Here is a great video we discovered about using price tags in scrapbooks. Use your own creativity to make an outstanding scrapbook. Play and enjoy!
Filed under about scrapbooking, scrapbook, scrapbook embellishments, scrapbook techniques, scrapbook tools by 
Color coordination and contrast will highlight and accent your scrapbook. A well thought out color scheme can help define the theme of a page, attract attention to specific items, or detract away from mistakes. Poorly chosen color schemes, on the other hand, can cause your scrapbook page to look gaudy or mismatched.
Background colors can either be matched, coordinated, or contrasted with the colors in your photographs, mementos, or embellishments. Matching colors add to the continuity of the color scheme. Coordinated colors add depth to scrapbook pages. Contrasted colors focus the eye. In this way, color can be used to create the effect you desire.
A great way to see how colors look together is to collect and compare color wheels from your local paint or hardware store. Paint wheels are usually available free for the taking in nearly any paint department. If you do not have access to a color wheel, use your best judgement on what colors contrast the best. It is recommended to have either a bright color or dark pastel color behind photographs
The latest trend to hit the scrapbook world is digital scrapbooking. With the arrival of the photo editing software programs such as: Photoshop Elements, MicroSoft Publisher, JASC Photo/Paint, and Corel Paint Shop, there is the capability to now work with digital photos that you have on your hard drive of your computer. With these programs, you simply insert a photo into a premade scrapbook page template. Although you can get a very slick looking image, by making "virtual" scrapbook pages, I prefer the "real live" look of a binder that you can actually hold in your hands and share sitting with loved ones and flipping the pages together.
In my opinion, the digital scrapbooks are more for computer and photo editing literate people. There is nothing like laying everything out on the dining room table and going over the photos taken out of the family momento box and "dreaming" of how you are going to assemble all the elements of the binder or album!
For more information on beginning with digital scrapbooking, go to:
http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/digitalscrapbooking/ss/beginnerintro.htm
Filed under about scrapbooking, digital scrapbooking, scrapbook, scrapbook ideas, scrapbooking by
I am pleased to announce our very first book on scrapbooking will be released on the first of October. It will have many start up tips and tricks as well as some advanced information on how to begin scrapbooking. It seems we have been getting a lot of email with questions on how much to spend, what embellishments to get, what size scrapbook is goo to start with, and so many more. So, what we decided is to write our first ever scrapbook guide.
Some of the things you will find in this booklet are: tools to use, how to pick photos, how to pick a place in your home to scrapbook, kinds of scrapbook binders, theme ideas, and so much more.
Unfortunately, right now, we are only publishing the book in english but soon to have it translated into many languages.
Come back and visit our site as we are going to go over new scrapbooking themes.
Filed under about scrapbooking, scrapbook, scrapbook embellishments, scrapbook guide, scrapbook ideas, scrapbookers, scrapbooking by
Welcome to the world of "theme" scrapbooking! With the whole world watching the Olympics from Beijing China, there is no better way to remember this most exciting event with a scrapbook.
Here is what we suggest to do to make an "Olympic" scrapbook.
- Complie pictures from your local newspaper of all Olympic games coverage
- Search the internet for pictures and stories and scores from the Olympic daily stats
- If you are fortunate to actually have tickets or any real momentos from the Olympics experience, save them to put them in a scrapbook page later
- After the Olympic games are over, go to your local bookstore and search for any newly released books that covered the Olympic games in pictures. Remember, you are going to probably cut up many of the pages out of this book, so if you want to save the book, you will have to buy two, so you can keep the other book intact.
- Keep track of any heart warming story or unusual story that is covered by the media and take notes so you can put this in the journalling section of your blog.
- Look at the retail stores for anything "Olympic" themed. Sports stores will be good to visit for this.
Try to reconstruct a "gold," "silver," and "bronze" medal to divide the pages into sections in order of wins from the countries or the countries themselves.
There is literally unlimited amount of ideas that your mind can come up with on this theme.
Filed under Olympics scrapbooks, about scrapbooking, scrapbook ideas, scrapbook themes, scrapbooking by
Scrapbook albums or binders come in 2 basic sizes…either 8 1/2" x 11" or 12′ x 12." Although you would think that 8 1/2" x 11" would be a most common size used, the 12" x 12" has been the most popular just because of the size of the pages you can work on. Think for a moment of the various pictures and journals and embellishments that would be spread out on a page, and soon you will discover that the larger would work better.
You might think that you won’t be able to find paper or sheet protectors and other items that fit a 12" x 12" album but all scrapbook stores and scrapbook supply websites have plenty of them for this particular size.
