Hiya, Crafters. Thanks for stopping by. Tonight I'm going to discuss scrapbooking. I love scrapbooking! What do I love more than scrapbooking? Creating the memories. There are so many creative outlets for this kind of memory keeping and I'm sure you already have a few ideas. Kids, pets, marriages, vacations, day to day life, and buying a new home to give some examples. When I went to my first (and only) Stampin' Up hosted party a group of ladies sat around and talked about how long it was taking them to complete a scrapbook. One of them said how it took them five years to do just one page for her wedding scrapbook while another said she did a page a month for her son. It was daunting to hear it and I thought "What am I getting myself into?" I can be a little notorious for not finishing projects. Since I was single, did not have children nor my own home, I chose traveling.
I love to travel! I certainly didn't as a kid being stuck 3 weeks with my parents as a teenager. We visited South and North Dakota many times, to visit their friends. And they also dragged me all over Illinois. Once they took me up into Canada where I bought my first stamp. I never thought I would to travel so much until the company I used to work for sent me to the Philippines for 6 weeks, and then later for 4 months. It was so freaking awesome! And that's when I decided I was going to see the world.
Yeah, yeah my eyes are closed. But the view is awesome on top of Mount Pinatubo.
Anyway the very first thing that I found I needed was a cover page (outside of the album). It can be anything from a favorite photo, you, or whatever strikes your fancy. The main thing you need to worry about is your designer paper. Yes, you can use plain 12 x 12" paper. It's certainly cool. I did. But DCWV has so many varieties, which you can usually find some kind of coupon to get at least 40% off that why should you bother resiting? You can use it for your cards too. They also sell single paper, but I've found that if you go to a non-chain store you get a larger variety of countries and states. Amazon actually has a craft department which is pretty nice. I got my desk there. I digress. Title your first page with what the whole scrapbook is about. Pretty simple, eh? Here aresome all of mine.
Here are some misconceptions I had when I first started to plan to scrapbook - I still needed to go to Ireland.
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Sorry about the language. I was a little distressed at how cold it was. And I had a cold.
Guess what? You will make a mistake. Sometimes you'll just go with it, and other times you will drop your face into your palm and shake your head. Since you're using permanent glue, it's most likely a permanent mistake. Sometimes you didn't press down hard enough and you can still lift it off of the page. Other times you pressed down on it like you were the Hulk and it made you angry. It's not coming off short of ripping something you won't be happy about. And you might use some questionable language. ;) Never fear! Dental floss will do the trick. No really, it works! You'll wish you had a third arm, but you can shimmy dental floss under the picture or embellishment and it will lift from the page. I was so happy to find out about this trick because I make mistakes!
The last thing that I would say about scrapbooking is don't forget about your album. You can get ones that don't need decoration, or maybe you had something really special to you that you want in your scrapbook but you just don't know how to display it. My Ireland album is bright green with a picture frame. Sure I could have left it at that, but it was .... meh. really, I'm not going to start remembering my awesome vacation with "Man, this album is kinda lame. I wish I had gotten something else." So I made it my own. And my wedding album I added the locket that I hung from my bouquet. That was really important to me as it had pictures of loved ones who had passed away on it. These things certainly serve as a tribute of what really shined out to you.
Well, that's it. I can't really think of anything else to add to this post for ya. Overall, beginning scrapbooking can be expensive, but there are ways to make most of what you have when you have it. Once you get started, the cost will be minimal to just maybe another paper pack and some 3D embellishments. Overall, for my latest scrapbook I spent perhaps $50 in total. And every penny was worth it.
If I've missed anything that you think is important, leave it in the comments and I'll happily add it. Thanks for taking the time to read this and I hope that I helped you get some creativity for your scrapbook.
Thanks for stopping over, Crafters. Bye!
I love to travel! I certainly didn't as a kid being stuck 3 weeks with my parents as a teenager. We visited South and North Dakota many times, to visit their friends. And they also dragged me all over Illinois. Once they took me up into Canada where I bought my first stamp. I never thought I would to travel so much until the company I used to work for sent me to the Philippines for 6 weeks, and then later for 4 months. It was so freaking awesome! And that's when I decided I was going to see the world.
Anyway the very first thing that I found I needed was a cover page (outside of the album). It can be anything from a favorite photo, you, or whatever strikes your fancy. The main thing you need to worry about is your designer paper. Yes, you can use plain 12 x 12" paper. It's certainly cool. I did. But DCWV has so many varieties, which you can usually find some kind of coupon to get at least 40% off that why should you bother resiting? You can use it for your cards too. They also sell single paper, but I've found that if you go to a non-chain store you get a larger variety of countries and states. Amazon actually has a craft department which is pretty nice. I got my desk there. I digress. Title your first page with what the whole scrapbook is about. Pretty simple, eh? Here are
- Not every page has to have the same layout.
