Everyone likes having good experiences and fun times.  Looking at photographs is a great way to remember some of the good memories and important moments in a person’s life.  For this reason, a lot of people like to scrapbook!  Scrapbooking is a great way to organize photographs so that you can go back in the future and have lots of great memories to look back on.  However, if you are a crafty, creative person, you also can create lots of fun memories in the scrapbooking process!  Scrapbooking is a great way to create memories with your memories!  Here are some of the ways that the process of scrapbooking can be memorable, in and of itself:

1) Scrapbooking allows time to reminisce:  When you are scrapbooking, one of the most fun things that you can do is look at photographs, remembering all of the good times that you had when the picture was taken.  This aspect of scrapbooking is probably the first thing that attracts people to scrapbooking.  One of the great things about scrapbooking is that it can be a leisurely activity.  Scrapbooking allows you a lot of time to sit back and look at the photographs that you are scrapbooking, and just reminisce about "the good old days!"  However, if you scrapbook with a friend or a group, you can also create a lot of memories by stopping and talking about the activities that took place in each of your respective photographs!  The remembering and reminiscing process that takes place during scrapbooking is definitely one of the most memorable activities of scrapbooking.

2) Scrapbook with friends allows for memories:  If you have friends who scrapbook or if you are a member of a scrapbooking club, you can make a lot of great memories by just getting together with your friends to scrapbook!  Sometimes the fun that you have while scrapbooking won’t be related to the scrapbooking process itself!  Rather, just being with friends and doing something that you really enjoy can be a memorable experience in and of itself.  Scrapbooking is a great activity to promote conversation and talking, which allows many memorable friendships to develop.  Many people have had such memorable experiences with scrapbooking that they permanently try to get together with their scrapbooking friends - not just to scrapbook, but to remember the fun times that they have had while scrapbooking!

3) Creative and new ideas are memorable:  Have you ever had a really great, creative idea that made you feel really good about yourself?  Sometimes the creative, good ideas that we have can lead to a memorable experience.  Scrapbooking is a great activity because it develops creative thought and innovative thinking, particularly in terms of artistic design.  When scrapbookers come up with a new or creative way of scrapbooking, it can lead to a really memorable experience.  Really serious scrapbookers find their new and innovative scrapbooking "breakthroughs" to be really memorable and exciting experiences - and then continue to be memorable each time that another scrapbooker asks for scrapbooking advice!

It’s not hard to see how scrapbooking can be a very memorable and fun activity.  For this reason, scrapbooking is becoming a very popular activity with all different kinds of people.  Some people prefer to scrapbook by decorating physical paper with film prints.  Other scrapbookers prefer to use their digital camera photographs and scrapbook on their computer.  Both paper and computer scrapbooking allow for elaborate or simple designs - you can choose! Either way you choose to scrapbook, you can have a lot of fun and make great memories with scrapbooking!  So, start making memories by first taking pictures with your camera!  Then, let the good memories continue by scrapbooking the photographs that you have taken!

Posted by Don under Scrapbook Embellishments , Scrapbook Techniques on Wed 29 Aug 2007 No Comments 

The idea of sprucing up traditional methods for displaying precious family pictures resonates with a lot of people.  Scrapbooking is a hobby that has grown dramatically in popularity over the last 10-15 years.  Craft stores and other vendors are anxious to feed the needs of scrapbookers with the newest and the best materials.  But sometimes even the most avid of scrapbookers cannot find the ideas or the products that they need in traditional stores.  Sometimes you will need to check out scrapbook websites.

Scrapbook websites are great for two main reasons.  First, you can find almost anything that you are looking for online.  With millions and millions of new postings every day, there is bound to be something that you will find useful.  And second, you are free to look at what you find on the internet free of charge.  You are under no obligation to buy anything so you can look at products and techniques without worrying about sales pitches or pushy employees.  Of course there are always exceptions but in general, the internet is a wealth of knowledge just waiting for you to take advantage of it. 

