Is the Shotbox the answer to scrapbooking goals?

Following up on my 2016 goals for the year I wanted to give you all my initial impression of the Shotbox which was my big Christmas present from my DH! (I know he's a keeper right?)

I first heard about this great device from the Paperclipping Roundtable podcast from Stacey Julian and it peaked my interest. (By the way if you have never listened they have a dose of amazing inspiration over there!) At lunch that very day I jumped on their website and I knew instantly that I really wanted one... It was the answer to all of my scrapping goals!

Like so many of you, I am drowning in memorabilia which I cannot make myself dispose of! I have tons of old fragile scrapbooks that I want to document to share with my family, photos in terrible old magnetic albums, older scrapbook layouts in different sizes (8 1/2" X 11") plus  I really needed a way to  document lots of physical memorabilia. 

I have a very nice scanner (Epson V600) but it doesn't handle everything I wanted to do. I have taken pictures with a white backdrop and had some luck but it's not so easy and I can really only take pictures on certain days. Since I work full time and really can only take pictures on the weekends - it really limits my ability and flexibility. Plus it needs to be on a fairly bright day when I don't have something else going on.. even more limits!

The Shotbox was originally sold through a Kickstarter campaign - I missed out on that but got in the first order group. The giant box arrived shortly after the holidays so this the second weekend I have had to play with it - and play I have!

I ordered the Shotbox plus the Sideshoot to take pics of physical memorabilia - the backdrops and the carry bag were "extras" that came with the package - they might have included it in the description but they were a surprise to me - a very nice surprise!

The main box is super light and folds flat. And it has its own built in lighting - so no waiting for the sun and light to be just right to take pictures !!  There is a great video on their site which shows them assembling it - literally takes 15 seconds! Shotbox videos

The box unfolds and has 2 simple support arms on the side.

The black base comes separately so it can also be removed. This is the carry bag for all the goodies

There are 4 different backdrops - white, black, green (my DH said it was for special effects like Star Wars..) and blue for various options for picture taking - I will have to play around with these different options to see which one works better.

The Sideshot attaches easily on the top and has its own light source in addition to the light source within the Shotbox.

As a busy scrapper I really like things that are easy to store and transport (think about going to visit family to take pictures of their heritage photos or special collection of grandma's jewelry) I know there are a lot of Etsy and Ebay sellers that will be interested potentially. All you need is access to 1 electric outlet since the Sideshot is also powered directly from the Shotbox.

The bag really makes me so happy!! Everything fits in it perfectly and has nice long shoulder straps to be able to easily carry on you shoulder.

So most importantly how does the Shotbox perform - here are a few examples of cards and scrapbook layouts plus a brochure to see how it goes..

*** Edited to add: There are 3 different light settings - I played around with those and got a much, much better image with no glare this time - I didn't even realize that this was an option - look forward to playing even more!***

So what are my impressions so far... I think the Shotbox will be a perfect tool for cards, photos (taken out of albums or frames), any brochures, tickets etc - I have boxes and boxes of school papers that I need to go through... I think it does a nice job on scrapbook layouts that are flattish.. but not in a page protector (too much glare from the LED lights). I am not sure that it will work as well for those older photos in magnetic albums - here I think a scanner is still a better tool plus the Epson has a nice built in photo restoration setting that does a fine job. 3D memorabilia will also work very well in the Shotbox with a little creative cropping.

Overall I would buy it again without hesitation! Yes, the Shotbox is mostly the answer to my Scrapbooking goals! These opinions are my own and I didn't receive any free products from them..but if you are interested please use the following affliate link  to Shotbox.me to go check it out! It is the same price to you but help supports our blog.. thanks for sticking through this long and photo heavy post!

Day at the Beach Pocket Page

July's "Refresh" Take 10 Kit and Glam Bag are chock full of goodies. I really had fun putting layouts together for this month. Her kits usually sell out on Day ONE, folks. You can see the kit before it goes live (Follow the Take 10 Kit Facebook Group). It is first come, first serve at 6PM EST on the 15th of the month. It is super reasonably priced and super cute, so they go fast. There are other goodies in her shop, too, so go check it out. And go to The Studio 29 Designs Blog for daily inspiration.

