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Holiday cheer! The time is here!

Christmas music is on the radio; hopeful children are on their best behavior; snow is starting to fall (in our neck of the woods anyways!).  We all know what that means!  It's the start of the winter holiday season -- and we are excited to share with you our version of holiday cheer.

We hope Big Picture Scrapbooking will be a refuge from all the shopping, baking, and present making!   Our official Santa's helper Lisa Damrosch is going to take you on a holiday express full of fun activities, scrapbooking challenges and holiday reflections for the month of December. 

Lisa’s high-energy, Self-Paced classes (Celebrating our Pets, Tribute Album: Celebrating Life, A Walking Tour of your Neighborhood, and The Unexpected Vacation) are currently lighting up the virtual aisles of BPS!   So, grab your sleigh bells, some hot cocoa, and enjoy the ride!    Be on the lookout for elves and reindeer along the route bearing some secret Santa gifts from BPS.   

The holiday fun starts December 1st!

The BPS Team

P.S. Please be sure to subscribe to this blog to automatically get your daily dose of Holiday Cheer right in your inbox!
 

The Gift of Words

Our guest blogger is Amy Sorensen, teacher of The Gift of Words. Today she shares with us her thoughts on writing and giving the gift of words...in her own voice.  Enjoy! 

It took me 57 minutes to start writing this blog post. Almost an hour of hovering my fingers over the keyboard, and then surfing a little bit, and then more keyboard hovering. I looked at some photos on my computer and made a list of the ones I need to get printed soon. I wrote some false starts. I updated my Facebook status. I refilled my drink, and this time I went for the hard stuff: pomegranate 7-Up, with lots of pebble ice. I hovered some more. I put away the pile of new patterned paper that had been sitting on the corner of my scrapbooking desk for three days. 

I thought a whole lot.

Sometimes, writing’s like that. Especially when you’re trying to write something that’s important to you. Putting into words what you think or feel requires you to trust your own voice, and sometimes fear can hold you back from doing that. Fear of offending the Grammar Gods, or of sounding stupid on paper, or of failing to translate emotion into words. Take my 57-minute-long hesitation as an example: fear of failing to convey something that’s important to me made me jittery, unable to start. I’ll gladly sacrifice 57 minutes of my life, though, to convince anyone of one of my basic life truths:

Writing is important.

Memory is fickle. Circumstances change. We grow old. We forget how we felt or what we wanted to say to the important people in our lives. But if you take the time to put things down in writing, on paper (not your computer!) and give it to those important people? Well, then the stuff we wanted to say remains—is less easily lost. Since you can cross out and start over, ponder and reconsider, writing is different than talking, and sometimes it gives you the space to say the things you might not otherwise say.

   

And that’s exactly what a word gift is.

The class started from a deep-seated wish of mine. I wish I had letters or notes from my grandmothers. I wish I had something personal and unique, written just for me, something that preserved what they might have felt for me. Sure, I can intuit some of it by their actions. But I wish I had their words. From that wish grew this idea: what if someone wants my words? What if there are things I don’t say enough, or that need to be kept safe from time and memory? 

So I wrote.

And then I created this class, so that you can write your own word gifts, too. I structured it so that if you’re writing the salutations in your holiday cards, they can be little word gifts. Of if you want to make a big impact, you’ll also learn how to write a letter-length word gift. There are daily journaling prompts to follow (if you want—totally optional!) and fun ideas for your Christmas letter. All the good wordy stuff associated with the holidays is there. It’s based on another one of my basic life truths: Everyone can write. It’s not magic, just effort and words. Did you ever see the movie Ratatouille? I love Gusteau’s conviction that anyone can cook. I feel that way about writing. Everyone can write something. Yep, even you. Maybe not a Pulitzer-prize winner, but word gifts? Absolutely! It takes time and effort, but you can do it.

Just take a deep breath.

