SYW210 – My Way with Cassie King

[00:00:00] Jennifer Wilson: Welcome to Scrapbook Your Way, the show that explores the breadth of ways to be a memory keeper today. I’m your host, Jennifer Wilson, owner of Simple Scrapper and author of The New Rules of Scrapbooking. This is episode 210. In this episode I'm interviewing Cassie King for the My Way series. My Way is all about celebrating the unique ways memory keepers get things done. We're excited to have Cassie as the March featured artist at Simple Scrapper.

[00:00:40] Jennifer Wilson: Hey Cassie welcome to Scrapbook Your Way.

[00:00:42] Cassie King: Hi. Thanks for having me.

[00:00:44] Jennifer Wilson: Yes, I am looking forward to our conversation today. Can you kick things off and share a little bit about yourself?

[00:00:52] Cassie King: Well, I am 40 years old. I've been married to my husband for 17 years this July. We have two daughters, 12 and 14. and we have three kitties and two Guinea pigs.

[00:01:04] Jennifer Wilson: Aw, sounds fun.

[00:01:06] Cassie King: Another thing about us is we're an active duty military family, so, that's something kind of unique about us.

[00:01:13] Jennifer Wilson: I'm guessing that means you move a lot or no.

[00:01:16] Cassie King: Yeah. Every few years we move.

[00:01:18] Jennifer Wilson: Okay. And where are you right now? If you're willing to share.

[00:01:21] Cassie King: We're stationed in Washington DC but we live on the Virginia side.

[00:01:26] Jennifer Wilson: Okay. Okay. Very cool. Okay. All righty. So we always love to ask our guests what's exciting you right now, and for this year, we've added a little twist and we're asking everyone to share one non scrapbooking thing as well as one scrapbooking related thing.

[00:01:44] Jennifer Wilson: So what's exciting you What's exciting you right now, Cassie?

[00:01:46] Cassie King: Well, my daughter and I are going to, um, Europe for spring break with her school, so I'm really excited about that. I haven't been overseas since 2010 and she never has. So not only am I looking for the trip, you know, looking forward to it. We're gonna have like lots of pictures to scrap and it'll be a really fun time.

[00:02:04] Jennifer Wilson: Yes. Yes. That sounds exciting. Where, what countries will you be going to?

[00:02:08] Cassie King: We're going to the Netherlands, Belgium, and England.

[00:02:12] Jennifer Wilson: Aw, yes. That sounds really fun. I hope it's a wonderful trip.

[00:02:16] Cassie King: Thank you.

[00:02:18] Jennifer Wilson: And so is that your non scrapbooking thing or your scrapbooking thing?

[00:02:21] Cassie King: I guess it's kind of interrelated, but that was my non scrapbooking.

[00:02:25] Jennifer Wilson: Okay. And then what is your scrapbooking thing that you're excited about?

[00:02:30] Cassie King: Well, um, we're a really big Disney family and this year we got to go to the Oogie Boogie Bash for Halloween in California and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party in Florida for Christmas, obviously. And I'm really looking forward to scrapping those.

[00:02:45] Jennifer Wilson: Oh, that's really cool. You, that's really awesome that you got to go to both California and Florida at the end of last year. Yeah. And what are your plans for scrapbooking those?

[00:02:59] Cassie King: Um, well, I'm starting to dabble a little bit into hybrid. I, I, I started out scrapbooking as a paper scrapper, though I never really did very much with that. Um, but I really miss like the dimension and texture of it. And I wanted to do like a hybrid mini album cause I'm not very good at keeping albums very mini, but I thought maybe I could do a single day event.

[00:03:24] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, no, that sounds really cool. I'm hearing more and more, uh, digital scrapbookers, uh, feeling intrigued and, and fancying the things that they're seeing online and wanting to play a little bit with physical formats again.

[00:03:39] Cassie King: Definitely there's a lot of talent out there too.

[00:03:43] Jennifer Wilson: Oh, yes, yes, yes. So I, I also love to ask our guests about your memory keeping bucket list. So, do you have an important story that you really want to tell, but for some reason you haven't told it yet?

[00:03:56] Cassie King: Not really a specific story. Um, mine is kind of an ongoing process like, you know, as you know, I said we're a military family, so that means we're never in the same place very long. Um, and that sucks sometimes. But you know, we try to teach, treat everything like an adventure. And so along with those adventures come photos and memories and I try to record those as they go along so that the children can look at those someday and remember the good more than they do the bad about being a military family.

