SYW327 – Interactive Scrapbooking with Brie Beaupre

Brie Beaupre: [00:00:00] It started off with, just even having a pocket for like my pamphlets and just the stuff from your trips. So it started there. And then it usually started with a mistake. I'd be all done and go, oh my God, I forgot this photo. So then I would just make almost like a little flap on the side to flip it in. And then it just kept growing and getting bigger.

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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 327. In this episode, I'm chatting with Brie Beaupre about her innovative approach to getting tons of photos on her pages.

Our conversation focuses on the benefits and strategies of Brie's signature interactive scrapbooking process.

Hey, Brie, welcome to Scrapbook Your Way.

Brie Beaupre: Hey, how are you?[00:01:00]

Jennifer Wilson: I am doing well today. I'm looking forward to our conversation. Can you start by sharing a little bit about yourself?

Brie Beaupre: Yeah, absolutely. Um, so I live in Manchester, New Hampshire, um, about an hour north of Boston. Um, I really love it here other than the winter. Um, the winter, the winter's hard for me. But yeah, we just get through. Um, but.

Jennifer Wilson: How much snow did you get in this recent storm?

Brie Beaupre: Oh gosh. Um, I think we got a total of a foot and a half.

Jennifer Wilson: Wow.

Brie Beaupre: On top of the foot and a half we already had so it's getting a little crazy.

Jennifer Wilson: Yeah. I bet. I bet. And then who's, Uh, who's in your family?

Brie Beaupre: Uh, so I have my, my husband Jeff, who's absolutely wonderful. And my daughter Bella, she's now 16. And we have our dog, Loki, he's a boykin spaniel.

Jennifer Wilson: Fun. Fun. Yeah.

So I always like to ask our guests a couple kind of icebreaker questions. Do you have a favorite recent layout or project?

Brie Beaupre: I do actually, um, this [00:02:00] week I just released, I call it my Timeless layout. It's a layout that I did from our recent trip to London and we saw the DNA museum. And I used the new Simple Stories Junk Drawer, um, scrapbook, uh, kit.

Jennifer Wilson: Uhhuh.

Brie Beaupre: It's just beautiful. It worked so well with it and I actually made step by step instructions for that kit. Um, so yeah, it came out really great. I'm so happy with it.

Jennifer Wilson: Oh, cool. I'll make sure to link that up in the show notes.

Brie Beaupre: Yes, yes.

Jennifer Wilson: So the other question is, is there something new that you're excited to do, use or try? And this can be something inside of scrapbooking or in your everyday life.

Brie Beaupre: Yeah, actually, um, I am very excited to add in more popups. Um, I used to love popup books as a kid, and I've been seeing more and more, um, stuff on Instagram with people doing popup cards. And so I'm like, Ooh, I can, I can add more, more stuff to my, uh, to my layout. So yeah, that's, that's the new thing.

Jennifer Wilson: Well, and you [00:03:00] are the queen of interactive scrapbooking, and so adding more stuff and somehow making it all still so flat is such a miracle. Um, I can't wait to really dive into this process here. Um, can you tell us a little bit about your history as a scrapbooker?

Brie Beaupre: Yeah. So, um, I started actually in my early twenties. Um, started off with just, you know, the, the black paper and photos, maps, pamphlets. Um, and then in 2001, I got invited to a Stampin' Up party and started getting into stamping with making cards and scrapbooking with that, and then it just spiraled from there.

So, yeah, it's been a little while.

Jennifer Wilson: I am curious, do you still make cards today?

Brie Beaupre: No, no. I actually, um, gave that up when I had my daughter. I was like.

Jennifer Wilson: Okay. Okay.

Brie Beaupre: It was hard because, because it was something like I would do like the Christmas cards and it became this whole production process and.

Jennifer Wilson: Yeah,

Brie Beaupre: It, it was a lot. And you're like, people are just throwing this away. So, yeah. No, I was, [00:04:00] I was happy to move on to the photo card.