There are 3 types of scrapbook binders that hold the pages together. They are; 3 ring binder, post bound, and strap bound. The easiest of all three is the 3 ring binder because it is strong and flexible enough to accomodate pages and switching out of pages. The post bound involves three vertical posts that have screws that can be removed to add pages when needed. This type is very flexible too. Lastly, the strap bound is made up of an expandable strap hinge that weaves through each page edge. It is the least flexible of all three types.
Whatever album or binder that you choose, make sure that it is made of acid free and and the paper in it is lignin free. This will avoid any discoloration and deterioration to the contents of each page in the years to come.
Filed under about scrapbooking, create scrapbooks, scrapbook, scrapbook album, scrapbook materials, scrapbooking resources by
There are as much variety of embellishments that you can put into a scrapbbook as your imagination allows! When we talk about embellishments we are talking about any "non photo" materials that make your scrapbook come alive in 3-D. Some items that are embellishments can be:
Stickers, beads, silk flowers, fibers, stamps, clips, shells, chipboards, buttons, charms, chains, coins, newspaper articles, greeting cards, show tickets, locks of hair, ribbons, pinwheels, washers, and braids, just to name a few.
When you insert embellishments, you should be very selective in positioning them as not overuse them and make it balance the overall design of the page.
In the next several posts, we will show some of the uses of embellishments.
People have a natural curiosity about the world, things and people. What better way to discover more about yourself though your family tree! Scrapbooks have become popular with people who want to know where they came from, their culture, and who they may be related to. Although it is a lot of work to research, it can be very rewarding when it is complete, especially when all the information is gathered in one place.
To get you started, of course, the internet is best place to do so. Here are a few links to go to:
- Ancestry (www.ancestry.com.au)
- Family Search (www.familysearch.org)
- Genealogy Database Network (www.genealogy.com)
- World Gen Web Project (www.worldgenweb.org)
- Surname Web (www.surnameweb.org)
- The National Archives and Records Administration (www.nara.gov)
When starting a new scrapbook on this topic, remember to make sure they are acid & lignin free, especially if you chose to use original photos in your work. There will be many older pictures that you are going to put into this binder along with any old news clippings or other items that have discolored with age.
Because you are dealing with past history of people that you may not have actual memorabilia from, it is wise to design illustrations, copy and paste of articles that are gotten from the internet or other sources. If you are lucky enough to trace one of your past relative ties, you may want to request some memorabilia from them.
Even if you did not get any memorabilia from anyone in the family tree, quite often you can recreate past news clippings of that period in which your past relative lived through. Of course, journaling is a must to explain who and where about your past relatives.
Filed under about scrapbooking, create scrapbooks, geneology, scrapbook, scrapbook ideas, scrapbooking by
Having scrapbbooks of your children, whether one or many can be of such sentimental value to the family. Children grow up so fast and every single minute, day, month and year has its classic moments that can be captured in photographs, and words.
Start your first scrapbook with your baby. You can start with journal entries during the pregnancy and moving up to the delivery day followed by pictures of the baby arriving at home. You can attach items like, a copy of the birth certificate, foot prints, locks of hair, baby shower invitations, baby greeting cards from family and friends, and pictures of the baby in the crib at home. Pictures of first steps, first words, and many other firsts are the most appropriate for a scrapbook.
Next, you can do a toddler scrapbook. In it, you can include the cute smiles, the way the child shows their one of a kind personality, and socializing with family and friends. During this period, quite often it is when the child is very active and getting into everything they can! You could not keep up with the child in what they are exploring. Take many photos!
The next phase is the elementary school scrapbook where the child experiences many parties, graduations, story telling, achievements and awards in school, and art projects to name a few. We would suggest your child get involved in actual making of this scrapbook since they are very creative and can often enhance it in a very unique way.
Lastly, there is a double value in making a scrapbook when your child attends high school and into college. It is a scrapbook that will serve as a great momento to share experiences and moments for both the parent and the child, and someday for the child’s offspring.
Another great technique for scrapbookers is paper layering. It may sound new to you, but it has been used, believe it or not by you in the past and you don’t even know you are doing it! It simply is a technique where you lay a foundation paper of color and design and then overlay it with a picture, a journal, or a 3-D piece. Sometimes paper layering can save you time from formally matting a picture or an illustration you want to add to a page.
For some ideas, try to alternate contrasting paper colors for that "eye jarring" effect. Sky’s the limit in what kind of papers and colors you can combine or layer together with. I have found that making different geometric shapes of different colors and pasting them on top of each other in various patterns make very interesting displays. Try angles, circles, squares, and strips. They all work well together.