- You can have more than one photo on one page.
- You can have multiple sizes of photos on one page.
- Each page doesn't need to flow smoothly into another. A page is a memory. Tell it how it is.
- You can have more than one page dedicated to a memory or day.
- You can totally use two pages at once to tell a story.
- You can use the same stamp sets over and over. It won't be boring.
- It's ok to make fun of yourself or your husband/boyfriend/girlfriend/fiance in the scrapbook.
- Adhesive really is important.
- Invest in a printer. You'll be glad that you did.
- Photo paper is important.
- It doesn't have to take years to complete.
- You don't need to spend $50 per page!
You can have multiple sizes of photos on one page. I like to smack my favorite photo of the memory I'm telling and then place smaller ones around it in any way that strikes my fancy. Always always always do a dry run of how you want the page to look first. You may not like it and need to swap out a picture with another. Or you decide that the smaller picture should have been the larger one. I've done that a few times.
Haha! I love sheep! I saw a little lamb hop and my heart melted into goo. Which totally takes me to my next blurb about pages not needing to flow into each other. But ... in a sense they always seem to do so. No one complains and I never heard "OMG I can't believe you had your poison garden photos next to your nature walk of beautiful flowers! Wtf is wrong with you?!" I've never sat back and thought to myself "Amy, you dummy. This just looks chaotic." It really doesn't matter. Nor do you only have to limit yourself to one memory per page. If you and your family had a blast there and there is just too many awesome photos to pick from, use more. I think I dedicated 4 pages to Warwick Castle, or the Gardens of Powerscourt. Shoot... I dedicated a whole album to my wedding.
It's fine to use the same stamp set over and over. I know it's weird that I'm even addressing this because who wouldn't want to? But I've seen on the webs and listened to those ladies at my first stampin' party that they think it would get repetitive. I don't think it does. I do like to use themes. For Ireland I stuck with orange, whites, and greens because those are the colors on their flag. I did the same with the UK, and used only my wedding colors for my wedding scrapbook. You do not have to do that by any means. Use what speaks to you. I used the exact same stamp set for every page. And those flowers? I used them all the time. I'm sure you recognize the banners too. It's all good no matter what you decide to do. Isn't that awesome?
I had a lot of fun making my scrapbooks. Not only did I lose myself for however long I crafted, but it was great to see my memories take shape from something other than a micro SD card, or in a folder on my computer, and Facebook just doesn't satisfy me like that. But I also enjoyed making fun of myself, and my husband. For instance, he forgot his passport and we didn't know it wasn't needed when we drove to Belfast, UK from Ireland. You need one from the states to get to Canada or Mexico so I assumed you would here as well. I shamed him for it. And later I made fun of the weird hairdo I had while I was getting all dolled up on my wedding day. You might have friends who aren't into all this craft business and they're being polite while looking through your album. This makes it worth their while.
Hang onto your brochures and ticket stubs. You'll feel like a pack rat and you may not even need most of them. But there are attractions that won't let you take pictures or use the flash on your camera. Not take pictures? I was distraught about that when we went to Trinity College and I saw the Book of Kells and the long, beautiful library. Or the crown jewels for England and Scotland. I understood afterwards. But I was glad that I grabbed those pamphlets. You can either just shove them in no order with no glue on their own page, or cut out what you want from them.
I had a lot of fun making my scrapbooks. Not only did I lose myself for however long I crafted, but it was great to see my memories take shape from something other than a micro SD card, or in a folder on my computer, and Facebook just doesn't satisfy me like that. But I also enjoyed making fun of myself, and my husband. For instance, he forgot his passport and we didn't know it wasn't needed when we drove to Belfast, UK from Ireland. You need one from the states to get to Canada or Mexico so I assumed you would here as well. I shamed him for it. And later I made fun of the weird hairdo I had while I was getting all dolled up on my wedding day. You might have friends who aren't into all this craft business and they're being polite while looking through your album. This makes it worth their while.
Hang onto your brochures and ticket stubs. You'll feel like a pack rat and you may not even need most of them. But there are attractions that won't let you take pictures or use the flash on your camera. Not take pictures? I was distraught about that when we went to Trinity College and I saw the Book of Kells and the long, beautiful library. Or the crown jewels for England and Scotland. I understood afterwards. But I was glad that I grabbed those pamphlets. You can either just shove them in no order with no glue on their own page, or cut out what you want from them.
