Scrapbooking is quickly becoming one of the most popular hobbies of women and men today.  Even kids and teens love to scrapbook.  And why wouldn’t they- it’s a fun, relaxing and productive activity.  But choosing where to buy your scrapbooking supplies can be a tricky task.  Scrapbooking materials can be expensive, and naturally, you want to get the best deal you can.  That’s why choosing a scrapbook supply store is an important task; so here are some tips to help you do so.

When you’re starting a new scrapbook and are thinking about running off to the craft store for some supplies, it’s a good idea to first stop and think about what kind of book you’re creating.  Choose a topic or a period of time you’d like to cover in your scrapbook.  Have a general idea of the pictures you’d like to use for the book.  Once you’ve narrowed that down, go through the current scrapping supplies you have lying around the house.  Get an idea of the kinds of things you might need for your new book.  Make a list of exactly what you need to get.  Only after you’ve done those things are you ready to go to the store.  With list in hand, you can wade through all the lovely supplies and decide which ones are most appropriate for your scrapbook.   Then you won’t be overwhelmed by selection options and you might even have a good time looking through scrapbooking supplies. 

Now, you have three options open to you for purchasing your scrapbook supplies: a traditional craft store like JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts or Michael’s; a local scrapbooking specialty store; an online scrapbook supply store.  All three of these will have what you need.  However, there will be some differences. 

First, let’s talk about price.  Local scrapbooking stores are often a bit more expensive because they are locally owned and can not offer the same discounts that a nationwide chain can.  A big craft store that sells a little bit of everything will probably have the best prices on most scrapbooking items.  They are also more likely to have sales where you can get a killer deal on various materials.  Online scrapping stores will vary in prices.  Some of them will be discount stores where you can get a great deal for your supplies.  Others will be more like the local scrapbooking store that sells an excellent product, but charges a bit more.  Remember that an online store will also charge you shipping for anything you buy, so you’ll need to figure that into your total charges. 

Next, let’s talk about value.  Local scrapbooking stores can be great because they sell some unique products.  You will be able to find the same type of products in big chain stores like Michael’s and JoAnn’s.  Local stores may have paper or embellishments that the owner has designed or purchased from a local supplier.  This can add a very unique element to your scrapbook.  However, if you shop at a chain store you know that you will always be able to find the same products at any time (if, for example, you run out of a product that you really need, you’ll be able to get it again at a chain store).  A local store is more likely to run out of your products and not be able to get them again.  An online store is probably the least reliable in this respect.  You never know how long something will be for sale or if you’ll be able to find it again.  You can, however, find a very wide variety of supplies online that will be unique to your scrapbook. 

Basically, it’s up to you.  The best idea of all is probably to shop at a variety of stores until you find a place that you prefer, or a price that you can afford. 

Posted by Don under Scrapbook Embellishments , Scrapbook Products on Sun 30 Sep 2007 No Comments 

Many people love to scrapbook.  It is a great way to record your memories in an attractive and interesting way.  It can be relaxing and enjoyable while producing a memorable, useful and beautiful product.  So if you love scrapbooking, you may be interested about learning new things about scrapbooking, like how to use embellishments.  If you keep reading this article you’ll learn what you ought to know about how to secure heavy embellishments, like metallics.  

First, it is imperative that you realize is that there is no right or wrong way to scrapbook, so anything said in this article are simply suggestions 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.  

Now let’s talk a bit about metal embellishments in general.  Metal embellishments are a popular accessory for scrapbook pages. There are many different types of "metal embellishments" available for any type of scrapbook.  Metal embellishments look nice and they also enable you to attach transparencies or other papers to a page of your scrapbook.  They can be decorative or simply functional.  You can find metal embellishments in many shapes and styles.  Here is a short list of ideas for how to use metal embellishments to jazz up your scrapbook.  

