SYW333 – My Way with Carolyn Murray

Carolyn Murray: [00:00:00] the fabulous supplies that you can buy and organize, and I've always been a stationary junkie. And then of course, there's the artistic outlet and a great feeling of satisfaction when you've completed something. So, yeah, it, it just checks every box.

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 333. In this episode, I'm interviewing Carolyn Murray for the My Way series. My Way is all about celebrating the unique ways memory keepers get things done.

We're excited to have Carolyn as the May featured artist at Simple Scrapper.

Hey Carolyn, welcome to Scrapbook Your Way.

Carolyn Murray: Hi Jennifer. It's really great to be here.

Jennifer Wilson: I am so looking forward to our conversation today and getting to know you better. Can you share a little bit about yourself?

Carolyn Murray: Uh, sure. I'm Carolyn Murray. [00:01:00] I live, um, just outside Toronto, Ontario, in a place called Mississauga. Um, been married for about 30, just over 30 years. To my high school sweetheart. We have two children. I have a daughter who, um, was living at home for a couple of years, but has now moved about two hours away with her fiance.

She's getting married later this year, and also a son who has just graduated from architectural design. And we also have a a 10-year-old golden doodle named Finn. And so we're basically empty nesters except for Finn.

Jennifer Wilson: Yes, yes, I have, uh, met some golden doodles in the past few years, and they are just such, uh, fun, sweet dogs. So.

Carolyn Murray: He's very goofy and he's in actually quite a lot of my scrapbook layouts.

Jennifer Wilson: So speaking of your layouts, do you have a favorite something, a recent layout, a recent project that seems really special to you?

Carolyn Murray: I have, um, earlier back in January, I really like to go back and do a layout about the books that [00:02:00] I read in the previous year. I'm on Good Reads and I record, and I don't do a lot of reviews, but I, I do rate all the books that I read. And, uh, I looked it down with a little thumbnail of each of the books and somehow put them together on, uh, on the layout and kind of say which ones I liked the best, which ones I wasn't able to finish. And, uh, it seems to be really popular. I've, you know, a lot of people have commented on it and, and I've seen other people doing the same, and I think it's, it's a really great way to combine two hobbies.

Jennifer Wilson: Yes, yes. Anytime we can combine those things, it makes it even more fun. Right? Excuse to buy more things.

Carolyn Murray: Yep.

Jennifer Wilson: And.

Carolyn Murray: Yes.

Jennifer Wilson: Themed products and stickers and things like that, so. So is there something that you're excited to do, use or try either in scrapbooking or in your everyday life?

Carolyn Murray: Yeah, I guess it's kind of both. My, uh, my husband and I are going to Scotland later on in a year. And, uh, I've been relearning how to use my DSLR camera because I've been very a lot on my, uh, on my iPhone camera. [00:03:00] And I actually got a new phone recently. It's got a fabulous camera, but I'm just thinking for capturing some really great photos of our, our trip. It's good for me to reacquaint myself with my, with my DSLR camera. And figure out the easiest way to carry it around with me. And then the other thing I'm excited about is getting my hands on my, uh, my daughter's wedding photos after their, their wedding in November.

Jennifer Wilson: Exciting.

Carolyn Murray: Yeah.

Jennifer Wilson: Do you have an idea of how you want to scrapbook that yet?

Carolyn Murray: I have, I have no idea. She's, uh, she has booked the photographer. And, uh, it seems really great. I've looked at sort of the, um, the website and the style of photos that he, they take and, uh, it, they're gonna be great photos. And I, once the wedding's done, I'll speak to her and ask her if there's a way that she might like to have me scrapbook them.

You know, theme or colors and I mean, obviously the colors of the wedding. But, uh, you know, she'll, she'll be able to guide me a [00:04:00] little bit and maybe she'll even wanna help. Which would be nice.

Jennifer Wilson: That sounds delightful. Something such a big thing to look forward to. So this is a My Way episode because you're one of our featured artists this year. Um, what would you say to a non scrapbooker about why you love this hobby?

