1. “The 12x12 Solution” Heritage Makers Studio Master Class Presenter: Christina Mika

2. Christina Mika Director, Southern California New to scrapbooking Started when I signed up as a Heritage Makers Consultant Sporadic bursts of free time…anyone else?! Fight perfectionism and need for organization I’m Every Woman!

6. Keep It Simple! Capture the story of your life. What moves you to tears? What makes you laugh? Who is important to you? What lessons is life teaching you? If you are able to record even a fraction of this, you’ve succeeded!

7. Why 12x12 Pages Are Significant • Comprehensive Publishing Platform • Capability to capture all aspects of life – big and small • Books: Vacation, Recipes, History, Life Story, Holidays • Pages: Smaller events, great photographs, journaling • Celebrate ACTIVE Heritage! • Immediately capture the everyday things - pictures and journaling - that tell the story of “today” • Capture random, real-life thoughts, pictures, and experiences without the necessity of a cohesive, published project

8. Organizing 12x12 Pages(adapted from The Big Picture by Stacy Julian) Create the following albums as a means of organizing pages: • All About Us(Personality Pages) • Celebrate what makes each member of your family unique and loved • Places We Go • Capture local trips to favorite hangouts • People We Love • For other people you love: Grandparents, Extended Family & Friends • Things We Do • These pages reflect your lifestyle and any activity you participate in. Capture things like Everyday Life, Accomplishments, Traditions, and Sports & Recreation • Create new albums, as needed, for new categories: Halloween costumes, Family Celebrations, etc.

9. Approach To A 12x12 Page • Ask, “What is the key story I want to tell with this page? What will my focus be?” • The Journaling? • The Colors or Collection? • The Photograph? • The Intended Reader?

10. APPROACH: Journaling, Speed PRINCIPLES: The Power Of FIVE! Design Utilizing Symmetry And The “Rule Of Thirds” Think of the blank page as a “Tic-Tac-Toe” board. Place items of interest at the intersecting points. TIPS: When you’re stumped on what to write, look for quotes, song lyrics and poetry! Choice Of Elements Based On COLOR A few rules of thumb regarding color: Hot, Warm Colors convey excitement and intensity (red, yellow, orange, fuchsia and neon) Cool colors convey serenity & softness (baby pink, baby blue, pastel yellow, violet) Ask, “How did this event FEEL?” and use it to guide color choices. Don’t always chose layout colors based on the photograph(s). Layout #1: The Power of FiveUse Five Page Elements And Keep It Simple! FIVE THINGS: Bikini Sticker (Summer Fun), Letters (Anna Joy), Brads (Friendship Biggie), Journaling Block (Text Box, filled), Text Box (“Learning To”)

11. APPROACH: Photograph, Colors/Collection: “grungy” elements PRINCIPLES: Utilization of “Rule of Thirds” Design Principle Color Selection: As a general rule, use no more than 3 colors Focus here is on blue, gold, plum TIPS: With grunge, less is often more. Let the distressing serve as embellishing for the page. Face eyes of photograph so they look toward center of page, larger empty space, or seam of book Use duplicate, recolor, blur and transparency to create different looks and layers This layout features only 7 elements, colored and manipulated differently Layout #2: Grunge It Up!Use Studio 2.0 To Create Trendy Layouts

12. APPROACH: Photograph PRINCIPLES: Rule of Thirds Odds Are Best! Elements in groups of three or five are almost ALWAYS better than even. TIPS: Use several backgrounds to make your own papers Neutral colors and earth tones often suit older photographs and create a “vintage” feel Keep the page SIMPLE Use text to embellish Distressed metal embellishments also complete the look of heritage layouts; be sure the metals match! Many old photos are small and, even when scanned, are lacking in quality. Take a picture of the picture with your digital camera…the size, when uploaded, is much easier to work with. If photo quality is lacking, you can Convert to black & white Fiddle with transparency Go BIG! Layout #3: Focus on the Photo

13. In Summary • 12x12 Pages are FUN! • Bridge the gap between “everyday moments” and “biggies”, creating a comprehensive publishing application • Easy way to capture “active” heritage through journaling and miscellaneous photos