SYW328 - My Way with Cassie Wiscarson

There's a place for scrapbookers who love their hobby but have lost momentum.

A creative home with the planning tools, gentle accountability, and people who truly get it.

That place is Simple Scrapper. Learn more at simplescrapper.com slash membership.

It's those little moments that I think add up to our lives actually being rich and enjoyable

and those are what I want to focus on, versus sometimes the big stuff or the sad stuff.

Which still make it into my scrapbook, but I think finding joy in those little moments

is what makes my life more full and brings me more joy.

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 328.

In this episode, I'm interviewing Cassie Viscarsen for the Myway series.

Myway is all about celebrating the unique ways memory heapers get things done.

We're excited to have Cassie as the march featured artist at Simple Scrapper.

Hey Cassie, welcome to Scrapbook Your Way.

Thanks, I'm so excited to be here today.

Yes, I love chatting about scrapbooking and I can't wait to hear more about your hobby.

Can you start by sharing a little bit about yourself?

Of course, so I live up in Washington state.

I've been married of my boss for like 23 years this year now.

And I have one daughter and several dogs.

I think currently we are at three dogs.

Nice.

Yeah, my husband and I were just talking yesterday how we realized we've known each other for 20 years this past month.

And I'm like, how is that even possible?

Yeah, I've now determined that it's his fault how I've turned out because I've been with him longer than I have not.

Yes, yes, yes.

So I always like to ask our guests a few icebreaker questions.

So do you have a favorite recently out a project?

I have several.

I really love the one I just shared today for a pair of tree cut files.

It was just a really fun.

I did some mixed media on the background and I just love their giant cut files.

And then I also have one that I did last month for scrapbook generation that used the heart and home collection from Coco Vanilla Studio.

And I had a whole bunch of like fun paper strips and hand stitching into those.

I just love how they've just turned out.

Oh, yeah, your work is beautiful.

Of course, let's just add another question in here.

What is one tip you have for someone who wants to use more cut files, but maybe like gets frustrated with either the part of the computer.

Or the, you know, backing it with papers.

What's your one tip for cut files?

So I don't actually use my computer for backing it.

I literally just glue it on to the back of the cut file and then fussy cut around it usually watching something on my computer.

Yeah, obviously like trying to do it in the computer just sometimes works and sometimes doesn't.

So I'm like, I'll just go old school with that one.

Yeah, yeah, like I started doing it that way.

And I'm like, is this how everybody's doing it?

Or are they like, you know, actually tracing and expanding and trying to make shapes sort of the exact size.

I'm like, that seems really fussy.

So I've learned that people do it all different ways.

Yeah, I'm definitely not one to trace it.

Because I'm like, that's just an extra step and undoubtedly I will draw in on my cut file.

So let's try that one.

And then I only used it in the computer like if I'm backing the whole cut file.

So I had one last month with that was a whole bunch of words.

And I only used one paper for the background.

So that one I went in and like changed up the cut file and removed cut lines that I didn't need.

So I could just cut it like cut one big background.

Nice, nice, nice.

Yeah.

Now the other question that I always ask is there's something new that you're excited to do user try either in scrapbooking or in your everyday life.

This year I am actually trying to join more online scrapbooking events.

I've really missed like any of the in-person events and I can't travel right now deep to some family things going on.

So I'm like, I need that time where I can like block it off on my calendar and just sit in my scraproom and create and have that social aspect.

And then also I'm really looking forward to my husband forged and let me get an X tool diode laser last fall.

So I want to place some more with that so I can cut different wood embellishments and acrylic and like we just spent three weekends cutting and designing shelves for my scraproom with it.

So nice.

That's so cool.

Yeah.

We'll have to link that up in the show now so it sounds like, you know, quite a fun toy.

It is a fun toy and it was a sport so I would be home more and then my husband just discovered how great it was over this last project.

So it's fun when you can share that excitement.

Oh, yeah.

He thought it was cool and then it was intimidating him and now I think he's using it more than I am.

That's funny.

That's why I love it.

So this is in my way episode because you're our featured artist from March 2026.

Yeah, selection of your layouts inspired our recent collection of sketches and templates for our members.

You'll have a chance to see you inside the community as well.

Hopefully you can join some of our crops and spend time in our events and get some of that, you know, person time that you really need.

Oh, yeah.

I'm looking forward to it.

So what would you say to a non scrapbooker about why you love this hobby? What keeps you coming back?

I actually have loved photography since I was in high school and I love that with this hobby.

It's a way to document and have those pictures printed out, but then I can also tell a story behind it.