[00:04:29] Jennifer Wilson: Yes. Yes. So do you keep those types of stories in one album about your military adventure, or are they across all of your albums?

[00:04:37] Cassie King: Um, I, I don't scrap chronologically unless it's a travel album, so I just slide each page as it gets made into an album for that year.

[00:04:47] Jennifer Wilson: Okay. Okay. Very cool. Okay. All right, so you are one of our featured artists for 2023, and this is a My Way episode cause we get to peek behind the scenes of your hobby. Um, but I'd like to give our listeners a little bit of a teaser about you, because right now at Simple Scrapper, we're talking about organization. So I'm curious what has been successful for you in organization, whether it's in your hobby or in your home.

[00:05:14] Cassie King: Uh, well, I'm one of those visual people. If it's outta sight, it's out of mind. So I actually organize my scrap supplies, um, in folders by kits, and then templates or, you know, whatever kind of product it is. Within my folder is by designer. But then I, um, I use the kit preview as the folder icon so that I can easily scroll through it. And then, um, I also use a tagging system for the preview so that I can easily search for what I want too.

[00:05:47] Jennifer Wilson: I think that's definitely a really handy solution between using that, the preview as the folder icon, but then tagging just the previews, not trying to tag every single supply, I think is a really, uh, strategic approach that can be efficient as well.

[00:06:01] Cassie King: Yeah, definitely.

[00:06:05] Jennifer Wilson: So could you take us back and tell us how you got started scrapbooking? You mentioned that you did start with paper, so how did you evolve from, you know, those initial days to where you are now?

[00:06:16] Cassie King: So, um, in about 2013, um, my, my family and I, we took our daughters, they were little toddlers to Disney World for the first time, and I really wanted to scrap those. But I, like I said, I was a paper scrapper and so I had just recently learned about this Project Life style, which I now know more like is pocket style.

[00:06:37] Cassie King: Uh, so I was on the internet googling for printable Disney products and I came across Project Mouse from Krista Sahlin and Britt(ish) Designs, and I fell instantly in love. So I bought that thinking that I would use the PDFs that they include. Um, but actually, when I opened it up, there were obviously PNGs and I happened to have Photoshop Elements for a photography class I was taking. So I imported a picture frame along with the photo and I printed it off that way, and I was like mind blown that the digital element actually did print on the photo. So that's kind of how I discovered that that was a possibility.

[00:07:21] Jennifer Wilson: Oh, that's really fun. I think when you have, uh, even just a beginner skill like you did with Photoshop Elements, that you can start playing with other things. Um, and that just kind of creates a little bit of a snowball effect. I think sometimes we're intimidated that we don't know. You know, quote unquote fully how to use Photoshop, if you will. But you don't, you just need to know how to do some of the basics to, to get started and experiment and learn.

[00:07:50] Cassie King: Mm-hmm.

[00:07:50] Jennifer Wilson: So what sizes or formats are you typically creating in today? Are you doing mostly well and I guess for you especially, is it, you know, how are you creating and then maybe, um, how are you printing them in what sizes?

[00:08:04] Cassie King: So I scrap in 12 by 12, but I print in eight by eights. Mostly because it's a lot cheaper, the smaller size and they fit on the shelf better. But if I'm giving a gift, like I made a travel album for my in-laws for a trip we took together, I, I print those 12 by 12. Cuz it's easier for them to hold and see with, you know, aging eyes.

[00:08:24] Jennifer Wilson: Yes. Yes. Now, relatedly to that too, when you are printing an eight by eight, do you have a rule of thumb for the size of font that you use on the page to make sure that it is readable?

[00:08:37] Cassie King: No, you know, I don't know. I think I read so one time. It shouldn't be like more than 12 or something like that. I don't remember. I typically, I never really thought about it and it's never happened to me before that it hasn't worked except for one time in a travel album and, and I guess I've been lucky.

[00:08:55] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah. Now you mentioned that you primarily, um, insert your layouts as completed into just an annual album. Um.

[00:09:02] Cassie King: Mm-hmm.

[00:09:03] Jennifer Wilson: Ever print your pages into bound books?

[00:09:06] Cassie King: Um, if I have a specific travel album, like, um, we went to Disney World in 2015. I had that one printed through Shutterfly and I gifted it to all the members of the trip. But my regular album, like I said, cuz I don't scrap chronologically, I just print from Persnickety Prints and I put 'em in the little photo sleeves as I'm done.

