Thursday, May 2, 2013

SMASH* -- Not to be Confused with the Television Show


Although I do really like the show [Smash]. Have you seen it? I'm talking about SMASH* books by K&Company. I was first introduced to SMASH* books while working for Paper Source and loved the idea of this memory keeping craze. The idea is to be able to quickly document something. It doesn't have to be perfect. It could be messy. This is a BIG idea for me. If you're not familiar with SMASH*, here is a great little video to show you how it works. Scrapbooking, for me, has always meant a lot of "stuff" and planning. Since I've had Benjamin it's something I have spent zero time on, but I really want to put some books together before too much time has passed. 

Last year I picked up two SMASH* books on sale at Target and have just been holding onto them because I was afraid that once I got around to working in them I was going to make them into a bigger deal than they needed to be. However, I decided to get that out of my head and this year I added it to my 2013 Goals to finish a SMASH* book. 

Last night a friend of mine invited us to over today for a playdate/craft day. All the moms in my mom's group are starting or in the middle of planning first birthdays so we all have a list of projects we want to work on! I don't have enough supplies together to start working on Benjamin's (but yes I am planning this far out because he's having two) so I decided now is as good a time as any to work on my first SMASH* book!
I have a couple of boxes I brought from California with various craft supplies - a sampling, if you will - and memorabilia. I hadn't printed any photos so last night I sent a few sheets over to CVS to be printed overnight and we picked them up this morning on our way out. Here is a little TIP for you if you're just getting started making books: In every project I do [that I need photos for] I figure out what size(s) will fit best. Then I resize/crop my images and fit them all onto one sheet for printing. If I'm printing them myself on photo paper I fit as many photos as I can onto an 8.5" x 11" sheet. If I'm sending to another company to print then I fit them onto an 8" x 10". For clients and photos I am framing I use a professional printer. For scrapbook projects I use CVS. I like the finish on the photos and am very seldom disappointed in the color quality. They're quick and you can often use coupons for your prints. I typically order them overnight so that they're ready when they open in the morning.

For this book I've decided to use all 3" x 3" iPhone photos. I left space between photos to allow for a white border on each.
It is so easy for me to put entirely too much thought into a project and I need something that my sleep-deprived mommy brain can work on. I need to be creative again! My goal for this book is just to enjoy the process. For this layout I figured out my general plan, cut cardstock, layered, and smashed it down. It was fun! I used the glue stick provided and was pleasantly surprised by how well I liked it. It wasn't too sticky and glided smoothly. It also wasn't so wet that it warped the paper. I was concerned about that. I've been a tape runner user for years! I still used my tape runner to run along the three edges of the polka dot cardstock to create a pocket. We had to get going so that Benjamin could nap but the only thing left to do on this layout is journal. I'm going to test the pen out tonight! For more smashing ideas and inspiration be sure to check out the SMASH* Stories Blog.

1 comment:

  1. Such pretty layouts. I really enjoy smashing too. They are so quick& instagram makes it a better quality album. <3

    Mae

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