Today's post is a Day at the Beach with cousins. It was a slightly overcast day, which always makes for good photos. I really had to work to narrow down my selection for this layout. I knew I wanted to use the  "Cool Off" card, so that's where I started.  I cut down the  pink/blue "waves" from a 4x6 card. The yellow tied in well with the yellows in the photos. 

 

 

 

I love the overhead photo. It's a great active snapshot to get when a bunch of kids are playing on the ground together. The strip of paper is from the Refresh cut-apart.

 

 

 Love that pic of my oldest nephew. I framed it with a Crate Paper frame and embellished with some Pink Fresh puffy stickers.

 

 

New stamp set in the shop. Used the heart throughout and this heart label to record the date.

 

Go out and do something fun. Document it. Treasure it.

 

Holly

 

 

Mix and Match Project Life

Today, I'm over at The Pocket Source with my Creative Team Post.

I'm sharing a layout I just created from Easter Egg Hunting photographs this year. I used my stash for this one, so it's quite a mix. Do you like to mix product lines or use the same line throughout a layout? I do a bit of both, but this one is definitely a mix. 

The "Live Simply Dream Big" card is a MAMBI embellished card. Have you seen these?? There are several different theme packs. The glitter gold pieces you see in several spots are also by MAMBI. They are their chipboard stickers. 

=

Anybody recognize that "Lucky" puffy sticker? That is Amy Tangerine's High Five line. The little bunny is from the same set. The chick is a wood chip by Freckled Fawn. The felt doily is also Freckled Fawn. (I bought up some goodie packs from FF awhile back, fun stuff). And, there is one of those glittery gold MAMBI chipboard stickers.

This detail contains a mix of MAMBI, Amy Tangerine High Five and Freckled Fawn. I inked the wood chip bird.

More MAMBI plus an unknown puffy sticker.

Thanks for "tuning in" today. Find me on Instagram.

Holly Genc

The Pocket Source Creative Team

www.paintedladiesjournal.com

Scrapbooking Two Years at Once

This is a repost of my Creative Team post over at The Pocket Source. If you don't know them yet, hop over and check it out. It's a fabulous community.

I got so far behind I decided to do 2014 and 2015 simultaneously. It was a goal I posted about back in February, here. I had visions of getting tons done and being caught up with both by the end of this year. Well, I'm not trending in that direction but I've revamped my plan to make it more doable. That said, I have been doing some simultaneous months. It is fun comparing pictures that are a year apart. Sheesh, kids grow too fast. They are not going in the same book, I'm just doing January layouts, for instance,  from 2014 at the same time as those January 2015 layouts. Here are two I just did.

  

I used cards from Project Life Jade and Plus One in this 2014 layout, studio calico wood veneers, Target washi and my good old embossing label maker.

These cards and embellishments were from the April Paper Issues Swag Bag. I tried it out when they had it on sale. Love!! Will definitely be shopping with them again.

So, my process has morphed since the idea of doing 2014/15 simultaneously. I'd love to do another post that gives more details on that, but I'll just give you the abbreviated version.  

• I planned out all the layouts in the PL app for Jan-Apr 2015. It was getting a bit old by the end, but it makes printing and putting them together quicker. And now, I keep that up along with journaling in the PL app, just so I can get more of those cute little stories written down. It's is so good for me to do it this way! 
• I already had Jan-Feb 2014 printed. For 2015, I did ALL the photo editing on my phone, using a combination of pic stitch, pic tap go and Dropbox. As I referred to my layouts, I saved my edited photos to a new "print" folder in Dropbox. 
• Then, I uploaded that whole folder to Persnickety Prints. Wow, my first order from them. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to go anywhere else. I was overwhelmingly happy with my prints. 
• I could barely contain my excitement, as I filled my pocket pages, again referring to that PL app of planned layouts! So, then, I had this book full of just photos, and I've been happily skipping all over the place working on whichever layout suits me at the moment. (I just had a mental image of myself literally skipping on top of my scrapbook pages with a big grin on my face. Anyone else? The horror!). I'm loving this system, people. It is so freeing to just have the photos where they go and dig into all my supplies and get it done!