1.    Safety Pins: these come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes and can be used as a decorative border, especially on a baby page layout. They can be pinned into ribbon or in the middle of a bow in your page. These embellishments are usually painted and come in several different colors.
2.    Brads: Brads make a beautiful addition to scrapbooking pages. They have many uses, including some of the following:  
    Connectors on paper piecing for moveable parts
    To attach vellum
    As accents on journal blocks
    To spell out words (outline letters)
    As corners of picture mat
    To attach elements on a page by wrapping wire or fiber
3.    Metal Words/Quotes: Metal quotes are fairly new to the scrapbooking world. They are a unique embellishment that can add lots of character to your layouts. Most of them are single words that can be used alone or combined with other words.  
4.    Eyelets: Eyelets are probably one of the most common metal embellishments. They can be used for decoration or to hold photos and other things in place.  Some of their many uses include the following:
    To form "bullets" for a list of things
    As an accent on the tail of a letter
    As the center of a pinwheel, propeller or tires
    To lace something together
    To embellish the corner of tags or Borders or titles
    As borders (using any shaped eyelets)

Most of these embellishments can be secured by some good scrapbooking glue.  This is a fairly inexpensive product that can be found at any craft store.  Simply take your embellishment and dab a bit of glue on the back, and then press it on the page where you want it.  It’s as easy as that!  A few other types of embellishments may have metal prongs that you poke through the paper.  Those types of heavy metal embellishments will usually stay put without any other type of adhesive product.  Some embellishments that you buy may even have instructions for attachment on the back of their package.  If you’re unsure about how to secure them, simply read the back for advice.  But remember, the most important thing is that you’re having fun and enjoying your scrapbook!  

Posted by Don under Scrapbook Embellishments , Scrapbook Techniques on Sat 29 Sep 2007 No Comments 

One of the main drawbacks to digital scrapbooking is that you are going to have to print out the pages and bind them in a scrapbook so that friends and family members can look at your memories. But the good news is that this can be done for a relatively cheap price, especially if you do it yourself. If you think about it you are going to be spending quite a bit of money on traditional scrapbooking, but with digital scrapbooking everything is done on the computer, so no supplies are needed, with the exception of a scanner, printer, and software. So the money that you are spending printing your pages and binding your book is pretty close to the money that you would spend on supplies for traditional scrapbooking.

Here are some places to print your digital scrapbook and bound for less.

Idea one:
One of the best places to have your digital scrapbook printed is at printing stores, such as Kinko’s. These stores have great photo printing equipment and they can actually print your pages for relatively cheap. The great thing about these kinds of stores is that they also offer other services that can help you with your digital scrapbook; such services offered are binding your scrapbook and selling other scrapbook materials. The good thing is that these services are not that expensive if you have them print out the pages of your digital scrapbook, of course your bigger stores will charge less for it then your smaller stores. Keep in mind that size does matter when it comes to price, the more common the size the cheaper it is going to be.

Idea two:
Another great place to have your digital scrapbook printed is at photo developing places. This can include Wal-Mart, Walgreen’s and other retail stores that do digital printing. But in order to get the pages printed you are going to have to save it to a disk and bring it in to the store. Some of these stores will also offer to bind your scrapbook, but not all stores have this feature. Most of the stores also have kiosks that allow you to print your own digital pages in a variety of sizes, so you can use that option as well.

Idea three:
One of the cheapest places to print your digital scrapbook pages is from your own home. Of course this is only possible if you have a photo printer and photo ink. You can use a regular printer and ink, but your pages will not turn out as good. This is also a cheap way for you to bind your scrapbook because you can purchase the book and put the pages in yourself. Many scrapbooks come with removable pages or a way to add more pages to the scrapbook, which makes it easy for you to bind your own pages. This will also allow you to choose what size scrapbook you are going to want. Or you can always talk to a friend or family member that has a photo printer to see if you can borrow theirs if you pay for the ink and the paper.

Just remember that these are only some of the places that you can go to get your digital scrapbook printed and bound for less. There are plenty of other places available to get your digital scrapbook pages printed and bound, but they usually cost more than the places listed above. Some other places to look into could be graphic design stores, sign making stores, stationary stores, scrapbooking stores, and craft stores.

Posted by Don under Digital Scrapbooking , Scrapbook Techniques on Fri 28 Sep 2007 No Comments 

If you have been involved in scrapbooking then you are probably already aware of the fact that every scrapbook is made up of a bunch of pages that were designed to preserve memories. So as you are aware the only thing that every scrapbook needs to have is pages, but there are quite a few things that every scrapbooking page should have. But one thing that you need to keep in mind that every scrapbook needs to have in addition to pages is something to hold all of the pages. You can buy an actual scrapbook that is pre-bound or you can buy photo albums and create your own scrapbook pages to insert in the album.

But one thing that you want to keep in mind is that the most important thing is the layout of your scrapbook page, keep in mind that you should have one main focal point and everything else should be used to enhance that focal point, not to distract the viewer

Here are some things that your scrapbook page should include.

