Confession Time

I don’t know about you, but I always view the beginning of a new year as a time to start over. That means reflecting on your status, releasing the past, and learning from your experiences. Are you ready to clean the slate before you move forward in 2012? If so, get ready to confess the scary, ugly, funny and sentimental.

Confessions are not always easy to make. Fear of embarrassment or judgment may stop you from freely admitting what is on your mind. It makes sense considering the words that are often associated with making a confession. Think about these concepts: guilty, declaration, admission, penance, and exposure. But confessing a secret or a thought doesn’t have to be negative! It can be liberating. This month, let it go by journaling a confession on a scrapbooking page.

If you are nervous about making a confession, start with the humorous. Share a guilty pleasure or harmless fact that others might not know about you. I record General Hospital on my DVR and watch it every night after the kids go to sleep. Putting that on a page further tells my life story, even though it is a small part of my world.

The following layouts document confessions. You will see a guilty pleasure exposed. A bucket list is divulged on a personal layout! And, for a twist, a confession is documented from a subject different than the scrapbook artist. Carol recorded a confession from her daughter to create a layout that is sure to be a conversation piece in several years.

My Sweet Pick-Me-Up by Lisa Swift

Supplies: Paper: Echo Park Paper, Doodlebug Designs, Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper, Diecuts with a View, Chipboard: Bella Blvd., Making Memories, Cosmo Cricket, Target, Alphabet Stickers: Lily Bee Designs, Rub-Ons: BasicGrey, Die Cuts: Jillibean, Sweetwater, Jenni Bowlin Studio, Doodlebug Designs, My Little Shoebox, Pink Paislee, Journaling Spots: Doodlebug Designs, Felt: KI Memories, Fonts: Decker (from the Internet), Other: packaging, buttons. Tools: Border Punches: Fiskars.

Design Notes: Use product packaging on your pages, especially when it works to enhance your theme and tie in with other elements on the page. The pieces of the corrugated cup sleeve work with the corrugated alphabets, made from the same material.

Journaling: One tall chai tea latte, please, with skim milk. My favorite pick-me-up, my current obsession (if you can call something you get twice a month or so an obsession). Call it what you will. It’s my sister Morreen’s fault. She got me hooked on them. The sweet, creamy, spicy goodness never fails to lift my spirits like a day of sunshine. Definitely worth about $3.00 a cup, don’t you think?

Bucket List by Tina Walker

Supplies: Paper: Crate Paper, Lily Bee, Simple Stories, Jillibean Soup, Cardstock: American Crafts, Alphabet Stickers: Studio Calico, Buttons: Fabric Store, Floss: The Twinery, Sketch: Grace Tolman , Other: ribbon, charms, stars, ticket.

Editor's Notes: Tina pushed her journaling all the way over to the left side of the layout, which is unique. She balanced that with large, graphic elements like the stars.

Journaling: 1. Learn to make pottery. 2. Stomp grapes. 3. Ride a gondola in Venice. 4. See the Northern Lights. 5. Visit Australia and New Zealand. 6. Take a drive on the 'Going to the sun' Road. 7. Go on a safari. 8. Milk a cow. 9. Stay in an Ice hotel in Iceland. 10. Visit NYC during Christmas and ice skate at Rockefeller Center. 11. Become a wine connoisseur. 12. Experience Oktoberfest in Germany. 13. See the Taj Mahal. 14. Visit Machu Picchu. 15. See the Great Pyramids of Egypt.

I Hate to Clean by Carol Monson

Supplies: Paper: Sassafras Lass, BasicGrey, American Crafts, Alphabet Stickers: Sassafras Lass, October Afternoon, American Crafts, Rub-Ons: BasicGrey, Stickers: Sassafras Lass, Sassafras for Studio Calico, Mix Tape: American Crafts, Ribbon: The Twinery, Buttons, Brads: My Mind’s Eye, Paint: Maya Road Mists, Ink: Tim Holtz (Ranger Industries), Pens: Zig Writer, Software: Photoshop, Fonts: New Times Roman, Other: cardstock. Tools: Border Punches: EK Success.

Design Notes: I created the photo collage in Photoshop and printed my text onto pattern paper. I also used the negative strip from some Sassafras stickers to go along the edge of my photo collage.

Journaling: I get mad when I have to do my chores. All I do is shove stuff under my bed, unless it's something special. Sometimes I have to make my bed or clean my bed. Also sometimes I have to clean under my bed. That's terrible (insert teachers comment: Especially after you shoved everything under there!) I hate to clean!!!