Carolyn Murray: I thought a lot about this question and uh, it just checks so many boxes. Every box, like every box that a hobby would need for me. I love photography. I love looking at photos. I love the memory, memory keeping aspect of it all. My, um, my grandfather was a photographer. My dad, you know, followed in his footsteps. Always loved to take photos. We went on, both my parents were teachers. We went on some fabulous vacations when I was growing up. My dad always shot, uh, slides and so we used to, you know, campaign to get to, you know, have a night of looking at the slides and that to me was my first introduction to kind of loving to go back and relive the memories and look at the pictures. And, [00:05:00] and, uh, you know, that has really stuck with me. And then, you know, there's the supplies, the fabulous supplies that you can buy and organize, and I've always been a stationary junkie. And then of course, there's the artistic outlet and a great feeling of satisfaction when you've completed something. So, yeah, it, it just checks every box.

Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, I was gonna say, it does all the things for sure. It's so interesting how that history of, uh, just family context with photography and how like being surrounded by photos and, and slides and all that really influences, um, how we view it ourselves. And, I hope. That we're we're, That we're doing that for our children, even though it looks a lot different than it used to.

Carolyn Murray: You know, the, the greatest compliment anyone can give me and when they come to my house is wanting to look at the scrapbooks.

Jennifer Wilson: Yeah.

Carolyn Murray: Yeah. My sister-in-law visited and she hadn't, she hadn't visited our house. In quite some time. And, uh, she had her partner, she and her partner sat [00:06:00] down and they went from start to finish.

And over the, the few days they were staying, staying near us, they looked at every single scrapbook cover to cover. And I made a scrapbook layout about how excited I was about that. Because yeah, it, it's just, it brings me so much happiness. To, you know, to have people look through them and, and, uh, you know, my parents love to look at them when they come to visit. Or when I visit them, I try to tote a few along with me. And it's, uh, yeah, it's, it's just a really feel good kind of hobby.

Jennifer Wilson: No doubt. No doubt. Yes. I totally agree. Can you tell us more about how you got started at scrapbooking?

Carolyn Murray: Yeah, I, I didn't act when I was young. I, I was always sort of the documenter of the trip. I like to take pictures, but of course, you know, before digital cameras existed, the pictures that a young person takes are not always the greatest. I love to collect the, you know, the brochures and I always like to get the passports and get the, you know, the national park stamps and that kind of [00:07:00] thing. But I didn't really even know scrapbooking existed other than just putting these things into a, you know, into a regular photo album. And when I went to my, uh, my very first Creative Memories party, kind of 10 light bulbs went off and I, you know, it instantly became something I was so passionate about. As soon as I thought, I was like, where have you been on my life? Kind of a reaction. So that was about, 22, 23 years ago. But I went to my first Creative Memories party. And then Stampin Up and, and uh, there was a nice group that got together and once a week we would get together and scrapbook, and I was hooked.

Jennifer Wilson: What sizes or formats are you typically creating in today, and how much does that look like the way you started scrapbooking or not?

Carolyn Murray: Hmm, I, I've always done 12 by 12 albums and with Creative Memories, they were, you know, 12 12 by 12, maybe just a little bit less than that. So my first, [00:08:00] you know, 15 albums are all in that Creative Memories format. And then I switched over to the binder style with the page protector. And then the Creative Memories gatherings kind of dwindled and I got quite busy with the kids and I took a little break from scrapbooking. And when I came back I kind of expanded outside of, of just buying things from Creative Memories. And a scrapbook store opened you know, fairly close to me. And, uh, you know, my eyes widened and uh, and so yeah, I mean, I think the basics are still kind of the same. But I've definitely become more artistic with it. And, and, uh, you know, with youTube videos and, and Instagram. The inspiration is, is all around. So.

Jennifer Wilson: Oh yeah. That's for sure. And are there any particular projects or activities that you're focused on this year, or do you really think about it in terms of just, you know, making one layout at a time?

Carolyn Murray: Yeah, I, I'm, I'm very, a very linear thinker and [00:09:00] my scrapbook are all just chronological, with the exception of if we take a big trip. I, you know, if there will be enough pages to fill a whole album, then I'll make a separate album for that. This year I have some trips to scrapbook, so I just actually finished an album from a trip we made to Vancouver Island last year. So that was enough to take up a, a whole album. So I was quite happy to get that finished. I'd like to continue working on, uh, on my annual chronological album this year. And I also have a family history album that I work on, you know, if I need a break from just kind of going chronologically. Where I'm, um. I'm going back and looking at, uh, the, all my, the genealogy that I've done.

That's another, another aspect of the memory keeping for me. And, uh, and trying to tell some stories about my ancestors. And I'm fortunate that I do have some photographs of, of some of these family members going back a few generations. So I try to write it [00:10:00] up in a way that will, kind of more like a story than, you know, she was born here and then she died here, and in between she lives here, here and here. So it's, uh, I like to work on that as well, and I've, uh, I've a couple of those albums as well.