 Title
o This is what is going to be used to tell people what your page is about. Almost every scrapbook page has a title, but something else you can do is title your scrapbook and then keeps all of the pages inside centered on that one title.
 Photos
o These are going to be the main part of your scrapbook page and perhaps your scrapbook, you don’t have to just use photos you can also use newspaper clippings, tickets, etc anything that can be used to tell the "story" of your scrapbook page or the "story" of the scrapbook. What you want to do is pick out the best photos you have that represent what you are trying to convey with each page. Keep in mind that each page should have a central photo and then use others to add on to the story that you are telling.
 Journaling
o This is where you are going to want to write stuff down about the photos. You are going to want to write down important information about the photos such as who is in them, how old they are, where the picture was taken at and anything else that you think is important. Remember this information is to add on to your story.
 Embellishments
o This would include things like frames, stickers, quotes, patterned paper, and anything else that you can think of using to embellish your scrapbook page. But what you want to keep in mind when using embellishments is that you want to use colors that complement each other so that your page is pleasing to look at.
 Background
o This is basically what is going to be behind the picture or pictures that you have on your scrapbook page. When designing your background you are going to want to think about the theme of the scrapbook page and choose things that are going to show off your pictures. But you want to keep in mind that you don’t want a loud background, which means lots of bright colors and noise, if you have mellow pictures.
 Photo Mats
o This is something that you will find on every scrapbook page because it is something that you use to put the photo on so that it stands out from the background. Depending on what your background looks like you might have no choice but to use photo mats, but instead of photo mats you can also use photo corners as a way to anchor your photos so that they don’t move.

Posted by Don under Scrapbook Embellishments , Scrapbook Techniques on Thu 27 Sep 2007 No Comments 

As most of you are probably aware of there are many different kinds of scrapbooks. The reason for this is that there are so many different events that happen in your lives, you need to be able to create memories from all of those events, which a scrapbook makes possible. But as most of you are already aware of there are also scrapbooks that are designed for certain events in our lives and these books should include certain things, regardless of what else you are going to include.

If you are planning on making an infant and toddler scrapbook you know that there are certain events that take place in a child’s life that the parents want to record forever. One of the best ways to get ideas on what every infant and toddler scrapbook should have is to look at the various baby books that are being sold. Many times scrapbooks include the same sections as baby books. You can also look at other people’s scrapbook pages as a way to get ideas about what every infant and toddler scrapbook should have, you will find certain things in almost every scrapbook.

Here are some things that every infant and toddler scrapbook should have.
 Pregnancy - these pages should have pictures of various stages of the pregnancy. You can include pictures of the ultrasound, preparing the nursery, etc.
 Baby shower - this is a must have and should include a list of all the items that were received, pictures of the games at the shower and other various shower activity.
 Baby’s birth - this should include information from the hospital such as birth weight, height, bracelets, and any other pieces of paper the hospital gives you. Not to mention it should include pictures of the baby being born or right after the baby is born.
 Coming home - Taking the baby home from a hospital is a wonderful time and many parents take pictures and choose a special outfit to bring their child home in. This is an excellent memory to capture and a great photo opportunity.
 Meeting siblings - If you have prior children it is always fun to capture the moments when they first meet the baby, whether it is in the hospital or at home.
 Family - You should include as many pictures of family members in your infant and toddler book, especially pictures of the two of them together.
 First bath - All of the firsts are an important moment in your babies life and there is no way to relive those moments without capturing them on film
 Rolling over - This is another first and shows how your child is growing
 Crawling - Another first that can never be recreated, it is a joy to capture the expression on their faces as they learn to move about their world
 Walking - From the first tottering steps, the stumbles, and the steady walking all these moments should be captured
 Sitting up - This is another first, most of the time it happens when somebody is sitting behind the child on the floor, great dad or mom and baby shot.
 First haircut - Be sure to save that lock of hair for the scrapbook, as well as pictures
 First smile - Nothing more heart warming then the time when you are talking to your baby and they smile back at you
 First time eating food - This is actually a messy experience and a great moment to preserve, including the food in the hair
 First tooth - This can be a hard picture to get so to make it fun you can always get that picture of baby biting mom or dad for the first time.
 Naughty moments - Every child has tons of these and no matter what they do parents always like to have the reminder of some of the things their little ones got up too
 Funny moments - These are very necessary, especially as your child gets older, they might not like them as much, but for parents it reminds you of the good times
 Birthdays - Classic moments, especially the first couple of birthdays
 Holidays - More classic moments, dressing up, getting presents, screaming on Santa’s lap, you name it there is a memory to be had.

