Around Here | Scrapbook Layout With A Whole Lot Of Words

Happy Monday!

Did you guys know that scrapbook magazines that you can hold in your hot little hands are NOT dead?

For some reason that kept coming up this past week with the close of Two Peas and the general sentiment that the world as we know it is ending.

I'm here to tell you that scrapbooking is not dead.

Really and truly.

It's been around a lot longer than any of us and it will continue on into the future. It might not be the same as it was eight years ago or last week, but it will survive as long as people are interested in telling their stories with photos and words and products that support those stories. It might look completely different next week or next year or ten years from now but it won't die.

Thank God. Because people, this memory keeping stuff keeps me sane.

Now back to the topic of magazines.

There's a really nice magazine available that you might not know about called Scrapbook & Cards Today that gives you the option of paying to have a magazine shipped to your door OR you can download it for free (yes, that says free) and read it on a digital device.

They are a quarterly magazine ( meaning 4 issues a year) and for the last year I've been writing a column for each issue called Stories With Heart. Most months my column includes three to four layouts and writing to support the subject.

Today I wanted to share one of the layouts with you guys that was featured in the current issue called Around Here:

These words came from this post.

A couple things you might notice right off the bat: 

  • There are no photos.
  • There are a lot of words
  • There's a really big title.

Now my guess is that some of you out there have written Around Here posts for your blog, or maybe you've considered it and never taken action. They are fun and easy to write because all you have to do is sit down and come up with a list of what's happening in your own life right now. I try to include a combination of silly and serious and thoughtful and practical when I write these up. They are such a great way to capture a bunch of memories/moments/happening stuff all at once.

After I write up and post one of these they are then ready and waiting to be crafted into a scrapbook layout or added as an insert to Project Life®.

This time I decided to do a 12x12 layout.

I ended up creating a 12 inch x 12 inch page in Photoshop, copying and pasting my text into two text boxes, adding the little circles next to each paragraph and then printing directly onto the 12 inch x 12 inch cardstock on my Epson R2000.

One of my personal favorite things from the craft portion of this layout was using those giant Black Stamp Uppercase letter stickers from Me And My Big Ideas folded over the top and bottom edge of the cardstock.

The little chalkboard banners was included in a Studio Calico kit at one time. You can get as set of them here. I wrote on there using a white Sakura Gelly Roll pen.

Inside each circle I added a little embellishment. For this I really just went through the stash of stuff on my desk to collect a bunch of little things: hearts, stars, sequins, circle stickers, geotags, etc. My guess is you might have some of those things in your stash too.

On the embellishments in the second row I stapled them first and then adhered them to the card stock with mini glue dots because the stapler doesn't fit all the way into the page.

Around the edge of the page (anywhere the letters weren't going over the side) I added some orange washi tape. I have no idea who made that one. If you know I'm happy to link it up. 

SUPPLIES | AROUND HERE

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26 thoughts

  1. Laura Turcotte says…
    06/30/2014

    This is my go-to magazine!Love it! thank you, Ali, for letting everyone know that scrapbooking is not going away. People have been panicking lately, and it kinda rubs off on one.

    Reply 0 Replies
  2. michelle t says…
    06/30/2014

    SCT is an awesome magazine. And you're right, scrapbooking isn't dead, and will be around. I've used the "around here" prompt for some journaling. Creative layout. Michelle t

    Reply 0 Replies
  3. Joan says…
    06/30/2014

    Great post, thanks for the ideas! Love the layout :)

    Reply 0 Replies
  4. Toni From says…
    06/30/2014

    Absolutely brilliant layout Ali. Thanks for the great post, long live scrapbooking!

    Reply 0 Replies
  5. Beverly says…
    06/30/2014

    I can't wait to look for this publication Ali! My mother made baby books for us that were the "fill in the blank" type but she added some wonderful dialogue that I am thankful for and in her own beautiful handwriting. I also have a scrapbook that she made in 1948 when she moved from a rural area in NC to Arcadia, FL. She and a friend went and worked there and boarded in home of a family. It is also a wonderful treasure. When my oldest daughter was in college at UNC Greensboro she worked as a volunteer in library archives in a special collection of women at war (or something like that). It included many scrapbooks. And, the tradition continues!

    Reply 0 Replies
  6. Kaysie says…
    06/30/2014

    You are so very right Ali about how scrap booking WILL survive ! I look at my scrapbooks from my childhood/high school days...didn't have a camera back in the 1950's but managed to have a scrapbook from the dime store and use scotch tape and glue for postcards, brochures, ticket stubs! Recently, have been going thru the college scrapbooks of my grandfather from his college days in the EARLY 1900's. He played college and minor league baseball and his mother had scrapbooks full of every newspaper article he was mentioned in. So, the industry changes with all our acid free/archival safe/tools/embellishments, but it just makes me smile, yellowed pages, glue and scotch tape to know our scrap booking days go back to the early 1900's! And now, my grandkids love to look at my scrapbooks and are interested in starting their own...so on and on it goes!

    Reply 0 Replies
  7. J Allen says…
    06/30/2014

    I confess, I did feel a little, okay maybe a lot, like Chicken Little…the sky is falling, the sky is falling!!!!