And I've just always been up in an artsy person.

So I love the creative aspect of just playing with paper and trying different things and it just brings me joy.

So that's what keeps bringing me back to it.

Like I don't see myself ever giving it up.

Yes, yes.

So I'm curious when you were in high school, did you have a chance to like learn how to develop film?

I couldn't fit that class in my schedule when I was so sad.

Yeah.

So I actually started my high school in like the photography classes and took all the photography classes became their TA was on your book.

And that was all in the dark room.

And I actually convinced my husband's actually my high school sweetheart.

So his parents had a windowless room in their basement.

And I convinced them to let me turn that into a dark group.

So I even had a dark room there for a while until my husband joined the military and we moved away.

Yeah, but no, that's so cool.

Wait, wait a go.

Yeah.

It was, it was really fun because actually one of her, my mother in law, wanted to go native.

I had like a whole dark room set up to get rid of and gave it to her.

And so I was able just to set it all up there and build like do it all with film.

Because this was all free, like before digital became big.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

That's so fun.

So what led you to scrapbooking as a creative hobby?

He's always had this love of photography, but what led to what we think of a scrapbooking today?

I always loved photography kind of around the same time that right after my husband and I got married, he joined the military.

And so he was gone for several months of training.

His mom was kind of doing like a family scrapbook as a gift.

And I've gotten like a really old style, like all solid paper, like cut apart scrapbook from my sister.

And I was like, okay, like let me just play around with it.

And then quickly became obsessed.

So like my first album was a whole book of all the letters that my husband was sending me back from basic training.

This was back in like 2004.

So like there was no email.

Like they don't have access to that.

This was barely flip phones, right?

Yeah.

It was all old school paper pen.

So that was my first album quickly moved into my wedding album.

And it has never stopped.

That's really cool.

That makes me think about how, and I thought about this a lot recently.

How the 2000s were just such a rapid evolution of technology and how it was part of our lives.

Like that's a whole scrapbook page in itself, I think.

Oh, yeah.

Like my husband and I are actually re-ratching Veronica Mars right now.

Just that we needed something mindless.

And like seeing the flip phones was like, I don't even remember them being that expensive.

Like, and now it's like so expensive for a new phone.

And I'm just like, oh my gosh, like this is when we met and got married.

And it's just crazy to see how far things have come.

And it feels like a really short time.

Yes.

No doubt.

I know when I moved here to Illinois, I had a blackberry.

And, uh, yeah, that was in the things, I think things changed very quickly after that.

So.

Oh, yeah.

Like, I remember like, and we lived in Germany for three years.

So like, then the phones were really different over there.

And we came back and I'm like, oh, yeah.

Now we need to, like, we wanted a phone with the keyboard because like,

that would be make it so much easier to text on.

And it's just, I almost want to laugh.

I almost wish I had all of the old phones, just to like,

take a picture of the progression of how we had to go super small with phones.

And now we have like super gigantic phones.

Yes.

Yes.

Well, I'm sure we can find pictures online too.

So.

Oh, yeah.

I don't even remember what we had.

It was, it was a crazy time.

No doubt.

So what sizes are formats are you typically creating in today?

For my most part, I scrapbook in 12 by 12.

And that's just like my standard every day, like albums.

Um, I do create a monthly, like recap album.

Kind of think of it like a week in the life or almost like project life.

But I don't set myself up for like a set week.

Like, it's just a month recap.

So I can use as many pages as I want.

And that's in a six by eight pocket page book.

And when you're creating your 12 by 12 layouts,

are they usually single page or sometimes they're often double page?

Usually single page.

I just like that square format of 12 by 12 pages.

And usually I don't have like big enough events that like go across multiple pages.

Um, like if I'm scrapbooking Christmas,

each page is going to be different.

It's just how it is.

Yeah.

I've also found over the years that I really have enough room on my desk.

I love two page spreads, but I don't have enough room on my desk because of all the other stuff that's like falling over and all the supplies you've got now.

And I'm like, I barely have room for just that 12 by 12 canvas sometimes.

Yeah.

For me, the visual aspect of the 12 by 12 is just appealing to my eye.

I've done the two page spreads, but I feel like things are then like spaced out kind of weird and true, true.

And honestly, like my daughter's now.

Oh my gosh, she turns 19 this year.

I don't have a lot of pictures of like in one day.

Yeah, I barely get her in pictures as it is.

So, and nobody wants to see a two page red of like 30 pictures of my cute puppy.

I mean, he's cute, but we'll just do one picture on a page.

I get it.

I get it.

I have cats.