Pick up your pen. Start writing. See what happens! Don’t worry about grammar, or about sounding stupid. Don’t worry about pleasing anyone except yourself. Use the words you normally use when you’re talking to a friend. Construct your sentences just like you speak them. Toss in a few sentence fragments, even. This isn’t a PhD thesis, it’s not a novel for a million people to read. It’s just you, and your pen, and your paper. It’s just you trying to write how you feel. And instead of letting your desire to get it right scare you away, let it motivate you. Let it be the thing that pushes you past being afraid, and you’ll find your writing space. You’ll write what you need to express. Just write.

Because that is how you find your voice.

Thanks Amy! Now it is your turn to find your voice. Our winner for the free class is Jen Waters. 

Please contact me at [email protected] to claim your seat. If you didn’t win, please sign up today to join Amy in The Gift of Words. Class begins December 3rd!

Finding the Right Words

There is so much communication going on lately.  It seems everyone has a Facebook page and a Twitter account.  (By the way, BPS is on Twitter.)  Sure social networks are fun and a good way to stay in touch with those you care about and to keep up with your interests.  How else would you see those beautiful pictures of your niece or know that we are giving away a seat in The Gift of Words? 

Yes, we are communicating.  But, when was the last time you wrote your spouse a note.  I mean a real note.  Sticky notes that say take kid #1 to soccer practice do not count.   When is the last time you wrote to a friend?  With all the quick glimpses into ours and others lives, is it hard to remember a time of really sitting down and writing something meaningful? 

Are you interested in giving more of yourself through words? 

Sitting down with a blank piece of paper isn’t easy.  Especially, when you are giving it to someone you care about. If you need some encouragement on what to write and how to incorporate writing into your projects, Amy Sorensen’s workshop The Gift of Words can help. Amy will teach you how to find your inner voice. Don’t worry it’s there! You just need to learn to get over the fear of the blank page and get started. The workshop will feature tips and tricks to draw out your natural creativity and get you truly communicating with those you love. 

Ok… I hinted at the beginning of the post of a free seat. 

Here’s your challenge for this week. Share with us in the comments below the last time you wrote a meaningful, handwritten letter to someone you care about. We will randomly select one person this Wednesday (November 25th) at 10a.m. PST to attend The Gift of Words, free of charge.

Also, check out Marketing Milestones and Don’t Blink Self-Paced Projects, which give you opportunities to use your unique voice in other projects. 

Wishing you a happy and peaceful Thanksgiving!

 

2010 is Coming! How are you going to spend it?

Now that you are thinking about what you are not going to commit to this holiday season, it's time to start thinking about what you want 2010 to look like! Our guest blogger this week is Karen Grunberg the teacher of Reclaiming my Time. Below she shares with us how her workshop came to be and how it has changed her life.  

Sometimes things don't work out the way you plan. In my opinion, this is often the case when a bigger and better idea is trying to emerge. Such was the case with the Reclaiming my Time workshop.

When I first thought of the idea for this workshop, my intention was to make a minibook that tracked how I spend my time. As I worked on the idea more and more, I realized how much of my time is spent doing things that are not important to me. When I made a list of activities and people I value the most and compared that to my tracking of where my time went, I was very disappointed. 

Sure, just like you, I have my list of obligations. I work a full-time and demanding job. I have kids who need to be fed, washed, driven to school and back, etc. But outside of those day-to-day obligations, I was spending my time doing a lot of insignificant things. You'd be amazed how quickly 30 minutes here and there adds up to a large amount of time.

So my class morphed. It became about reclaiming my time. Changing how my days were going to be spent and creating my 2010 goals around ways to prioritize the important things in my life. The best way to prioritize something is by giving it my most valuable asset: my Time.

As I did the exercises in this workshop, here's what I found for myself:

• Too often, I don't treat time with the respect it deserves.     
• I don't treat the people I love with the amount of time they deserve.
• I spend a lot of time doing unimportant activities that I use to fill up my time so I can avoid doing something I am dreading. 

