Scrapbooking with Rene Wildes

Let's face it—life is stressful. Work,family, kids' school functions, civic duties, on TOP of the writing/critiquegroups/book signings/conferences/online classes/promo/teaching/judging… Anyoneelse ready to say "ARGH!" and just throw in the old towel?  (Wait, you need that towel to dodishes…but I digress…)
It's crazy-busy and very stressful.Everyone needs a distressing valve or two…or ten. One of mine is scrapbooking.I started years ago when I got sick of photo albums always falling apart andenvelopes of pictures stashed everywhere. I am a selective packrat (like my mom)and I can't bear to toss pictures away. So I have boxes of envelopes stacked onboxes of envelopes. Somewhere around the third move with three kids I said"enough already" and walked into a local scrapbooking store.
I almost walked right back out again. They'rehuge. There's tons of stuff. They have perky clerks who ask dumb questionslike, "Do you want a two-hole or a three-hole?" Huh? Say what? But I bought a scrapbook,(the clerk swore was expandable with these little screw-together gizmos) the plasticcovers, a bunch of colored 12 x 12 paper squares, alphabet letters and lots ofstickers. 
It's creative and artsy and relaxes me.I love color, and combining colors and layers and working with balance andcontrast. I like informal spreads with texture. I think of a scrapbook as a wayto celebrate a specific event or person, with the photos being a window intothe heart of it. So when I was asked to do a scrapbooking blog, I had to sit downand think about why I do it. What is it about scrapbooking that makes me keepdoing it? I think it's the endless variety, how each page is different and yetstill so ME. 
We're all perfectionists at heart, andare constantly pushing ourselves for bigger, better, faster. Take that playbookand throw it out the window. This is fun. This is creative. This is recreation.Don't know the meaning of that word anymore? Look it up. R-E-C-R-E-A-T-I-O-N.Notice the C-R-E-A-T ("E" implied)—this is not timed or graded or for anyonebut yourself. 

What do you love? Favorite colors? Favorite styles? Favoriteseason? Favorite activities? What do you want to celebrate or showcase? This isa hobby and recreation (and honestly, only family ever sees it—or good friendswith a lot of patience!) so don't worry about getting it "right." Just get itdone with colors you like and a balance that lets you chill. You found a way toshowcase your favorite photos with your own personal touch.
So for this demonstration blog I decidedto do a spread for our Chow, Abby. Or Abber-Chow, or Smi (for Smiley), orAbby-Monster (depending on which family member you talk to). Or New Moon'sTwilight Night—ugh, could you get any more redundant a name for a black dog?(No, we didn't name her—she came with that one, poor thing.)
The first thing I do is look at thephotos, and think of a good background color that won't clash. Since the kidswere sporting blues and greens, I selected lime green & turquoise to compliment.The key to informal is to mix and match—and keep the right angles to a minimum.Layering adds depth. 

Cropping photos around just the subject adds a weird sortof 3-D effect, esp. if you don't frame it but just put it down on the page. Ifyou do a 2-page spread, a certain amount of mirroring comes into play.
Once thepages/background is selected, I framed the two pages with the dog bones on theoutside corners. Since Abby's a dog, goes toward theme. One I did "ABBY" andone I did "CHOW". The two heads shots I decided to frame in hearts, again toavoid the stiffness of too many right angles and because we love her. A lighterturquoise didn't show up very well against the darker backdrop, so I did asecond, larger framing in white. It provides a clear delineation and ties in tothe white of the bones. I did the white heart with a list of her favoritethings, written in pink highlighter to match the pink hearts. Scatter the photos around the page. Swapthem around, turn them helter-skelter until you reach a "that's it" moment.Your inner voice will tell you when it's right. There's no right or wrong.You're not being graded on it. It's all about your own sense of harmony andbalance. Overlapping is fine, crooked is fine. I cut everything freehand, and Imix and match lettering. Both of those contribute to a casual, homemade kind offeel. Once the photos are where you want them, tape them down. Any scrapbookingtape or squares work.
Once the photos or down, I do mywording/labels/captions. I've used three different fonts/styles of letters formy spread. You'll find yourself running out of "a" and "e" and "s" and have asurplus of "p" and "x", so I have a surplus of half-sheets of unusable letters."V" upside down makes a readable "A" in a pinch, and you can make an "E" bylaying an "L" atop an "F". 

Again, "mix-and-match" effect. (Kind of like myhouse.) Then you fill in the gaps or holes on the page with…whatever.Compliment or contrast. I added extra hearts, but in hot pink for contrast, abit of "pop" to keep it playful. Chows have a fearsome reputation as a guarddog, which Abby lives up to, but I wanted to celebrate her playful-silly-family-petside that apparently only her family will ever see. Like her sneaking apiece of bread…or hanging out with the cat.
Beads, leaves, doilies, feathers,quilting squares, the label from your favorite bottle of wine…the variety inunlimited—like your imagination. Grab a photo that makes you go "awww" or mistyor forgetful for a moment. Start with that. What was the moment? When did ittake place? What do you remember hearing, smelling, saying? Use the backgroundpaper & color to highlight the theme or event. Fall colors, Christmasdecorations…you get the idea. Highlight a favorite song or poem. Give yourphotos captions, make dialogue balloons so people in photos can speak theirpiece. What they really said…or what they might have been thinking! You can beas playful or serious as you wish. This is an escape…decorate it however youwant. Give yourself permission to just let go. 
Seriously, the world can hold 
its ownself up for an hour.


Renee Wildes grew up reading fantasy authors Terry Brooks and Mercedes Lackey and is a huge Joseph Campbell fan, so the minute she discovered romance novels it became inevitable that she would combine it all and write fantasy romance. Renee is a history buff, from medieval times back to ancient Greece and Sparta. As a Navy brat and a cop's kid, she gravitated to protector/guardian heroes and heroines. She's had horses her whole life, so became the only vet tech in a family of nurses. It all comes together in her Guardians of Light series for Samhain – fantasy, action, romance, heroics and lots of critters!

Find Renee at: Her Blog  And Samhain