Jennifer Wilson: Sure, sure. Yeah, I have to say I did as well. Like I never really consider myself a card.

maker, but I definitely did more crafty things. Before I had photos that I wanted to include on a Christmas card. So.

Brie Beaupre: Yeah. Yeah, for sure.

Jennifer Wilson: So you create these very unique, quite detailed, interactive pages. Can you kind of paint a picture of what these look like for someone who hasn't seen any of your work yet?

Brie Beaupre: Absolutely. Um, so with my layouts, they just keep going, is the best way to start with. Um, I even get lost sometimes, like, wait, oh, no, flips there. So it, it, um, has layers of paper that open up back and forth like a book. Um, flip up, flip down, flip right, left. Um, and adds additional pages into just the layout, um, so that you can get, you know, 60 photos in a layout. But it still stays very flat.

Jennifer Wilson: Nice, nice. So what, [00:05:00] what prompted or inspired your first interactive page? Like how did you get to this point?

Brie Beaupre: So it, it started off with, just even having a pocket for like my pamphlets and just the stuff from your trips. So it started there. And then it usually started with a mistake. I'd be all done and go, oh my God, I forgot this photo. So then I would just like, make almost like a little flap on the side to flip it in. And then it just kept growing and getting bigger. Um, and then it, it really a breakthrough one day when I was doing this Harry Potter layout, and at the time I had just started using the Creative Memory albums, the strap and hinge. Because with those, you're gluing your page into the book.

You're not held with the restrictions of the, the top loading page protectors. You're gluing it in. So it can just flip up, flip out, and it's not gonna fall out of the book. And I had so [00:06:00] many photos for this Harry Potter layout that I was like, wanna flip this up. And I did. That, that was like the day that it was like I could do even more because of these albums.

Um, I have since created a way, um, to do it in strap and hinge as well that I have videos on. Um, but it, it's the easiest way is to use the Creative Memory albums.

Jennifer Wilson: It sounds like it. Yeah, I'm sure we'll get more into all the different nuances, but, what are the benefits of, of this approach? Is it just about getting more photos on, like why, why does someone wanna start this if they are curious about it?

Brie Beaupre: So it, it's definitely for me, it, it's a bridge to get all the photos in, in my layout. Um, I I, I hate making the decision of, oh, but, but I love that one too. Um, but it's, it's also, for me, it's so much faster for me to stay in theme. If I have 60 photos to do, and I [00:07:00] gotta do 10 separate pages for that. I'm potentially working with some 10 separate page, ideas.

Jennifer Wilson: Mm-hmm.

Brie Beaupre: Different paper packs, different accessories. Whereas if I'm staying within like a collection kit or one pack of paper, then I'm staying in theme. And my brain can keep going with, oh, I'll layer it like this. And, and, and my brain just tends to do really well with staying within the same category and actually creativity tends to build even further. Um, versus having to stop and re-brain a page to, uh, to start over.

Jennifer Wilson: Well, I can see this taking the place of a lot of things that somebody might create like a mini book for or a smaller album. Of, you know what if you didn't have to make it a big project, you made it a smaller project of this interactive page.

Brie Beaupre: Absolutely. Yeah, and I mean, we just, we take a ridiculous amount of pictures on vacation. And I, I really only scrapbook our vacations. That's all I've kept up with.

Jennifer Wilson: Mm-hmm.

Brie Beaupre: [00:08:00] So it, it's, it's nice to, especially now that I have my husband's photos, my daughter's photos.

Jennifer Wilson: Yeah.

Brie Beaupre: Done with England and we had like 5,000 pictures. I'm like, oh my. So it, it makes it much easier when you can just get so many more photos in a layout. Definitely easy. It for me. It's definitely easier.

Jennifer Wilson: Certainly, but you're certainly, you're also not, I feel like you're not lacking the creative elements either. It's not all photos by any means.

Brie Beaupre: Oh yeah, no, absolutely. Yeah, because you could still, it, it in a way, it makes room for more things.

Jennifer Wilson: Mm-hmm.