Then because I feel guilty about how I’m spending my time, I don't actually give myself a break and go play with my son. Instead, I stare at the computer where the task is beckoning me but I check my blogs, my email, organize my files, and do anything and everything except for the task I'm dreading. Next thing I know, an hour has passed and I've spent none of that doing my obligation (the task I had to do) or playing with my kids (what I actually enjoy doing). 

Seeing this in print devastated me. I was wasting my life away, a few minutes at a time.

Another big trend I noticed was that I didn't reserve time for the things I liked to do just for myself such as making art, writing on my blog, or reading. 

Things that weren't for my work, husband, or kids took the back burner too often. I knew that doing these things and taking this kind of time for myself made me a happier person which, in return, made me more effective at work, and more pleasant and patient at home. 

So not taking time for myself was actually hurting the time I spent with others.

 

This workshop changed my life. Literally. I made a long list of things I wanted to do in different areas of my life and just started finding ways to do them. Since I've written the workshop, 

I now:

• Read a book each week (check my book list out here)

• Make free digital downloads 

• Do weekly layouts to encourage my learning of Photoshop

• Make movies that explain photography 

• Spend more time playing with my family

• Started writing a new novel

• Have an etsy shop

The surge of energy that came from this workshop was stunning.

But, I'll be honest. Just recently, I've begun to feel worn out and decided I needed to scale back and take a bit more time to rest and be with my family. I think this is also normal. I was so excited with the possibility of all the things I wanted to do and all the things I could now fit into my new schedule that I took all of them on simultaneously. With time, I realized that some of those activities weren't actually making me as happy as I had anticipated. Life is always evolving and it's perfectly okay to take a step back and reevaluate. That's why I wanted this class to be open and active for all of 2010 so that as you go through the ebb and flow of your year, your time, and your emotions, your classmates and I are here to cheer you on and be the support you might need wanted to tell you about how this workshop affected me because I think it's the best way to explain what to expect. There are no magic tricks here. I have not found a way to create more hours in your day (how I wish!)

I have simply created exercises for you to see things as they are so that you can take control of your time. If you do the exercises, they will work, I assure you.

 

If you're curious about the project part of this class, I decided to make a minibook to hold all my process and findings and resolutions. If you're a layout person, this can easily be done in layouts as well. There's no wrong way to do this project and you use what's in your stash. We all have too much stuff, it's time we use some of that beautiful paper we've been saving.

I hope this answers some of the questions you might have about the workshop. If you have more, don't hesitate to contact me and I look forward to seeing you in class!

Thanks Karen for sharing a little bit about yourself and telling us more about this great class. I also want to thank to all of you for sharing your comments the last few days.  I received some great ideas for things I’m going to do differently this year and I hope you did too! Our two winners for the free class are: Lois Houston and Erin Taylor.   Please contact me at [email protected] to claim your seat. 

If you didn’t win, please do sign up now.  This wonderful class starts December 3rd and you'll want to get started on the pre-class assignments early. Best of all, we are now offering Reclaiming your Time at 50% off. 

Finding Time for You

Ok everyone, big sigh...it's mid November and the holiday season is quickly approaching.   What better time to take a moment and think about you!

 

I know it's a little early for New Years resolutions and I'm not personally a big believer in them.   They are always the same: lose weight, work less, and read more. The only New Years resolution I remember keeping is one I made in 1990...it was to wear my seat-belt.     

Before the craziness of Christmas fully hits, take some time to think about what you want to do over the next few months...not what is expected (you already know what’s expected).  Spend some time and reflect on what you really enjoy doing.   Instead of running around like a crazy person, picking the perfect gifts for everyone (really, does that Aunt you see once a year, need the perfect gift or are the Girl Scout mints ok?), take a few hours and focus on you!  Stop and think, read, scrap, or spend some time with someone you love.   Do what makes you happy!