Free online fonts

When it comes to scrapbooking, journaling is one of the most important things that you can do on a page.  Yet journaling can be the most tedious and monotonous thing that you do.  One way to solve that problem is to type your journaling instead of writing it all out by hand.  When you type your journaling you have the added advantage of being able to use all of the fonts in your regular word processing program plus all of the fonts that are available online.  That’s right; you can find free, unique fonts on the internet that are designed with the scrapbooker in mind.  A simple search for scrapbook fonts will turn up countless pages with fonts that are both free to download and fonts that you may be charged a fee to use.  You are able to browse through hundreds of different options and new fonts are being created and posted regularly.  You are sure to have unique journaling when you take advantage of these scrapbook font websites.

Different levels of difficultly, budgets, time demands

Scrapbooking websites are also worth checking out because of the diversity of ideas and opinions that are found there.  Whether you are just starting out in your quest to scrapbook or if you are a seasoned pro, there are ideas online that you can benefit from at no expense.  You can also narrow your search to specific techniques, tools and even brands of supplies.  Those who are slower at picking up some of the more complicated scrapbooking techniques can learn at their own pace by taking online tutorials and by looking at pictures and reading instructions to aid them in their progress.  Some people need to be especially creative with the materials that they have because of budget restraints.  Whatever your specific needs, there is something online that you can benefit from.

Regularly updated

Scrapbook websites such as this one (http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/cr_scrapbooking) which is sponsored by the Do-It-Yourself Network, offer advice for scrapbooking based on categories and the tips are updated regularly.  If you do not want to have to search for ideas on different sites over and over again, looking at regularly updated site like this takes a lot of the guess work out of scrapbooking websites. 

Scrapbooking websites provide the average scrapbooker with resources that are comparable to those utilized by the professional scrapbookers among us.  You should check out scrapbooking websites because you are guaranteed to find something that you can use in your scrapbooking, even if it is only an idea to try something new.

Posted by Don under Scrapbook Embellishments , Scrapbook Techniques on Mon 20 Aug 2007 No Comments 

Scrapbook layouts are essential to any scrapbooker.  The layout of the page dictates what types of pictures, journaling, and embellishments are possible.  The layout of a scrapbook page is sort of like the signature of each scrapbooker.  It is what sets one person apart from everyone else who is doing the same thing.  But of course we cannot pay for original ideas and sometimes it is hard to come up with inspiration for a new page.  Fortunately there are ways to find free or nearly free scrapbook layouts that are original or customizable. 

Craft store displays

Craft stores that sell scrapbooking supplies often have displays of scrapbook pages or scrapbooking catalogs of their merchandise available.  These marketing and advertising techniques can actually be an excellent source of inspiration for original layouts.  By looking at all of the supplies and different ideas that individual stores have, you can combine the new concepts that you see into something that is unique to you.  You can even take a digital camera into the stores and take pictures of the things that you see and want to re-create at home.  Because these stores do not charge admission to have you see their layouts, you can benefit from professional creativity without paying a dime.

Classes

Scrapbooking vendors and craft stores often hold scrapbooking classes to the public.  Depending on your area and the scrapbook merchandise providers, you may be able to find classes that are free or nearly free to the public.  It is in the vendor’s best interest to get you into their store and offering free classes is a good way for many vendors to do this.  Many times these classes teach you how to use some of the newest scrapbooking techniques and products.  You are not always obligated to buy and can simply leave these classes with original scrapbook layout ideas.

Online scrapbook suppliers and newsletters

You can find just about anything online and that includes scrapbook layouts.  Although it may be difficult to find a site offering one-on-one personal layout creation services, it is incredibly simple to look at advertisements for scrapbooking products or for scrapbooking classes and get ideas that you can then reproduce at home.  There are several sites that will offer free templates that you can look at or print out that can provide the backbone for your own creativity. 

Expositions

Scrapbook vendors are constantly holding expositions that are either free to the public or around $10-15 per person for the length of the exposition.  This is an opportunity for scrapbooking vendors to come from all over the country to display, demonstrate and sell their newest and best scrapbooking products.  Many times you will also receive certificates for free classes, demonstrations, and complimentary merchandise.  Of course, the whole purpose of going to one of these expositions is then to take home the new concepts that you have seen and to apply your own personal touches to your scrapbooking layouts.

