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Jacqueline M. Schimmel (406)
Jacqueline M. Schimmel
Memories Artwork

What Father's Day Means to Me

Posted Friday, June 08, 2007 (2 years 168 days ago.) Viewed 130 times.

Father's Day, the third Sunday in June, is a special day for me.  I'm lucky to have a father and I remind myself of this often, especially on Father's Day. Last year I even made a scrapbooked mini-album dedicated to my father in the name of my brother and I.  I was so proud and so moved making this album remembering my childhood and how safe I felt with my father.  Then I mailed it and it got lost in the mail.  I was crushed.  A lesson learned for future transactions.

My father always made me feel special.  He made me feel like I was the most important person in his life and I just knew that he would never let anyone hurt me. I was always Daddy's little girl. We rough-housed, we cuddled and I always knew: My daddy loves me.  Now I may nearly  40 years old, but he's still my "daddy" and always will be.

When I went through a divorce, it was difficult for both of my parents.  They had a difficult time excepting it was over.  I was glad when everything had blown over, that I could tell him what was the matter and talk to him about the problems I had.  He never realized that I was so unhappy, but understood why it had to end.  That, I am grateful for.  I am so proud of him!  He had a wonderful military career and made up to the top ranks.  He had quite the responsibility on the job and at home. No matter how much pressure was on him he always made me feel loved.  And he always gave me the feeling that I could tell him anything.

My father, the protector.  I had a pretty strict upbringing for which I am very grateful today.  When I see what has happened to some of my classmates who had a leisurely upbringing, then I know that my parents did right by bringing me up the way they did.

Fathers,...they are strong, protective, proud, teachers and always there when you need them. I hope my Daddy enjoys his Father's Day and remembers the times when his little girl and little boy were young.  But, if I know him correctly, he'll never forget, because he's always reminiscing about our childhood.  I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful exemplary father!

Jacqueline M. Schimmel is a Professional Scrapbook Designer who designs custom and premade scrapbooks, cards, frames and teaches scrapbooking courses in Germany. Her portfolio consists of over 500 designed layouts and she was hired to design an album that was given to his Holiness the Pope in 2005 on his visit to Cologne, Germany. The name of her business is Memories Artwork™, http://memoriesartwork.typepad.com.

 

 


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Scrapbooking Heals – Scrapbooking as a Healing Instrument to Overcome Loss

Posted Wednesday, June 06, 2007 (2 years 170 days ago.) Viewed 153 times.

It is terrible to lose a family member or a pet and most of us have had to suffer such a loss. Everyone grieves differently. Some people can express their grief and overcome it quicker than others who find it difficult to grieve and express their feelings. What I have found, is that it scrapbooking can help heal when suffering a loss. It can provide a little bit of closure and help you to grieve in a more productive way, because what you're doing with scrapbooking is not only displaying photos, you are telling a story, talking about your feelings and sharing your pain, even if you don't show it to anyone.

I didn't realize what a healing effect scrapbooking had until my cat died and my father-in-law died. First, my cat Pooky died of an apparent heart attack when he was 16 years old. I was lucky enough to be with him when he died, as I would have felt very guilty if I hadn't been at home. The very next day, I started a mini album as a tribute to my cat. I made it so special, remembering all the little details about him, the silly things he used to do, what I miss about him and how big he was (a regular Garfield). After I had finished the album, I realized that, hey, that really helped me. I don't feel as bad as the first few days after he died. I believe that I was able to deal with his death much quicker than if I had not scrapped about it.

