They walked together down the street, laughing and chatting, as the snow fell. Beatrice’s pink Victorian house looked something straight out of a Christmas greeting card—beautiful white bows in each of the windows and a huge wreath on the front door. Vera gave it a knock.
“What do you want?” Beatrice said when she opened the door. “What do the scrapbook queens want with me?”
“We have something for you, Mama.”
Vera watched her mother’s face as Beatrice gradually realized what they had done—in the midst of all the turmoil and the hectic holiday season, these women had artfully placed photos in an album for her.
“What?” she said, as if still trying to make sense of it all. Then it gradually washed over her face. The joy. And for the first time in years, Beatrice was rendered speechless.
Glossary of Basic Scrapbooking Terms
Acid-Free: Acid is a chemical found in paper that will disintegrate the paper over time. It will ruin photos. It’s very important that all papers, pens, etc., say acid-free, or eventually it can ruin cherished photos and layouts.
Adhesive: Any kind of glue or tape can be considered adhesive. In scrapbooking, there are several kinds of adhesives: tape runners, glue sticks, and glue dots.
Brad: This is similar to a typical split pin, but it is found in many different sizes, shapes, and colors. It is very commonly used for an embellishment.
Challenge: Within the scrapbooking community, “challenges” are issued in groups as a way of motivation.
Crop: Technically, “to crop” means the cutting down of a photo. However, a “crop” is also when a circle of scrapbookers gets together and scrapbooks. A crop can be anything from a group of friends getting together, or a more official gathering, where there are scrapbook materials for sale and there are games and challenges and so on. Online crops are a good alternative for people who don’t have a local scrapbook community.
Die-Cut: This is a shape or letter cut from paper or cardstock—usually by machine or by using a template.
Embellishment: Embellishment is the enhancing of a scrapbook page with trinkets other than words and photos. Typical embellishments are ribbons, fabric, and stickers.
Eyelet: These small metal circles, similar to the metal rings found on shoes for threading laces, are used in the scrapbook context as a decoration and can hold elements on a page.
Journaling: This is the term for writing on scrapbook pages. It includes everything from titles to full pages on thoughts, feelings, and memories about the photos displayed.
Matting: Photos in scrapbooks are framed with a mat. Scrapbookers mat with coordinating papers on layouts, often using colors found in the photos.
Page Protector: These are clear, acid-free covers that are used to protect finished pages.
Permanent: Adhesives that will stay are deemed permanent.
Photo Corners: A photo is held to a page by slipping the corners of the photo into photo corners. They usually stick on one side.
Post-Bound Album: This term refers to an album that uses metal posts to hold the binding together. These albums can be extended with more posts to make them thicker. Usually page protectors are already included on the album pages.
Punch: This is a tool used to “punch” decorative shapes in paper or cardstock.
Punchies: The paper shapes that result from using a paper punch tool are known as punchies. These can be used on a page for a decorative effect.
Repositionable Adhesive: Magically, these adhesives do not create a permanent bond until dry, so you can move an element dabbed with the adhesive around on the page until you find just the perfect spot.
Scraplift: When a scrapbooker copies someone’s page layout or design, she has scraplifted.
Scrapper’s Block: This is a creativity block.
Strap-Hinge Album: An album can utilize straps to allow pages to lie completely flat when the album opens. To add pages to this album, the straps are unhinged.
Template: A template is a guide for cutting shapes, drawing, or writing on a page. They are usually made of plastic or cardboard.
Trimmer: A trimmer is a tool used for straight-cutting photos.
Vellum: Vellum is a thicker, semitransparent paper with a smooth finish.
Making Your Own Scrapbook of Shadows
A “book of shadows” is actually a book that modern witches or pagans often keep; it is a journal of sorts about their beliefs. It often includes rituals, spells, prayers, and personal reflections. When scrapbooking techniques are used to make the book, the result is a “scrapbook of shadows,” which is less like a journal. No matter what your religious or spiritual beliefs, a scrapbook of shadows can be a worthwhile and creative endeavor, as well as a tool for personal growth. Choose a special scrapbook, binder, or journal for your scrapbook of shadows, something that inspires you.
Here are some things you might include in a scrapbook of shadows:
Prayers
Poems
Photos of meaningful items or people
Pressed flowers and/or herbs
Astrological information
“Found items” from a special day, such as feathers, leaves, wrappers, and so on
Notes about your dreams
Notes about spiritual or religious events/ holidays
Special symbols
Other Ideas For More Reflective Scrapbooking
A yoga scrap-journal. In Scrapped, Annie is journaling her yoga classes.
An inspiration scrap-journal. Gather photos, magazine clippings, bits and pieces of art, and poetry centered around a theme that inspires you.
A gratitude scrap-journal. Gather photos, magazine clippings, bits and pieces of art, and poetry that express what you are grateful for.
