Kerri Bradford Studio » Blog

I’ve gotten a few requests here and there to expound on what kinds of things are going on within the class.

What are the prompts? What are you doing? 

Obviously I can’t share all the information going on within the class, but if you follow me on Facebook, you do see that I give hints as to what we are doing. So if you don’t follow me on Facebook, here’s a little visual sampling on what we’ve been doing or getting in the class.

Each week I pick a subject to dive into for those memories during our early years (0-20). You can tell what some of these subjects are by the pictures. I also ask questions or provide ideas or fun ways to journal as well as share tips on how to get those memories going in your head.  And let us not forget the PDFs and all the free shapes for each week’s subject too! (as seen above)

But in addition to all that is the Facebook group made specifically for class members to write and share their ideas and memories or approaches to this project. I’m loving that because my way is not the only way (don’t tell my kids that ;) ). And I love hearing other people’s memories of certain subjects.

You don’t have to be a scrapbooker to do this. It’s all about journaling…with a little ‘foo foo’ mixed in (if you want to use it).

Here’s what a couple students have said:

“Loving what we are doing so far. I thought I did not have many childhood memories and can’t believe the memory flashes I have been having over the past day.”

……and……

“I am not a scrapbooker…..I have a very dear friend that introduced me to your website for the history project. I have talked to the whole family and we are so excited about doing the project together. Mom=86……….Me=63……….Both children=44 and 39………grandson=21 and will encourage the new grandson=6mo. I am just excited to have all those “hints” to jolt my memory. Thank you for the excitement going on in my head and my heart.”

Wow!

And there is one group of people that are working on this project together like a book group, which I think is a fabulous idea!

I believe it’s the working together and sharing of those memories that helps inspire us to remember even more moments. And how fun is it to get to do it with your family?! My whole family is doing it too. I haven’t read their memories (yet), but they are reading or hearing about mine….which is the whole reason why I’m doing this. Leaving something of me behind for them.

I’m very excited about that.

If you’ve been wanting a glimpse at what’s going on in there ;), I thought perhaps I’d share a ‘page’ from The History Project PDF.

Perhaps this will help you to decide if this project is for you. And remember, you don’t have to have started at the first of the year to do this class. You can pick up and run with it at any time. All the information is saved in the class structure so you can pick and choose from the subjects you haven’t done yet. There is no ‘behind’ in this class.

My motto is, ‘Don’t think. Just do.’

The time is now. Write your story now.

So, I made this video for the first installment of The History Project. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought I should share it with everyone. I thought perhaps it might give some insight or encouragement for those of you sitting on the fence about this class.

In other words, it’s a little sneak peek into the class. :)

(FYI: I’m having problems emailing, so all the class details will be coming soon. I apologize for the wait.)

Wow. Wow. Wow! Do I have a day for you!
Some exciting news to announce today, but first let’s get to the regular 12 Days goodies.

Today’s idea comes from Miss Robyn. She wanted this song written,
and so I did it in the usual KB style and put it in Subway Art form!

Print it as an 8×10, place it in a frame and give it as a gift. Or, print it small and put it in your December Daily.
Lots of great places to use it!

To download it free–today only–click HERE.

To download all versions, select File/Download.
I included cut files with this, but more than likely you’ll want to just print the PNG file on this freebie.

So, I’m thinking there are going to be many of you working on your December Daily or your Project Life or maybe you still haven’t sent off that photo card (like me!) or maybe you’re simply going to want to add more photos to your page.

Yeah.

That’s what I’m thinkin’.

So why not put this little guy on sale!

To download it for half off–just $5 today only–click HERE.

Okay, you have no idea just how hard it’s been for me to stay quiet about this next item
because I’m just that excited!

I have been really passionate about this subject for a while and now I’m bringing it to you in the form of a class right here on my site.

Introducing . . .

I can’t tell you just how excited I am about this class!

It has been something stirring in my mind for quite some time–one of those thing I always think. “I need to do this someday…”

Well, NOW is the time.

What is The History Project?

We are the storytellers. We tell the story of our lives. We are all at different places in recording our current lives, some of us have been doing it for a few years and some of us may have been doing it for a few months. But generally speaking, we are in the process of recording our life as it happens now, which is great!

But what about your story? What about the things that happened to you as a child or as a teenager?

We never seem to have time to write these stories down because we are busy scrapping more current events.

We all have a different story. Different ways of growing up. Different family situations. Mine is very unique as compared to even my own children that have lived in the same house their whole lives.

Your story is important. Your story is interesting. Your story needs to be recorded simply and efficiently, without spending all the time worrying about product and laying out pages and finding photos like you do when scrapping. It’s all about the stories, not the foo foo.

It’s all about your history.

Why do The History Project?

Let me share a couple of personal examples with you.

My mom passed away at age 65 due to a series of strokes. Much too early, if you ask me. She shared stories here and there of her life, but do I remember them? Not very many. Did she write them down? No. Those stories are now gone with her. I am sad about that. We have boxes and boxes of stuff that we’ve gone through–tiny little reminders of who she was and what she liked, but no personal stories behind those items. I’m really sad about that.