Jennifer Wilson: I am curious in terms of your annual chronological album, how are you keeping track of the stories that you want to scrapbook and include in there?

Carolyn Murray: I, um, I really rely on the photos that I take to, to tell me what it is that comes next. Um, if, if it's something exceptional, I kind of keep a, i on my iPad. I, in my notes, I keep just some notes about what happened. When we go on a trip, I'll type up, you know, just what we did today. So that I, when I, it comes time to actually scrapbook those pictures, I'll be able to go back and, and remember the smaller details. So something like, uh, someone like our trip to Vancouver Island every day. At the end of [00:11:00] the day, I would say, you know, this is, it rained and we got really wet. And you know, the stuff that you wouldn't remember if you, if you waited a year to scrapbook that. That's been something that's really, that's really helped to do the journaling while you're in the moment.

Jennifer Wilson: Did it, was it, uh, kind of difficult to get that to be a habit?

Carolyn Murray: Yeah. Yeah, I have um, I have two very big gaps in my scrapbooking where, you know, life just kind of took over. And so I'm going back and filling in those, sort of gaps in the timeframe as well. So that the chronological thing can, can continue. And so to do journaling for some of those events. It's really, it's more just, you know, birthdays, vacations. I did make some notes about, you know, funny things my kids said. And, and, uh, I can ask them too, like, how did you feel when this happened or what, you know, do you [00:12:00] remember what, why we were doing this? And they can, you know, they can sometimes remember as well. But yeah, definitely writing things down. I'm not a flowery writer. I just kind of like to write down the facts. Who, what, where, when, why.

Jennifer Wilson: So shifting to your style, for someone who maybe has never seen your pages, not looked at your Instagram yet, how would you describe it in three words?

Carolyn Murray: Yeah, I'd say most of my layouts are pretty colorful. I like to use lots of pattern paper and mix the patterns up and use brighter colors. I would say my style is also quite precise. Like, as I said, I'm a linear thinker.

I like to, measure things and, and make sure that things are lined up. If something's gonna be askew, it has to be sort of purposefully askew. With something that's on the other side. Um, so yeah, precise. And then I think essentially, almost, all my pages are photos first. Like I, I. Don't think of a page until I know what [00:13:00] photos I wanna put on. And I, I like to use a lot of photos. So sometimes my photos are very small. But I just finished a few layouts for Allison Davis that has eight small photos of a chipmunk going in and out of, uh, its little, uh, its little hole. So, you know, I like to try to fit as many in as I can. And in that, you know, when you, when you're doing that, you have to make sure your photos are pretty good and you have to edit them and crop them. And, and so yeah, de definitely sort of photo centric.

Jennifer Wilson: Perfect. Yeah, no, I totally agree. That's a, that's a great description. Are there any particular products, tools, or techniques that we can find, like throughout your pages. Something we'd notice if we were flipping through?

Carolyn Murray: I don't know if you would notice, but the, the tool I use the most are sketches.

Jennifer Wilson: Okay. Oh, you mentioned Allison Davis. So.

Carolyn Murray: Yes. Yeah, I'm on Allison Davis and Scrapbook Generation, uh, Sketch Cut File, and, uh, Principal's Design Team. And so I, I had been using Allison Davis' [00:14:00] sketches for years. Like I really, I really do rely on them.

I, uh, I'm not that great at coming up with my, my own designs. But sketches are awesome because you can make one big picture into eight small pictures, or you can flip it around and you can, you can mirror things. So I almost, 99% of the time we use a sketch. Um. I love to use a lot of dimensions and my albums are getting really fat. So things like foam tape and I like to, um, cut out letters for the titles with my, with my Silhouette. And, and, you know, stack them together so that they have good dimension. Um, I like sewing. I have my mom's sewing machine that's almost 60 years old and it's still working like a charm. And I sew on almost all my layouts as well. Yeah, I mean, those are the things that I think I do on almost every, every layout.

Jennifer Wilson: Is there something in scrapbooking kind of as the bookend that you've decided is just not for you?

Carolyn Murray: I, as much as I hate to admit it, [00:15:00] I, I don't think multimedia is for me. I've, I've tried, I love stamping. And I love, you know, doing, using blending brushes through stencils. But, um, anything that's messy, like pastes and paints and things like that. I, uh, I love how they look and I really admire other scrapbookers who use them so beautifully. And I, just doesn't really, it doesn't work for me. It, I just, I think I, maybe I try too hard and then it just looks like a big page full of mud when I'm done.