So they are more prominent in my phone than photos of anything else nowadays.

It doesn't help that the whole family sends me pictures of our three dogs sleeping throughout the day.

Yeah, I look small.

I'm at work, but really all we have is you dog sleeping pictures.

All right.

So you're doing the six by eight kind of recaps.

You're doing 12 by 12 layouts.

Are there any like other projects or activities that you're focused on or that you know you'll jump into when that time comes around?

Those are kind of my main focus.

I keep thinking maybe doing like another almost like December daily, but I focus more on the stories because I don't do something every day in December.

So it's more like my top 25 things for December.

It hasn't like felt right the last few years.

So I probably am doing it at some point now that my daughter's like grown and think they're changing, but maybe this year maybe not.

We'll see.

One of the I've been doing it like in terms of top 25 for a long time and.

Oh, yeah.

I've always done it that way, but I'm like, I can't do that every day.

I like it because then I can really start in November with, you know, here's my wrapping paper and, you know, here's the things that we're planning and I feel like I can really get a head start.

Before things get too crazy in December when that all of a sudden I don't have time anymore.

Oh, yeah.

And I, I've had a fake tree now, fast my whole marriage.

Yeah.

And I'm like, I put that thing up sometimes in November, depending on my mood.

Oh, yeah.

So like my daughter really loves to help with that.

And this year based upon timing because she is living with my mom as a caregiver.

I'm like, we don't know when we're going to have time to actually like all get together.

That thing was up like the beginning of November.

Nice, nice.

Yeah.

So I'm like, I need it to be flexible.

Yeah.

No, that's that's for sure.

Yeah.

And really in general, there's, there's not always a huge place for rigidity in my opinion anymore.

We have the flexibility to make these decisions.

We have all the creative options.

We can do things the way that we want to do them.

And there's really like, there's no that I feel like there's so much less of the pressure to scrapbook in a certain way.

Oh, yeah.

Like, there's no right way.

There's no runway.

And I feel like all of the old style like rules have kind of gone out the window.

Yes.

You can just do whatever makes you happy with it.

Yes.

And embrace that.

And whenever you doubt yourself, just, you know, let someone else remind you, accept that permission to, you know, if you think you're breaking a rule, it's just make your own new rule.

Oh, yeah.

So it's like, and if something doesn't go right, just pivot and change your plan.

And then that's what I do kind of with my monthly album.

Some months are super busy.

Like, if we have a vacation, I will do a whole six eight by eight.

Like collage of photos just as extra extra add in because that month was busy.

If a month is slow or really depressing, there might not be as much like if you can just kind of be flexible.

Certainly.

So for someone who hasn't seen your work yet, how would you describe your style in three words?

You already mentioned cut files, you mentioned stitching.

So I'm thinking we have a lot of details here.

Oh, yeah, I would definitely say like graphic like I use big shapes.

So that's either like my cut files or big pieces of pattern paper.

But I definitely call it kind of graphic colorful.

I love those bright colorful collections.

And also kind of photo focus.

I feel like my photos like jump off the page.

Even if it's an everyday moment, I like them to be the star of my layouts.

These days, are you taking most of your photos with your phone?

Are you still using a big camera or another camera?

I pretty much exclusively use my phone and I have and I have a big camera.

I have all of the bells and whistles.

I have determined the best camera is whichever one you have with you.

Certainly yes, yes.

And I am much more of an everyday moment scrapbooker lately.

So I'm like, I need to focus on those little moments.

And that means I have my phone with me, not I don't plan to take my big camera.

And even on vacation lately, I haven't even taken it.

I just use my phone.

Yeah, I always I'm thinking about like the logistics of do I want to really be carrying this with me?

And it's yeah, it's usually on the slowest, least interesting type of things where we're driving there.

So that I don't have to worry about the space or carrying it or anything like that.

Well, yeah.

And I feel like by the time I order a new camera, it's already outdated with how three our cell phone cameras are.

Because I do have a lot of latest and newest phone just for the camera.

And I'm like, this, this, you know, DSLR with the extra battery pack and all fancy stuff is like super heavy.

So I use my big camera more for like, I did it for my daughter senior pictures and like more for like events like that.

Then just like if we go to the zoo, I'm just going to use my phone.

Yeah, yeah.

So are there some products tools or techniques that you use most often if we were to flip through your pages?

What are some other things that we're going to see?

You would definitely see cut files.

A lot of stitching either hand stitching or machine stitching.

And really that just depend on how much time and effort I'm willing to put into it.

But let me be on the hand stitching takes a while, but it looks amazing.