My father-in-law died last year of a rare internal melanoma cancer at the age of 75. This was about four months after his birthday. For his birthday present, I had the idea to make a huge scrapbook of his life and career. I spent long weeks making the album just perfect. I loved this man dearly. It was such a joy to see him looking at it and how much he appreciated me making it for him. He was overwhelmed and I think I made him smile for the first time that day. We thought the cancer had gone away, but I was sceptical. I've known so many people with cancer and I just know that many times there is no cure. It made me proud to make him happy, even if only for a moment. Had I known that he would no longer be with us four months later, I don't think I would have made that album. In the end, I'm glad I did though, because it is a documentation of his whole life. Now, the rest of the family can look at it from time to time and remember him and what a wonderful person he was. It helped me to make the album. I was able to grieve immediately when he died and although I sometimes still cry, the pain just gets to be less each time.

If you are a scrapbooker, then you might even know what I'm talking about. I guess I somehow sensed it was going to help me get over my pain, like a kind of instinct. People that have difficulties speaking to someone about their grief and pain now have a way to express their feelings without being really forced emotionally to talk about it with someone. No one else has to see your layout or album. That is entirely up to you. But, if you do want to "talk" about it, all you have to do is show it to someone.

Can't figure out what to express in your layout? Take the best photo of the person or animal, and / or a photo together with you. That is the first step. Choose your cardstock, patterned paper to match the photo and set the mood. Then you might want to write a little something. You can right about what you liked best about them, the funny things they did that made you laugh, what you miss about them, what their favourite color, food, animal, hobby was, or just what made them so special to you. If you want, you can write about how much it hurts you, how losing this person has affected you. I know it's tough, but it might just help you with your grieving and with a little bit of the pain. It feels good to get it out and down on paper and if it's something creative, then all the better. You will feel good about creating something, about writing down your feelings and about remembering good times with that person.

I hope this idea will be able to help you with your loss. I can only speak from experience. It helped me a lot.

Jacqueline M. Schimmel is a Professional Scrapbook Designer who designs custom and premade scrapbooks, cards, frames and teaches scrapbooking courses in Germany . Her portfolio consists of over 500 designed layouts and she was hired to design an album that was given to his Holiness the Pope in 2005 on his visit to Cologne , Germany . The name of her business is Memories Artwork™, http://memoriesartwork.typepad.com .


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Ideas for Using Acrylic Paint on your Scrapbooking Projects

Posted Friday, June 01, 2007 (2 years 175 days ago.) Viewed 861 times.

There are such a variety of accents that can be used in any type of scrapbooking project. One of my favourite accents is acrylic paint. Acrylic paint is wonderful, because it is acid-free, dries very quickly, it's water-based, and when used undiluted, has a great opacity so you don't need much to cover things up with (even mistakes). You really can use most water-based brands, but I love the kind that Making Memories offers. The colors are just wonderful! This type of paint can be used with dry brushes, foam stamps or foam brushes and sponges, and as a base or for decoration. There are so many possibilities and here I will describe a few for you:

• Don't know just how to accent your photo in a subtle manner? Frame it with acrylic paint in the color of your choice. Adhere the photo on the layout where it's going to remain (so make sure that is where you want it), then take a medium sized dry brush (approx. 2 cm in width), dab a little paint onto the tip of the brush and paint along the edges of the photo (yes, on the photo) and onto the cardstock itself with just one or two strokes along each side to give it a vintage or rummage look. It makes a very special and romantic type of frame with pastels and very pop art using bright colors.

• Instead of using ink for stamping, take a foam brush, dab into your favourite color of paint and brush a thin layer onto the stamp you want to use, press onto your layout lightly. If you press too hard it might smudge. You have to figure out how to use just the right amount of pressure. Practice on a scrap sheet a few times, before you go for the real thing.

• You don't like the color of your brads, tags or buttons? Paint them over with acrylic paint and then cover with gloss. You've just created your very own special embellishment! How cool is that?!

• Do you have any cardstock you never use, because you don't like the color or you can't find anything to match it with? What you can do is paint a base coat of white gesso for priming. That will neutralize the original color of the cardstock, so you can just paint over it for a new color of cardstock. You can also use the acrylic paint with a sponge or a stamp to make patterned cardstock from plain cardstock.