Ideas from other scrapbookers

Some of the best scrapbook layout ideas come from friends or neighbors that you are able to meet and scrapbook with.  Ideas from other scrapbookers are not only great because it is fun to see what others are able to do, but you can get information specific to your areas such as where the sales are, where classes are, where to shop on a budget etc.  When you get together with other scrapbookers you can also look at each other’s books, decide which techniques that you like and think that you have the materials and know-how to do, and then apply all that information to your own scrapbook layouts.

Posted by Don under Scrapbook Embellishments , Scrapbook Techniques on Mon 20 Aug 2007 No Comments 

There are countless different ways that you can combine paper, pictures, stickers, embellishments, journaling and keepsakes on a scrapbook page.  In fact, it is unlikely that two people working independently of each other would create identical scrapbook layouts.  Nevertheless, scrapbooking enthusiasts have come up with yet another way to set yourself apart form all of the other scrapbookers out there - interactive pages.

Interactive pages work much like the pop-up books, lift and look books or pull tab books that our children and grandchildren enjoy.  Simply applying these concepts to a scrapbooking page brings new life and possibility to what you thought you could do with your scrapbook.  Many of these interactive techniques involve a process called slicing.  Slicing refers to the cuts that must be made on the page itself and to protective plastic page cover in order to give the page the movement that the creator is looking for. 

Although slicing is only limited by one’s imagination, below are a few specific and commonly used methods of slicing.  Use your imagination when looking at the items that you plan to add to your scrapbook.  You may have a few items that would be better displayed and easier to enjoy if you were to use a slicing method.  Slicing your scrapbooks pages is a guaranteed way to add interest to an otherwise two dimensional piece.  You are also able to do more with a page when you have a 3rd dimension to work with.

Mini books

Crafting mini books on a page is probably the most popular slicing method.  Creating a mini book or a flap on a page is relatively simple.  All you do is create your simple book by folding a paper of your size choice in half and decorate the front and two inside pages as you like.  If you’d like to make more "pages" in the book, just cut additional pieces of cardstock the same size and put them together.  You can use a stapler, ribbon, or needle and thread and sew or otherwise attach them together at the fold.  If you place your pages in a protective plastic sheet you will also need to cut the sheet so that the book can be opened without removing the whole page form the protective cover.  Simply adhering the sleeve flap to the cover of the book works well to protect the book and page while they are not being used.

Pockets

Pockets are also a very popular slicing method used when adding interest to a scrapbook layout.  Pockets are relatively simple to make.  One of the easiest ways to make a pocket is out of an envelope.  Simply remove the portion of the envelop that has the adhesive side and place your items in the envelope that is adhered to the page.  Cut the protective sheet where the opening of the envelope is if you desire.  Pockets can be created with any type of paper by simply gluing down three sides and leaving the fourth side opened so that items can be placed behind the paper. 

Pull outs and more!

If you really want to move on to something a little bit more complicated you can try your hand at adding slicing techniques that rotate, pull out of the page in an accordion style, or can otherwise be manipulated in ways that traditional scrapbooking methods would not allow.  The possibilities are endless.  You can create albums, within albums and fit countless pictures and embellishments on a single page.  Slicing a scrapbook layout adds visual interest as well as a more interesting way to look through a traditional scrapbook. 

Posted by Don under Scrapbook Embellishments , Scrapbook Techniques on Sun 19 Aug 2007 No Comments 

Scrapbooking is a relaxing and enjoyable activity that produces a useful and beautiful product that families and friends can enjoy for years to come.  But unfortunately for us, it can also be a relatively expensive hobby.  Unless, of course, you know how to be thrifty with your scrapbooking.  Luckily you’ve found this article that will give you some useful tips for spending less and getting more when it comes to scrapbooking.  You’ll also learn a few valuable tips to scrapping in general.  So keep reading and save money!

As a scrapbooker, the most important thing to realize is that there is no right or wrong way to scrapbook.   Anything said in this article is simply a suggestion that you may apply or discard at your leisure.  You should be trying to make your scrapbook into an extension of your life, so do that by using your own creativity to make your pages. This is the best way for your scrapbook to feel like your family’s personality and lifestyle.  Here are a few other ways to make your scrapbook more personal and memorable. 