So like, do I have the time to sit here and do this?

Over the last year, I did a lot more hybrid scrapping.

So that would be purchasing like digital collections and printing them out.

And so I then have a paper collection to scrap with, which really stretches your supplies way farther because I can just print on demand and cut on demand.

And also quite a bit of like mixed media, but like simple mixed media.

So like some ink blending or a little bit of texture-facing stencils.

So it's not like super messy.

Just just a little bit.

And I feel like I still have control over it just a little bit.

Yeah, yeah.

It being my toe in half to half control.

I understand that you were when you were talking about hybrid.

I'm curious what led you to doing more of that.

So, I mean, I've done it.

I've done digital scrapbooking over the years as different parts of different design teams and been asked to do hybrid.

And then, of course, a year ago, last October, October, 2024, I joined the Tracy Reed design team.

And she just designed digital kits.

Yeah.

And so that kind of instead of dipping my toe in, I just pull out jump.

So I have a 12 by 12 printer and was printing on card stock.

And like I just loved having so many options of so many different collections.

And then since she also ends up like designing for like Echo Park in I think another company.

I end up now seeing her collections in traditional print anyways.

And I'm like, I just still love them.

Like I just love her designs.

And that's actually who I'm using for my six by album this year.

She has a whole story foundation kit of all the cards.

And so I can just print my cards and change them up however often I want.

Do you find that you scrapbook it differently at all when you're printing hybrid supplies versus, you know, using some of physical supply.

Like are using more of something because previously you would only have one of them.

Not necessarily more.

I feel like I'm more intentional when I print my hybrid supplies than when I'm buying my traditional supplies.

Oh, so you'll have as many extras.

In theory, I have more extra die cuts because hers are like on sheet.

So I literally just print them and cut them like a whole sheet of die cuts on my silhouette at one time.

I can do them individually, but honestly like she makes it super easy that I can just pull it up in my software print and cut.

And I'm like, I'd rather have extras been spend the time to like, no, I just want this one flower or this one phrase.

I'm like, whatever, I'll just have those extras.

But paper, I feel like I'm more intentional on yes, those are my favorite verses.

When I'm buying a collection, I'm like, oh, I like enough of that whole collection. I'm just going to buy the whole collection.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I hear the whole paper pack.

I need some embellishment.

Here's two or three packs of embellishment.

And so I feel like I have less on hand.

A hybrid supplies just because I know I can go back in and print.

If I decide, no, I want to now a full sheet of this paper instead of maybe a smaller piece.

I love that.

And I love that.

I also can scale the patterns down to whatever scale you need to.

That makes it extra fun, I think.

Well, yeah.

And I love that you can scale also with Tracy Richie, make some indifferent sizes in her like when she releases them.

So that honestly, I love the simplicity of it.

Sometimes I'm all for Photoshop and adjusting things and other times.

I'm like, can I just not have to think about it and print them all?

And so it's almost all of our papers also come on like the smaller pieces and the cards come on PDFs.

So you can just open that up and print it.

And so it doesn't like require any Photoshop or trying to adjust it and make it bigger or smaller.

I'm like, I can print these and have them and cut them apart.

I love that.

I love that.

How she's made it so accessible for every type of scrapbook or even those who don't have a lot of digital experience.

Yeah.

Or let's be honest.

I'm not great at that.

I mean, I am.

But I know a lot of people in the world that are not.

So I'm like, let's just keep it simple and make it easy for everyone.

Are there any trends that are peeking your interest right now?

Definitely.

I'm diving more into adding mixed media to my pages.

I kind of went out of it for a little bit just because I hated the mess on my desk.

But I, again, splurged.

Apparently, I'm in my splurging era of.

I want stuff that makes me happy.

So I have a magnetic glass mat from Glassboard Studio.

And so I find the cleanup on that is just so much easier.

I had like a smaller like the tin holds mixed media mat.

And then it didn't like, it comes with really on my desk.

So it didn't cover up enough of my workspace.

And so I didn't feel like I could always leave it on my desk.

And then the thought of pulling that out.

And then if I wanted to use stencils, I had to pull out my magnetic 12 by 12 pad.

To hold the stencil on place.

I'm like, this is just too much work. It's just easier to skip it.

And now with my giant not dry enormous like this thing is 30.

Five inches by 24 inches.

Like, I got one like almost the biggest size.

It can just sit on my desk all the time.

And so now I'm finding myself reaching for that mix media,

because it's just now so easy to clean up and hold stencils in place

and hold different papers down while I'm doing the mix media.

So I feel like I like miss the class somewhere.