Posted by Don under Scrapbook Embellishments on Wed 26 Sep 2007 No Comments 

If you are going to be using textiles in scrapbooking there are many things that you should know about textiles, including how to use them in scrapbooking. But perhaps one of the most important things that you need to know about using textiles in scrapbooking is what exactly textiles are. Textiles are basically a flexible material that is made up of a network of natural or artificial fibers, the natural or artificial fibers are often referred to as yarn or thread. But basically what textiles are formed by weaving, knitting, crocheting, knotting, or pressing fibers together. So in a sense textiles are any piece of fabric that you use in scrapbooking.
 
Here are some things you should know about using textiles in scrapbooks.
Tip one:
The main type of textiles that you will probably be using in scrapbooking is animal textiles, some plant textiles, and synthetic textiles. The reason for this is that not all textiles are used to make the same types of material. For example animal textiles are made from animal hair or fur and can consist of silk and wool, as well as a few others. Plant textiles are made from the plants themselves and the most common plant textiles that most people will be using in scrapbooking is cotton and paper (Keep in mind that paper is made up of numerous plant textiles). Some of the more common synthetic textiles that you will be using in scrapbooking are polyester and acrylic, although you may use others.

Tip two:
Some thing else that you should know about using textiles in scrapbooking is that you want to make sure that all of the textiles that you are using are acid free. The reason that you want to use acid free textiles, and this holds true for paper that you use as backgrounds, embellishments, etc is because if the textiles have acid in them it will deteriorate your memories over time by turning them yellow. Acid free paper and embellishments will not turn your pictures yellow.

Tip three:
Another thing that you might find interesting is that many people use certain fabrics when they are creating scrapbook pages. But what you might not realize is that these fabrics are actually considered textiles. But the fabrics can be died and cut to suit your needs. Just when you are dying them you want to make sure that the dye you choose is a dye that will not bleed if it gets wet. If the dye does bleed it will not only destroy the fabric but it will probably ruin your scrapbook as well.

Tip four:
You can take a pale or white piece of fabric and create your own background for your scrapbooking pages by embossing the fabric or stamping the fabric with a safe ink. This will help you to add your own style and flair to the material and your scrapbook page, which will in turn help your scrapbook to be more meaningful.

Tip five:
Probably the last thing that you need to know about using textiles in scrapbooking is how you are supposed to use them in scrapbooking. Basically to use textiles in scrapbooking they will be used as the background and as embellishments for your scrapbook page. But how exactly you use them is up to you.

Just remember that your possibilities of what you can do with textiles are pretty much limited to only your ability of being creative and your imagination. The reason for this is because almost everything you do in scrapbooking has to do with using some type of textile, whether it is paper or materials.

Posted by Don under Scrapbook Embellishments , Scrapbook Techniques on Tue 25 Sep 2007 No Comments 

If you have been doing any kind of scrapbooking or any kind of craft projects you have probably already heard of the term metallics. But if you have not here is a brief summary of what metallics are. Metallics are basically a coating of some type that is made up of some metal components which is what makes the coating shiny. When it comes to crafting and scrapbooking there are a variety of things that are considered metallics. Some of the most popular metallic items that are used in scrapbooking are ink and paper. But that is only the beginning because other embellishments are quickly taking center stage when it comes to metallics.

Here are some reasons why you should use metallics in your scrapbooking.

Reason one:
One of the main reasons to use metallics in scrapbooking is that the metallic paper is a great way to make things stand out. You can actual use metallic paper to print your photos on, both digital and traditional pictures. The benefits of using metallic paper for your pictures it gives the picture a near 3D quality. It also makes the colors more vibrant and gives the print a strange depth, not to mention the fact that it lasts a lot longer than regular paper and it is also acid free.

Reason two:
Metallic inks are also available for you to use with scrapbooking and one of the best things about this ink is that it gives the written words a whole new look. The ink rather than being plain and boring is actually really shiny and it stands out which makes it easier for the viewer to see what it has been written. But another benefit to using metallic ink is that it is the best style of ink to use if you are going to be using black paper. The reason for this is that metallic ink stands out from black paper; where as other ink will not work as well on black paper because it won’t show up.