 Include your own handwriting.  One of the best ways to make your journal or scrapbook more personal is to use your own handwriting.  Your handwriting says something about you and adds a different dimension than a computer-printed font.
 Write your feelings.  Yes, writing your feelings can sometimes be difficult.  But as you look through your pictures and memorabilia, think about the feelings you have for each person and event.  Your friends and family who look at your journal or scrapbook will love learning about your feelings. 
 Choose the proper paper.  The paper you choose for each page in your scrapbook or journal can dictate the tone of each page.  It can also make your page look cheesy or interesting, depending on your choice.  Be careful of paper that is too busy or silly for the content. 
 Include a range of topics.  Your journal or scrapbook will be very memorable and personal if you include pages of friends, home, family, neighbors, etc. 

So when you’re running off to the craft store to buy some supplies and you’re worried about how much everything is going to cost, stop for just a moment and think- What can I do to save myself money?  Here are some suggestions you might want to consider.

1. What do you have around the house that you can use in your scrapbook?  Old buttons, glitter, costume accessories, special keepsakes and even old yarn or string can be great additions to any scrapbook, which can usually be found lying around the house.  Before you run to spend money at the craft store, look around your house for supplies that may be hidden right before your eyes. 

2. Reuse your scraps of paper.  Fancy paper for scrapbooking (whether it’s cardstock or decorative mounting paper) can be very expensive.  This is why you should reuse your scraps of paper.  You can use your scraps as background for smaller pictures, for mini cards, for borders, for unique layouts, etc.  The possibilities are endless.

3. Look for a sale.  Craft stores, especially chain stores, often have huge sales on their scrapping supplies that can save you a ton of money.  Instead of buying scrapbooking supplies all the time, save money by purchasing your supplies when the sales are going on. 

4. Share with friends.  Have scrapbooking parties with your friends who like to scrap.  You can share ideas, layouts, and even supplies.  It can also be lots more fun to scrap with your friends than scrapping alone.
 

Posted by Don under Scrapbook Embellishments , Scrapbook Techniques on Sat 18 Aug 2007 No Comments 

Are you into scrapbooking?  There are a lot of ways that people can scrapbook and decorate their pages of photos!  One of the popular ways for you to decorate your scrapbooks is with stenciling!  Stenciling is a technique where you take a basic form and you draw or paint around the space indicated by the stencil.  Usually you draw around the negative space of the stencil (the empty space), but sometimes stencils are made so that you draw around the positive space (the filled-in space) of the stencil form.  There are a lot of ways that you can stencil with scrapbooks!  Here is a little bit of information about the technique of stenciling with scrapbooks:

1) Basic letter stenciling:  If you have a theme or some type of lettering on your scrapbook page, you can use stencils to write out the words!  Stencils are a lot of fun and are a great thing to use, especially if you have poor handwriting!  This way, your letters will come out looking clear and pristine on your scrapbook pages!  Letter stencils generally come in two different forms:  the letters are all together on a single template, or each letter comes in an individual template.  You can use whatever stencil form and template that works best for you!

2) Decorative picture stencils:  There are a lot of decorative picture stencils that you can also use to decorate your scrapbook pages!  These stencils come in the forms of animals, toys, birthday cakes, airplanes, and much more!  One stenciling technique that you can use with these decorative stencils is the basic outline with an acid free pen or marker.  However, you also can be very creative with decorative stencils and use paint.  Place the stencil down on the scrapbook page, and dab a small sponge square into your paint.  Then use your sponge end to apply the paint to the stencil space.  This way, you will be able to create cute little painted decorations with the help of your stencil!
3) Stencil plastering:  One of the newest, most innovative ways to use stencils with scrapbooking is through plastering.  This is a great stenciling technique which is fun for scrapbookers to use.  Stencil plastering is a popular way to decorate your pages, particularly because it adds a new level of dimension and depth to your scrapbook pages!  In order to do stencil plastering, you will need to get wall plaster or spackle.  Wall plaster and spackle come in many different colors, so don’t feel limited to using just white!  In addition, you will also need some metal or plastic stencils.  Next, either plaster directly onto you scrapbook page, or plaster small squares and scraps of paper (which will then be placed on the scrapbook page). 
After doing this, you should clip your stencil to the paper with a paper clip, which will keep the stencil in place.  If you don’t have a paper clip, you can use some form of a temporary adhesive (like temporary tape).  Stir your spackle or wall plaster, and make sure that you stir until it becomes a smooth, even consistency.  After you have reached a smooth consistency, fill in the stencil with a thin layer of plaster.  You can use a spackle knife to ensure that you will get a thin, even layer.  Then use the spackle knife to scrape across the top of the stencil to smooth it.  If you want, though, you can leave the area bumpy to add more depth and texture to your scrapbook page.  Slowly and cautiously pull the stencil off of the area, lifting it straight off of the image.  If you lift the stencil straight off, you should be able to avoid smudging the image.
After you do this, just wait for the plaster to dry!  Now you have a great stenciled image to include in your scrapbook!