I want  my kids to know those stories about me. I don’t want them to be left with nothing that says who I am or how I became who I am.

I think one of my most treasured things I have is a list of different stories from my dad. I had a ‘family tree’ assignment for Creating Keepsakes several years ago and I thought it would be fun to have the grandparents and parents share their lives at the same age as my 8 year old son. Now, I basically grew up without my dad in the home because my parents divorced when I was nine. I didn’t get to hear those random stories about childhood like my kids do. So when I got a handful pages of different stories from his childhood? I was in heaven. It is pure gold. On top of that, we got to go with him to his childhood hometown, Sheridan Wyoming, for his 55th high school reunion. My sister brought a tape recorder so we could record the flood of memories that came from being there. Again….gold.

So what will we leave behind for our children? Yes, many of us make scrapbooks and maybe even keep journals, but I didn’t necessarily scrapbook or journal when I was nine….did you? And what we think now can be different than what we thought then. Perspective and all.

The important thing is to write it down.
And that’s what this class is all about. Getting those memories down on paper in a fun and unique way.

I want to help you gather those moments in time and collect them in a book. A book that’s all your own, to design how you want to do it. There is no rhyme or reason, only a starting point with a subject and ideas each week. It’s all about letting those thoughts flow. Freedom to express what’s only been in your head.

We will be doing this on a weekly basis so that it will always be in the forefront of your mind. It will help you to complete your project within a year. And if you get behind a week? There’s no worry because this is not a chronological memory book.

By doing this together we support each other. We give each other that drive to leave something of you behind.

What you get in the class each week? (52 weeks total)

• You’ll receive a PDF by email with all the journaling prompts and tips on how to journal the subject for that week. Sometimes I’ll even suggest a photo or ephemera idea to include. All this will be in the PDF to make those ideas and thoughts flow easily into your journal. FYI: The email used will be your PayPal email unless otherwise noted.
• Additionally the PDF will include my own page examples so you have a base to start with.
• You’ll receive an exclusive KB-designed graphic element to add visual interest to your journal. Like I said previously, this isn’t about the foo foo, however, I do like a little visual interest. :) But that can be done in a simple fashion.

This graphic element may be a cuttable word image or a cute little decorative card or whatever. Please note, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE A CUTTER to do this project. Anything that can be cut can also be printed onto transparency or paper using the PNG version and included in your entry.

What is the cost of the class?

$52. That’s $1 a week for the whole 2013 year for the PDF and graphic element. More than anything, I wanted this class to be affordable, easy, and fun with a little visual goodness mixed in. That’s my vision.

And you know how I like to offer savings, so if you sign up by December 31,
the cost is only $47.

On January 1 it goes up to its regular price of $52.

[ To buy this class, click HERE. ]

What do you need for the class?

A notebook or journal and a pen. That’s all you need.

I’m using a composition notebook because there’s no better sound to me in the office supply world than a crinkly notebook. But that’s what I’m doing. Is it the most archivally safe? Probably not. But I really don’t care. :) Hey, if my great grandfather can write in a journal using just an ordinary pen on paper that surely wasn’t archivally safe and have it last 100 years, so can I.

What would be fun to use for the class?

Here is a list of a few things that I’ll be using:
Washi tape! Hello! So easy and fun and visual…and affordable…and thin.
Date stamp(s). Okay, so I may have a variety of those. ;)
Cardstock if you’re cutting elements. Paper or transparencies if you’re printing.
Alphabet stickers.

Remember: Keep it simple.

Do I have to start right at the first of the year?

No. You don’t. Even though the class officially starts on December 31 (a Monday), you can jump in at any time and will have access to all the PDFs and prompts up to that point. This is not a chronological set of memories. We will be all over the place with our memories. It’ll be like one of those compilation children’s storybooks. :) However I will be focusing on the ‘pre-adult’ years, 0-20.

The Moral of the ‘Story’.

When all is said and done, this is your story, your way. It’s your history. You have complete freedom to do it how you’d like. It’s meant to be simple. It’s meant as a solution to recording your life. It doesn’t matter what your age is. You can even get your kids or your husband doing it along with you. Put all your answers in one ‘family’ book or keep your own books.

The important thing is to share your story.

Let’s do it together. I’m so excited! :)

I thought that today might be a good day to share the full pages from my Silhouette class, Just Add Color. Each of the items you see here for these pages are made or modified all within the class. I also show you how to get colors to match your photos or to create fun new color schemes from different resources.

Basically, when all is said and done, this class is all about getting the most out of your shapes, your colors, learning how to create new shapes, using great fonts, and all sorts of good stuff! With the exception of the background paper in the ‘beautiful’ page, everything is created–or already made and can be modified–within Silhouette Studio.

I love me a lacy flower background! This image is part of the class and comes in both letter and 12×12 sizes.
And all those elements? Yeah, we make all of that!