Now are you ready to find the time to do more of what you love? 

Karen Gruenberg is teaching Reclaiming my Time starting December 3rd.  In this workshop, Karen will guide us through figuring out what we really do with our time, and aligning our time with what we would like to do with our lives.  

Here’s your challenge for this week.    Share with us in the comments below one thing you dislike doing, but continue to do every holiday season. We will randomly pick two responses for a free seat in Reclaiming my Time to help you break that habit and enjoy your time. Winners will be announced Wednesday (11/18) at 10am PST!

One thing I dislike, that I’m not doing this year:  Christmas cookies.   I love making cookies but I hate the pressure of making twelve-billion-dozen for Christmas.  So, I’m scaling back this year.  I’m making sugar cookies (with the colored dough from the school sale), snicker doodles (my husband’s favorite) and chocolate chip (my favorite).  And with my free time, I’m starting that Wally Lamb book I just bought. 

We Are Tickled...

To announce that we've teamed up with the good people at Compendium for a totally cool opportunity to help them promote their children's book, Tickle Monster, authored by Josie Bisset. Making Happy Memories Contest Tickle Monster is a whimsical story that will allow you to read, tickle and laugh all at the same time—together with a child you love! You can even purchase Tickle Monster Mitts to enhance your child's already lively imagination. Compendium thinks that scrapbookers everywhere will love this book and the family interaction it inspires and we agree. That's why we're coming to you, our loyal BPS friends with a contest that will ultimately help spread the word about Tickle Monster. Here's how it works: Create a 12x12 layout using Tickle Monster colors and featuring pictures of your family or family members interacting, laughing, having fun-essentially making happy memories. Post your layout in our special Tickle Monster Gallery by January 31st, 2010. Browse and enjoy all the layouts posted by our BPS community. The team at Compendium will select layouts to use in a special book promotion and the winners will receive a Tickle Monster Laughter kit (book + mitts in a colorful and reusable gift box.) See below for complete contest rules. Tickle Monster Colors Please login to your account at Big Picture Scrapbooking for more tickle fun! Simply click "My Account" to access: A FREE Tickle Tag Book designed by Compendium. An exclusive promo code to enjoy 25% off your order at Compendium A FREE "Tickle Tips" handout created by Stacy Julian An interactive gallery featuring Tickle Tags created by Elizabeth Dillow and Lisa Damrosch! Thanks for being a part of Big Picture Scrapbooking. CONTEST RULES & DETAILS Compendium is now accepting entries for its Making Happy Memories Contest. The contest is open to everyone and entry is free. "Everyone will enjoy an equal chance of winning the contest", stated head designer Sarah Forster of Compendium, a company dedicated to living inspired. "This is our first contest of this kind and we're excited to see the wonderful creative pieces Big Picture Scrapbooking members will create." About the Making Happy Memories Contest: The contest is open to everyone and entry is free. You may submit designs until January 31st, 2010 at 11:59:59 pm PT. Winners will be announced on or around February 10, 2010. All designs will be judged by an internal panel of Compendium artists: Artists have a chance to win their own Tickle Monster Laughter Kit: In addition to the Laughter Kits that will be awarded, everyone will be treated to a 25% discount on all Compendium merchandise through the end of January 2010. All eligible entries will be judged by Compendium for originality and creativity. Purchase is not necessary and does not increase chances of winning. How to Enter This Free Contest: This contest is open to all artists. Post your original art to the Tickle Monster Gallery. Artists understand that their entry must be their original work and that if chosen may be published on our website.

It's our birthday!

 
  
We're celebrating our 4th birthday!

It's hard to believe, but we're celebrating our 4th year in business! You know what they say, time flies when you're having fun! We wanted to take a moment to thank all of our wonderful members at Big Picture Scrapbooking...we wouldn’t exist without you.

Please use the code below to enjoy 40% off* all of the Self-Paced classes on our site until 11/15/2009!

happybirthday

Have a happy day!

