CRAFTS WITH ANASTASIA-- GUEST SCRAPBOOKER MOLLIE COX BRYAN

Mollie Cox Bryan is a food writer with a penchant for murder. Her first mystery, Scrapbook of Secrets, was just released, and I’ve invited her here today to talk about scrapbooking. Read more about Mollie at her website and blog.

Mollie is giving away a copy of Scrapbook of Secrets, along with a scrapbooking kit, to one of our lucky readers today. Post a comment to be entered in the drawing. -- AP

One of the best things about being a crafter of any kind is the ability to use a skill to give a gift that has meaning—even more meaning because we make it with our own hands. I know some of the best gifts I’ve ever received were of the handmade variety. Scrapbooking is no different than quilting or knitting, in this regard. You can make any number of gifts with the scrapbooking hobby. I’ve made gift scrapbooks—one for my mom about her life, another for my niece who was getting ready to go off to college. It was full of photos of her growing up, peppered with advice from me about the college life. But it doesn’t have to be a whole book. It can be one page—suitable for framing.

 To do a page like this, gather the photos, embellishments, paper, and so on, keeping the person you’re making the page about in mind. For example, for my daughter’s thirteenth birthday, she wanted to see a Broadway show. She has high hopes of pursing an acting career. So, when I went to the supply store, this is what I was attracted to. Aren’t the stars fabulous?

I liked this photo because you could see the city behind her so I tried to find paper that would suit. It’s okay to play like this with paper. Just have fun with it. When I begin a page, I often switch around to find the right paper. I didn’t like either of these:

  

For my taste the page turned out a little busy, but it’s perfect for her. It’s really who she is—what she likes and the page is for her.

One of the things I wanted to point out about this layout is the “journaling” piece, which in this case, is just your basic “this is what we did when Emma turned 13.” But you can get really creative with this part of it. Initially, I wanted to list 13 things I love about Emma. But the page stated to look too crowded. I hardly ever stick to my plans—it’s just the kind of crafter I am. I find that for me it’s important to have a plan as a sort of guideline in my mind—but it hardly ever works that way.

You can purchase scrapbook page frames and give this as a gift—and for my just-turned thirteen-year-old—it will hang on a wall, which will look out over her very messy room. But it will be something she might have for the rest of her life. That thought warms me—the messy room, not so much.  

Scrapbook of Secrets: Having traded in her career as a successful investigative journalist for the life of a stay-at-home mum in picturesque Cumberland Creek, Virginia, Annie can't help but feel that something's missing. But she finds solace in a local "crop circle" of scrapbookers united by chore-shy husbands, demanding children, and occasional fantasies of their former single lives. And when the quiet idyll of their small town is shattered by a young mother's suicide, they band together to find out what went wrong...Annie resurrects her reporting skills and discovers that Maggie Rae was a closet scrapbooker who left behind more than a few secrets - and perhaps a few enemies. As they sift through Maggie Rae's mysteriously discarded scrapbooks, Annie and her "crop" sisters begin to suspect that her suicide may have been murder. It seems that something sinister is lurking beneath the town's beguilingly calm facade - like a killer with unfinished business...

scrapbooking kit giveaway

Thanks for joining us today, Mollie! Readers, have you ever done any scrapbooking? Ever wanted to? Let’s hear from you. Post a comment to be entered in the drawing for Mollie’s giveaway. -- AP