[00:09:26] Jennifer Wilson: Nice. Very, yeah, I like a streamlined approach. I think it works really well. Now you mentioned you were thinking about working on a hybrid mini album. What, what size would be mini for you then?

[00:09:38] Cassie King: Well, I actually have one in progress and I bought a six by six album that I thought was so cute. But I, it was for a regular six day trip to Disneyland and that album is now on its fourth continuation. So I've learned that that size does not work for me for whole events. Just, it's gotta be like one single day, one single event, not a trip. So I've actually, um, I have a 9 by 12 album that I think I got from Studio Calico, so I think I'm gonna try that as my, like, bridge in between.

[00:10:15] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, no, that makes sense. I think it's important to understand the sizes that, that work for you. Depending on, you know, and it sounds like how many photos that you want to include. How detailed you like to make your pages. Uh, that's gonna really dictate your satisfaction with the album size that you choose.

[00:10:33] Cassie King: Yeah, I definitely include way more photos than probably most people. I like my photos to tell the story more than my journaling, so I, I've realized I just can't do mini. Mini, mini.

[00:10:45] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah. So on that note, how would you describe your style?

[00:10:49] Cassie King: Um, well, you know, several years ago Scrapaneers had a Master of Scrap Challenge. So, you know, you take this little test and it tells you where you fit, and I came up with traditionalist and eclectic. And I think that's pre pretty right for me. Um, I'm pretty traditional, but every once in a while I like to like, have a really messy page. But I definitely like a really full page, like lots of photos, lots of elements. I like the supplies just as much as the photos.

[00:11:17] Jennifer Wilson: Mm-hmm. How do you kind of find, um, I don't know, like rest for the eye when you are making a busy page and so that it doesn't look or feel messy? Are you trying to, like, are you use a lot of grids? You know, I'm just trying to like think how, how do you make a full page that feels satisfactory to you?

[00:11:40] Cassie King: Well, I'm a big template user, so I kind of have a guideline already. But I'll admit sometimes I just keep adding and adding and adding, and then I have to take a step back and say, that's too much. So then I start taking things off one piece at a time.

[00:11:54] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, that makes sense for sure. Now, whose products are you completely obsessed with?

[00:12:00] Cassie King: Oh, well, I have to go back to my first love, which was Project Mouse. So anything that Krista, Sahlin and Britt(ish) Designs release, I'm, I have to have it actually. I'm lucky enough to be on Krista's team, but I have to have that. But that, that style is a little bit different from my usual style. Um, I really love Kristin Cronin-Barrow uh, Studio Flergs, Wendy P. They have a lot of flowers and foliage and really cute elements, so I think they fit my traditional style. And then when it comes to like, if I wanna get grungy or messy or something, uh, Studio Basic Designs is my go-to.

[00:12:40] Jennifer Wilson: Okay. So yeah, I'm imagining that you're filling the page with a lot of like layered florals and clusters and things like that.

[00:12:48] Cassie King: Mm-hmm.

[00:12:49] Jennifer Wilson: So is there something that you use or do on most of your pages, or did we just mention that?

[00:12:55] Cassie King: Well, definitely clusters. You'll almost always find a cluster. Um, and I like my clusters to be more full than just a flower and a leaf. I like to stick like those velum underneath or stickers underneath some paint splatters, ribbons, multiple types of foliage. Um, so I almost always have those. And then the other thing that I pretty much learned to do from uh, experience is to date my pages.

[00:13:21] Cassie King: Cuz my earlier pages I did not date, thinking that I would always remember, you know, when it was. And I don't. So I've spent a lot of time cross comparing my photos to my layouts and having to write on the back of those. So now I date every single page.

[00:13:38] Jennifer Wilson: Do you have, like, uh, do you do it in the same way every time?

[00:13:44] Cassie King: Uh, dating them you mean?

[00:13:45] Jennifer Wilson: Or is it different depending, yeah. Like when you're dating your layouts, are you using the supplies that go with your page or are you using like the exact same font? In the exact same place every time?

[00:13:55] Cassie King: Um, not the same place. I tend to go with the same font. Like A Skyscraper is what it's called. And I love that font. But, um, if there's a tag or some spot on the page that a tab, something like that, that it's meant to be dated on, I will use that. Otherwise, I just sneak the date in somewhere that it, it kind of blends with the whole page instead of sticking out, obviously.