I just cut out a bit of my Book of Kells brochure and used it. And work your paper! This is a page from the magical Once upon a time set. I love it. I really really love it. And it works so well with my memory! People like to see where you've gone and how you got around. Look at all those tickets. Not every ticket was placed on that page. There were some instances that we were really looking forward to and I felt that they deserved their special page. My husband loves Chelsea Football Club, so I gave him his own special page. I have to admit it was a pretty epic day even for me. For me, it was the Doctor Who Experience. It was something that I absolutely adored. And I think I dedicated 4 pages to this. I fangirled so hard. My husband is awesome.
At this point I should bring up glue. I had some heavy stuff to place in my scrapbooks. 2 pound (denomination) coins and casino chips were the heaviest. Hot glue should work, right? Nope. I glued my coins down in my book and I could tell they were still a little sketchy but since they weren't loose I went with it. My dad looked through it, and he likes to touch everything. He's not gentle either because he's from an era where you could bomb his toy truck and it would come out unscathed. He's knocked loose so many things from my scrapbook that I have given up on hot glue and switched to Gorilla glue. That stuff works. It doesn't dry clear, so you need to be careful how much you put on and where you put it on the object. I tend to place a dollop in the center, press it firmly where I want it, and oh so carefully set it aside in my closet and shut the door. Cats, you know? They go everywhere.
Next I'd like to talk about embellishments and those 3D stickers you can get at any craft stores. Bling is pretty. I'm not going to argue. By doing a dry run, you'll see when you've dressed your page up like a street lamp person looking to find emotion. The 3D stickers are great too! If you go to the regular tourist places you will find stickers that would look exactly like your photos. I did with Hore Abbey, Big Ben, Blarney Castle, ect. But the things can get bulky. I don't know if I'm making an issue out of nothing, but it can effect how pages turn and how flat your book closes. Oh! You can get album extenders for all your extra pages. Anyway, I can get a little distressed with how it looks. But I know I should not worry one bit about it.
All right, so I have been raving about designer paper, especially that from DCWV. I would like to point out that there are other brands out there, and there are some with 2 sides. I don't always like that because I feel like I'm wasting paper somehow. But that's not important. You can use plain 12 x 12" paper for a page and it can still serve it's purpose. Mine is supposed to look like the country side from an aerial view of hedgerows and sheep. I basically pulled tufts of cotton from a cotton ball and drew legs under it. Then I used ribbon to try and imitate the hedgerows. I know what I'm looking at, but not everyone does. My feelings weren't hurt.
Do you have a lot of scraps that you just will never use because they are too awkward for anything but the recycling bin? I did a lot. It came from layering the title on my pages. I wasn't even able to salvage them for scrap for punches later on. Not that I was against tossing them in the recycling bin, but I just had so many and they were of different lengths. And I thought, I could use these to make long, skinny banners. Or save them and use them as a lattice for some flowery, patriotic card. It doesn't look too shabby and all I did was cut out a triangle from the ends. (I bet you wouldn't guess this paper is giraffe print in blue!) Also, if you use regular printer paper to print your photos on it will look like crap. You just can't scrimp on this, you need photo paper. I bought a package of 100 sheets of 8.5 x 11" paper and it lasted me two years. You'll figure out how to maximize the most of your paper with planning ahead. Get a printer. No one wants you to spend an hour at the photo kiosk in Walgreens, and neither do you.
I don't know about you, but my memory is terrible. I could leave on a 4 day vacation and not remember some of the little things that really helped shape the bigger moment. I kept a travel journal and wrote in it every night at the end of the festivities. I tracked the weather and anything I thought I deserved to put in there. I also used it to tease my husband if he said something horrible, but as a joke. It's pretty funny to us to be able to remember our many inside jokes. It also helps keep the vacation fresh in my mind just from writing it, and if I need inspiration for a page I can always look through it and spark some creativity.
At this point I should bring up glue. I had some heavy stuff to place in my scrapbooks. 2 pound (denomination) coins and casino chips were the heaviest. Hot glue should work, right? Nope. I glued my coins down in my book and I could tell they were still a little sketchy but since they weren't loose I went with it. My dad looked through it, and he likes to touch everything. He's not gentle either because he's from an era where you could bomb his toy truck and it would come out unscathed. He's knocked loose so many things from my scrapbook that I have given up on hot glue and switched to Gorilla glue. That stuff works. It doesn't dry clear, so you need to be careful how much you put on and where you put it on the object. I tend to place a dollop in the center, press it firmly where I want it, and oh so carefully set it aside in my closet and shut the door. Cats, you know? They go everywhere.
