This is a very cool scrapbook video I happen to catch while “surfing” the internet the other day. I wanted to share it with you scrappers! I love the alternative rock song that goes along with it. Never mind that there is no narration for this short scrapbooking ditty. This is for pure enjoyment!
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Due to the economic situation we are all in now, we have compiled some tips on how to scrapbook on a budget. You may find that you have more ideas to save money too! Please add your tips by clicking on the “comments” button.
- Use any and all materials you have on hand in the house first
- Buy seasonal embellishments during “off time” of the season you are working in. (i.e. buy Christmas embellishments a week or more after Christmas, etc.)
- Seek page layout ideas from the internet, as opposed to buying high priced scrapbook ideas books at the book store.
- Swap tools and embellishments with your friends and family who are not using them now.
- Only buy your supplies when they are on sale.
- Don’t overstock yourself on embellishments in advance…you may be building up inventory that you may never use again.
- Build a “scraps” collection of unused or “extra” scraps of paper of unused materials. You can always make use of these scraps later.
- If you use stamps, contact your scrapbooking “buddies” and trade use of your stamps for theirs and swap them back.
- When getting photos reproduced, don’t over order duplicates thinking you are going to use all of them. Plan in advance and only order the photo prints you are going to actually use.
- If you are going to use a lot of a particular embellishment, get your scrapbooking buddies to chip in money to buy them and share the embellishments with them.
- Contact your scrapbook buddies and ask them if they have any embellishments or materials that they don’t intend on using and ask for them.
- Always be on the lookout for discount coupons at art stores like Michaels. You never know when you will have need for them in a moment’s notice!
- “Shop” the internet for scrapbook supplies….quite often they are cheaper than you could buy at a local store.
These are just some ideas to make a scrapbook on the cheap. There is always creative ways to make scrapbooks. The main expense on any scrapbook project is going to be the binder. Don’t sacrifice on that….you want the binder to last for a very long time. As always, use acid free paper for mounting photos.
I was amazed by how creative some people can be when making a scrapbook. Can you say, "Yummy Treats Scrapbook?" There is this lady from Austrailia that put together a digital scrapbook and collaborated with many scrappers out there who cook and have "secret family recipes" and put together a delicious recipe book all "dolled out" in scrapbook fashion! I was excited to discover this blog site. You can visit Karen’s blog site at www.scrapsofmind.com
You can actually download for free, the finished recipe scrapbook at http://www.scrapsofmind.com/2008/05/28/free-scrapbooking-recipe-book-2/
Karen managed to give such a large scrapbook to all of us for free! The download is fairly big, over 3 MB. So make sure you have enough space in your hard drive for this! Enjoy.
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One of the most popular embellishments that is used in scrapbooks is floral shapes, especially in 3-D, you know, the ones that appears to "pop up" off the page. There are many places you can get these pre-cut at your neighborhood scrapbook stor
e or art store. Or, you can use a die cut machine with a floral template attached to it. There is no limit to the size and color you can apply to the shapes.
Often, floral scrapbooks are made for females so this flower shape will be perfect for them! It is fun to make repeated floral shapes. There are so many ways to display them. They could be piled on top of each other and make a very raised effect. You could make one flat floral layer and fill the page to make a textured page. You could also overlap the flowers to make a virtual "flower bed!"
So when making a floral scrapbook page, go wild and make up as many different patterns as you can!
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This is a great video from WatchMojo.com. This lady is classy and very much a scrapbook expert. Watch this video as she shares with you how she uses, picture matting, card stock, stamping, patterned paper and eyelets to put together a wonderful looking picture book.
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Scrapbooking is catching on around the world, but no where is it most popular right now as with the seniors. Since they have much more time to spend with this project versus their children or younger counterparts, this is a natural hobbie for them!
To start out, seniors have so much life experience that it is no problem trying to find topics of interest or the people in their lives that they can dedicate a scrapbook too.
The only thing that may be a challenge is the budget. We went over that with an earlier post regarding scrapbooking on a budget. There are plenty of knick knacks around the house and of course tons of pictures in boxes and and everywhere at relatives houses and such. The first thing a senior should do is pick an obvious topic for the scrapbook. Do you know what we are thinking at the top of the list?? Grandkids!!
There is no end to how many pictures there have been taken with the grandkids, especially from the time of birth at the hospital. What senior does not have pictures of the grand children from at least their first several birthdays. So, gather the pictures first. Next, comes the theme of the scrapbook. It could be the "growing years" or the "next astronaut." or the "future rock star." If these young ones show any aptitude for any musical talents or dancing, or "brains" answering each city name in Africa, the themes are endless.
Once set on a theme, you should get embellishments and other scraps to complement the theme. Going to a scrapbook store near you could give you so many more ideas of the page design, embellishments, and other material items. I would suggest not to plan for a very large scrapbook because it could get so bulky that it will be uncomfortable to lug it around.