[00:14:19] Jennifer Wilson: Okay. Okay. That makes sense.

[00:14:21] Cassie King: Yeah, I know. I'll search for it. I don't know if everybody else would who see it later on, but I'll search for it somewhere on the page.

[00:14:28] Jennifer Wilson: Yes, yes. I know what I'm trying to like, uh, roughly organize my layouts into, you know, chronologically even as I've made them. Um, I, I really appreciate when I've taken the time to add a date.

[00:14:40] Cassie King: Mm-hmm.

[00:14:43] Jennifer Wilson: So I wanna talk a little bit now about your process and how you come to your computer to create. So when do you typically find the time and energy for scrapbooking?

[00:14:53] Cassie King: Well, I'm lucky enough to be a stay-at-home mom. So I pretty much have enough time for anything I wanna do. I don't always have the right focus, but I scrap a lot when the kids are in school. And my husband is, he's, he works for the White House Transportation Agency. So he's always gone. So when he's gone after the kids go to bed, I tend to scrap too.

[00:15:14] Jennifer Wilson: Now, have you, have you always used that time? Because I'm imagining as you're moving and your husband's in a different position, you know, his hours are perhaps quite different.

[00:15:24] Cassie King: Mm-hmm. When the kids were younger and they went to bed earlier, I pretty much scrapped only at night and I'd end up staying up till like two in the morning. But the older I get, I can't do that anymore. So my um, scrapbooking time has diminished over the years, but I try to sneak it in when I can.

[00:15:45] Jennifer Wilson: Now, I'm curious if your motivation stays pretty consistent over time. Are you always eager or does it ebb and flow?

[00:15:53] Cassie King: It ebbs and flows. Um, I've realized that if I have like new pictures, I really wanna scrap 'em. But, you know, with, with Covid, um, we didn't go out and do all that much, so I didn't have very much photos for that. And then my daughters are getting into that teenage phase and they don't want me to take their photos anymore. So I don't really have as much, um, content or inspiration. So I don't quite scrap as much anymore, or I find myself taking more selfies or pictures with my husband, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

[00:16:28] Jennifer Wilson: Well, I'm curious, do you have any other strategies that you use to stay motivated? Do you participate in challenges or like how do you jumpstart it when maybe you kind of want to, but maybe you don't have a brand new photo or, or new supplies that totally get you going?

[00:16:42] Cassie King: Well, I found I'm far more accountable to other people than I am to myself. So actually my creative teams are a really big motivator for me. So, I'm lucky enough to create for Sweet Shoppe Designs and a few other, um, individual designers. So having those teams keeps me on, every single week I'm scrapping something.

[00:17:03] Cassie King: Um, if I'm scrapping personally, like my travel albums, um, I have joined challenges before. I've actually hosted challenges before so that I have a deadline. I have to be, be done. I, I don't wanna fail. So I, I try to put it out there so that I am accountable to someone else.

[00:17:23] Jennifer Wilson: I like. I love that you mentioned hosting because I think there's so many opportunities to be a leader in a community these days and to just say, okay, this is what I'm doing. You know, who wants to come along with me? And when you're the leader, then you're on the hook even more than joining it. So I think that's a really powerful strategy. Now, as you've, you know, gone through your scrapbooking journey, is there something that you've decided is just not for you at all? Like, no, thank you, never.

[00:17:54] Cassie King: Oh, well, I'm not very good at clean and simple. I mean, I've tried it and I do it now and then. I don't think I'm necessarily bad at it, but I have a hard time stopping putting stuff on the page. So I really admire people who have that control. Cuz I do not.

[00:18:13] Jennifer Wilson: That's really, it's really interesting because I think it can be harder and more time consuming to create a really clean and simple page than it can be to enjoy the process of, of layering things up and embracing more is more.

[00:18:27] Cassie King: It definitely is. I second guess everything I put on a clean and simple, put it on my regular pages. I just throw it on and move it around till I'm happy.

[00:18:35] Jennifer Wilson: Yes, yes, yes. So I'm curious, where would you like your scrapbooking to be in 10 years? You're gonna have, you know, fully, uh, grown humans by then. Um, so you know, wherever you are in the world, where will your scrapbooking be?

