I’m going to start this entire post with a bit of a risky statement: I love grammar. It’s a risk for two reasons. First, you may have just written off the rest of this entire post because it’s going to be roughly as exciting as a junior high English lesson. And second, if I make a single grammar mistake in this post, I’m going to look like a total idiot. But I’m going to go with it anyway: I love grammar.
I love grammar because something really small can make a big difference. Like how including or excluding a space between two words can totally change their meanings. For example, everyday means ordinary, commonplace and nothing special. Add that space and every day means the days themselves, like each and every day. So the big question: do we let every day be everyday?
Ali’s Week in the Life project is all about finding something far more exciting than everyday in every day of your week. I love this project and have documented a week each year since 2006. It makes you look at each day that week in detail and long after that particular week, you may find you want to include more of your day to day life in your scrapbooks. But, you know, without it feeling ordinary, commonplace or everyday at all.
There are so many ways you can make every day much more than everyday, but all I can really focus on is the scrapbooking aspect. I don’t just love grammar. I also love scrapbooking, and specifically how it can give back to your life. I love how scrapbooking can make every day a bit of an adventure. Not the type of adventure that requires sunscreen and bug spray and rock-climbing equipment, but the kind that puts a little something exciting in each and every day. So I turned on the camera at the table where I scrapbook and tried to put that into words and concrete ideas to share with you.
And I probably made some grammatical errors along the way.
Whether you’re scrapbooking your day to day life specifically for Week in the Life or for more general pages in your albums, I hope the scrapbooking adventure is something that’s still alive for you. There are plenty more ways to keep the fun in this hobby and I’d love for you to share your favourites. But more than anything, I’d love for each of us to remember that this hobby that we enjoy also gives a lot back to us, to our families and our friends. I’d love for us to be proud to say we are scrapbookers.
Even though spellcheck doesn’t want to accept scrapbookers as grammatically correct.
Shimelle Laine was the first instructor to bring online classes to the scrapbooking community, and teaches a variety of classes throughout the year at her website, shimelle.com. She is a Garden Girl at Two Peas in a Bucket, designs for Jenni Bowlin Studio and served as an editor for the UK’s Scrapbook Inspirations books and magazines. You can read more of her work on her blog, Pretty Paper. True Stories.
Shimelle’s latest class, Explore, focuses on making every day a scrapbooking adventure. It starts Monday the 18th of July, but you can join at any time, and it’s designed so you can use it right alongside Week in the Life, should you wish. Sign up here.
Thanks for sharing this with us Ali, sounds like fun. I checked out the link and love all the ideas, the price is reasonable too. Just might have to do this, just worried about having time to get involved and do all the projects with it being summertime.
So does this mean it could be part of my WITL album or THIS would be my WITL album. Either way is ok just would like more details of doing it each way????
I loved what you said about finding the every day in the everyday and totally agree with you. Thanks for sharing.
Love Shimelle’s video and her whole way of thinking – YES! Let’s scrap away! Thanks for sharing your thoughts and encouraging all of us to try new things, give it shot and open up our scrapbook inspirations
Just what I needed to hear this morning. Thank you!
Great video Shimelle! Loved this post and all that you talked about. Going to go check out your website now!
i literally JUST finished typing up a blog post saying I needed a break from it because I felt lost in my crafting.
This was so much what I needed to see right now I could cry. I’ve missed feeling so inspired.
Thank you ALi YET AGAIN for inspiring me and providing me with the *something* I need
What an inspiring and refreshing way to look at scrapbooking anew! Go, Shimelle!
I love Shimelle’s classes ~ they are inspired! I’ve been lucky enough to attend classes taught by Shimelle and she is just so lovely IRL! Thanks for introducing her to your audience.
Thus the reason i {HEART} Shimelle.
Scrapbooking is simply journaling with collaged “doodles.” Many people keep a simple written journal yet feel uninspired about scrapbooking. Just add some photos, drawings, pretty papers to the pages and it is the same thing documented artistically! I love all the inspiration you post from yourself and others. Thank you!
Thank you Ali and Shimelle for an awesome post. It sounds as though there were a few of us that needed that little bit of inspiration and encouragement this morning. Thank you! Thanks you!
Well said that woman! And thanks Ali I was introduced to Shimmelle a couple of years ago right here on your blog and followed her ever since. You are both great at inspiring us.
WOW.. ok seriously this video made me weepy. I mean it was like an answer to me as I was sitting here this morning looking at my Project Life album, smash journal & about to actually start to put things together for your Scrapbook on the road class & said WHAT is all of this… and here is my answer. Its just what Shimelle said. It’s just part of my everyday life it’s something that makes me happy its my daily “cup of coffee” I feel as if something is missing. I am a scrapbooker and proud of it.. Truly inspirational indeed. Thank you so much for sharing.
