attached), sketch sites or challenge blogs are okay. Unfortunately, due to the high cost of shipping, this call is open to United States residents only.

Requirements include active participation on the message board (starting and replying to threads) and leaving praise in the gallery. You should also post at least 4 projects from the DT kit in addition to at least 3 other projects per month. Each DT member is required to do a blog post, pick a LOTW, and post a challenge on a 4 week rotating basis. You will also be asked to participate in occasional on-line crops and contests.

Benefits are free design team kits once a month and free shipping with all orders if you let them ship with your monthly kit.

Please join the board and upload the following to the DT entry gallery.
• Three of your favorite layouts with at least one containing 3 or more pictures.
• An additional project which could be a mini book, an altered object, a card, etc
• Start getting to know the other members on the board while you wait for the results

In addition, please email the following to memorableseasons@yahoo.com.
• A short bio that includes your full name, why you think you would be a good fit for Memorable Seasons and where you saw this call.
• Links to your blog and any galleries you have work in
• A list of any other design teams you’ve been on or message boards you are active on.

A Little Lazy Days of Summer Help

If you're anything like me, you love the laziness of summer but always find yourself on the go or wrapped up in having fun outside. I still love to scrap in the summer but have less time to spend on my hobby. So I turn to sketches to help me get through the creative process. My challenge to you this week is a sketch challenge! This is the first sketch I ever created and I kept it simple.

There are so MANY great sites that provide amazing sketches out there! Here are just a few:
52 Sketches 52 Weeks

Creative Scrappers
Got Sketch
Inspired Blueprints
Page Maps
Pencil Lines

The Scrappiest

Sketch This

So Sketchy

School is out for the Summer...

Now that school is out for the summer, you may have more extra hands around than usual. This may also mean that your scrap time, if during the day, has been halted.
Don't let the extra little ones keep you from scrapping!! I know, we have all read an article here or there about keeping a stash in our scrap area for the kiddos, but really...
Getting them involved is a win-win situation!

Now, some may get a whole kid friendly set up going ,but you can also try some of these tricks to get some time to scrap, or at least get some ideas going, some papers pulled together, photos printed... I think, short of hiring a nanny, there is no true way to have uninterrupted scrap time... :)

**Keep your scraps... simply hand them over to a younger one to pull apart, or if age allows, cut up with scissors. The mess on the floor will be huge, realize this going in, and know your vacuum cleaners capabilities.
**Give them some stickers, some paper and stand back... watch the allure of adhesive.
**Tell them the story behind the photos you are giving them to play with. "Son, gramma's hair was not always blue..." "Once upon a time, mommy used to shower daily, and wear things other than sweats..." ;)
**Let them work FREELY. Do not step in. *note:this is a hard one for me... "Don't you want a sticker there? Oh, why don't we paste the picture in the middle? Um, boys, let's not marker over the people in the photo!"
Truth be told, if you can allow some freedom, the kids will enjoy it more. I am not saying you should never sit down and instruct the kids, but this is a "trying to get a few free minutes" kind of kid scrapping... let it go. Stickers over Nana's face will not be the fall of the industry!

These are some things I do to grab a few minutes to scrap... I have also pulled things out and tried to teach the boys HOW to scrap, not write on people, tell what the picture is about, etc. That is a totally different process.
The bottom line is, kids love being involved in what you are doing, and some little tricks can make this easy for both of you!

And the winner is!

Congratulations to Telah, otherwise known as bamabuttercup. She is the Last Scrapper Standing in our contest. Here is a link to her winning layout. We wish to thank every person who entered. You all did an amazing job. It was so much fun to go through the gallery every day to see how you interpreted each challenge.

I love to take pictures

I have loved taking pictures since I got my first camera for Christmas when I was 12 or 13 years old. It was a Kodak 110 and it used disposable flash cubes that could be used 4 times as it twirled around with each shot.

That camera went everywhere with me. I have owned several cameras over the years but when I got my DSLR last year, I knew I had found my true love. Some of you may already know that I am currently taking a photography class at the local university. I have learned about apertures and depth of field. I have learned about shutter speed and metering and white balance. I have learned to take night shots and to do time lapse photography. This week, I took my very first sunset photos. I don’t think I’ll ever use the auto function on my camera again. I’m hooked.

However, before I found the class I am taking now, I scoured the internet looking for tutorials and tips on how to take better pictures. I have found some really great advice and I have found some really great photo ideas. Here are just a few resources I have found.

Pioneer Woman photography
These women are not only brilliant and talented photographers, they are also hilarious. You will learn photography techniques and photo editing, too

Shutter Sisters
This is a wonderfule place to get inspiration and ideas and to share your stuff, too.

Flickr
This is another place to share your photos and to see photos from people all over the world. There are lots of different sub groups, too.

I like this group which all about creative depth of field. It is called Extreme Bokeh.

Digital Photography School.
I get a daily email from this site with ideas and tips. Just search the site and you can find the answers to just about any questions you might have. They also have challenges each week.

Do you have any sites you go to for photography ideas and tips? Share them with us in this thread.

One of the things I have learned over the past year is that the only way to get any better at this hobby is to practice. I participated in project 365 last year but by the end of the year, it became a burden. This year, I have just concentrated on taking better photos when I do take them. The beauty of digital is that you can take dozens and dozens of shots of the same subject and just delete the ones you don’t want.

mini books

When do you go for a mini album vs. traditional pages? With the birth of baby #3, I'm being overtaken by pictures lately. After my last trip to the camera store, I came home with another 180 images. My picture basket is FULL.

I am not a chronological scrapper. I used to be, but it felt too structured for me. That said, I feel a bit overwhelmed when I see pictures from last year in my "to scrap" basket. To make some progress, I've been turning to mini books lately. What a great way to use up lots of pictures from one occassion that will never get scrapped individually.

Here are some of my favorite mini albums in the store:

this one, by 7Gypsies

this one, by Maya Road. I like this one because you can take it apart and use it on regular pages if you don't want to use it as a mini.

this one, also by Maya Road

and this one, by Jenni Bowlin

Stop by and share some of your mini album goodness with us in the GALLERY!

When do YOU think to grab your camera?

This morning I was ready to post a nice bloggity blog about a technique with a layout for you. Then life happened. We were expecting company, my DD had a dirty diaper, and so I changed her. I didn't want the smell to linger so I went to throw the diaper outside in the trash. Checked the door lock, left the door open, threw the bag into the trash AND


my DD slammed the door, locked it, and stood giggling at me. We have 3 neighbors with keys and not ONE of them was home! I ended up calling the fire department and they were as nice as could be. They brought the hook and ladder truck and all the attention to our house! Luckily, they didn't have to break any windows or doors open and were able to get in through an attic window. If you could have SEEN the twins watching from the window - they were loving every minute and laughing all the while! Little stinkers.


Called my mom and told her what happened and she asked if I thought to take pictures or ask someone to. NO, I was locked out of my house. I went out to throw a diaper away, not have a photo shoot. Then I thought about it and wished I had had my camrea - pictures of the twins standing in the window laughing or of the firemen on our roof would have made for a great LO and story.


So, when do YOU grab your camera? Do you record life's downs as well as the ups? Do you think to record hospital trips or bad booboos? Did you grab your camera to record a nearby fire or accident? Let me know what memories you have thought to capture on the forums!