I don't know that I'd ever I've ever used a magnet to hold down a stencil.

I've always annoyingly used my hand and prayed that I was going to keep it in place.

Uh-huh.

So a few years ago when I was on the paper issues team,

I got these like 12 by 12 magnetic mats.

And I forget who made them.

And I was like, oh, yes, definitely.

So holding it down with my net was like a game changer in the sense that.

Like, especially if you're trying to blend different colors through a stencil.

Like now you're not having to worry about moving it.

Yes.

But the mat was the same size as a 12 by 12 paper.

So if you're trying to like go off the edge,

you're literally having to move your paper and the stencil.

And like now is it sitting right?

If they're going to be a crease and honestly like I was like,

okay, great.

Like a glass map.

Perfect.

Like now I don't have to worry about cleanup.

But then like how do I hold the stencil down?

If I'm not wanting to just rely on using my hands like my taping it down.

Like that's.

I can't tape it on top of paper.

Then it's going to rip the paper because that's just my love.

Oh, yeah, of course.

This magnetic glass thing is literally a game changer if you're in the mixed media.

I love that.

Yes, because there's.

I feel like I love mixed media.

But there's so many barriers between me and a satisfying result.

So I just don't do it.

Well, yeah.

And so I was like,

okay, I want to play for a while.

And then I was like,

okay, this is too much.

Like I just need to kind of keep it simple.

And then I was like,

okay, I really want to play more with it because I have it.

So I'm like, let's use it more.

Like I have all of the dental stress off settings.

Like I want to use them.

Yes.

How can I make it so I'm not pulling stuff out?

Because clearing off the space for to pull out a glass map.

It's just like,

I don't want to have to clean my desk in the middle of a project.

Just pull out a glass map.

Certainly.

Yeah.

Oh, I love that.

We will definitely link that out.

It sounds like something I might need to put on my next Christmas list.

So.

Oh, yeah.

And they come in different patterns.

And.

And yeah, it's.

It's dangerous.

So look at your own caution because.

I quickly fell in love and.

I thought I would not stop thinking about it until I ordered it.

Nice.

So the next question is one that the answer is usually mixed media.

So is there something in scrapbooking that you've decided is just not for you?

I would say at least 80% of the answers I receive is mixed media.

So what is the thing that is not for you?

So like the old style like vintage.

And I want to say it's like studio 45 like that sort of like graphic background.

Like that style is just not for me.

And even like vintage lines as much as I love sometimes the look of them.

I know I don't reach for them in my stash.

I am much more bright colorful.

Even if they're like more earthy tones of like simple stories have some that are.

Not vintage, but you know, not super bright.

And I'm just like those are what I reach for.

Not vintage at all.

And I don't really do a lot of like smaller mini albums.

Like even if I'm doing a vacation, those are just going to be 12 by 12 layouts.

I don't find myself like creating a whole little mini album.

What led you to doing six by eight for your monthly recaps?

So I've tried back when I was on the paper issues team.

They have like a 52 favorites.

So it would be like a way to document each week.

And I've tried many different formats.

So I've done like a roll of decks.

So that one was kind of fun.

But I didn't end up loving it just because like displaying it's kind of hard.

I've tried like four by four.

And that just felt too small.

And then I was like, well, I have some like six by eight stuff.

Let's try it.

And the ease of being able to slip in pocket.

Because I've done like the L studio monthly kids before to where they have all those cards.

I love the ease and like I can add my journaling.

And so I can either keep it as simple or embellished as I want.

And that can change on each month.

Nice.

So maybe some months I want to spend longer.

If I feel behind, I can literally just slide in pictures and cards.

Well, I glued them together because I don't like them.

I like them to line up.

Yeah.

It's not as simple as just sliding it in.

I'm like, oh, no, everything has to be lined up.

But it's just easy.

And it's a great way to be able to look back since I've been doing it now since like 2019.

It's a great way to look back at like previous years.

And it forces me to focus on every day moments that maybe sometimes you don't think about.

And like maybe that wouldn't necessarily always rank taking a picture of.

And now I find myself being more intentional with that.

So if you started that in 2019, that means you started in the square corner era.

Because when we were doing rounded corners for pocket pages,

not only were we adhering them back to back,

we had to reround all the corners so they would match up.

So you didn't see weird corners peeking out.

Oh, no, my original, like I did a year of project life, like traditional project project project life rounded corners at all.

Yeah.

I did that photo a day, like legit took a photo a day one year when my husband was to play when my daughter was small.

And oh, my God, the pressure of that.

Like if I was second, my daughter was sick to find something to take a picture of.