Brie Beaupre: When, when, when, before when I would try to like, you know, shove 10 pictures on a page. It's like, well, then you can't add the pretty flowers and the, the quotes and the elements that, that you really wanna see on a, on a layout. So yeah, you actually can make more room. Because you're flipping and adding in different stuff.

Jennifer Wilson: How did you figure out how to make the construction work? So it wouldn't be like awkward or too bulky or just, yeah. How did, how did you figure all that [00:09:00] out?

Brie Beaupre: A lot of it's just trial and error. Um, it, it just, you go to do it and you're like, wow, that, that doesn't work. Um, but yeah, it was, it was really just, you know, like creating a card on the page. Like you just, you know, you go through and you make your score and then you glue that on, flip it open. Um, and then it also can just vary too on the paper.

Some paper, like unfortunately 49 and Market, their paper tends to tear a lot if you put any sort of score marks in it, which is so disappointing because they have such good paper.

Jennifer Wilson: Hmm. It is, yeah.

Brie Beaupre: It is, it's gorgeous. But unfortunately, I, I was having so many problems when I used it, kept tearing and I had to reinforce it again and again.

Um, but yeah, it was, it was really just trial and error and learning to, to just place the, the score mark. It was usually at the half inch mark, you're folding it over, and then usually wanna do three quarters, to one inch. That way it doesn't fall apart. The other thing was the [00:10:00] glue. Um, a lot of the adhesives won't handle it.

Um, I've completely switched to just using wet glue. I use the, um, what is it called? The Barely Art Precision Glue. It dries really fast. It doesn't make it very crinkly. Um, and so on all my score marks, where it's attaching, I use that and that, that's in my latest instructions as well.

Jennifer Wilson: Oh, that's interesting because I think, I know I'm sometimes nervous about using wet glue when it comes to my scrapbook projects. But I can see how, uh, yeah, particularly adhesive that is designed to be maybe more re repositionable these days and not, not fully dr, not fully set down for 24 hours when it's gonna fall apart before it has a chance.

So.

Brie Beaupre: And I've even had ones where I've gone back like a year later and they, I mean, I was using the, um, the Scotch 3M tape, the giant roller.

Jennifer Wilson: Mm-hmm.

Brie Beaupre: Um, and even that started to, to fall apart. It just doesn't hold up as well as like the wet glue does.

Jennifer Wilson: [00:11:00] Yeah, That's so good to know. Are there other, like tools or supplies that you find are particularly helpful or maybe things that you weren't using when you were making, you know, uh, less complicated layouts.

Brie Beaupre: Yeah, the scoreboard, that's, that's the key. That, that, uh, that makes it a lot easier. Um, I used to use my old Fiskars one that has the, the score, attachment. But it, it. It didn't work as well on the scoreboard definitely works great. And you can get 'em really cheap. You can get 'em for like 16.99 at Hobby Lobby. You can get 'em on Amazon. Those help a lot.

Jennifer Wilson: Yes, yes. I, um, I finally got one after all these years. And I, I use it a lot more than I thought I would, particularly doing, um, like holiday related projects and I'm doing maybe smaller albums.

Brie Beaupre: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I got lucky. I actually won mine a crop and I'm like yes!

Jennifer Wilson: Yeah. Yeah.

Brie Beaupre: This is great.

Jennifer Wilson: Especially the tools these days, they could get, get kind of pricey too. I think particularly like We Are Memory Keepers. They're doing all these like [00:12:00] multifunction tools and so they just become exponentially more expensive along with that, so.

Brie Beaupre: Yeah. Yeah, for sure.

Jennifer Wilson: So when you're designing a page these days, are you starting with the interactive concept or are you starting with, you know, I have this trip that I wanna scrapbook?

Brie Beaupre: Yeah, I, I always pretty much do an interactive concept. Because I just, I, when I get my pictures printed. Um, I then, you know, divide 'em up by, um, day, location, et cetera. And there's really not a layout that's like, you know, five photos. There's always like 50 to a hundred. Um, so I'm always starting with that stack of photos.