Jennifer Wilson: That makes sense, and that is the number one response to this question most the episodes. Either someone is very clearly into it or they're just not so.

Carolyn Murray: Uh, yeah, I think, I think if you're like the true artist who loves to paint and loves to do other forms of art outside of scrapbooking, I can see how you would really be into doing that.

Doing the multimedia. But you know, as soon as you need to, well, I guess with stencils you have to wash them, but you know, as soon as you [00:16:00] need to soap and water, I, it's, uh, it's too messy for me, I guess.

Jennifer Wilson: I am so guilty of not washing things promptly. Um, and that, yeah.

Carolyn Murray: Oh.

Jennifer Wilson: It literally makes me feel guilty too.

Carolyn Murray: Yeah, I, yeah, I'm the same. I don't have a, uh, well, I guess I, I have a bathroom fairly close. I don't have a sink in my scrapbook room, so I, you know, I try to minimize.

I mostly use the stencils when I'm making cards.

Jennifer Wilson: Yeah. I've had to use my daughter's bathroom and like that, I'm trying to like, leave stuff to dry and it just, it just causes problems. And I actually do enjoy the process. Just the, the cleanup is logistically not ideal for me. Like, it'd be great if I had, you know, a big utility sink in here, but this, unfortunately, this, this very small bedroom is not, it's not plumbed. So.

Carolyn Murray: Yeah, that's, uh, that's my, my issue as well. I sometimes find stencils in my drying rack, in my kitchen for, you know, two or three days later. That I had forgotten to put away.

Jennifer Wilson: Yeah. Now within our [00:17:00] industry, there's always new products. You know, sometimes they're coming a little faster, sometimes a little slower. I think we're definitely in a slower era right now, but are there any particular trends that are standing out to you, something that maybe you've tried or you're interested in trying?

Carolyn Murray: I really am loving, um, the Allison Davis cut files. I, I've always used my Silhouette, but it was more for making titles or for make, just making shapes and cutting, cutting out, uh, mats for photos. And, uh, but the cut files I've always sort of had admired how beautiful they look on people's, people's layouts.

And yeah, I finally, last year, started, started using them and, and what a great way to use up scraps and, and get to put as many different pattern papers onto a layout as you, as you want.

Jennifer Wilson: Now, are you typically using cut files that become more of the background or are they, you know, titles or a combination of those?

Carolyn Murray: Yeah, that's the, uh, that's the million dollar question. [00:18:00] I like a background, but then because I like to use so many photos, I feel like I'm cutting, I'm covering too much of it up. And then, and sometimes the titles are so big that, you know, again, with my, my love of using so many photos, i. I, hate to cover them up. So it's, it's a bit of a, a balancing act for me. But I think the background would be more, more what I would, uh, what I would gravitate towards.

Jennifer Wilson: Sure, sure. Yeah, those are, those are fun. I, I don't always have the patience but to, to, to do the digital part of it, but it is, it is a really beautiful impact in the end. So.

Carolyn Murray: Yeah, it took, uh, it took me a while to figure out, I don't have any kind of graphic design or design of any kind in my background. So figuring out how to use the Silhouette software has been trial, trial and error. But there's lots of YouTube videos.

And I couldn't, I couldn't figure out how you got the paper behind the cut files [00:19:00] and I was trying to cut out the backgrounds and, and then, and then match them up, but it never worked. So I think I've, as long as, as long as the spaces are fairly substantial, it works for me. When they're really tiny little ones, I, I, I get a little frustrated.

Jennifer Wilson: I bet. I bet, yeah. Where and when we typically find you scrapbooking?

Carolyn Murray: Well I retired recently.

And, uh, thank you. Yeah, thanks. I, uh, after 30, uh, 34 years, I, I was able to retire. I'm still very, very lucky. And, uh. Yeah, I thought I'd be scrapbooking all day every day. But, uh, but it's, uh, yeah, it's been a bit of a, a learning experience to how to, how to, how it's, it's interesting, like once you don't have work anymore, I was, was thinking, I, I don't know how I'll ever fill my day, but my day still get filled. And I don't really feel like I'm just sitting around doing nothing. So, but I would [00:20:00] typically try to scrapbook every day unless I have so something big on, for the day. And I have over just since I retired, I had a little room in the basement that was all set up for scrapbooking. But it didn't have a window and it didn't have a closet, and the ceiling was low. And I've moved it up into, uh, a spare bedroom. So now I have lights and I have things set up kind of how, how I like. So yeah, you'll find me in here just about every day.