It was intense.

Like I bet I would have to be fine something.

And it was all the rounded corners and no corner rounder, like completely matched the part.

And that would irritate me.

Yes.

So I like this.

So you have the project now.

I'm like, I'm doing square corners.

Everything lines up.

I glue the part and the picture together, front to back, and then trim.

If there's anything sticking out.

Yes, I do appreciate that that's where we've we've landed.

Yes.

So where and when can we typically find you scrapbooking and has that changed over time?

You know, as your daughter has grown, things have evolved in your own life.

I used to scrapbook when she was little, like a lot more like nap time, bedtime.

I would then be scrapbooking.

Now I get I scrapbook Saturdays.

And maybe an evening or two a week.

So.

And that's only changed.

That's more of a recent development.

I used to do it still a lot more when even she was in high school.

But my mom is having some health issues.

So like those are I have Saturday at home.

That's my only full day at home each week.

So Saturdays are 100% I scrapbooking time.

And then if I'm still have energy one or two nights a week.

I come home for dinner and then would scrapbook them.

Nice.

Yeah, I mean, this hobby isn't just about the memories.

It's not just about the craftiness.

It's about, you know, what we need to do to feed ourselves as we are.

Existing in the world and taking care of the things that we need to take care of.

It's that, you know, put your own oxygen mask on first.

And I think for many of us that scrapbooking is the oxygen mask.

Oh, very much so like I have I took like last September things were really crazy.

And so I didn't scrapbook very much.

And I found myself really missing it.

And for my own mental health, I need to make that a priority.

Because the creativity really just brings me peace and joy.

And I enjoy it from like I'm that is kind of like the I need to wear the oxygen mask first.

Yes.

And so I've been very intentional in 2026 of making that a priority.

Did you has it been harder?

Like, like, you know, I hear a lot from scrapbookers that putting themselves first is sometimes a challenge.

Because I feel like they have all these other obligations and they're just they're not a priority.

So I'm curious kind of has that been a challenge for you or have you evolved past that?

I think this year I've kind of evolved past it, but definitely like I put scrapbooking on kind of more of the back burner.

And I like step down from some design teams.

Another one had like given me the flexibility while I was kind of adjusting with my mom stuff to kind of create as I had time or energy.

And so I really appreciated that because it did take me a couple months to like really get things kind of squared in over at her house and feel like we're in a nice routine now where I can take the time for myself.

And with some help from my therapist who's like, you know, you have to take time for yourself.

And I was like, okay, like I did have to put some like limits on how much time I was over there, helping my daughter and care for my mom and like.

I do have to have time at home and the crafting part of that is what keeps my sanity for work and the stuff over there and everything else that.

I needed it for my own mental health and so it's like it has to be a priority.

Yeah, I love that you've that you figured that out for yourself when I think that something that's so important these days.

And I think it's my intention to what it is that we really need before it gets to a place where.

Our own, our own, you know, physical and mental health is deteriorating because of it.

Oh yeah, and I think it's as moms like it's so easy to put everything else to that's front of that list.

And I'm not worried where to like work comes first and then it's like my daughter and my husband and the kid and the dogs and my mom and.

It's so hard to be like no, I need to do this for myself that.

I'm still it's still a work in progress, but that's why I'm like I have one day one day we I can feel like it's my day that's wonderful.

Tell me about organization and you are you best friends with organization or not so much.

Very much so I am I like to joke that I may be a little bit OCD and very much like a type a personality of everything has its home.

Everything needs to be in its home and I literally have a clean desk after every project like if I finish the layout everything gets put away everything's organized my collections are together in like these cute little like plastic folders they aren't labeled me and my label maker are also best friends.

Embellishments are organized like everything has a tone and having a clean and organized craft space literally brings me joy.

Are there any particular like strategies or solutions that have worked really well for you of the years.

Definitely labeling everything and like I am one who likes to reach for a collection, but once I'm done with that collection I break it apart and keep it by color.

And in my scraper more organized like literally by color like all my like labels and little embellishments are organized by color once I'm done with them as like part of a collection.

And so it's really a learning curve of what works for you and honestly like I think creating my scrap of things space and organizing it is a whole nother hobby to scrapbooking.

I am constantly changing things up and deciding something needs to work differently or moving things around based on how I'm currently creating.

So having that flexibility but also like admitting like okay this is not working let's just change it up.

Do you ever need to kind of hold yourself back to say like hey I'm organizing more than I'm scrapbooking.

Um no I kind of feel like it's seasonal for me or is that not a problem.

