Scrapbook My Life

I feel very lucky to get paid to write about scrapbooking, but I still find myself dreaming about how much fun it would be to join a scrapbook design team. After all, what could be more fun than getting free products or making a little extra cash doing what you love? If you’re curious about what it’s like to be on a scrapbook design team and how you can gain exposure for your paper crafting projects, check out my latest interview on LoveToKnow Scrapbooking.  The fabulously talented Tristann Graves from A Cherry on Top’s creative team generously offered to share her tips for making a mark in the industry. What’s my favorite bit of advice from the article?  “Everyone has different tastes and styles and the industry is so big that there are lots of sites and communities looking for a range of styles and skills. You just need to take a chance and try out when sites and magazines put out calls for designers and projects.”

Take a chance…. I think that’s great advice for scrapbooking as well as life in general!

While specialty scrapbook stores are definitely the place to go if you’re looking for new and trendy items, many crafters don’t have access to these great resources. The nearest scrapbook store is now about 2 ½ hours from my home in a location I really have no other reason to visit. So, I must be creative when shopping for supplies.

Places I like to buy items for my scrapbook stash include:

• Hobby Lobby – They’re not as up on the “trends” as a specialized scrapbook store, but you can find good deals on cardstock, adhesives, and other basics.
• Wal-Mart – Don’t forget to check out clearance section! Just this weekend, I picked up a Mickey font cartridge for my Cricut for $20.
• Dollar Tree – Oddly enough, the Dollar Tree is a wonderful place for buying craft supplies. You can find stickers, patterned paper, and chipboard, as well as yarn, beads, and ribbon that can be used to make your own unique scrapbook embellishments.

Of course, if there’s a particular “must-have” item on your list, there are plenty of Web sites willing to ship products directly to your door! My personal favorite is A Cherry on Top Scrapbooking Shoppe .

While it doesn’t cost much to buy a sheet of patterned paper or a few new stickers, larger scrapbooking tools can be expensive. If you have your eye on a new digital camera or other large purchase, put the money you save by implementing frugal scrapbooking strategies such as clipping coupons in a separate fund earmarked for this particular item.  Saving for a goal will help keep you motivated and by the time you have enough money for your purchase frugal scrapbooking will be second nature.

As a bonus, saving for the item instead of simply adding it to your credit card will force you to determine if the purchase is really that important to you. Many times, scrapbookers get so caught up in the urge to have the “greatest” supply stash that they forget to consider whether or not a particular item fits their creative style.

One of the most common complaints I hear from people who don’t scrapbook is that scrapbooking is a hobby for “rich” people. It is true that new products are released weekly and yesterday’s trends are often today’s clearance merchandise. However, you don’t need to be a millionaire to create pretty scrapbook layouts. (I can assure you that I’m not exactly rolling in a pile of cash at the moment!)

When your children and grandchildren look through your albums, they’re not going to care if you used the trendiest embellishments or the coolest papers.  What they will care about is that you took the time to preserve your family’s precious memories.

Creativity is the key to getting the biggest bang for your scrapbooking buck. Use free fonts to jazz up your journaling, print off computer clip art for frugal embellishments, and look for bargains on cardstock and adhesives at your favorite craft store. Sharing supplies with other crafty friends is also a great way to stretch your budget. Challenge yourself to be resourceful and I bet you’ll be surprised by the great ideas you come up with!

I’m always trying to come up with new layouts for my son’s album that make good use of the candid photos I’ve taken. While it’s fairly easy to scrapbook pictures from events like birthday parties, family vacations, or the first day of school, scrapbooking pictures that were taken “just because” can be a bit more challenging.

 Here are a few themes for projects I’m working on:

• Growing More Every Day (a collage of photos arranged in chronological order so you can see the month to month progression)
• What a Mess! (dirty hands, messy room, sloppy art projects, muddy shoes)
• The Things Kids Say (interesting and/or funny comments from your son)
• What Little Boys are Made Of (a custom “recipe” for your son – such as 1 cup Hot Wheels, ½ cup cartoons, and a touch of sugar-induced craziness!)
• Like Father, Like Son (similar pictures of your child and his Daddy – such as pictures of them both playing in the sandbox as toddlers)

For the novice scrapbooker, choosing between stickers and rub-ons for a layout can be a difficult choice. At first glance, both types of embellishments appear to be quite similar. However, there are a few key differences to keep in mind.

• Stickers, even those with transparent backgrounds, leave a visible line on your layout. Rub-ons, in comparison, look like they are painted on.
• Rub-ons are flexible and work well for decorating glass, wood, and other objects, which is helpful if you also enjoy making altered art projects with your scrapbooking supplies.
• Epoxy stickers add a touch of dimension and shine to your layout, while rub-ons are flat.
• Misplaced stickers can be removed and reused by applying a thin coat of Un-Du to your layout. Rub-ons are more difficult to remove and can’t be reused if you make a mistake.

As a scrapbooker, I must admit I’m not always as creative as I should be when it comes to selecting a color scheme for my layout. I tend to gravitate towards monochromatic schemes, just because using dark and light shades of the same color is basically goof proof. But, lately I’ve been trying to challenge myself to be a bit more daring with my color choices. Here are a few sources of inspiration I’ve found helpful.

• Paint color samples
• Fabric swatches
• Fashion magazines
• Advertisements

An artist’s color wheel, found with the painting supplies at Hobby Lobby or any other craft store, is also a helpful tool for choosing layout color schemes. Feel free to mix and match various combinations until you find something that inspires you!

Although I do love my Cricut, it’s definitely the most expensive scrapbooking tool I’ve ever purchased. However, it does have uses other than making layouts. I recently purchased the Cricut Home Accents cartridge, which is a smaller shape cartridge featuring swirls, photo corners, birds, butterflies, and other miscellaneous decorative designs. When used with the Cricut vinyl, you can make large transfers that mimic the look of customized wall art. Since my husband and I recently purchased our first home, I decided this was an excellent investment.

Other uses for the Cricut include:

• Cardmaking
• Creating gift tags for birthday and Christmas presents
• Decorating bulletin boards in a child’s room
• Making shapes for collage craft projects
• Cheap Christmas ornaments – cut stars and other shapes from your favorite patterned paper scraps