Posted by Don under Scrapbook Embellishments on Fri 17 Aug 2007 No Comments 

Do you love to make family scrapbooks and memory books?  Scrapbooking photographs of your family or yourself is a great way to preserve good memories and experiences.  In addition, you can also make a lot of great memories in the actual process of scrapbooking your memory books!  Scrapbooking your family scrap and memory books also allows for a lot of creativity.  There are a lot of different themes and creative outlets that you can implement when making fun family scrap and memory books.  Here are some fun themes that you might want to consider for your family scrap and memory books:

 Birthday theme:  If you aren’t a big photo taker, but you always seem to take pictures of birthday parties, then you might be able to just have a birthday theme for your family scrap and memory books!  This theme is a lot of fun for a couple of reasons.  First of all, it allows you to easily and quickly turn the page to each birthday, seeing how quickly your child or family member has grown up!  In addition, this makes a fun scrapbook for people who don’t have time to make large scrapbooks - it captures the idea of "growing up" quickly and easily!
 Family vacation theme:  Some of the best memories that are made in a family or lifetime are vacations!  If your family takes a lot of vacations, or if you take great photographs when on vacation, then you might want to consider a family vacation theme!  There are a lot of different decorations that you can use for scrapbook pages with a family vacation theme.  For example, you can use camping cutouts and stickers, Fourth of July decorations, Christmas decorations, skiing stencils, or decorations of famous landmarks (like the Eiffel Tower!).  These scrapbook pages can also be decorated with pamphlets, postcards, and other souvenirs that you collected on your vacations.  If you do include pamphlets or postcards, however, it is a good idea to use corner photo stickers with these items, so they can be pulled out of the scrapbook and read in the future!
 Baby theme:  If you have multiple members in the family, it can be fun to just have a baby theme in your scrapbooks!  You can decorate each couple of pages with baby pictures for each family member.  Sometimes it’s fun to take similar photographs (with similar poses or outfits) of family members and place them side-by-side for comparison.  It is also fun to show the baby theme chronologically, showing how babies in the family grew over time.  It really is up to you to make this baby theme a fun one for your family and memory scrapbooks!
 Emotion theme:  One of the other fun themes that you can do in your family scrap and memory book is emotions.  For example, you could have a couple of "happy pages" in your scrapbook, which show different people smiling and happy.  It is sometimes humorous to have a "pouty page" in your scrapbook, which highlights times when the kids in the family were upset.  You could have a "sad page" or a "silly page" where people are goofing off.  This sometimes is a really fun way to capture the different emotions and personalities of yourself and people in your family.

These are just a couple of fun themes that you can do for your family scrap and memory books.  There are lots of other themes that are available, though.  You might find more inspiration for your family and memory scrapbooks by simply looking through some of the scrapbook decorating options that are in your local scrapbooking options!  Good luck with decorating your family scrap and memory books!

Posted by Don under Scrapbook Embellishments , Scrapbook Techniques on Thu 16 Aug 2007 No Comments 

There are lots of advantages to using hand made paper over the alternatives.  Handmade paper has a lot of different uses and textures that just cannot be compared to traditional paper as we know it.  Hand made paper is also very environment friendly.  Not only can hand made paper be made from recycled products but hand made paper can also be made from biodegradable substances such as plants.  Buying hand made paper is also a good way to support local businesses and paper craftsmen that may be suffering from the competition from the larger manufacturers.

The advantages of using hand made paper over alternatives are described in more detail below.  Even if you do not decide to transfer entirely over to the use of hand made papers, you may see the value in incorporating these types of papers into your future crafts. 