*Disclaimer: This coupon code only applies to new purchases, and is not applicable towards previous purchases. Coupon can be used towards Self-Paced classes; coupon does not apply towards Workshops or Gift Certificates. Good for one time use, per student. Expires November 15th, 2009 at 10pm PST. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Coupon must be entered in the "Promo Code" box during checkout; discount will be applied immediately. Other terms and restrictions may apply.

Giving Thanks for Thanksgiving Day

Congratulations to our class winners!  Amanda Carlson & Carol. 

Here is how they responded:

Amanda Carlson said

Great idea to focus on this holiday! I'm thankful for.... (1) my two sweet children and how healthy they have always been, (2) my mother who, in the last 8 weeks, was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a successful mastectomy surgery (thank God), and (3) my husband who works so hard for our family so that I can stay at home with our babies. It doesn't get any better than this!

Carol said:

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday and it made me so happy to see you focusing on it! My top three things God's forgiveness and love My husband and daughter Living in the United States God Bless!

Please email me at [email protected] to let me know which class you would like to attend.  Thank you to everyone who responded.  We had some great comments!  

Happy Thanksgiving! 

One of my children recently asked me why we celebrate Thanksgiving.  He said, "What's so important about it, all we do is have a big dinner with chicken."   It made me realize that I had some explaining to do, besides correcting him that it is turkey and not chicken.  

Thanksgiving seems to get lost between the excitement of Halloween candy and the preparations for the big December holidays.   Remember the cornucopia decorations and the paper turkeys?  Now it’s Christmas trees, wrapping paper and those inflatable reindeers starting right after the back to school gear clears the shelves.  I’m a big fan of Christmas, don’t get me wrong; but I’d love to see some Thanksgiving cheer too.  

In hopes of spreading some Thanksgiving cheer, let’s share the best things about Thanksgiving. 

Please think about: 

• What Thanksgiving means to you? 
• What traditions do you have around Thanksgiving?
• What things are you most thankful for? 

Let’s bring Thanksgiving back!  

Please post a comment and share the three things you are most thankful for. To help get you thinking and sharing, we will be giving away a couple seats in two great classes that will help you remember Thanksgiving.

The November session of A life Well Crafted is focusing on Home Again, Home Again with inspiring presentations from Jason and Kolette.  What better way to reflect on what you are thankful for!  If you are registered for A Life Well Crafted but have not made time for yourself to attend lately, this is one not to miss.  It includes a memory project designed by our very own Stacy Julian! 

Another quick and fun way to bring Thanksgiving back is Georgana Hall’s class Gratitude Memory Box.   This unique memory box is quick and easy to make with a special kit created specially by Georgana for this project.  It is something you can enjoy for years to come.

So, break out your cornucopia, hang up some paper turkeys, and share with us the three things you are most thankful for.   We will randomly select two winners this Sunday, each will win their choice of a free seat in Gratuitde Memory Box or Home Again, Home Again.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Adventure Continues...

May Flaum, our fearless guide for Adventures in Scrapbooking: Using Kits shares her true feeling on kits, shows off a fun new layout and gives you a sneak peak of the cool stuff you'll do in her workshop; which starts tomorrow. Look for a few extra special HINTS below!

I wasn’t always a fan of scrapbook kits. That’s right. I, May Flaum, Big Picture instructor once considered them a last resort. That was my way of thinking until I figured out that they could be:

• a great value
• fun creative challenge
• help me pair items I wouldn’t have thought of on my own
• save time and energy in the page planning process 

Those reasons sparked a true love of kits – from tiny embellishment kits to page kits, kit clubs to home made, album to manufacturer value kits – they’re all awesome and fun. If you scrapbook, you are already pulling together coordinating supplies to create – so whether you know it or not you’re already using kits.