Next I'd like to talk about embellishments and those 3D stickers you can get at any craft stores. Bling is pretty. I'm not going to argue. By doing a dry run, you'll see when you've dressed your page up like a street lamp person looking to find emotion. The 3D stickers are great too! If you go to the regular tourist places you will find stickers that would look exactly like your photos. I did with Hore Abbey, Big Ben, Blarney Castle, ect. But the things can get bulky. I don't know if I'm making an issue out of nothing, but it can effect how pages turn and how flat your book closes. Oh! You can get album extenders for all your extra pages. Anyway, I can get a little distressed with how it looks. But I know I should not worry one bit about it.
All right, so I have been raving about designer paper, especially that from DCWV. I would like to point out that there are other brands out there, and there are some with 2 sides. I don't always like that because I feel like I'm wasting paper somehow. But that's not important. You can use plain 12 x 12" paper for a page and it can still serve it's purpose. Mine is supposed to look like the country side from an aerial view of hedgerows and sheep. I basically pulled tufts of cotton from a cotton ball and drew legs under it. Then I used ribbon to try and imitate the hedgerows. I know what I'm looking at, but not everyone does. My feelings weren't hurt.
Do you have a lot of scraps that you just will never use because they are too awkward for anything but the recycling bin? I did a lot. It came from layering the title on my pages. I wasn't even able to salvage them for scrap for punches later on. Not that I was against tossing them in the recycling bin, but I just had so many and they were of different lengths. And I thought, I could use these to make long, skinny banners. Or save them and use them as a lattice for some flowery, patriotic card. It doesn't look too shabby and all I did was cut out a triangle from the ends. (I bet you wouldn't guess this paper is giraffe print in blue!) Also, if you use regular printer paper to print your photos on it will look like crap. You just can't scrimp on this, you need photo paper. I bought a package of 100 sheets of 8.5 x 11" paper and it lasted me two years. You'll figure out how to maximize the most of your paper with planning ahead. Get a printer. No one wants you to spend an hour at the photo kiosk in Walgreens, and neither do you.
I don't know about you, but my memory is terrible. I could leave on a 4 day vacation and not remember some of the little things that really helped shape the bigger moment. I kept a travel journal and wrote in it every night at the end of the festivities. I tracked the weather and anything I thought I deserved to put in there. I also used it to tease my husband if he said something horrible, but as a joke. It's pretty funny to us to be able to remember our many inside jokes. It also helps keep the vacation fresh in my mind just from writing it, and if I need inspiration for a page I can always look through it and spark some creativity.
Sorry about the language. I was a little distressed at how cold it was. And I had a cold.
Guess what? You will make a mistake. Sometimes you'll just go with it, and other times you will drop your face into your palm and shake your head. Since you're using permanent glue, it's most likely a permanent mistake. Sometimes you didn't press down hard enough and you can still lift it off of the page. Other times you pressed down on it like you were the Hulk and it made you angry. It's not coming off short of ripping something you won't be happy about. And you might use some questionable language. ;) Never fear! Dental floss will do the trick. No really, it works! You'll wish you had a third arm, but you can shimmy dental floss under the picture or embellishment and it will lift from the page. I was so happy to find out about this trick because I make mistakes!
The last thing that I would say about scrapbooking is don't forget about your album. You can get ones that don't need decoration, or maybe you had something really special to you that you want in your scrapbook but you just don't know how to display it. My Ireland album is bright green with a picture frame. Sure I could have left it at that, but it was .... meh. really, I'm not going to start remembering my awesome vacation with "Man, this album is kinda lame. I wish I had gotten something else." So I made it my own. And my wedding album I added the locket that I hung from my bouquet. That was really important to me as it had pictures of loved ones who had passed away on it. These things certainly serve as a tribute of what really shined out to you.
Well, that's it. I can't really think of anything else to add to this post for ya. Overall, beginning scrapbooking can be expensive, but there are ways to make most of what you have when you have it. Once you get started, the cost will be minimal to just maybe another paper pack and some 3D embellishments. Overall, for my latest scrapbook I spent perhaps $50 in total. And every penny was worth it.
If I've missed anything that you think is important, leave it in the comments and I'll happily add it. Thanks for taking the time to read this and I hope that I helped you get some creativity for your scrapbook.
Thanks for stopping over, Crafters. Bye!
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