Um, and then I, I have 12 different, um, layouts. That I've created instructions for that I sell. And I have a cheat sheet that tells me how many photos fit.

Jennifer Wilson: Mm-hmm.

Brie Beaupre: That's usually my starting point. And then from there I figure out, oh, okay, this paper pack will look really good with the way that this design is set up.

Jennifer Wilson: Here's [00:13:00] a question. How many different sheets of pattern paper would you end up using on like an average page?

Brie Beaupre: So it's probably, I'd say it's 12. Um, and now a lot of that is because a lot of the collection kits, like with Simple Stories, uh, Photo Play, Echo Park, they typically have 12 sheets in there. So.

Jennifer Wilson: So you use all of them.

Brie Beaupre: I try to, yeah. Yeah. And I usually do.

Jennifer Wilson: That's amazing.

Brie Beaupre: Yeah. And, and it feels good too. She's like, I used it all. Um, yeah, I, I do, I definitely, and I love to have those, those little strips at the top where it gives you like the preview of what the other side looks like. That I tend to use as well, and get those all layered too.

Jennifer Wilson: So are there common mistakes that people make when they're trying to, to, to figure this out? You know, even with your instructions, I know that I, you know, I've done a lot of trial and error myself and I'm like, oh, well this really should have folded the other way and, and obviously the right adhesive and things like that.

Brie Beaupre: [00:14:00] Yeah, probably the two biggest ones are, um, you attach something upside down. Done it myself. You forget the, the, when you flip the paper, that pattern either doesn't go or it's upside down.

Jennifer Wilson: Oh yeah.

Brie Beaupre: Probably, that's probably the big one. Um, and then the other thing is, um, I recommend when you finish the page, before you add your pictures and all of your, um, your elements. You trace out each page on top of each other, so that way when you open it up, you've got pencil lines to go by. Because I personally do it to myself every time where I put a picture on the next layer and it's peeking through. So from the top, you're seeing all these things sticking out when you're like, no.

Jennifer Wilson: Oh, okay. Okay.

Brie Beaupre: Yeah, the pencil's the, the key. Mm-hmm.

Jennifer Wilson: I think that's what makes it all the more surprising. When I see you flip through, I'm like, I didn't even know there was a flap there. Um, because there's nothing peeking out.

Brie Beaupre: Yes, yes. And [00:15:00] occasionally I've, I've had to learn to even put a, like a little tab because.

Jennifer Wilson: Yeah.

Brie Beaupre: Sometimes you're like, oh, there's a whole other one. I forgot.

Jennifer Wilson: Yeah. So are you typically kind of you constructing the whole foundation of the whole thing before you're adding additional embellishments, decoration, and then finally your photos?

Brie Beaupre: Yeah, if I'm going off of my instructions, which I do more often than not, just 'cause it makes it so much easier. I mean, I can, off of my instructions, I can build the entire foundation within two hours. And then I'll spend three days decorating it.

Jennifer Wilson: Yeah. Yeah.

Brie Beaupre: But yeah. Because I, I already know how many photos are gonna fit ish.

Um, so it's only if I'm doing it from bare bones of okay, I've like, got some really big layouts coming from our trip in London. And uh, I'm like, I'm gonna need something that can fit like 500 photos. So that one will take some, uh, some making. So that'll be starting from the [00:16:00] top and then kind of adding in as you go and deciding how, how deep you wanna get.

Jennifer Wilson: Yeah. The more photos that, yeah, the more decisions you have to make in advance. And I can imagine like the planning could end up being quite a bit when you're, when you really have that many photos, you're trying to fit.

Brie Beaupre: Yeah, there's a lot of logistics for sure.

Jennifer Wilson: So to me, the elephant in the room is the page protectors. Because I, I'm someone who didn't grow up with Creative Memories. Albums, I started with, you know, ring binders and the, the thought of not putting a layout in a page protector makes me a little nervous. So how do you fit that into the equation?

Brie Beaupre: Yeah, absolutely. So, um, I actually do use page protectors. Um, what I do is, um, and, and I have multiple videos on YouTube that have the three ring binders, the post bound, and the, the strap and hinge. Um, and so you're creating custom page protectors. I use a soldering gun.

