Chatting With Angie Pedersen

Transcripts from October 16, 2003

Rebecca – About Scrapbooking Guide: Angie, first of all thank you so much for being here! I know all of the ladies involved in the Book of Me challenge were glad to hear that you were joining us! As was I because I love your book! Let's start off with giving you a chance to tell us a little about yourself and how you got started scrapbooking.
Angie Pedersen - Author of The Book of Me: A guide to Scrapbooking About Yourself: I'm 32, and live in Kansas City, MO with my husband and 2 young kids. I'm a stay-at-home mom, writer, website designer, fontaholic, and vice-president of a local scrapping guild. I started scrapbooking in 1998, after seeing a friend's album. I looked at her pages, and thought, "You can DO that??" I found a Creative Memories Consultant, and went to a crop. I gave her a list of products I wanted. She handed them to me, and said, "Here ya go!" and went off to work on her own albums. So you could say I'm basically self-taught! LOL From then on, just about everything I did or looked at became a scrapbook page. I started teaching classes at a local store about 2 years later. 
Rebecca: It's always fun to chat with a fellow web scrapbook person for lack of a better term, tell us a little about your online history - What sites you have and how you got started with those.
Angie: I got online in 1992, when my husband and I got our first computer (together). By 1997, I decided I wanted to have my own website. My first website was called The Mother of All Websites and it was a resource for SAHMs (stay at home moms). Then, in like 1999 (I think), I added a section for scrapbooking fonts and called it One Scrappy Font Site, (my email name was OneScrappyMama, so that reflected that). Well, the font section started doing so well that in 2000, as a birthday gift, we registered my domain OneScrappySite.com. 3 years and running now. We're in the process of totally revamping it right now and adding lots of cool features. I also run ScrapYourStories.com, which we registered just before The Book of Me came out, so the book could have a "web presence."
gie Does that answer all those questions? LOL Were there any specific website questions?
Rebecca: So what was the driving inspiration behind The Book of Me?
Angie: Myself, of course! lol I was going through some challenging times personally back in 2001 and decided to create my own scrapbook to remind me of the good in my life, and all the gifts I had to offer. As I showed it to my friends, I saw that they were impressed, mostly because they had never thought to do a similar book. So many of my friends were absent from their own albums too.
As much as I enjoyed the process of creating my Book of Me, I realized other scrappers might be searching for ways to create such a book for themselves. I wanted to help them by providing a roadmap for them to follow, compiling all the resources I had drawn on. So, the book was born!
Rebecca: The book is so inspiring to read through but for those of us who haven't actually started our Book of Me yet, what is step #1? Where do we start?
Angie: Many people paralyze themselves by thinking they have to find the "perfect" place to begin. The "perfect" place to begin is with your first page. Whatever the topic is. And every page you do is going to get a little bit easier. Your first page doesn't have to be the title page or a dedication page (my album doesn't even have a dedication page!) or your birth page. It just has the be the first page you do. Freeing, isn't it??!
Rebecca: Absolutely!
Angie: However, some people can't work with "free" - they need structure so some easy places to start are apage about your favorite color or the meaning/history of your name. I wrote an article called, "Jumpstart Your Book of Me." It's posted at ScrapJazz http://www.scrapjazz.com/resources/article_108.shtml "10 ideas to get some quick easy pages in your Book of Me!"
Rebecca: Great ideas! So here's the question you get all the time, what if I don't have a lot of pictures with me in them? (or I hate all of the ones we do have) 
Angie: Many women have very few pictures of themselves, either as a child, or at their present age. This is one of the most frequent complaints I hear. Just because you don't have photos doesn't mean you don't have memories! Remember that our main goal with scrapbooking is to preserve memories. Photographs are not the only tools for evoking memories. Photos will only help enhance your layouts. They are not the basis of the layout; the memory is. Some of my favorite layouts have no photos. They are the ones with an entire page devoted to journaling, artistically displayed with just some cardstock accents. I love them because I know that I have told the whole story - all my thoughts and feelings are out there and my words are descriptive enough to paint a picture of the event. There's a section in The Book of Me that gives guidelines for "painting a scene with words" for pages when you have no photos. You can read an excerpt of that section at the book website http://www.scrapyourstories.com/nophotos.htm.