If a senior has never done a scrapbook before, it is wise to buy a beginning book in scrapbooking. Make sure it has a lot of pictures. The less words the better! We want the seniors to have fun while learning.
Here is a very interesting video telling you how to make 3-D flowers for your scrapbook page. All you need is a die cut machine and colorful paper. Great video.
Along with the advances in technology, comes digital scrapbooking. This is an online version of your "table top" way of doing things. Consider the the savings of not having to buy expensive binders, specialty paper, bulky and often times hard to find embellishments, and so on. You can go to a website like www.smilebox.com and sign up for an account and simply upload your own digital photos into their custom made themed pages and voila! An instant virtual scrapbook that you can email to anyone in the world.
Now, although there are advantages to this because you dealing with just a computer interface to make all your pages, there is a small piece of real sentimental feeling that is missing when you sit down at your kitchen table and, with the help of your kids or relatives, get "down and dirty" on real artifacts to paste into a real binder. Call me sentimental, but you can never replace a real binder and scrapbook that you can hold in your hands versus something that you can email and save to disk!
Some computerized scrapbooks now can add video and audio to parts of the digital pages which is a nice touch. Whichever way you want to go, make sure you keep the same intensity of creativity when making layouts. Keep your themes consistent and most of all, make sure the person or people you are dedicating the scrapbook gets a good vibe and can feel the emotion that went into making the scrapbook! You cannot hide the care and love that went into any scrapbook! Scrapbooks are truly a labor of love!!
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Here’s a new concept. Why not make a storybook scrapbook?? What is that? Scrapbooker and writer/photographer, Denise Gormish, has been writing articles for scrapbook sites and enjoys being a full time photograper. Her love for scrapbooking along with photography resulted in a merge between scrappin’ and telling stories with photographs. Hence the "storybook album." Here is how it is laid out.
It starts out with journaling. Journaling on a layout provides information and details about the event or person in the layout. It reveals a feeling for an event or person that is featured on that page. Journaling can be limited to one page or extensively cover an entire mini-album.
Story-oriented journaling can be limited to one page, but it can also cover an entire album. A storybook album is an entire album centered around one event told in a story format.
Choose a story. Any good book starts with an idea. A good story would involve some conflict and some final resolution to the conflict. The more conflict, the better the story. Consider situations in your life that had to be overcome or an event that was filled with conflict. When writing my storybook "The Misadventure," I remembered a time when we were hiking and a few unusual things happened including getting lost on the trail. These conflicts could create tension and a good resolution for my story.
Write the story. A storybook is different from other journaling in the way the story is told and in the words it uses. Often a story is told from the third person point of view, and often through the eyes of the main character. Like a fictional book, it will depend on a central character and the actions and thoughts of that character. Another similarity to fiction is the use of words. Active description and details are used. Not everything is necessarily really as it happened. While the event may be real, the dialogue may be invented or something may be described differently than reality. A storybook mixes the real with a bit of fiction to make a story. It could be entirely fictional as well.
Merge the story and illustrations or pictures. Now it’s time to get the story and the illustrations or photographs together. Just like any other scrapbook page, you assemble them in your favorite scrapbook style.
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This post will talk about the many different items you can add to your scrapbook. The most popular category is embellishments. They can consist of anything other than a photograph, page or a journal entry.
Here are just some of the materials you can add to your next scrapbook.
Buttons are most common. They can be found on hand me down clothes, or bought very cheaply at your local fabric store. Speaking of fabric, you can buy very unusual and decorative fabrics that you can use to spruce up photos, full scrapbook pages, or make shapes that accents the theme. Paint can be a very viable way of making your pages unique. Just think of what you can do with custom colored paper and then add a touch of paint from your own paint brush. Ribbons can be used to make patterns or frame photos. Rub on transfers and stickers are great to add a special touch. Stickers are available in many materials such as paper, plastic, foil, vellum and glitter, to name a few. And of course we cannot forget the many different paper and paper textures available. The sky’s the limit on how you can use paper.
Some helpful tools used to make your scrapbook are: punches, scissors, and edging scissors, knives, paste, glue, ink pads, embossing machines, die cutting machines, double sided tape, adhesives, brush markers, cutting mat, eyelets, mini drill, glue gun, laminating machine, stencils. paper trimmers, stiching machine, foil press, and acetate. Of course there are many other tools used for making scrapbooks but these are the most common.
When scrapbooking, the most important thing to know is that there is no right or wrong way to make one. There is no rule that says you have to do anything in a certain way. Actually the more you are a "newbie" to this craft, the better! Make sure you have a plan of at least knowing what the theme is and make it consistent with the theme. For example. if you are doing a Valentine scrapbook, make sure you are consistent with having the color red throughout the binder and pages.