 One of my favoritist (yeah, it’s a word) shapes ever? A poloroid. And they are soooo easy to make in Studio! And see that ‘Genuine’ tag? Yeah, you get that and you can customize the colors in Studio to create a print+cut that fits your needs.

With this part of the class, I show you how you can create your color scheme using a background paper too. 

 
More fun with this part of the class!
If you only knew what you could do with that amazing thing called color!

The things you can do in Silhouette to simplify your process? It’s crazy.
This class shows you many-a tips.

You’ll be coming away with a whole new appreciation for designing your own stuff!

Oh, and don’t forget this cute little set of freebies. :)

If you want more details on the class, you can read this post HERE or see what’s up on JessicaSprague.com.

Stay tuned for a page I’m making with Jordan’s senior pics using some of the stuff from this class. It’s just ever-so versatile.

And if you’ve taken this class? I’d love to hear from ya! :)

That’s right boys and girls! I’ve got a brand new class a-comin’ on JessicaSprague.com! It starts October 8 and you can sign up for it HERE right now!

I am so excited about this class! I have been dreaming of this class for a long time . . . a very long time. Did I say a looooong time? If you’ve followed me over the past few years, you already know what a fan I am of a white background. When I look back at my pages (and I just put away a rather large stack not too long ago), a good chunk of them have white backgrounds.

They are pretty much, without a doubt, some of my very favorite pages.

They are clean.

They are classic.

They are timeless.

Here’s my philosophy on the color white.

If white is all the colors in the world, then what better foundation could there be for your pages than white?

They make every color you use pop off the page. Your accents, your patterned paper pieces, and most importantly . . . your photos.

So that’s where we start with this class.

A clean + fresh palette to work our magic.

And now all we need to do is Just Add Color.

So within the class I’ll be sharing some color+design secrets ‘according to Kerri’. Sharing some fun resources, making color palettes, and the most important part–utilizing our new color fun in Silhouette using the color tools and all the other fun tools to make great accents for your pages.

i can’t wait.

Now, this class is chock-full of creative goodness! It has five lessons and each lesson will have multiple tasks in each one. As usual, everything you need–digitally speaking–for the lessons is included. And the icing in the cake? The freebies! That’s ‘on top’ of what we use in the class, so it really is appropriately ‘the icing.’ :)

Oh, and then the sweet colorful sprinkles on top of the icing would be some surprise goodness from the talented Nichol Magouirk! You can only see those babies in the class! She’ll show you what kind of foundation her white cardstock provides for her! LOVE them!

It’s self-paced so you can start whenever you’d like and come and go as you please. I would definitely call this more of an intermediate class. You should really have a good understanding on how to use the basics in Studio. And it doesn’t matter if you have the Standard or the Designer Edition . . . it will all work the same.

so excited.

And you know what happens when I get all happy and giddy, don’t ya?

That’s right. I’m giving away THREE spots in my class!

To be entered, just leave your name, where you’re from, and your favorite color and I’ll draw a winner Tuesday!

[ this contest is now closed. ]

In case you were wondering what the rest of the freebies were in the Designer Edition class . . .

here they are. :)

Class starts Monday!!!

no pun intended. ;)

I can’t believe class starts on Monday! I’m just a little enthusiastic at the fun that you can have with Silhouette Studio’s Designer Edition. You’ll be able to ‘live’ that enthusiasm with me when you watch the videos. lol

We’ll be making some really cool things and I’ll teach ya how to use the rhinestone and sketch tools for something other than what they are intended for. Gotta love it when you can multi-purpose…well….anything!

The class is available to buy/watch forever and ever. It’s self-paced, so there’s no official ‘class time’ that you have to be there for, which is sweet. I love it because I was watching the videos on my iPad outside in the cool evening breeze. I just love listening to myself talk too….NOT! lol

And if you’re not a Facebook fan (uh, ya should be. ;) ), I posted a few of the freebies that I always do for each class. They are an exclusive set that comes with the class. Generally, it’s a $10 value, so add that to the five bucks you save if you sign up by the time class starts and  you’ve made yourself a pretty good bargain. If you’ve signed up, those endorphins should have been releasing nicely for ya because you got ‘a sale’. (Scientific fact: women release endorphins when getting a good deal. That’s why we feel so good when we shop. lol)

It’s not too late to save those few dollar. You can click HERE to sign up.

But if you missed the sneak peek, here they are.

I’ve been having fun with my iPad, by the way. Been using it with the Adobe Touch (scaled down AI) and Bamboo Apps. While I did have a tablet to draw with, it’s a few years old and I never could get it to really work well. I’ve done a few handwritten words or images here and there over the years, but it was always just too hard. But with my iPad….LOVE IT! Add the Adobe Cloud or just the fact that you can quickly email an image with the click of a button….sweet!

Yeah, so guess what you’ll be seeing more of from me in the near future. ;)

What I’m wondering is where the future will go with technology. If that little iPad is just on the brink of  greatness in the App world with photos and drawing…where will it be in the next five years…or year even.  I can’t wait!