Wondering where to start?

We realize that some of the ladies attending the retreat may be pretty new to the scrapbooking world and are therefore a little nervous about tackling such a big project. We wanted to post some helpful tips and ideas to help you prepare yourself for our big weekend. The most important thing to remember is that what you are doing by scrapbooking is preserving your family's memories for generations to come. I always think to myself that if my grandmother had scrapbooked all of my parent's lives I would treasure those books so dearly and I promise I wouldn't think twice about how "cute" they were or if she used fancy embellishments...I would just be thrilled to know the daily life stories of the people I love. So without getting too deep, just keep in mind that you absolutely can't scrapbook incorrectly.

That being said, there are a few things you need to make sure you have with you to have the most productive weekend possible. Those items include:

Patterned and solid papers to put your pictures on- MUST be acid/lignin free

Photos (of course!)

a good pair of scissors and/or a paper trimmer of some sort

adhesive (either tape runners or glue sticks)- also must be archival safe

a good journaling pen- MUST be acid/lignin free

And truthfully, that is really all you have to have in order to put together a great looking scrapbook. There are certainly many other products you can use to make your pages more artistic, but that just depends on what type of scrapbooker you are. When Kelly and I have attended scrap retreats previously, it has become very evident to us that everyone has their own "scrap style". Some ladies trim a picture, stick it down, label what it is and move on. Those are the ladies that get 50-60 pages done while we're there. Then there's me. I have actually been made fun of for taking too long to finish a page. That's because I work for a long time trying to lay my pictures out in a "cute" way, working on a title, journaling, and trying to use embellishments. Yes, I remember I just gave ya'll a lecture on how you don't have to worry about doing your pages wrong, but I don't mean to diminish your desire to make them look as fun as possible...because that's how I like to scrapbook! :)

So, just be sure you bring the basics with you and we'll be happy to help you if you get stumped. We are certainly not "experts" on the subject, but Kelly has been scrapbooking for over 10 years and I have been actively scrapping for about 3 years, so together we hope to be able to help guide you to complete the best scrapbook possible! Also, we will be bringing a large paper trimmer, a cricut machine with cartridges, a few punches, a library of idea magazines to get the creative juices flowing, and some other various items that might help you. Also, Kelly is bringing some of the inventory of a friend that sells Creative Memories. Since we'll be a good jump away from any type of hobby store, we just wanted to be sure that someone didn't get stuck just because they ran out of adhesive! So, a small supply of backup materials should be available for you to use.

Hope some of this helps you out a little. If you have any specific questions, please feel free to email us directly. Also, the website www.scrapbooking101.com has some basic how-to info that may be helpful. The internet is a massive resource for scrapbooking ideas...if you have time to look through it! Can't wait to see you all!!

Still need supplies??

The deals at Hobby Lobby are great this week!! Please go to the website and check out the weekly ad. I hope all of you live in an area where there is a Hobby Lobby nearby! Some of the categories that are 50% off this week include stickers, paper punches, all paper (packaged and single sheets), embellishments by Spare Parts, and albums and refill pages. WOW... pretty much everything you need to work on your scrapbook. You'll definitely want to check them out.

Also, this week, Walgreens is running a special on photo printing. You get 25 prints for free when you order 25 prints. I think you are allowed to use the code up to five times from one account, so you may want to break your order up to make the most of the discount! The code to use at checkout is LOVE10. This deal is over February 13th, so you'll need to hurry.

Getting really excited about the retreat!! It's only two weeks from Friday. Can't wait to see you all!