Scrapbook Essentials for the Beginner
When you first start to scrapbook, the amount of products and choices can be overwhelming. It’s best to keep it simple until you develop your own style and see exactly what you need. Basically, this hobby can be as complicated or as simple as you want. Here is all you really need:
1. Photos
2. Archival scrapbooks and acid-free paper
3. Adhesive
4. Scissors
5. Sheet protectors
Advice on Cropping
Basically, two kinds of crops exist. An “official” crop is when a scrapbook seller is involved. The participants sample and purchase products, along with participating in contests and giveaways. The second kind of crop is an informal gathering of friends on at least a semi-regular basis to share, scrapbook, eat, and gossip, just like the Cumberland Creek croppers.
1. In both cases, food and drinks are usually served. Finger food is most appropriate. The usual drinks are nonalcoholic, but sometimes wine is served. But there should be plenty of space for snacking around the scrapbooking area. If something spills, you don’t want your cherished photos to get ruined.
2. If you have an official crop, it’s imperative that your scrapbook seller doesn’t come on too strong. Scrapbook materials sell themselves. Scrapbookers know what they want and need.
3. Be prepared to share. If you have a die-cut machine, for example, bring it along, show others how to use it, and so on. Crops are about generosity of the spirit. It can be about something as small as paper that you purchased and decided not to use. Someone will find a use for it.
4. Make sure there’s a lot of surface space, such as long tables where scrapbookers can spread out. (Some even use the floor.)
5. Be open to both giving scrapbooking advice and receiving it. You can always ignore advice if it’s bad.
6. Get organized before you crop. You don’t need fancy boxes and organizing systems. Place the photos you want to crop with in an envelope, and you are ready to go.
7. Go with realistic expectations. You probably won’t get a whole scrapbook done during the crop. Focus on several pages.
8. Always ask about what you can bring, such as food, drinks, cups, plates, and so on.
> 9. If you’re the host, have plenty of garbage bags around. Ideally, have one small bag for each person. That way scrapbookers can throw away unusable scraps as they go along, which makes cleanup much easier.
10. If you’re the host, make certain there is plenty of good lighting, as well as an adequate number of electricity outlets.
Frugal Scrapbooking Tips
Spend your money where it counts. The scrapbook itself is the carrier of all your memories and creativity. Splurge here.
You can find perfectly fine scrapbooking paper in discount stores, along with stickers, pens, and sometimes glue. If it’s labeled “archival,” it’s safe.
You can cut your own paper and make matting, borders, journal boxes, and so on. You don’t need fancy templates, though they make it easier.
Check on some online auction sites, like eBay, for scrapbooking materials and tools.
Reuse and recycle as much as you can. Keep a box of paper scraps, for example, that you might be able to use for a border, mat, or journal box. Commit to not buying anything else until what you’ve already purchased has been used.
Wait for special coupons. Some national crafts stores run excellent coupons—sometimes 40 percent off. Wait for these coupons, and then go and buy something on your wish list that you could not otherwise afford.
If you have Internet access, you have a wealth of information available to you for free. You can find free clip art, ideas for titles for your pages or even poems, fonts, and so on.
Turn the page for a special preview of the next book in
Mollie Cox Bryan’s
Cumberland Creek Mystery series
A Kensington mass-market paperback coming soon!
Chapter 1
A green velvet dress, the skirt of which was flung over top of the right hip of the victim, revealed that she was naked from the waist down. Her white thigh and buttocks were so muscled, taut, and perfect that she almost looked like a statue, lying twisted, face down on the floor. Her long brown ponytail of curls was askew, but the green ribbon was still intact. A pair of hose was crumpled in the corner of the dance studio. Her underwear, if indeed, she wore any, was missing. One of her shoes was lying next to the hose—and it was without laces, of course, because its laces were still wrapped around Emily McGlashen’s neck.
“How long has she been here?” Annie asked Detective Adam Bryant, after settling her stomach with a deep breath and calming thoughts.
Poor woman. So young. So talented.
He shrugged. “As far as I can tell, maybe all day. We think it happened sometime early this morning. She was supposed to be at a meeting this afternoon. Her friend came looking for her and this is what she found. You here officially?”
Annie grimaced. She’d been working on her book about the New Mountain Order and had taken a leave of absence from her freelancing, and he knew it. But her editor called her to see if she’d cover this. Big news—well, to a certain segment of the population, namely those that followed Irish dance.
“Maybe,” she said.
“Not much of a story here,” he went on. “Just a murder of a person who maybe was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. “
“She was sort of in the public eye. And a strangling is a personal act, isn’t it?” Annie twisted a curl around her finger. She was wearing her hair down—all of a part of the newer, more relaxed version of her former self. She didn’t need to pull it back. She didn’t need to control it. It was a relief. Chalk that bit of advice up to her mysterious friend and yoga teacher Cookie Crandall, still missing.
“Most of the time, yes,” he said, his blue eyes sparkling. “But there was a robbery. Looks like the safe was ransacked. Maybe she surprised the perp. Maybe he didn’t have another weapon.”
“So he used her shoe laces?” Annie said. “C’mon.”
The detective’s mouth went crooked.
Still, it probably had nothing to do with the NMO. There were none of the symbols they had used in the past. Maybe it was true. Maybe they had really cleaned up their act.