Jennifer Wilson: Now, are you more of a night owl or a morning person?

Carolyn Murray: It's, it's a little bit of both. More of a night owl. I've always been more, more of a night owl. I like to do, get my workout done in the morning and then, you know, if there's groceries or other errands, get those all done and then I can be uninterrupted for a couple of hours.

Jennifer Wilson: Now, are you, uh, an organized, you know, neat and tidy everything in its place, person? Or are you someone who embraces a little bit of chaos?

Carolyn Murray: Yeah, I think, I think I'm somehow at both ends of the extreme. [00:21:00] I, uh, I, my supplies are organized. I have sort of rules for myself where I've got these four little bins that have my, my paper kits in 12 by 12 plastic envelopes. And if I can't, you know, I, unless I use one up, I don't have room to add anything more.

So I kind of keep myself organized that way. At the end of the day, I try to, I try to put everything away. In terms of the mess that I make while I'm creating a page, yeah, I can be pretty messy and, and, uh, you know, sort of at that one end of the extreme. But in terms of thinking about how I want to move forward with scrapbooking and thinking about the pages that I want to make. And thinking about the sketch that I might wanna use in the photos I'd wanna use in the supplies I'd wanna use, I'm, I'm pretty organized.

Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, I, uh, really resonate with that description. Because the underlying systems are there for me. It's like the everyday clutter creates a layer on top of it that makes things feel [00:22:00] messy.

Carolyn Murray: Mm-hmm.

Jennifer Wilson: There's just, oh, you know, I have trouble, I guess, putting things away.

Carolyn Murray: Yeah, and when once I got this room set up how I wanted, now I have a, a home for everything. So I can make a big mess and then easily put things back where they belong without thinking. Oh, you know, when I first started scrapbooking I had, first was the dining room table. And then I, we moved to a bigger house and I had a little desk in an un, an unfinished part of our basement. And then, but then it was open to the kids when they were small to come down. And you know, I had labels on all my scissors. Don't use these scissors, they belong to me. You know, it was open for everyone to use. And then over time, um. We were able to finish the basement and I got my little corner and, and, uh, so I've refined it as time has gone by.

Jennifer Wilson: Are there any particular organization strategies that that stand out as something that's worked really well?

Carolyn Murray: I think my, I like to think my photo [00:23:00] organization and my page planning organization is, uh, is, I I think it works really well for me. I, and I, I don't know that it would work for everyone because it's very, as I said, like linear in terms of how, I think. I just kind of go chronologically through and I look at my photos in, mostly just in iCloud.

Or, um, iPhoto. And I go through and I say, well, for this page I want to scrap up these five photos. So I download the five photos. Then I find a sketch that kind of ties out and I save that in the same place as the photos. And then I can go on, I just upgraded to Photoshop Elements 2026 and it's fantastic.

So I, edit the photos to be the right sizes, and then I'll do that. You know, 10 or 15 times, and then I can print them all out and not waste my paper. And get, you know, get 10 or 15 pages planned all at once. So it's kind of a batch process for me. And then I don't have to worry about it for, you know, a few weeks because I've got, I've got, [00:24:00] got, it all planned out.

Jennifer Wilson: So your planning process includes a sketch, I'm assuming.

Carolyn Murray: Yes.

Jennifer Wilson: And then supplies as well.

Carolyn Murray: Yeah, supplies less so. Because I, you know, I've got a, I've got a lot of, a lot of pattern paper. But I'll have an idea, you know, if it's something outdoors, I'll, you know, I've got, I've got paper for the lake. I've got paper for hiking. I've got paper for, you know, so, depending. Or if it's just the general page I can use, I can use kind of whatever, whatever, I like. But mainly first is the photos I would want to to use. And then the sketch that kind of tells me how big or small my photos need to be. And then I can spend the time in a batch kind of editing them. So that they're cropped and the colors are good and, and uh, and then once I've done that and I printed my photos then I go out and figure out what paper I want to use.

Jennifer Wilson: Nice. Yeah, and I mean, really [00:25:00] having a good system in connection to your photos, from taking the photo to having it ready to scrapbook, that can be either a, a system of flow for someone. Or it could be a roadblock to getting things done. So I love how you figured that out for yourself.