Reason three:
Another great reason to use metallics in scrapbooking is because it adds color and texture to your embellishments. The perfect example of this kind of use is with eyelets and brads. These items are made out of metal and are covered with a metallic coating that makes them colorful and makes them stand out from the background you are using because they are shiny. You can use eyelets and brads for a number of embellishments, including photo corners, nails in fences, spots on a bug, etc. The possibilities are actual endless.

Reason four:
Another reason why you should use metallics in scrapbooking is because it adds an elegant touch to certain kinds of scrapbooks. If you are creating a scrapbook for a wedding or an anniversary you want it to look different from other scrapbooks you want to do everything possible to make it stand out. You can add metallic strips or you can use metallic paper as your main color, most wedding and anniversary albums use a metallic white, gold or silver because those are the colors most associated with weddings and anniversaries.

Just remember that no matter what kind of scrapbooking you are doing using metallics is a great way to make your scrapbook stand out from others. You can use all sorts of things that are metallic including paper, ink, embossing stuff, strips, brads, eyelets, etc. The best part of using things that are metallic is that it adds a shine to your scrapbook pages that you can’t get with ordinary embellishments.

Posted by Don under Scrapbook Embellishments , Scrapbook Products on Mon 24 Sep 2007 No Comments 

One thing that many people find intimidating about scrapbooking is that it can get rather expensive. But the truth of the matter is that it doesn’t have to get expensive if you know what you are doing and where to look for scrapbooking supplies. There is actually no need to buy the most expensive scrapbooking supplies or to go to scrapbooking stores, although they do have a lot to choose from. Basically with scrapbooking you can just use stuff around your house and your imagination, which if you think about is basically free. But there are going to be some supplies that you will need to buy, so as long as you know where to look and what to look for you should be able to find some awesome discount scrapbooking supplies.

Here are some tips for finding awesome discount scrapbooking supplies.

Tip one:
One thing that you can do is to go to scrapbooking stores and look in their clearance section. Sure some of this stuff is probably old and outdated but you never know what you are going to find on the shelves. Many times stores will put items on clearance that they have abundance on, or on items that are not selling. Keep in mind that in order to find awesome discount scrapbook supplies in the clearance sections you are going to need to check the sections on a regular basis because a lot of times it is hit or miss what you will find here.

Tip two:
Another great place to go to find awesome discount scrapbook supplies is at craft stores. Many times craft stores will have huge sales on scrapbook items or they will have a clearance section that includes scrapbook supplies. But a great thing about scrapbooking is that you can use ordinary craft supplies from craft stores, you don’t have to use scrapbook supplies from scrapbook stores.

Tip three:
You can also find awesome discount scrapbook supplies on online auction sites, such as eBay. The reason that these supplies are discounted is that you put in a price that you are willing to pay and if you win the auction you get it for the price you want. More and more scrapbook supplies are being put up on auction sites like eBay because of how popular scrapbooking has become.

Tip four:
You should also check out the online scrapbook supply stores. Many times you will be able to find discount scrapbook supplies in their clearance section or with the weekly or daily specials that they have. Some websites even advertise the fact that they are discounted stores, but in order to be sure that they are selling the items at a discount price you will need to know what the average price is.

Tip five:
You should also take a look at thrift stores, garage sales and classified ads. Many times people are trying to sell or give away stuff that they no longer need and some of that stuff can be turned into scrapbooking supplies. Some examples of this would be old costume jewelry, stationary supplies, ribbons, etc.

Tip six:
Not only should you look at retail stores, but you should also consider looking into wholesale stores. Some wholesale stores require you to have a business license in order to purchase from them at wholesale prices, but others just require a membership. Most of the times the membership is a great deal because it is for a certain period of time, but you get a huge discount on the scrapbook supplies.

Posted by Don under Scrapbook Embellishments , Scrapbook Techniques on Sun 23 Sep 2007 No Comments 

If you are just starting out in scrapbooking you might be wondering how you should go about choosing your style of scrapbooking or even if you have been doing scrapbooking for awhile you might be thinking about changing your style of scrapbooking. Whatever the case may be you might be interested to know that in the world of scrapbook there are no certain styles, meaning that they can’t really be separated into definable categories. In scrapbooking the style of scrapbooking you use are as individual as you are which means that whatever you create and how you do it is your style. But even though there are really no definable styles of scrapbooking there are some general categories that can be described as a style of scrapbooking. Some of the more general style categories in scrapbooking are: shutterbug, artists, classical, crafty, or modern.

Here are some tips for choosing your style of scrapbooking.