[00:18:51] Cassie King: How about caught up ? I don't know that'll ever be caught up. Um, but, you know, as far as that goes, I guess I just wanna improve upon the skills that I have. I'm, I'm pretty happy with how much I've grown, but I have like oodles of, um, like classes I've bought and haven't really gotten around to doing. Um, so I would just really like to do that and learn some more skills.

[00:19:19] Jennifer Wilson: Okay. Well maybe I'll challenge you here. What is the next class that you want to open up and start learning from? That's, you know, in your library already.

[00:19:28] Cassie King: Well, I um, I actually have two of the same, it's like version one and version two. I have, um, some classes from Digital Scrapper. They're like a, I don't remember what they're called, but they're paper piecing templates. So you know that, you know. Yeah. I'd really like to learn how to do that.

[00:19:46] Jennifer Wilson: Yes. I think it can be whether you're doing that digital, hybrid, or paper that's, uh, it can be very cumbersome to, to do with lots you know, lots and lots of layers and, and small cuts.

[00:19:58] Cassie King: Yeah. Yeah. It's a, it's die cuts. They're like a big thing in the paper world, and I really like how they look, so I'd like to incorporate them more into in my Digi pages.

[00:20:07] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, that sounds fun. Now, if we got to step back, big picture here, what has being a scrapbooker taught you?

[00:20:14] Cassie King: Hmm. Well, I guess first thing is that I'm not gonna always remember the when and where. And so it really is important to record your stories so that we can go back and remind ourselves about them as well as our children. And then along the same lines, um, not only does that put value, like I have value in my stories, but I have actually like found a community through scrapbooking. It's like a family. I, I always call my digi family, my friends, the family that moves with, with me every time I move.

[00:20:49] Jennifer Wilson: Oh yes.

[00:20:49] Cassie King: For me, yeah, cuz I mean, they're always there. I have to leave my real friends behind, but my digi family is always there. So, um, scrapbooking, like the hobby as well as the community are as much a form of therapy and connection for me as it is memory keeping.

[00:21:05] Jennifer Wilson: Yes, I think that is so true and just as technology has improved, now we have Zoom and I think, you know, the pandemic just accelerated our ability to connect online in new ways and to, you know, make that family feeling even deeper when it comes to our, our online friends.

[00:21:24] Cassie King: Mm-hmm.

[00:21:26] Jennifer Wilson: All righty. So where we know we can find you at Sweet Shoppe Designs, but where else can we find you and maybe anything you have fun or new coming up in 2023.

[00:21:36] Cassie King: Well, I'm on Instagram. It's uh, @kingsqueen82. Um, otherwise I, I hang out at the Lily Pad just a little bit. Um, and Scrapbook dot com. I have a gallery, but that's pretty much it. Um, Sweet Shoppe is my hub. So along that line, sweet Shop turns 17. Next. So I'll be there along with the rest of the Sweet Shoppe team, um, celebrating with lots of fun games and prizes and a lot of scrapping for the whole month long. So I'll be there.

[00:22:04] Jennifer Wilson: That sounds so fun. Yes. Now, you mentioned you also hang out at the Lily Pad. Are you doing month of challenges right now?

[00:22:11] Cassie King: I am not. Um,

[00:22:13] Jennifer Wilson: What led to that decision?

[00:22:16] Cassie King: Well, I've done it in the past, but I'm very much an all or nothing person. And so there's this pressure put on me like I have to do it and it has to be perfect. In which I know is not the case. And we just got back from, um, like a trip at the end of the month. We were in Universal Studios and Disney for like a week and a half.

[00:22:36] Cassie King: Um, and I just knew that I just, I was tired and I didn't really wanna start that yet. And then we have the birthday month for Sweet Shoppe coming up in February. So I was just like, I'm just gonna take a mental break for a little bit.

[00:22:51] Jennifer Wilson: Well, that sounds like a smart decision, and I think the more that we can really be in tune to what we need right now, the, the fewer creative regrets that we'll have.

[00:23:00] Cassie King: I, I have done mock in or MOC or what, however they actually say it. Month of Challenges before and it's like, it really does stretch your creative muscles. So I would like to go do it again. One of these years.

[00:23:13] Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, yeah. But it's something you can always look forward to and to know, you know, every season of life will be a little bit different.

[00:23:19] Cassie King: Mm-hmm.

[00:23:21] Jennifer Wilson: Cassie, this has been so fun to get to know you a little bit better.

[00:23:25] Jennifer Wilson: Thank you so much.And to all of our listeners, please remember that you have permission to Scrapbook Your Way.