Environment friendly

Handmade paper is ecologically sensitive, meaning fewer trees need to be cut down to make paper when handmade paper can be made from recycled materials.  Hand made paper involves using many methods that have been in practice for centuries.  Raw materials used to make hand made paper can also include items such as recycled cloth, paper waste and natural materials like grass, flowers, tea petals etc.  Hand made papers may be more environmentally friendly, but that does not mean that they are unable to stand the test of time.  Because more natural means are used in the production and chemical additives are not necessary, hand made paper can be preserved for hundreds of years making its archival quality superb. 

Unique look

Hand made paper has a look and feel unlike any other.  The texture of hand made papers makes them especially good for writing on because of the way that the paper is able to absorb the ink.  You never have two pieces of hand made paper that look alike.  In this way, every scrapbook page that you create is guaranteed to be unique and when you make the paper yourself, your book can really become a true showcase of your work. 

No added chemicals

When you make paper yourself or go through a trusted vendor of hand made papers, you know exactly what you are getting.  You know what it takes to make the paper and as a result you can be assured that there are no added chemicals (especially acid) in your paper.  Hand made papers are also free of the more harmful dyes that are present in more traditionally manufactured papers. Home made papers are created from materials that you trust and can feel safe about having in your home.  Such materials include, grass, jute, husk, waste wool, broken leaves and flower petals etc.  Using hand made papers not only helps to ensure that your scrapbook is safe from harmful chemicals but that the environment is preserved as well.

Diverse uses

Hand made paper can be used for more than just scrapbook pages; they can be used decorative wrapping purposes. Hand made papers come in many different varieties, with small dried flowers, leaves, colored fiber etc.  Handmade paper has huge tensile, bursting, tearing and double fold strength and is less likely to turn brittle due to aging.  The extra strength of hand made papers makes them versatile enough to sew and manipulate in ways that normal thinner papers would not be able to hold up to.  Anything from gifts to lampshades can be wrapped with hand made papers.  Hand made papers can be combined with an adhesive to decorate the walls of your home.  The possibilities are limitless when you use hand made paper over alternatives.

Posted by Don under Scrapbook Embellishments , Scrapbook Techniques on Wed 15 Aug 2007 No Comments 

Digital scrapbooking is a new and exciting way of scrapbooking.  It has all the benefits of making a scrapbook by hand, but without the work attached to it.  If you’re a big scrapbooker, you may be interested in learning a bit about digital scrapbooks.  This article will tell you a bit about taking scrapbooks digital and what you should consider. 

What is digital scrapbooking and how do you create digital scrapbooks?  Digital scrapbooking (also known as computer scrapbooking) is basically taking the art of scrapbooking onto your computer!  There are many things you can’t do in traditional scrapbooks that are available to you as a digital scrapbooker.  With the creation of scanners, desktop publishing, page layout programs, and advanced printing options, is has become very easy to create professional-looking layouts in digital form.  Many scrappers use the internet to create and post their digital scrapbooks. 

Here are some of the advantages to digital scrapbooking: there is a greater diversity of materials, less environmental impact, less cost, the ability to share finished pages more readily on the internet, and the use of image editing software to experiment with manipulating page elements in multiple ways without making permanent adjustments.  Digital scrapbooks allow the scrapper to try out different looks and layouts for pages without wasting supplies.  It’s also much faster.  Furthermore, digital scrapbooks can be printed and stored in traditional scrapbook albums, to be saved as keepsakes.

Another thing you can do with digital scrapbooks is create your own scrapbook paper.  Take any image and turn it into your own patterned paper.  You can make your papers any colors you want to match the photos for your specific layouts.  You can also do some amazing things with your photos when you scrap digitally.  You could create background paper out of a photo and layer another photo on top of it.  You can add words and phrases onto your photos, color tint black and white photos, enlarge photos or turn your photos into cartoon drawings, depending on the software.

The programs used for digital scrapbooking aren’t complicated, but may take some getting used to.  After using it a few times, it will get easier.  If you get really good at designing with digital scrapbook software, you can search online for stores looking for new designers or even start your own online digital scrapbook store.  Also, online digital scrapbooking stores take all the hard work out of digital pages.  You can create custom digital scrapbook pages using digital templates you download from these stores. And you can choose to either pay and download your scrapbook for instant access, or pay to have a hardcopy of your scrapbook sent to you.  It’s so easy!