Rebecca: I love how in the book you show examples of pages made with photos you found on the web, or took after the fact at the place a special event happened, etc.
Angie: Totally "acceptable!" LOL Lots of times I'll think of a page topic THEN go TAKE the photos I need to "prove" my point! Perhaps I'm backwards that way. LOL
Rebecca: I want to throw in a few questions at this point that were posted on the Forum for you...
Angie: Shoot!
Rebecca: Veronica wanted to know "Is there anything off limits? Anything you won't scrapbook about?"
Angie: Me, personally? My sex life, probably. LOL
Rebecca: Well Roni?
Veronica: Yes, you or if there is anything you would recommend not scrapping about?
Angie: OK, I've already scrapped about depression, which can be a pretty touchy topic. The only things I would recommend not scrapping are the things you aren't ready to face yet. There are people on the Book of Me discussion list who ask if they should scrap an abusive childhood, or another traumatic experience. Obviously those experiences make them who they are and belong in a Book of Me, but if you're not ready for all the issues scrapping those memories will bring up, don't. The memories will keep until you are ready.
Veronica: Thank you, that's what I was hoping you'd say.
Angie: And I always suggest, if the memories are truly troublesome, do it with the help of a counselor or therapist. I've heard of a number of people actually bringing their copy of Book of Me into their counseling sessions with them and doing pages as their "homework" in between sessions - honest-to-gosh SCRAP THERAPY!! Whohooo!!
Angie: Does that answer the question?
Veronica: It sure does! Thank You.
Rebecca: Very good point and great advice. Several of the ladies on the forum mentioned that they feel like when they try to journal about personal things that it sounds "sappy," but when they read other people's personal journaling it sounds profound. Any advice to make them more confident with their writing?
Angie: Ah, confidence...sometimes you have to "fake it till you make it." Even if you think your journaling sounds sappy, or didn't come out just like you hoped do it ANYWAY! You WILL live through the experience! And writing is a SKILL. It's not going to be perfect straight out of the chute. The more you write, the better you'll get - style-wise, and just feeling like you accurately expressed yourself. Sometimes it's not the neatly-wrapped package of your words but rather that the words are there at all. Would you rather your grandmother wrote down her stories just like she would speak or labor over just the right words then give up entirely, leaving the stories untold? Sometimes it's not about YOU but the gift you're giving someone else.
Rebecca: Great answer.
Rebecca: Sherri, from the Forum, wants some advice for creating a Book of Me about her husband, how does she coerce participation?
Angie: In my personal situation, I could just tell my husband that I was working on a book about him, and ask him questions along the way. I did a similar sort of project. He went camping for a week with his best friend and I did an album of the photos and stories. I sat down with his friend with the photos, and just took notes as he talked about each one. Then, I journaled the stories on the pages, sometimes saying "Matt reported this was their favorite spot," or something like that. I don't have a problem with people knowing that I created the album - they sure as heck know my husband didn't!
    If your husband is un-talkative, I would probably slip in questions just here and there. Questions about childhood memories, family trips, whatever you want to document. Then I (*personally*) would do it almost in a reporter fashion, 3rd person. "John went to school and So&So Elementary from 56-60"... Of course, that's my personal take. You can do it any number of ways, whatever is going get the most stories out of your husband. You might be surprised if you show him a page in process, he might have something more to add to the story or even the page design! Does that answer the question?
Rebecca: Absolutely.
Angie: Give him the chance for input.
Rebecca: Let's talk about your new book!!! How exciting that your second book is coming out!
Angie: I know! I can hardly stand it!!
Rebecca: So since I haven't read it yet, tell us a little about it.
Angie: It's called Growing Up Me: A Guide to Scrapbooking Your Child's Stories. Basically it's a book to guide influential adults who want to scrap with kids. It follows the same format as Book of Me - journaling prompts, photos to find/take, quotes, internet resources, and of course layout examples. The examples in this book are probably 85% done by actual kids. It was so fun to see the submissions come in! (waving at Breanne...)
Rebecca: I was just going to mention that Breanne has several layouts in the book; we are so proud. :)
Angie: The book debuts at HIA - February 2004.
Rebecca: JennaT had a question about scrapbooking for her child's class. I am going to let her ask it herself.
