kristine Mckay Designs

My Segment this week for Studio Five (1-22 at 11:00 a.m.) is on Journaling.  For me . . . scrapbooking is about the journaling.  The photos should simply illustrate the story.  Of course some photos can “say it all”.  However most often it is our thoughts and feelings behind the photo that envoke the strongest memories.  There are several reasons that journaling can be such a struggle.  A few of those reasons might include: hating our handwriting, uncertainty as to how or where to add journaling to a page without disrupting the artistic balance, or simply forgetting the details by the time we actually get around to scrapbooking that particular event.  A couple solutions if your not satisfied with your handwriting might include, printing your journaling from the computer (for a limited time you can download 10 free fonts at www.letteringdelights.com), making journal pockets that "hide" your journaling, or use alpha and phrase stickers.  Just remember that while you might not think your handwriting is "pretty"  . . . it really is the most meaningful to look back on.  A quick solution for asthetically including journaling on your layout is to handwrite around the photos, or including a tag or journaling card that doubles as a cute embellishment as well as a practical journal spot.  As far as forgetting details I only have one suggestion JOURNAL JOURNAL JOURNAL lol.  I share this suggestion from my experience.  Nothing is worse than having your child ask you questions about when they were little and your mind going blank.  I've learned my lesson.  I take a notebook everywhere I go and jot down notes as I go.  Trust me, my notes aren't pretty.  They aren't meant to be.  When I sit down to create my page I can take the time to make them "pretty" if I choose to.  For now, I choose to live.  I live every day.  I live for every moment.  I write quick little notes that will spark my memory so I can record them when I have the time.  Some great tools for this can simply be a notebook, or they now have great Journaling notebooks that you can tear out the sheets and add to your scrapbook pages.  I believe Making Memories has them as well as Creative Imaginations.  What ever works best for you is what you should stick to.  At the end of the day it is about sharing our beautiful life stories illustrated with great every day photos.

I just wanted to tell everyone THANKS for your patience.  My "official" web-site will be launching next month.  I am so thrilled.  I appreciate everyone that has helped to make this a success.  This started out as a pet project and thanks to everyone that has posted links on their blogs and message boards I am now able to launch a new web-site that will have many great new features . . . and yes all of my projects and downloads from my studio 5 segments will still be free.  This is truly my passion and I am so thrilled to be able to share it.  While many may think it is simply "crafting" for me it is about CREATING.  It is about making something beautiful out of nothing.  There is so much power in that.  I love the joy that I feel when I create something new.  I want all women to feel the empowerment that comes from being an "architect of inspiration" (yes I just coined that phase . . . maybe I should trade mark it lol).  By that I simply mean that for some "crafting" is simply making some cute craft project.  For others . . . like myself, it is about being inspired by something that stirs my soul and then using paper or other media to create something tangible from what I feel in my heart.  I certainly don't mean to sound sappy or cheesy lol.  But for me its not crafting it's creating.  It is my passion and I feel the greatest passion when I am sharing it with others.  Thank you so much for all of the kind words of encouragement and thanks.  It means a lot.  You can continue to help by giving me feedback or comments.  I'd love to hear ideas of projects you'd like to see or features you'd like to see on my site.  I'd also LOVE to see some of your creations and you can email them to me at [email protected]. and as always links or posts to my site are ALWAYS appreciated.  Stay tuned for more information about my web-site.  If you would like to be notified as soon as it goes live, you can send me your email at [email protected] and I will send you a notification.  My new years resolution is to be more consistent with my blog.  So check back.  I am planning on posting every W