Carolyn Murray: It, uh, yeah, it was sort of an evolution.

Where, um, I, I, I have some friends that, uh, that we've been scrapbooking together for quite a long time and we, we try to get together two or three times a year for, um, for a weekend. Or, okay, we're all retired now, so a week, so three, you know, a three day stretch. Where we all get together and, uh, you know, you can't bring the entire scrapbook room with you, so you have to be really organized.

And over time, I've, uh, kind of figured out the best way for me to prepare for something like that. And then why not use that for, for every day as well.

Jennifer Wilson: Yes, yes, yes. No doubt. Now, these last two questions are a little bit big picture, a little bit more abstract. Where would you like your scrapbooking to be in 10 [00:26:00] years?

Carolyn Murray: Yeah, that's, that's a tough one. And in 10 years beyond, gonna be almost 70 years old. So my hope is that I'm still scrapbooking the trips that my husband and I go on. That, you know, the times that we have with the kids. We go on a big family trip with extended family every year. Hopefully still be scrapbooking that. Yeah, I. And you know hopefully There's been some challenges in terms of, you know, I guess what you call it, supply chain, where supplies are getting, getting more expensive. And, and uh, and tools are getting more expensive. So hopefully I'll be a little bit better at just using what I have as well. That's sort of being a focus for me this year as well. And probably going into the future because, you know, at some point, um. At some point, all this paper is gonna be left for my kids, and uh, it would totally be good for them if I used some of it up.

Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, that's such an interesting [00:27:00] conundrum. Because we want to use what we have so that it doesn't go to waste and no one else has to deal with it. It, it saves us money. Yet at the same time, we want this industry to exist for us, and if we're not buying anything new, then it won't. So.

Carolyn Murray: Yeah.

Jennifer Wilson: It's such an interesting balance.

Carolyn Murray: Yeah. I, I, uh, I feel the same way. And I, and also, you know, new paper, paper comes out and I we're lucky enough to have a few scrapbook stores. There's not one super close to where I live, but within an hour's drive, there's a couple. And, uh, I love to go with, especially with my scrapbooking friends, and we go and we, we make a day of it.

We have lunch, we go to the scrapbook store, and, and we, you know, we get to buy, buy some new paper and it's it's all part of the experience and part of the fun. But again. It's, uh, I I only have four bins for paper. So I have to use some of what, what I have or get rid of it and, or give it away. My [00:28:00] daughter, um, my daughter's a teacher, so every once in a while I kind of both do a, yeah, do a big culling of my paper. And last year she had, uh, a big stack of 12 by 12 paper pattern paper. And she did a little, um. I think an all about me, page. She's, uh, she's a French immersion teacher, so she's getting, you know, getting the vocabulary, um, going with these kids and, and she lets the kids in her class select one of the pieces of pattern paper and they loved it. So, uh, she might, she might be the recipient of some more paper.

Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, that's fun. That's a such a great project.

Carolyn Murray: You had a guest on, uh, recently who was talking about digitizing her paper scrapbook.

Jennifer Wilson: Yes.

Carolyn Murray: And I, I believe what she said, and this kind of is the situation I'm in, is once. But, um, she needs space on her shelf. She goes to a shelf, or there was some way she selected which scrapbook she [00:29:00] was going to digitize. And I think I'm, I'm getting to that point, so that might be something to focus on over the next, you know, 10 years as well.

Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, I mean that's, that's a whole kind of endeavor in itself. I hear there's so many folks talking about this. Of course. Uh, some doing it, but I think it's quite an interest to many longtime scrapbookers who are maybe looking at downsizing and, and just thinking about what's gonna become of all this and how.

What do you really want to physically leave behind? Um, and is that the same way that you created it?

Carolyn Murray: Yeah, I've, I've been making my mom, we, I, I mentioned that we have this family trip that we go on each year with the extended family. And my, my mom had always made a, um, I can't remember the name of the company. I don't even know if they exist anymore, but it was a digital scrapbook that you would print out in a hardcover book. And she doesn't do that anymore. And so over the last couple of years. I've been making a Mixbook scrapbook. And [00:30:00] they turn out beautifully. And uh, so I've been making that for the specific trip. And I'm just thinking those would be a really great way of taking these big fat scrapbook with all the, the, uh, dimensional adhesive and foam tape and stuff that I use and putting them in a format that the kids can each have one. And, you know. It'll be a hard thing to do once I get to that point. But I really enjoyed your guests and I'm sorry I can't remember her name, but I really enjoyed her, uh, her philosophy about it.

