2021 Plans!

Hello friends! I wanted to pop a post up here with all the latest info, and where you can find me creating.

Weekly craft tutorials: YouTube

Free live workshops and crafting sessions, links to new videos, etc: Facebook and for community chat, free crops there is the Facebook group

Behind the scenes peeks (stories), new projects, etc: Instagram

Finally, to take my online classes (I mail you a kit!), check out the value goodie bags, find curated kits, and otherwise shop you can find me on ETSY.

I am blessed to be working with some fantastic companies in 2021, and whenever I share a project or tutorial for one of them I always add it to both my Instagram and Facebook – so if you follow one of those you’ll never miss a thing! I do put out a newsletter, but I try to keep it very rare (quarterly-ish) and only when new dates for events such as free online crops come out. Wishing you all the best heading into the new year and beyond.

Introducing the No Stress Distress Club

Hello all! Camp Scrap has wrapped up with 3 fun weeks of challenges and creativity, and I’m on to some new special events and creative options! Read on to sew what summer will hold…

The “No Stress Distress Club” is now open! You can sign up for class on my Etsy shop, and find more details here.

Inspired by new colors coming (soon!), I’m revisiting favorite classics, new techniques, and ALL NEW projects for 7 months. This class is a tremendous deal – and you can get it with or without a physical kit of supplies supplement.

Speaking of kits and classes, there’s more to share! I am hosting FREE Live classes on Facebook every week! These live events are scheduled (see my facebook page) about a month at a time, and sometimes I’ve got multiple events! I will also continue to update my YouTube weekly with tutorials and projects too of course – so much to share!

As for kits, with so many in-person events cancelling and so much more time at home I’ve been cultivating special kits! Some of these will go with free classes, others are just for fun. You can find them all on my Etsy shop. Sales help me do more give-aways, pay the many website bills, and so on – so thank you for your support!

I hope to see you in a class or live event soon – wishing you all the best.

Camp Scrap 2020

Want to know what prizes I’m giving away, what is new, and what is happening with Camp Scrap 2020 that begins this Saturday April 25th? Visit www.craftwithmay.com and get all of the information! I won’t be using this blog as a platform for content for that. Have a great day!

Scrapbooking Resources

This time we are in, it is so uncertain and so much is bad news. It has taken me this long (about 3 weeks from when I began distancing and isolating) to clear the mental fog enough to talk about it, to in earnest turn my productivity around! This article serves 2 purposes:

First, a place to let you know my creative plans and where to find me over the future weeks. Secondly, to provide a round up to some resources anyone scrapbooking new or diving back in might want:

I will be adding to this article as I come up with more links, or think of more to add to. That said, if you’re looking for some help, inspiration, or creative ideas here is where you can find me:

  • 5 days a week videos to Instagram TV (@craftwithmay)
  • 5 days a week same videos post to Facebook (@craftwithmay)
  • Tuesdays “Live” on the Brother Crafts Facebook page, as one of their craft ambassadors I’m hosting a show!
  • 2-3 new YouTube tutorials posted (project tutorials)

Need links? Instagram * Facebook * YouTube

Want to know what else I’m going to be doing? Read on!

I haven’t 100% set myself on what will go which day, but here is the list of what I’ll be working on and featuring:

  • Scrapbooking (on Saturdays)
  • Card Making
  • Art Journaling/Mixed Media
  • Sewing/Embroidery/Cross Stitch
  • Jewelry/Kids Crafts/Home Decor

Got requests? Need help? Just let me know! I’m here, and I’m happy to help uplift and inspire my fellow creatives. Any time – just give me a shout!

Scrapbooking: Organize and prepare to fill an album

I am a few years behind in my scrapbooks – and it has started to bother me. Now, I don’t subscribe to the need for chronological scrapbooking, nor do I believe every story or photo needs to be in the scrapbook. That said, I am not happy with my current system and want to prioritize getting more pages made. In this article I will cover my process – it took only a few hours- and explain what you’ll be seeing from me in the future!

Goal: Have full (though additions could be made in future) albums for each year that cover main happenings/details I want noted in the book

Plan: A mix of styles from embellishment heavy to pocket page, get the photos in, and the stories told laid out chronologically in 12×12 album

With these two things known (What I want, what style/size I intend) I have a simple blueprint to sort and plan my attack. I decided I would start 1 year at a time (beginning with 2019, since those photos are on top and memories strong) and lay out, complete the pages, and close the album before moving back to other years. With this plan of action, it became clear that all I needed to do was:

  • place any already created pages into a scrapbook
  • Sort photos and prioritize happenings/scrapbook pages
  • Mark pages by topic, keep photos sorted by topic
  • As pages are made remove placeholders and insert finished pages

Using scraps of white paper I marked the events/memories that I want to include in this scrapbook the most. Are there more stories and photos I could add? YES, but for the sake of not overwhelming myself or getting into complex multi-album projects here I am limiting to one, and prioritizing. Now I did not narrow down the photos to the exact ones I’ll use in the scrapbook, but I did sort and keep sorted by event.

With these photos sorted I now have a single place to come and grab pictures each week during scrapbook time, and I know where the page goes because I took that scrap of paper and tucked it into the album in order inside the page protector. This way, I can easily fill and organize my album with ease as well as knowing if there are pages that I have allotted 1 or 2 pages for within the album.

Another way of doing this would be to place the photos, any ephemera, and anticipated background paper into the page protectors. I actually don’t recommend this method anymore because I find that if and when I do this? Well I never make the page! I just leave the pictures and any stuff in there and move on.

My intention is a blend of pages – some very simple and without embellishment (like the Hamilton page I posted here a few weeks ago), and others more time consuming or technique heavy.

How do I decide that? It is 100% mood, and what the photos and story seems to need. In many cases simple is what I crave, sometimes a pocket style page where each photo has nothing to do with the others – it is a collection of photos + words to capture memories. Other times I get an idea and a creative page is born.

The bottom line? There isn’t a wrong way – you simply want to set yourself up so that when you approach the project it is welcoming and you create, and you don’t find yourself buried and overwhelmed. Need help? You’re always welcome to message me on social media!