Tip one:
One way to tell if you should use the shutterbug style of scrapbooking is to look at the pictures that you have taken. Many times the shutterbugs approach to scrapbooking is mainly focused on the pictures that they plan on putting in the scrapbook. The pictures are of a very good quality and the shots are pretty close to perfect. Shutterbug style scrapbookers are not too involved in adding things to the pages; they might include a few captions and other information, but nothing like you would see on a craft style scrapbook page.

Tip two:
One way that you can tell if you will want to use the artists style of scrapbooking is to look at how you are decorating the pages. Many people who use this style prefer to use water colors and acrylic paints to accent their pages. They don’t focus so much on the photograph that is being displayed, but they add artistic touches to the photograph and page itself. You will see them changing the tint of a picture, such as using all black and white pictures instead of color, or they will include personal sketches on the scrapbook pages as a way to embellish the page. Basically with this style if you have some artistic tendencies that come out when you design things you should try this style of scrapbooking.

Tip three:
If you prefer to keep things simple then you should most likely try the classic style of scrapbooking. People who prefer the classic style usually use traditional design elements and try to leave their pages uncluttered, this way it looks neater. They tend to stick to plain and boring rather than fun and exciting. But even the plain and boring has its advantages in the scrapbooking world, such as if you are doing a scrapbook based on a certain historical event or about your project car.

Tip four:
The craft style of scrapbooking is great for people who love to experiment with new things and like to use embellishments to dress things up. Basically people who use the craft style of scrapbooking are very inventive and they are not afraid to mix and match certain things to see how they will look as a finished product. Rather than using the most obvious things to embellish their pages people who use this style of scrapbooking will use some type of alternative, such as using patterned paper with wooden slats on top of it to create a picket fence.

Just remember that there are quite a few general styles for scrapbooking and many people use a combination of styles depending on what type of scrapbook they are designing. But the main thing about choosing a scrapbooking style is to choose something you are comfortable with and then make it your own.

Posted by Don under Scrapbook Embellishments , Scrapbook Techniques on Sat 22 Sep 2007 No Comments 

If you are a beginner at scrapbooking or even if you have been doing it for quite awhile you could still use some tips for better memory book design. The reason for this is that things change over time and sometimes people think of things that you have never thought of before. Because of all of these factors and others there are always tips that you can use for better memory book design and they are always being updated.

Here are some tips for better memory book design.

Tip one:
One thing that you can do is to save your greeting cards that you get throughout the year, make sure to include Christmas and Birthday cards. But you don’t have to save all of the greeting cards, simply save the ones that you think are the best, whether its because of the pictures on the front or because of the words on the inside. You can use the pictures or graphics for your part of your memory book design or you can use the words as quotes on a page.

Tip two:
But one of the best tips for better memory book design is to simply do what you think looks right and design your memory book to fit your lifestyle, even if it changes as you create the numerous pages. One of the best things about creating memory books is that no two pages are going to be the same.

Tip three:
One thing that you should do is to choose a main photo for your pages and then treat the other photos as a means of embellishing the story. Keep in mind that you want your main photo to be the one that everybody sees first, this is the beginning of the story. So a good idea is to place them left to right starting in the top corner of the page or in the middle and working down. You just don’t want to have other pictures come before the main photo. Also you should keep in mind that you always want to mat your main photo so that it stands out from the background, you can mat other photos as well but it is not necessary.

Tip four:
If you are looking for ways to make your background more interesting you can always cut a piece of patterned paper into a curved shape using free hand, bowls, plates or anything else that is round. After you have cut the paper into a curved shape simply attach it to your cardstock to create a visual interest in your background. Or you can add punches as accents to help create an even more interesting background.

Tip five:
You can also add ribbons to your main photo or lace ribbon through holes punched out on the edge of the page for a pretty accent. You can also stitch the sides of the page with a needle and thread. If you don’t know how to sew you can use rub-on stitches or use a fine tipped pen to draw the dashes so that they resemble stitches.

Tip six:
One way to make your title page look really good and stand out is to cut out letters from patterned paper. You can even customize the letters, or any other patterned paper, by layering a piece of vellum or printed transparency over it. Another way to make your title page unique is to create a unique handwritten title. To do this all you need to do is handwrite each letter, but make sure there is a wide enough space between each letter so that you can cut out around it. After you have cut out around each letter mat the letters on to cardstock.

Posted by Don under Design Team on Fri 21 Sep 2007 No Comments