So when deciding whether or not you want to begin digital scrapbooking, you should think about whether or not you enjoy the process of making a scrapbook by hand or not.  If you love sitting at a table, surrounded by your photos, scraps of paper, scissors, embellishments, etc., just thinking about what you want to do next with your own hands, perhaps digital scrapbooking is not for you.  But remember, with digital scrapbooking you’re still making the scrapbook yourself.  It’s just not made with your hands.  You can upload or scan your pictures on your computer or the internet and then proceed to create a beautiful work or art filled with the photos you love.  Remember that just because you decide to make one or two digital scrapbooks, you don’t have to entirely switch over to digital scrapbooking.  You may decide that you do enjoy it, but don’t want to entirely give up the pleasure of scrapping by hand.  Or maybe you’ll realize that digital scrapping is the way to go.  It’s up to you so have fun, whatever you may decide.  

Posted by Don under Scrapbook Embellishments , Scrapbook Techniques on Tue 14 Aug 2007 No Comments 

Are you constantly looking for new ways to decorate your scrapbook pages?  Have you ever considered using rubber stamps for scrapbooking?  Rubber stamps are a great way for you to decorate your scrapbooks!  Here are many ways that you can use rubber stamps to decorate your pages.  Here are a couple of examples of ways that you can "stamp it up" using rubber stamps for scrapbooking:

1) Decorative picture stamps:  There are a lot of rubber stamps that have different pictures and images on them.  These stamps can be really fun to use, particularly if you have themes for your scrapbook pages.  If you want to make sure that you get your money’s worth out of the stamps, you should purchase rubber stamps that have pictures or decorations that you will want to use more than once.  For example, you can buy rubber stamps that are for holidays.  This way, you will be able to use your little bunny stamps for every Easter, and you can use your rubber stamp with a birthday cake every birthday!  Or, you can pick rubber stamps that have little picture decorations that you will want to use often.  If you like flowers or ivy, get one of these stamps to decorate your scrapbook pages over and over!

2) Custom made stamps:  When you get custom made rubber stamps for your scrapbook pages, the possibilities are virtually endless!  One rubber stamp that you might want to consider making is one of your name, or the name of the person whose scrapbook you are making.  Then, you can use this stamp over and over to indicate photographs of the person highlighted in your scrapbook.

3) Rubber stamps of thought bubbles or word bubbles:  If you want to add a humorous aspect to your scrapbook, consider using rubber stamps that have thought or word bubbles with little phrases.  If you like, these thought or word bubbles can look exactly like the ones that are found in comic books!  If you don’t want thought or word bubbles to have comic book phrases, you can pick ones with other phrases instead!  In fact, always keep in mind that you cannot find any thought or word bubbles that you like, you can always have them custom made. 

These bubbles can make people look at the pictures in a different way, and add a lot of humor.  For example, the thought bubble could read, "Do you smell something?" or "I’m sleep deprived!"  Then you could stamp this bubble by different people in pictures to add a funny twist to the photographs!

If you like, you can even have thought bubble stamps custom made that have your own funny phrases and inside jokes!  This can add a personal touch to your scrapbooks that make them even more memorable and fun. 

4) Rubber stamp pads:  There are lots of different kinds of rubber stamp pads that are available.  If you like to travel or move around with your scrapbooks, you might want to consider purchasing stamp pads that are small and portable.  Scrapbook stamps come in lots of different colors, and you can also get multi-colored stamp pads!  These multi-stamp pads are really fun because you can have the stamp imprints appear on the page as multi-colored as well!  In order to keep your rubber stamps in good condition, you should also buy rubber stamp cleaner along with your stamp pads.

As you can see, there are lots of fun ways that you can use rubber stamps to decorate your scrapbook pages!  The possibilities of you placing the actual stamps on the page are endless as well - you can overlap images, place them side by side, or randomly place them around the scrapbook page!  So, what are you waiting for?  Go buy some rubber stamps for your scrapbooks and stamp it up!

Posted by Don under Scrapbook Embellishments , Scrapbook Techniques on Mon 13 Aug 2007 No Comments