• Acrylic paint also works well on transparencies and has a great 3-D effect, especially if you're using a stamp with the paint. You first can stamp the paint directly onto the layout and when it's dried adhere a piece of transparency on top of the first stamped image and stamp a new coat of paint slightly off to one side of the original stamp to give it a popping out effect. It looks fabulous!

• To create special titles for your layout, you can use paint with stencils, but make sure you temporarily adhere the stencil to the page before you start to prevent it from moving around.

• If you're using a scrapbooking frame for your layout, paint or stamp it to match the layout. You would be surprised what a difference it makes!

So, you can see how many ways there are to use acrylic paint for scrapbooking projects, although these are only a few techniques. There are so many more. Be creative, be daring and don't be afraid to "dabble" here or "dabble" there. A little word play… Go for it! You will love it, I promise!

Jacqueline M. Schimmel is a Professional Scrapbook Designer who designs custom and premade scrapbooks, cards, frames and teaches scrapbooking courses in Germany. Her portfolio consists of over 500 designed layouts and she was hired to design an album that was given to his Holiness the Pope in 2005 on his visit to Cologne, Germany. The name of her business is Memories Artwork™, http://memoriesartwork.typepad.com.


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How to Correct Your Scrapbooking Mistakes

Posted Thursday, May 31, 2007 (2 years 176 days ago.) Viewed 45 times.

Mistakes, we all make them. After all, we're human, right? Whether you're just a beginner or a truly advanced scrapbooker….there will always be mistakes. Either we're in a hurry, because one of the kids is calling or our thoughts are elsewhere, but sometimes they just can't be avoided. Here are a few helpful tips to take care of those mistakes and actually make your layout special:

  • You just glued your journaling to the layout and realize you've misspelled a word? No problem! What you can do is either cover up the journaling with another journaling block or you can rewrite the word on a new piece of scrap cardstock, cut it out and place it on top. You can pick a few more words to do this with for consistency. It even works on vellum! To try an avoid mistakes, read over the journaling two or three times before you glue it down or use pencil first.
  • If you're working with rub-on letters (if black or white) and part of the letter/number didn't quite come off you can use a black or white gelly roll pen and clean it up. Just trace over the part that is missing.  It works, trust me. I've done it. 
  • Got some glue on the layout? If the glue is not a glaze, in other words, just a regular glue stick or adhesive, just use a glue eraser. Do not use on pictures though, they will get ruined. 
  • If you're stamping a title and you stamp it on wrong, use a die cut shape or punch and restamp the correct way and place it over the incorrectly stamped letter. You'll also have a very unique layout that way. You would be surprised at the new look of your layout.
  • What if you incorrectly place an eyelet or brad? Cover up the hole with an appropriate embellishment that matches the theme of your layout.
  • If you're using paint and you get paint on your layout in the wrong place, place little dabs of paint everywhere on your cardstock (if it looks good), that way it will look like it was on purpose. If you're stamping letters or numbers and the ink smears or gets little dabs of ink where they are not supposed to be, distress the accent. 
  • Cut the ribbon to short? Use accents or embellishments such as buttons on each end or cut in small strips, fold over once and staple. Trim the edges. 
  • If you're using glue dots, there is a good chance you might be able to just pull it off without hurting the paper.
  • Did you underestimate the size of your matting for you photo? Trim it down to two squares and use them as photo corners underneath the photo on two opposite ends. That way you won't have to cut up another piece of cardstock.

You can correct just about any type of mistake with some kind of creative embellishment or other idea! Try it, you just might like it better than the original layout you'd planned!

Hope this aids you in fixing those booboos and gives your layouts a special touch!

Jacqueline M. Schimmel is a Professional Scrapbook Designer who designs custom and premade scrapbooks, cards, frames and teaches scrapbooking courses in Germany. The name of her business is Memories Artwork™ located at http://memoriesartwork.typepad.com.


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