Jennifer Wilson: I apologize that I do not recall exactly which guest it is, but will definitely include the link for us in the show notes to the episode.

Carolyn Murray: Yeah, please do. Because it was something that, it really got me thinking.

Jennifer Wilson: I think that, um. This particular topic and, and talking about it with multiple guests over the years has also made me think about how I'm making my [00:31:00] pages. And I mean, I'm typically photographing them anyway. But I often will have like envelopes and pullouts and I, I am not gonna stop doing that, but sometimes I am a little bit more mindful of do I really want to have hidden items? If the end goal might be to digitize all the pages. Now you could take separate photos and, and have all those pullouts and stuff. But, that is an, that is more another step.

Carolyn Murray: Yeah.

Jennifer Wilson: So it's just, yeah, it's it's, it's influenced me for sure.

Carolyn Murray: Mm-hmm. And then you, you recently had another guest and I should have written down their names so that I wasn't just saying, you had a guest. But I, I was listening to it the other day. Um, and she makes one page layout that has, that had like 60 or 70 photos of them with flaps and flips and.

Jennifer Wilson: Yes. Yes. That was, that was Brie Beaupre. It, it's amazing.

Carolyn Murray: I went on and looked at her. I, I hadn't seen that before. And [00:32:00] I found her, her YouTube and I was like, wow, this is, this is an idea as well. That would be perfect for like a small weekend trip or something. And if you can save some space that way.

Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, it's, it's such a fun way to think about it and, um, also just I think really enjoyable and satisfying to create something like that.

Carolyn Murray: And so fun. Like I, you know, you can imagine like little years, you know, maybe grandkids one day flipping through and, you know, having a, having a great time looking at these things. Finding, finding things that they didn't find the last time they looked, kind of, kind of idea.

Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, the surprises of it. I, I really appreciate that too. So. I mean, there's always, there's so many points that are kind of, I dunno, conflicting, I guess.

Carolyn Murray: Yeah, it is.

Jennifer Wilson: There will always be things to discuss. For sure.

Carolyn Murray: Yeah. Which is another awesome facet of, of scrapbooking is, you know, there's so many different ways to do it. And, uh, yeah, I struggled putting my last trip album together because it was getting too full. [00:33:00] Because I, my, the first half of the album is very puffy, and then the second half of the album is very flat. Because I was run outta room. But I'm not stop.

Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, I mean, you shouldn't, I don't say you shouldn't. Our style is our style, and yet that might evolve over time. You might experiment with different things. But I don't think you should hinder your own creative joy in the moment for for the end result. I don't know. Some people, that's why some people are digital though, is because they don't want the space. They don't want the bulk, they don't, they don't want to have large albums. They want to have photo books and that's it. Or some don't even print their pages at all. They keep them digitally and it's, that's, that's a choice. And they, everyone has their own reasons for doing that.

Carolyn Murray: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you can almost have a website or, or have your page where everyone can go and look at them if they want. But then again, that, my the biggest thing that I love about scrapbooking is it's the paper and the tactile feeling of putting this [00:34:00] together and, and saying, does this look good or does this look good? And, you know, this is puffy and this isn't puffy. Just, it's so, uh, yeah. I could never, I don't think I could ever give up the paper.

Jennifer Wilson: I understand it's different. It's for sure. Um, so final question here today. What has being a scrapbooker taught you?

Carolyn Murray: Yeah, I, I, I think it's more than taught me, it's reinforced things that I've always kind of known about myself.

Jennifer Wilson: Hmm.

Carolyn Murray: I love to document things. I love to take photos. I love to, um, go back and, and research history. And I I love a way to put it all together. I always, I always enjoyed art when I was in high school. But I went off to, uh, to university and, and studied math and business and worked, you know, in a financial capacity for, for most of my career. So the art kind of went by the wayside, and I think it, it really has given me a [00:35:00] way of satisfying the need to do something artistic as well. And just to be able to kill two birds with one stone, be artistic, and then document the things in the way that I like to do that. Is, uh, yeah, it's really a big, a big part of my, of my personality for sure.

Jennifer Wilson: When you are certainly not alone in that, which is why we have so many that are listening to a scrapbooking podcast because that's what we're talking about here, because we love it.