    One of my favorite quotes, Those who refuge to roll with change will be rolled over by it!

    Reply 0 Replies
  8. Jo-Anne says…
    06/30/2014

    Ali im right there with you on the fact that scrapbooking as we know it might change, feel and look different but IT WILL NEVER DIE!!

    Gosh, it keeps me sane too:-))

    Long live this BEAUTIFUL, EXPRESSIVE, CREATIVE, MEMORY KEEPING ART FORM:-)

    Reply 0 Replies
  9. Gina says…
    06/30/2014

    Thanks Ali, great post to remind us that scrapbooking will continue. Love the around here posts. Do you know if people subscribe to the paper copy if it helps them continue...I love reading SCT on my iPad but would consider getting it delivered if it helps support them.

    Reply 0 Replies
  10. StacyK says…
    06/30/2014

    I like your perspective, and thank you for reminding us that like all things, scrapbooking is also "evolving".

    Reply 0 Replies
  11. Dori says…
    06/30/2014

    LOVE this layout!

    Scrapbooking may be going through another transition, but it WILL survive. And because you have always stressed the importance of the story - the words that come from the heart - my scrapbooks are so much more meaningful than they would ever have been if they were filled only with photos and dates (that is IF I remembered to include the date, ha).

    Thank you, Ali, for inspiring us and encouraging us to tell the STORY.

    Reply 0 Replies
  12. Kirsten J says…
    06/30/2014

    Yep. Well said. Once again, you are the calm voice of reason. I think while the internet has brought many opportunities for community, it has also brought opportunities for a sense of disconnect. We need to maybe seek out new opportunities and a "new normal" - I love SCT and your layout.

    Reply 1 Reply
    1. Ali says…
      06/30/2014

      Totally agree!

  13. Damiane Lucas says…
    06/30/2014

    I've been wondering about the future of scrapbooking, too because all of the scrapbooking stores in my area closed completely about four years ago. The face-to-face social aspect of scrapbooking is gone, and it's very sad. Since then, I've been looking for inspiration online, and of course, your blog. Thank you!

    Reply 0 Replies
  14. Kristie says…
    06/30/2014

    Fabulous layout and post, Ali. Loving your #scrapbookingmatters on IG!

    Reply 0 Replies
  15. Helen says…
    06/30/2014

    What a wonderful thing to see! A LO focusing on what, for me, important in scrapping: the words....thank you, Ali!

    Reply 0 Replies
  16. Monique says…
    06/30/2014

    Hi Ali, that looks so cool! I wish I could somehow learn to journal like that. I keep on practising. My sister tells me that I overthink it too much. I guess she is right, but I don't know how to stop doing that ;o). Love your layout, I will keep it as an example.

    I don't think scrapbooking will ever go away, but these are hard times, but otherwise it is a hobby and way of living for so many of us.

    Reply 0 Replies
  17. Donna M says…
    06/30/2014

    Love your layout! There was an awesome story on tv here in New Zealand last week about a 90+ year old lady who has written 75 journals in her life, which she claims are "just ordinary everyday mundane stuff" but just happened to have sentences covering WW2 ending, the first landing on the moon, etc.

    Reply 0 Replies
  18. June says…
    06/30/2014

    OMGosh, Ali! I've been reading your blog for quite awhile now and I never even knew about Scrapbook and Cards Today magazine, let alone that you are a part of it! I must have missed something! Thank you so much for that AND for lending your voice to the future of this industry! Onward scrappers!

    Reply 0 Replies
  19. Jennifer says…
    06/30/2014

    GREAT layout, Ali.

    Reply 0 Replies
  20. Andrea Williams says…
    07/01/2014

    What can I say about scrapbooking that hasn't already been said?? I'm so blessed to know the brilliant person behind Scrapbook and Cards Today magazine, Catherine. And have a scrapbook store a few minutes from my house. I strongly urge those of you who miss your stores to gather like minded individuals together and start up some all day cropping events. We have to be the future of this awesome craft. Ali, thanks for keeping my inspirational juices flowing and my huge desire to get "all the little moments" written down. Can't wait to meet you at Crop and Create Markham!! Go Scrapbooking Go!!

    Reply 0 Replies
  21. Siri says…
    07/01/2014

    My favorite magazine is Scrap 365. I try to buy it every month, but there are only a few places we can get it in town, and it is a race every time! It is an english magazine, and they have a digi versionas well as a blog with challenges and fun stuff!

    Scrapbooking is not dead!

    Reply 0 Replies
  22. Tracy says…
    07/01/2014

    Thanks for the tip on the magazine...your column!! I was wondering what font did you use in your Around Here page?

    Reply 1 Reply
    1. Ali says…
      07/01/2014

      Hi Tracy - I think it was Remington Noiseless (that's often my go-to typewriter font).

  23. Cynthia H says…
    07/01/2014

    So so agree on this memory keeping stuff keeping me sane!!!!

    Reply 0 Replies
  24. J3SS1C4 says…
    07/04/2014

    Those large letters stamps are pretty great! I think I need to get my hands on a set of those! I have plenty of small ones about typewriter size, but I love how these look for titles!

    Reply 0 Replies

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