Archive for January, 2012
My granddaughter is a senior in high school. She only has a few months left before she goes off to university. She doesn’t know it, but her mother has been sending me photos all year long to compile into a scrapbook my granddaughter can take with her to university. I’m hoping to have the whole thing put together by her graduation party.
Putting together this scrapbook has been a wonderful experience. I just love seeing all the photos of my granddaughter looking so happy with her friends and being so involved in school activities. The project has also been fun because my granddaughter’s school’s colors are orange, black, and white – Halloween colors! I’ve been able to use lots of funky looking Halloween scrapbook paper on each page.
Creating cards from my scrapbooking tools gives me instant gratification. You can make it and get it in the mail in a matter of minutes if you need to. The more you practice making cards, the more you believe in yourself and branch out to try new things. I’ve started to get into 3-Ds, which has come about by my growing confidence to the practice I get from participating in design challenges. I’ve seen what other people are doing, I find out what works for me and incorporate some of their ideas, but make it my own. I try to make my projects my own through clean and simple designs–with unexpected details. I just use things that I enjoy and that appeal to me. I find cool ideas and trends to incorporate into my designs everywhere I look.
Eye-catching details and trendy accents don’t have to be heavy-handed, and I try to create a “wow” without going over the top. Sometimes I take an extra minute to grab something from my scrapbooking tools to layer stamped images on a piece of chipboard, tuck a bit of linen thread behind a brad, or add a delightfully surprising pearl or scalloped edge. I try to find the balance between embellishments and a card sketch. After all, sometimes good design is instinctual. So get to creating with your scrapbooking tools.
Shadows on scrapbooking pages always catch the eye, and we scrapbookers enjoy learning how to create a shadowy illusion of depth on our projects in fun, interesting ways. With a flick of the wrist, we can create a customized accent or border that adds an amazing 3-D look to any project.
Creating this look is surprisingly easy. Use a handle and wheel from your scrapbooking tools and roll the wheel on scratch paper until the entire wheel is completely inked: begin with the darker ink first. Next, find the seam on the wheel, and position it even with the edge of the paper. Carefully roll the image onto the scrapbooking paper. Clean off the wheel, and completely ink your wheel again.
Then, locate the seam again before the spot where you began on the first roll. Now carefully roll the lighter image on top of the darker image, creating a wonderful dry-embossed look.
Be certain that you include a wheel and handle in your scrapbooking tools for designing shadows.
If you have created a scrapbooking project and you notice cracking scrapbooking paper, you can take a couple of steps to make it less noticeable:
You can sometimes fix cracks by rubbing them lightly with a sanding block; this “erases” the damaged fibers.
You can moisten your finger and rub the crack; this “glues” the damaged fibers together.
If you you’ve ever wondered if it matters which way you fold scrapbooking paper after you’ve scored it, the answer is yes. Scoring breaks the fibers in the paper; you want to fold the paper where the fibers have already been broken.
When you fold away from the score mark and bend the fold at a ninety-degree angle, the fold will actually look like a tiny w, not a v.
Whenever possible, store your scrapbook paper in a location with higher humidity.
While most of the factors that cause cracking of your scrapbooking paper when you attempt to fold it for a project are beyond your control, you can do a few things to decrease the chances your card stock will crack.
Fold with the grain of the paper. It will very rarely crack. The grain generally runs vertically on 81/2″X11″ card stock. To find the grain, bend a piece of card stock lengthwise and widthwise. You’ll notice that there is a bit less resistance from one direction; that is the direction of the grain.
There is a problem with scrapbookers with not having enough scrapbooking storage for their tons of supplies. If you’re storing all of your accessories in an area of your home that is a high traffic place, you may want to try to blend all of your supplies with their surroundings. Use decorative jars, totes, and boxes for storage that match your room decor and no one will know that these are holding all of your crafts.
Sara, a good friend of mine from high school, recently became engaged. She has always wanted to have a small destination wedding in a tropical locale. About two days ago, I received a card in the mail from her. It’s far too early for her to be sending out invitations, so I was curious as to what it was.
Inside the envelope was a beautifully handcrafted card made using Hawaiian scrapbook paper, ribbon, and shells. On the inside she wrote a brief message about what our friendship means to her and concluded by asking me to be her bridesmaid. Of course I called her immediately and said yes! I think it was an incredibly thoughtful gesture and I can’t wait for her big day.
We all know that scrapbooking involves preserving clear, crisp images on a page in a scrapbooking album. Here are a few tips for choosing the right camera for snapping those pictures for your projects. Do a little research on cameras that take great photos, select a camera with the right mega pixels for quality pictures, and one that has a zoom. You may want to try out a picture in the store and experiment with the camera before purchasing it. Your purchase will be reflected by the great photos that appear on your pages.
I really enjoy attending a scrapbooking crop, especially when I’ve run out of ideas for scrapbooking pages. Also stamping camps offer new creative and fun ideas. The presenters and participants bring scrapbooking tools, scrapbooking paper, and even finished pages for others to view. I usually learn the latest and greatest techniques and how to create more elaborate projects. So if you have lull in your favorite hobby, try attending a teaching camp of some sort.
When it comes to scrapbooks, sometimes you have to do things a little differently in order to make sure they look right in your scrapbooking albums. Use brighter colors, stagger your pictures, add descriptive words, and make your pages simple so that they don’t take away from the actual look of the book itself.
Even if your scrapbook pages seem to look the same, but you’re happy with them, it’s not a big deal!