EEK, I need a mani.

Go get some scrapbooking time in this week.

Holly Genc

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Sister Weekend Layouts and SheGlossy product

I'm sharing some of my first layouts using the SheGlossy (affliate link) product I received as one of the Scrapbook Design Team Members. I had so much fun mixing and matching the different items they provided. I knew I wanted to do layouts from the weekend I had in March to visit my sister in Milwaukee. (Did I mention, it was just me, no kids??) It was just 2 days, but it was fabulous. Full of fun. We took lots of "usies" and I have lots of pictures of my sis.

I really liked the bits of gold throughout the Dear Lizzy stickers and the teals and peachy pinks in the American Craft items. I mainly went with those colors across product.

The puffy stickers....ugh, I currently have an addiction to them. I don't have many yet but I'm totally starting to collect them. Actually, it was my sister's stash that she let me raid that I first got a hold of some and fell in love. Thanks, Sis...

Love love love the last photo of the two of us at the local coffee shop. I think it's a great ending to the weekend layouts.

Materials from SheGlossy

Little Notes Paper

Cut Outs - Kiss Kiss Paper

Dear Lizzy - Serendiptiy Stickers

Creative Agenda Chipboard Stickers

Mambi Feather Puffy Stickers

Fancy That - Mix Die Cuts

-Holly Genc

SheGlossy Design Team

Holly Genc, here. I'm so excited to share some news with you today! I've been selected to be on the first design team for SheGlossy. Check out their product. It's fabulous! I can't wait to start creating and sharing my projects/layouts with you here. I'm joining an amazing team of some very talented creatives. Four of us are on the Srapbook Team (that's me) and four are on the Planner Team. Check them out here: Design Team. Start following them all to keep updated on SheGlossy.

Here's some sneaks of SheGlossy products:

Instagram: sheglossy
Pinterest: sheglossy
Website: www.sheglossy.com

Mommy Daughter Trip Project Life Spreads

My daughter and I went on our first extended weekend trip together in January. She is my six-year-old kindergartner, and my oldest child of three. Some one-on-one time with a parent is scarce, so this was great for us. We flew to Connecticut to visit a long time childhood friend of mine, who also happens to have a kindergarten-age daughter. 

Can I tell you how fun it was to see them together?? It was like looking through a time machine mirror at ourselves. Hmm, good movie/book premise. I call dibs on that.

One really, really fun thing we did that I am so, so excited to share was some very special photos. I had taken some fun photos of the girls having some hot chocolate after a sledding adventure. They were sitting side-by-side at the kitchen island being goofy and having fun. Well, the next night, my friend and I re-enacted the photos of our daughters. It was too much fun. I highly recommend it.

I requested help from Jill's mom (and fellow scrapbooker) for some fun childhood photos of Jill and I. I thought this one was perfect. It's so interesting to compare all these photos side by side!

I chose to put the older photo on clear acetate and cover the back side with a vertical 4x6 card where I wrote some funny "how to" instructions. I wanted the photo to be by itself but still be "with" the modern remakes. The overlay effect with the acetate in a 5x7 page protector did the job. 

I'm really loving the white borders. This might be the new thing in the 2015 album. I usually hand-write my journaling but opted to print it out. Most of the cards I chose had lines or grid that I didn't want to cover, so I printed on vellum. 

Below are some close-ups of the details in these spreads. I really tried to use my stash in these layouts. The only newer items are the Studio Calico wood veneers. 

Happy Scrapping!

And special thanks to my bestie, Jill Winter, for letting me post these photos AND to her mom, Marcia Winter, for taking the time to send me some very special photos. 

xoxo

Holly Genc