It's not really a problem so like I do usually like around spring kind of like that spring cleaning I am not spring cleaning the house.

I am spring cleaning my scraper because that brings me more joy and then usually sometime over the summer.

So I work in a school so like the soonest summer break hits I'm like no kind of kind of clean reorganize give it like the next fresh new start because that always makes me more excited to create again.

Yeah I love that you figured out that about yourself too and how you look for things so all of my little pieces are organized by shape so rectangle circle stars you know flags tags.

Yeah not how my brain works I'm like I want something teal I'm going to go to my teal area I'm you know if it's not like with a collection or.

I want a step so they are in binders and they are alphabetical by brand and have little like dividers on the end so i'm I guess working in the school is perfect for me I love school supplies and new supplies so i'm like i'm the organized person and i'm just like that that's what I do everything in here is organized.

Do people come to you for organization help a little bit like I do like to share my scrap room and when I come up with something new on.

Definitely my social media so it's definitely like all my Instagram and i belong to a lot of like online shrapneling group so if they have a question i'm like hey how are you organizing this I have no problem stopping what i'm doing taking a picture.

Yeah because I think it really helps kind of see some other people's perspectives of like what has worked for them.

And it kind of then gets my brain going to like okay well what else can I do that could work for me because let's be honest my my storage is mostly on a budget because.

I would rather buy new supplies than the latest and greatest storage item yeah yeah and I found over the years that I like more close storage I don't want to see it so to me it doesn't matter that much what's in the basket because or how the basket looks on the inside because I just want to see the pretty basket on the outside because I don't want to see my stuff at all.

Well yeah and I like to see my stuff but I like it to be organized so like I have huge shells so those are open but i'm like all of my.

label making stuff is in one big bin and you can't see what's in there I just know where that in it so some of it's kind of more hidden but then also like I can i'm literally turning around like I have all of my.

Inglending brushes are in one cube and so you can see those yeah but those are in rainbow order so it's fine there visible.

I have to say I do have all of my distressing also in rainbow order so that is why I do organize by color so.

Otherwise I'd never be able to find anything yeah I think rainbow color and then I have a few of just the regular inks in like my favorite colors those are also in rainbow order yeah i'm a rainbow order girl I'll be honest I did that with my.

I did that with my washi table long time ago and I had it stacked on the shelf behind me and I thought it looks so cute for some videos and photos and all that but I found that I would never unstack it I would never use it anymore because it was just it became.

Decoration I guess so I had to put it all the basket instead.

Well and I've went from like certain things color coded like that honestly I don't even use my washi anymore I keep it so my daughter can read it for her diamond being nice.

It makes her feel like she's getting away with something and it's just kind of fun.

They will always yeah they will always have that you know little girl sneaking is in them right so.

100% and honestly I love that she's crafty like I am and it's taken our while to like figure out what you really likes but I love that she just keeps trying until like something hits yeah I love that for sure I love.

I guess as a parent like giving your kid the freedom to explore an experiment like that with creative things that something that I had and i'm so glad i'm able to do that for my my daughter too so.

Oh yeah she's always in here like like she's like i'm bored so then she's like grabbing my alcohol markers to color or my color pencils and like just finding something random that I can just toss it and be like here you can do this i'm busy.

And then she's just going to talk my ear off constantly but honestly now that she's not here every day I kind of miss it.

Oh I bet I bet I used to have a lot of posca paint pens I don't have very many anymore because they went to school one day and they were used for all kinds of things and now they they never returned.

Doctor my alcohol markers have done the same thing except for their over at my mom's if she want to do some over there like yeah i'll sacrifice you will yeah yeah.

So our last two questions are a little bit more big picture where would you like your scrapbooking to be 10 years from now I definitely think i'll still be creating I think it it always changes i'm I can't imagine myself not doing 12 by 12 layouts also because i've been doing them since the beginning.

But I definitely think it's going to be for focus more on maybe travel or still every day moment i'm not a huge like holiday scrapbooker and so like you won't find like oh look at this big birthday layout every year yeah like no I want to see the every day moment.

Probably a lot more albums because let's be honest I scrapbook a lot i just want to keep it like doing it however it brings me joy so if I do end up changing them maybe wanting to do more many albums then that will be a surprise but it could happen.

Yeah yeah when we never know like what products are going to come out that will peak our interest and get us to try something new.

Oh yeah because 10 years ago I never thought I would like mixed media like it just felt too unpredictable and too messy and like i'm like that's not me when like my daughter was like a toddler i'm like there's enough mess in my life I don't need it in my scrapbooking yeah and now i'm like bringing on the mess so.