“But she was a famous Irish dancer,” Annie said, almost to herself.
“And?” he said with a crooked smirk. “One of her fancy-dancing competitors offed her?”
Annie crossed her arms and glared at him.
The police photographer entered the studio and his camera flashed in the dim room—a large dance studio with beautiful floors, a mirror along one wall, and bars that ran along the side of it. Posters of Irish dancers, medals, and trophies decorated the facility. You could say what you wanted about Emily—and many townsfolk did—but she knew her Irish dancing. An international champion who came to Cumberland Creek and opened a new studio, Emily made a splash in town—right away.
A couple of uniformed officers pulled Bryant away to show him something they found. Annie stepped out of the way of another officer, now bending over the body. A glint of a flash from the camera reflected in the mirror.
“Damn, it’s going to be hard to get good pictures. These mirrors are a problem,” the photographer said as he looked around for another angle. “Can you run and get some sheets from the van?” he said to a younger person who was assisting him.
“Well, that’s an interesting piece of evidence,” Bryant said.
Annie turned around to see the detective reach for a red handbag that looked vaguely familiar to her. She was not a handbag kinda woman—she was more a designer-shoe-turned-into-a-sneaker aficionado. She didn’t pay much attention to purses, given that she avoided carrying one as often as possible.
But she was certain she’d seen that bag somewhere.
The detective reached in and pulled out the wallet—still there and full of money, credit cards, and the driver’s license, which caused a huge grin to spread across his face.
“Vera Matthews,” he said and looked at Annie. “And I think we all know what Vera thought about Emily McGlashen.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Annie said, but her heart sank. Vera had made no attempt at hiding her feelings about Emily—and Vera hadn’t been herself. But still she was far from being a cold-blooded killer. Vera? Not likely. “Vera Matthews may not have liked Emily, but she didn’t kill her.”
“But, Ms. Chamovitz, her purse is here. How do you explain that?” Bryant smirked, as he placed the handbag in a plastic evidence bag.
“I don’t have to explain it. You do,” she said.
“You’re wrong about that, Annie. She does,” he said, slipping off his gloves.
She knew he was right. But she walked away from him nonchalantly. It took every ounce of restraint she could muster to not run out of the studio and call Vera to warn her that Bryant, or one of his underlings, would be stopping by to question her. As if it mattered, really, she was certain Vera would not kill anybody, especially after seeing the compassionate way she’d behaved over the past few years. Still, a little warning would be nice.
But Vera’s life had changed drastically over the past year. Her ex-husband Bill had moved in with a woman in Charlottesville and was rarely around to help with their daughter Elizabeth. Her mother, Beatrice, was also living with a new man in her life. Vera was alone and claimed she preferred it. But her business income had plummeted after Emily McGlashen came to town, stealing many of Vera’s students by offering cheaper classes and preaching against the “archaic” dance form of ballet. Vera was in such financial trouble that she was renting her house out, hoping to sell it, while she and Elizabeth lived in the apartment above her dance studio.
“Didn’t she write a letter to the editor recently about Ms. McGlashen?” the detective asked, still holding the purse. Annie refrained from smiling at the decidedly manly-man holding the bag with the purse in it.
“Yes. Wow, you read,” she taunted him. “Did you also see the letter she was responding to? The one that Emily wrote?”
“Oh gee, I must have missed that,” he said. “I’m sure I’ll be reading it in about an hour, right, Johnson?”
“Yes s
ir, right on it.”
He started to walk by her and brushed up against her. “Sir,” he said in a low voice. “I like that. If only I could get a little of that respect from you. “
His breath skimmed across her neck as he walked by. Telling him that she was a married woman, again, would do no good. He had been blatantly flirting with her for months—sometimes right under Mike’s nose. If they hadn’t shared that one kiss during a moment of drunken weakness, she’d have more solid ground. But he knew.
He knew what he was doing to her. And he was enjoying every minute of it.
Chapter 2
When Vera opened her apartment door to Detective Bryant, who held her purse in a plastic bag, her first thought was one of relief.
”You found my purse,” she said. “Oh thank heaven. I was looking everywhere for it.” When she went to reach for it, she was interrupted by a crashing sound. “Oh shoot,” she said, taking off toward where the crash was coming from. “Come in, Detective,” she managed to say, waving him in.
“Oh Lizzie!” she said to her grinning daughter who was sitting in the middle of a huge stack of CDs that had been piled nicely in several stacks around the floor. They were just too tempting for an inquisitive two-year-old. At least the silver disks were all still inside the covers. Lizzie hadn’t gotten around to that yet.
Vera reached for Lizzie and pulled her up to her hip. She looked at the Detective, who stood by awkwardly with her purse. Annie had just walked in behind him.
“Hey,” she said.
Lizzie squealed and squirmed down from her mother. “Annie!” She ran to her.
“You want to come and play at my house?” Annie said.
“Yes!”
“Annie, why do you want my daughter? Don’t you think you should check with me first?” Vera asked, smiling. She was so glad that Annie and Lizzie got along so well. After all, Lizzie’s father was mostly nowhere around.
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