 If you haven’t already guessed my love of kits has grown over the years and I have a lot to share on the subject. I am teaching an all new workshop at Big Picture that starts on November 5th and not only am I super excited about it starting up this week, but I’m thrilled to be back playing with kits and sharing my layouts and ideas with students once again. You can view all of the information about the class here: Adventures in Kits and I do hope you’ll join me. We’re going to have such BIG fun!

 

 

Today I’d like to share with you a new layout I made that was inspired by my week #2 handout in class. I found this kit on clearance yesterday at my craft store and I felt inspired to buy it and truly test out my claim that you can totally substitute out any product to use in my class. I love a good challenge, and I had a lot of fun working in the elements from this kit with a few items of my own (strip of cardstock, rhinestones, buttons, ribbon).

  

I believe in having fun, enjoying your process, and always remembering that it’s YOUR kit, and there will be no craft police raids to tell you how to use your kit. Seriously – if you wanted to tear the kit apart, add in 50% of your own stash, only use ½ the kit, or anything else – it’s ok! There are so many ways to make your own kits, or simply customize pre-made kits (manufacturer, kit club, or otherwise) to work for you. You just have to know how. HINT: Join us in class and get started!

Before I sign off – there’s a few more things I just really need you to know about class:

Big Picture classrooms are now open “forever” so that after class closes you’ll still have access to all the materials, presentations, gallery, and audio files in the classroom. It won’t be active (meaning we won’t be chatting there, etc) – but the materials will be there for you so that you can work at your own pace and go back to re-visit anytime. So if you’re busy right now and can’t keep up – that’s ok!

You don’t have to be a kit club member to enjoy. I give lots of ideas for substitutions & making your own kits.

I am very interactive and available to you. Message board, chats, e-mail… you name it – I’m there to help you get the most out of class. We’re going to have such fun!

I’ve got to give www.cocoadaisy.com, www.thegirlsloft.com, www.scarletlime.com, www.studiocalico.com, and www.jennibowlin.com all a BIG THANK YOU! Not only did they provide the kits I worked with in each main hand-handout, but they also are providing a give-away the week their kit is featured in class. HINT: A product give-away each week of class.  How cool is that?

 I didn’t forget Katie Pertiet of www.designerdigitals.com – she actually made a digital kit that I used and that all students can download for use as well. HINT: Free digital kit you can try out.  Thank you Katie!!! I had to put extra! in there – it’s just so cool that you can play along. (and I use Microsoft word – so you don’t need to be digi/extra tech-savvy to enjoy my hybrid ideas!)

 

I like to give as much as I can. Here’s some proof in the form of a sneak peek. This is a layout from week #1 of class that I had a lot of fun with. I made over 50 new layouts for this class and there are huge handouts and bonus materials every single week. I love my students!

Thanks for reading my blog post here on the Big Picture blog, and I hope you’ll check out my class. If you’d like exact sizes on my photos and step-by-step instructions I’ve posted them on my blog www.mayflaum.wordpress.com

 

Ready for an adventure?

Are you currently dabbling in digital scrapbooking or at a loss for layout ideas? Have you purchased a kit and not too sure what to do with it?   Wherever you are in your scrapbooking adventure, Big Picture Scrapbooking can help get your creative juices flowing.  Remember that Scrapbooking is an adventure and as is the case with many adventures sometimes scary animals chase you (ok…so maybe it was just your dog eating your favorite stamp) and sometimes you take a wrong turn (remember that family vacation).  A good guide can often help you sidestep the challenges.

May we suggest a guide for your scrapbooking adventure?    

May Flaum is a veteran Big Picture teacher who believes that the best way to use a scrapbooking kit is to combine it with your own personal style and photos in ways that make you happy!  Her new six week course Adventures in Scrapbooking: Using Kits will show you how to use the kits and supplies you have on hand in new and unexpected ways. 

So break out your kits, your glue sticks, and stamps and join May for her 'no rules' approach to finding your own adventure in scrapbooking!

Featuring your own stamp-eating animal.