So I think our our styles change as we get older and like as products change and inspiration changes because i've learned so much now then when I started because of all of social media so like instagram and real and youtube like either so many more ways to learn than when I started which was just like creating keepsakes convention.

Yes no that's it's very very true at just the speed at which we can pick up new things it's not even watching a tutorial anymore it's like literally saying I need five seconds of somebody doing this to know oh well that's what you do and then you can you can try to do it yourself.

Oh yeah and and the fact that like with the internet and like there are online crops now and you can like watch somebody teach you how to do something without leaving your home in your own space.

Honestly I love that because I am much more like let's stay at home and scrapbook with all of my stuff around me then try to figure out what I want to pack and go to a crop because I never have what I actually want.

Yeah no it can be stressful to figure out what it is you're actually going to use and and then where you put it yes for sure now my last question for you is what has been a scrapbook or taught you really it has forced me to look at every day moments of my life and focus on the little moments like.

Yes the vacations are great and those are memorable but sometimes it's just the little things that bring you joy so lately it's like the napping pictures of my dog and because he's only to like he's not going to look that way forever and just.

He looks so peaceful I'm like I need more of that in my life so those pictures bring me joy that's what I want to scrapbook late.

Oh look my boss bot donuts those are cute my friend brought me a new little crocheted animal for my desk at work that needs to be photographed like it's those little moments that I think add up to our lives actually being rich and enjoyable and those are what I want to focus on versus sometimes the big stuff or the sad stuff which still make it into my scrapbook but I think finding joy in those little moments is what makes my life more full and brings me more joy.

Yes yes 100% I think it's easy to feel torn between doing that and the value that we get from it and then oh but I forgotten all these other stories and I feel like I need to do that so I think there can be a little bit of attention for for memory keepers and how am I going to choose what I'm going to spend my time on because I can't possibly do everything.

No and it's been interesting as my daughter's gotten older and like she looks back to the scrapbooks and there will be certain things she only remembers from the scrapbooks and there will be things that like how it was a huge moment for her and a huge memory and I'm like I don't even remember that.

Yes I've taken my memory keeping to be what's important to me because I will never know what was important to her late I literally for her 18th birthday she wanted a stuffed animal.

Toysing that she remembered from when she was an infant and that was one of her first memories and I had to find it and it was considered vintage which kind of traumatized me.

But I'm like why was that like she's like that's just a really clear memory for me and I never would have thought of that so I'm like I just pick what's important to me and if when I pass she doesn't want the scrapbooks or she just wants to pick her favorites okay like I do it not for like having all of these memories for future generations I just do it because it brings me joy now yeah even if nobody looked at them again and they just go into a dumpster I literally.

You won't care because creating them is what brings me joy well keeps you connected to yourself to your family to being able to have those conversations to find out what was important to the others in your life too because you're thinking about that we are able to kind of share that that sense of gratitude and thoughtfulness with with the people around us too.

Well yeah and because I now brought this stuffed animal of hers that she had as an infant rebot it made a great trafficking page when my 18 year old daughter I literally bought an infant toy stuffed like working find or something that rattles like nice or maybe the hedgehog or something whatever it is it's like literally bright colors for like an infant and.

I literally had to document that because I'm like this is hilarious that you wanted an infant toy for your eight for Christmas for your 18th birthday.

I love it I love it we had flat bunny and we actually have an extra flat bunny in case flat bunny was ever lost so there is a brand new one in a package somewhere in a closet.

Oh yeah we had we had baby Elmo's a certain baby Elmo also went on deployment with my husband so that they each had one.

We also got a butterfly blanket which we have to get a replacement up like so there are those but I was just I knew those were the attachments that why this random hedgehog thing was a surprise.

Yes yes but I love that story so much thank you for sharing this has been just such a delightful conversation Cassie can you share where listeners can find you online anything else you have newer coming up this year 2026 yeah of course so I am of course on my Instagram all the time in that just at.

Cassie was person and I share my all my layouts there every single month and I currently you can find me with pear tree cut files so they're a UK company but they have a Facebook group and release new cut files each month.

I also create first prep look generation with Allison Davis for their printables and also their sketches so you'll find me there and then this is brand new hot off the press and will be announced in like an hour.

I am part of the crafty maven getaway mixed media kits and you can find me on their Facebook group doing all of their challenges and posting there and that starts literally today.

Very cool congratulations so hot off the press brand new news we will we will incorporate all of the news in the show notes for this episode perfect thanks for spending time with me Cassie yes it's been a pleasure and to all of our listeners

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