Jennifer Wilson: Okay.

Brie Beaupre: It's a glass mat by, um, We Are Memory Keepers. [00:17:00] And just using a metal ruler and you, you basically take your 12 by 12 page protector and you your soldering gun to cut and weld a seam, and then.

Jennifer Wilson: Yes.

Brie Beaupre: That creates your page protector for that flap. And for the most part, I only do the top layers, so that way when the two pages kiss together, they're not like tearing at each other or getting stuck.

Um.

Jennifer Wilson: Okay.

Brie Beaupre: So, so, yeah, and you, and I mean, some people do the page protectors all the way through and you're welcome to it. Um, I just do the top layers. But yeah, absolutely. I, I like to have the page protectors there as well.

Jennifer Wilson: So, yeah, it's good to know that you do use page protectors and you found a way to like, make it work so that at least the outside of it is, you know, staying protected as you're, you're flipping through things. I'm curious. We tend to think of, you know, maybe 30 layouts fit into an album, 20 if you make them chunky. How many of these interactive pages fit into a typical [00:18:00] album?

Brie Beaupre: Oh, that's a great question. Um, I wanna say it's probably six to 10, um, layouts. And if we say that we're getting just 24 photos in a layout, you're still getting 240 photos.

Jennifer Wilson: That's amazing. Yeah.

Brie Beaupre: It doesn't sound much, but yeah, it adds up.

Jennifer Wilson: Now, how did you get to the point of deciding, okay, I really need to sell instructions for this. Like I wanna, I wanna, I really do something with this. How did that come about?

Brie Beaupre: Yeah, absolutely. So, so that, that, I, I love the story actually. So during COVID, I, I was like, I'm not one that can sit still. So I came up with all kinds of things to do. And, um, during COVID, I started my own Facebook page, my interactive scrapbooking page. And people just love my layouts. And, um, I was just doing it to, to get noticed by scrapbook companies so they'd [00:19:00] send me free things.

Jennifer Wilson: Oh yeah.

Brie Beaupre: Getting, but I didn't, and I kept getting all these customers, they were like, oh gosh, I would really love to, to get your instructions. I'd pay for them. And I'm like, well, okay. So, so I, uh, I was like, let's do this. So I, I went ahead and just created my instructions. Where I took, I take pictures of every single step.

Um, and then I, uh, initially was just selling it basically through Facebook where I would post it and people would email me and I'd take payment via PayPal and Venmo. And I'd email it back to them. And then I found out that you could create a free site on Square. That was great. So I, I had to become a, a marketing person.

Jennifer Wilson: Yeah.

Brie Beaupre: Learn a lot, I'm sure you have as well. Um, and then create, learning how to create like even thumbnails on Canva. And just doing all that stuff. Um, it's definitely been a wild ride, but it's been great. It's, it's, it's a great, great business. I've become so [00:20:00] close with some of my customers. I absolutely adore when they comment on my stuff and I get to see the things they make, off of my instructions. It is fantastic.

Jennifer Wilson: Now I'm curious. Um, one of the things that I was also thinking about was, you know, when you're teaching somebody to do a particular page with a particular collection, how much does the actual product have to do with the flaps that you're choosing? Like for example, maybe there's a, pen and paper that has, um, four by six cards on it. Like, does that become part of the instructions that you're gonna turn this four by six card into a particular flap, or is that not really part of how you construct the pages?

Brie Beaupre: So you're saying like there's a, there's like element pages that have four by six cutouts on them.

Jennifer Wilson: Yeah. Or maybe like there's a particular, like, you know, um, maybe there's a diagonal line across a pattern paper and then you end up using that as the, part, basically cutting alongside the [00:21:00] pattern. To become your flap. Versus just arbitrarily cutting across the pattern.