I really liked this video and it just reminded me to keep my mind on my scrapbooking and not worry about trying to get on a design team. I was stressing over that and I was not enjoying my scrapbooking at all. Thanks Ali!
I thoroughly enjoyed watching this video. Thanks Shimelle for sharing your thoughts with us.
Great video, it gave me a lot to think about and definitely inspired me to look at scrapbooking differently. Thanks for a great morning pick me up.
Beautifully done!!! I finally ordered the pictures of my nephew’s graduation…all of them. Will see what stories and pages come from this. Thank you for the video, the ideas and the invite to print the pictures, all the pictures.
wow…this is wonderfully inspiring and love her sweet voice:)
Thank you, Ali and thank you, Shimelle! I truly loved this video, and will do what you suggested, Shimelle! Thank you!
Shimelle’s blog is one of the first I found and started to follow when I began blogging! I love her work, her style and her sense of humor! I have taken her classes and she does a fabulous job with online classes. Thank you for sharing her work/video!
I was going to do a week in the life this year but I have no life. I wake up. Surf the internet (never talk to anyone). I go to work where no cameras are allowed (jail). I deal with jerks that I’m not even allowed to talk about due to their privacy issues. Then I go home to my empty apartment. Same thing the next day.
Amanda,
Your response made me feel sad, so I have some suggestions for you…
What about taking picutres and journaling about the websites you like to look at and why, what is your morning routine, the drive to work, pic of the building, why you work there (good and bad), journal with no photos, explain why you cannot take photos,you can talk about work without mentioning names( I too cannot take pics at work, I am a labor and delivery nurse) take a pic of your badge or uniform,etc, what do you wear to work, what do you eat at work,who do you work with, who do you like or dislike and why, take pics of your apartment, take pics of things in your apartment, why do you have these things, what are your hobbies, of course you have a life…. take pictures of your car, are you messy or neat, take a picture of inside of your car, or maybe you take public transportation… take pictures of your breakfast and your dinner, your dessert, snacks you like to eat…. your evening routine…. what time do you go to bed, do you watch tv before bed, what shows do you watch,how do you clean your apartment, what are your favorite cleaning products and why, how do you do your laundry…what chores do you kinda like, what chores do you hate and why, I could go on and on, if you think your life is boring, I beg to differ…. 10 years from now you will forget what your life was like in this time… and i promise you it will be fascinating to you and to your loved ones what your daily life was like… I would die for a simple daily album made by my grandmother and she is still alive, but of course she doesn’t remember the nitty gritty details of her day to day life. I think your week in the life album will be fantastic! xoxo jscrapfreak@hotmail.com
Dear Amanda,
I was sad to read your response also. I totally agree with what Jen said and she did a beautiful job at showing you there is always something to record in your life. My sister is the same way about her life and thinks you have to have kids/hubby to scrap or do project life or other albums. I disagree and would give anything to have had one made about me as a child or my mom or grandparents. Anything small and noted would make me soooo happy. I tell her to take pictures of the beautiful town she lives in and her daily ride to work on a bus and even what kind of shoes she has on or what she had for dinner. It all matters and is very important. So please join in on the fun and record your life now while it’s happening, look for those rare moments of happiness or just grateful for the nature and beauty around us.
I do have to ask though, do you scrapbook and that’s how come your on Ali’s blog, or for another reason. IF you do scrapbook what do you scrap during the rest of the year? Just curious because of your comment. Hope this helps and sending hugs and smiles your way.
Hi Amanda,
One of the reasons I do this album each year is that it creates an opportunity to take a good look at my life and see if there are things/areas I’d like to change. I always end up identifying things that aren’t making me happy, fulfilling me, etc and then feel like that gives me the chance to create a different direction for myself. The others who have responded gave great ideas and things to think about over the course of the week.
Loved that video. So inspiring and really made so much sense! Thanks!
That was an awesome video! Very inspiring and I loved it. Thank you for sharing it with us!
Thanks Shimelle (and Ali). BTW, Shimelle, I was glad to see that you used a sentence fragment (in this post) because that is what I do in my Project Life journaling all the time and I love knowing that I can do it if I so choose! Lol
Mary, I love sentence fragments. And starting with and.
When I taught in a school, my rule was the rule could be broken, as long as you knew what rule you were breaking. Don’t tell my students, but once you finish your exams, I’m less worried about that part really. Though it is one of my very favourite things about language!
loved this! getting more and more excited for week in the life! trying to bring my camera with me everywhere now to get used to taking more pictures.