Jenna T: Hi Angie. I'd like to do a small Book of Me with my daughter's kindergarten class. Where to start? 'till I can get the book of course.
Angie: Have you joined my scrapping with kids YahooGroup? http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ScrapToTeach
Jenna T: No, but sounds like a great idea!
Angie: I've listed a number of ways to "get started" - the primary reason most people join the list! LOL I also have some tips on the book website. http://www.scrapyourstories.com/kidstarters.htm
Rebecca: I am going to open up the floor to my other moderators to see if they want to toss out some questions for you before we run out of time.
Veronica: Do you ever feel guilty taking time to scrap about yourself when you have so many other pictures to scrap?
Angie: No. LOL
Veronica: I have a hard time with this.
Melissa: Me, too! I haven't even started my Book of Me.
Angie: When I started it was a matter of I "had" to do them. I was running out of "me-ness." My Book of Me really helped bring it back. PLUS, remind yourself that, while you are scrapping pictures for your family albums YOU ARE A MEMBER OF YOUR FAMILY TOO! A page about yourself CAN GO in your family albums! <gasp!> I'll bet in your family albums somewhere you have a layout about just one child, and another layout about just another child. You may even have a layout about just your DOG. All in your "family" album.
Veronica: Yep, I have all those.
Angie: Why can't you do one about your favorite part of the family vacation this year? If you aren't in your family albums, you are a SILENT PARTNER in your family history.
Veronica: Very good Point!
Angie: Looking at your albums, how many people are in your family? Before I started my Book of Me, there were evidently 3 people in my family - my husband, and my 2 kids. And me, I was the narrator - 3rd person, omniscient. Start out small, do 1 page about you, or at least INCLUDING you every other time you scrap.
Veronica: Nancy asked, "Are you ever finished with your Book of Me?
Angie: Nope, never finished, me personally at least. As long as I'm still living, I still have stories to tell. Now, the layouts may fill more than one album, so start another one! No biggie! Or do 1 for each section -- one for friends, one for childhood, etc. but more than likely, if you fill a childhood one, even after you do the "last" page you'll think of another story to tell. Tell it anyway!
Jami: Not sure how to word this question right but since we were talking about kids albums, do you think there are any photos that should be off limits in their albums? I have a special needs (for lack of a better word) 3 year old and there's been times he's been really really sick for weeks or months, and looks it. Should I include those even knowing he may never want the rest of the world to see them when he gets older?
Angie: Well, if he doesn't want the rest of the world to see them, he doesn't have to show the book(s) to anyone. I think a lot of people don't think of that for their Book of Me. Even if you scrap something, you don't have to SHOW anyone. But if you DON'T scrap it, you CAN'T. It's your personal comfort level on scrapping those pictures. If they're upsetting, put them away until you can handle it or until your child is old enough to make a decision WITH you. It is a part of your life, and is affecting the person you are, so you have a right to scrap YOUR perspective of the situation. It comes down to personal choice. I'm sorry if that sounds like a cop-out.
Rebecca: It doesn't...I totally agree.
Jami: Actually it doesn't.
Angie: Maybe you could do pages that don't have photos. He can't argue with facts, or how it affects you. If you're worried about his reaction to the photos being available for other people to see. 
Jami: I have done pages for my Book of Me and have done some pages with hidden photos versus journaling for his. If he wants, we can take the pages out as he gets older. Thanks, I think it's nice sometimes just to have what you already know reaffirmed.
Angie: Good deal, Jami!
Melissa: What are some of the most important questions I should ask my children every year to journal with?
Rebecca: We will finish up with Melissa's question.
Angie: I would probably ask about things that are likely to change. A friend has a questionnaire she has her kids fill out every year - age, teacher, friends, favorite foods, favorite books, what they do with their friends, what they want to be when they grow up, school activities, favorite school cafeteria food, favorite snack, movie, TV show, sport, color, favorite thing about myself, what I like to collect, favorite and hardest school subject. Then she pairs the questionnaire with their school picture that year.
Melissa: Fun idea!
Rebecca: Angie you have been an awesome guest! I can't believe how fast the hour has gone by. Thank you so much for joining us tonight!!!!
Veronica: Thank you Angie
Angie: No problem! I had fun!
Rebecca: Thanks again!
Angie: You're welcome! And don't forget to Go Scrap Yourself! ;)