Brie Beaupre: Yeah, absolutely. So, um, when, when there's those elements, um, it definitely becomes part of the instructions for sure. And, and part of, part of the layout. Um, and obviously people are, are using, for the most part their own paper. I, I agonize over all these instructions and make sure that I'm getting everything perfect for them. And they're almost always using somebody else's paper. Which great.

Jennifer Wilson: Yeah.

Brie Beaupre: That's, that's, that's the greatest thing ever. So I always recommend for people when they buy my instructions, create a blank template. Follow the instructions, use white paper, black paper, um, whatever they choose. And that way they have a template and they can see how things are gonna lay out for them by, by layering in their pattern paper off of the template.

Jennifer Wilson: Oh, that's great. I think that's a brilliant idea. And then, yeah, you can then kind of [00:22:00] lay things out so you can see which patterns are facing each other and which patterns are overlapping. So make sure it all goes in the end. Um.

Brie Beaupre: Absolutely. Yeah. And I actually created a, a process video, it's called Feathered Friends. And that I even show like how, how to do it from the template. Um, and then even using, um, some apps where you can take a picture to see how it's gonna look. That is my life saving thing. Taking pictures.

Jennifer Wilson: Oh, awesome. Yeah, we'll definitely include, uh, that video as well, I'm sure it'll be handy. Um, yeah, your YouTube channel is so amazing and so helpful. You have all these walkthroughs of your pages and um, yeah, I was just so intrigued 'cause I've never made a scrapbook page like this. Like I've done maybe just a flip out in a mini album, you know, like. A gatefold or just one, one fold over a, a pocket. So, but certainly not that many layers. Um, and I'm, yeah, I'm amazed.

Brie Beaupre: Well, thank you. Thank you. I hope you give it a try. It's a lot of fun.

Jennifer Wilson: What [00:23:00] trip are you scrapbooking next?

Brie Beaupre: Um, so I'm, I'm working, uh, I'm finishing up Dominican is, Dominican Republic is, um. The one that is being finished now. As far as it, the videos just have to get posted online. And then I just am now working on our trip, um, to London. So that one has been super fun because we um, we did a day in Paris. So I have an Eiffel Tower page and it's just, I can't wait.

Jennifer Wilson: Oh yeah.

Brie Beaupre: Nice. So yeah, there's, there's a lot of very fun pages coming. And then, um, we're gonna Cancun in April, so then we'll be back to beach paper. Which has been my life for the last like four years. Not that I'm complaining. I am not complaining.

Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, But no, very, very fun. Very cool. So Brie, thank you so much for sharing your story with us and, and giving us a peek inside of your interactive scrapbooking world. Can you share where our listeners can find you online and, you know, anything else that you, you're planning for [00:24:00] this year?

Brie Beaupre: Yeah, absolutely. Jennifer. Um, yes, you can find me on, on all the, the social medias. I'm on Facebook, Instagram. I actually just created a Pinterest page. I'd love to get more followers there. Please, please, please. TikTok, YouTube. Um, yeah, and, and, uh, just anybody that comments and likes, bless them. They, they are my, my number one fans and I, I love them for it.

Jennifer Wilson: Oh wonderful. yeah. Yeah, I definitely wanna encourage folks to, to check it out and, and definitely watch your videos and, and give it a try. I think I'm gonna try it, I wanna try it in like a smaller scale to start with maybe. But maybe doing it bigger is actually easier. 'Cause the more you start to fold small things, the harder it is. So, we'll see. I definitely have to try it though.

Brie Beaupre: Absolutely, um, Coastal Escape, that's, that's the easiest one. And that one has the least amount of pictures. That's the best starting point for sure.

Jennifer Wilson: Good to know. Good to know. Thank you. Again, thank you so much for spending time with me.

Brie Beaupre: Oh, thank having me. I really appreciate it. I feel I feel famous now. [00:25:00]

Jennifer Wilson: I love chatting with scrapbookers and, and hearing how everyone is so different and what they love and, and learning more about it.

Brie Beaupre: That's awesome. I can't wait to listen to your podcast.

Jennifer Wilson: Yeah. And to all of our listeners, please remember that you have permission to Scrapbook Your Way.