Shimelle was the one who got me into scrapbooking last year! I just love her and her inspirational online-classes! Thanks for sharing that on your blog, Ali!
xxx
Why does this post make me cry? Is that Shimelle gets so to the heart of something that’s so important to me? Is the sweet music at the beginning and the end? Is it that I haven’t been scrapping nearly NEARLY as much as my heart and soul cries out to and I just MISS IT so much?
Yeah. Probably.
Thanks so much for this post…
Thank you Ali for having this guest post. Shimelle is in my top 5 of scrapbookers that I love! Her classes are amazing! I loved the video – thank you for reminding me why I love this craft.
awesome post! thank you. i’m feeling very inspired right now. i used to love just writing in a variety of colours in my uni notebooks and stuff. i went to a work training course once where the instructor didn’t provide everybody with a pen but with a packet of connector pens. i’m bringing back some more hand-written colour to my life.
Thank you for the down-to-earth reminder of the heart of scrapbooking. This was an excellent video! I laughed out loud at your expression “crafting shrapnel”! I’m going to remember that
Thank you for sharing. You have some very valid points. I love how you look at everything and will be trying to look at MY everyday life differently.
Love Shimelles classes. No pressure. Once you take a class you have access to it forever..do it at your own pace. She is awesome. Take a class and you’ll be hooked.
Oh my, this was so lovely. Shimelle and Ali, thank you, very touching!
Thank you Ali & Shimelle for this beautiful video. I’ve been struggling with my scrapbooking for a few months; I’ve been busy with other things and then when I do have time to scrapbook, not feeling like doing so because my life seems so mundane right now. But this was a wonderful reminder about why I love this hobby so much…just what I needed to hear on this cold, wet dreary morning
Wow…really loved the video and this post…I’ve always been proud to say I’m a scrapbooker and art journalist and I just love the message and enthusiam that Shimelle offers us all.
Just signed up for her class and I’m as excited about this one as I was with your fantastic on-line class, “Scrap Book on the Road” Ali…which is almost done and I promise to post about it real soon. We realized that we were only home 6 days in the last month…OMG!
That was AMAZING!!!! WOW! Thank you both…I have been a big fan of Shimelle’s layouts, classes, sketches, writing, well everything for a little bit now, and it is so cool to see her here. That video was really, REALLY good.
Enjoyed the post and your art and everything you bring with it!!!
This was great! loved the video and sentiments expressed. i am a scrapbooker and proud of it – even in this day and age i still come across lots of people who don’t get it – that’s ok, to each her own. i get it and that’s whats important. thank you Ali for sharing.
Thanks for this. I just love Shimelle’s outlook on life. This really helped me today.
Awesome video! So inspiring. Shimelle has such a great outlook on scrapbooking and life! I love scrapbooking but often find myself embarrassed about telling people about my favourite hobby.They look at me like I am nuts. Down with the scrapbooking embarrassment, I say.
Beautiful and inspiring! Thank you:) Makes me happy to know others feel the way I do. Scrapbooking is so much more than just pretty papers and glue. It allows me to look for the beauty in life and document the little moments in an intentional and meaningful way.
I so needed to hear this today; thank you!! This is such a profound outlook on why we do what we do: telling the stories associated with a coffee cup, or our commute to work, or how we came to be the who we are today. I actually got choked up a couple times.
Thank you, Shimelle!! And thank you, Ali!!
Loved this video. I will watch it again and again. . .so inspiring
LOVED THIS!
I’ve watched this twice today and loved it both times! Can you really teach seamonkeys to jump over a toaster? Ha ha. Loved it! Beautiful and brilliant. Just what I needed to hear. Thanks, Ali and Shimelle.
I`m so happy that I found this out years ago, my scrapbooking life is so much happier now. Every little thing in yor life is an adveture when you look at it in this light. You are so right, thank you for spreding the insight, Shimelle. And I love listening to your sweet voice, too!
What an affirmation!
Beautifully told. My kids now think that teaching Sea Monkeys to jump over toasters would be a cool hobby too.
I love Shimelle’s classes. She makes you dig a little deeper into your thoughts and feelings and that helps you get it on paper. It doesn’t matter if you’re a simple scrapper like me, or a fancy scrapper like my one friend, anyone can get so much more out of one of her classes. Check her site out and sign up for a class. You’ll enjoy what you’ll end up with.
Ali, I was totally thrown when I started watching this. I didn’t read the intro closely and I thought YOU were the one talking. I was freaked out…I thought, “this doesn’t sound like the voice I’ve been reading your blog for years.” I realize now it is Shimelle, but thought I’d share with you that YOUR VOICE really comes through in your writing. That gave me the AhHa that it is important for my journal entries to sound like it is me who is doing the talking. Less perfection, more me.
Thank YOU Shimelle for sharing that with us!x