Carolyn Murray: Yeah. Well that's the other thing about scrapbook is the community and, uh, you know, even who would've known that, you know, during the pandemic, you know, stepping really outside my comfort zone and posting, uh, a layout on Instagram would lead to like, lead to so much great stuff that has happened in my scrapbooking.

Jennifer Wilson: You know, you are not the first person to say that either. And I, there is, there is such a power [00:36:00] to that, that that step of vulnerability. Of just being willing to share, to put yourself out there to, you know, share your real life stories and your art with others, and to be part of a community of folks that are doing that. It's, it's, it's something really amazing.

Carolyn Murray: It is, the community is incredible. Like I've, I've never, you hear about horror stories of, of people leaving mean comments on, on social media posts. I've never gotten anything, anything less than you know. Hearts and fabulous and beautiful. Like it, it's such a supportive community. And then I, you know, I've got my, my two close friends that I scrapbook with as well, and it just brings us all like so much happiness.

Jennifer Wilson: For sure, for sure. Well, this has been just such a yeah. A joyful conversation. I can tell how much you love this hobby and it, it, it brings out all the, the warm fuzzy feelings for sure.

Carolyn Murray: That's good.

Jennifer Wilson: Carolyn, can you share where our listeners can find you online? Anything you might have new or coming up later this [00:37:00] year?

Carolyn Murray: Well, I'm on Instagram, which is, I think you have my scrapbook713

Jennifer Wilson: I do. We'll include that link in the show notes for sure.

Carolyn Murray: Awesome. And then I'm also, as I said on the design team for Allison Davis and Scrapbook Generation. So in their Facebook group, um, Allison posts her design team layout, and she posts a lot of great free sketches. And she posts a lot of her own designs as well. Which if you're not following her already, like you, you really should. Because she's, you know, she, she's definitely been a big inspiration for how I scrapbook and, uh, and Scrapbook Generation as well.

Jennifer Wilson: Now their business just went to online only. Correct. But they, they are still an online retailer.

Carolyn Murray: Yeah, that, um, yeah, and that actually happened. I, you know, I live in a different country, so it's difficult for me to order supplies across the border. But a similar thing happened with, uh, one of my favorite stores up here too. I guess it's just, [00:38:00] you know, the business model of the future. But they still have, they have a huge selection of things. Like I I, my eyes bug out when, whenever I look online in their store.

Jennifer Wilson: Yeah, I recently had that with just a clothing store that I appreciate it. I feel like it hadn't been open that long and I went there last night and it had closed. And I'm like, how? How did this happen? You know? I really appreciated having a place where I could try stuff on to figure out the size and then mostly so that.

Carolyn Murray: Mm-hmm.

Jennifer Wilson: To return it if I ordered something online. But I think that was the problem. Is that people were just using it as a return location, to not have to pay shipping. So it made me sad.

Carolyn Murray: Yeah, I, I think the, uh, you know, having a, a physical store is, you know, it's overhead. You have to pay people. You, you've got your rent and I know things are just becoming more and more expensive, and the logistics are the same because you already have an online store. So why not? Um, you know, if it, [00:39:00] if it keeps the business going, then totally the way to go for sure.

Jennifer Wilson: Yes, for sure. Yeah, just it's, it'll be interesting to see how things look in another 10 years. And I think as long as we continue to, uh, yeah, give to the community and celebrate the joy of this experience and keep telling the younger generations why we love it. Then it'll, it'll keep going. So.

Carolyn Murray: Yeah, absolutely. I every, you know, every time my daughter sends me a photo, I'll say, oh, it's really too bad you're not a scrapbooker. And you know, eventually the bug, the bug will bite her. I'm, I'm pretty sure she likes to make cards. We make cards together, we've taken some card making classes together. So hopefully I'll, uh, pass that, pass that on to her one day. I know she probably doesn't want my entire scrapbook room full of supplies, but, uh, but you never know.

Jennifer Wilson: You gotta use 'em up then.

Carolyn Murray: I'm gonna be working on that, uh, every day and for, you know, [00:40:00] indefinitely for sure.

Jennifer Wilson: Certainly. Carolyn, this has been so fun. Thank you for spending time with me.

Carolyn Murray: Oh, thank you so much for inviting me and having me on. It's been, uh, it's been a pleasure and really quite an honor, so thank you.

Jennifer Wilson: most welcome and to all of our listeners, please remember that you have permission to Scrapbook Your Way.