Scrapbook My Life

If you love using stickers on your scrapbook layouts, you’ve probably run across the common problem of accidentally adhering your embellishment in the wrong spot. Un-Du is a great product to help remove misplaced stickers, but it can be pricey and hard to find. Luckily, there is a great alternative — refill your bottle of Un-Du with bestine solvent and thinner.  The two products are basically the same.  The reason Un-Du is so expensive is because of the patented scraper on the bottle.  Bestine can be purchased at any art supply store.

Here’s another great tip for sticker placement. When making titles with letter stickers, aim for a slightly random look to give your page a hip and modern look. Plus, if your stickers look like they were purposely a bit off center, you won’t even need the Un-Du in the first place!

I finally had a chance to do some serious scrapping last night, reminding me of a common complaint. Nothing irritates a scrapbooker quicker than the site of fingerprints on a layout!  While there are products you can buy to remove unwanted fingerprints and smudges from your photos, lint-free shoe shine cloths will work just as well.  In a pinch, you can even try using a baby wipe!

To help reduce the amount of fingerprints on your photos, you might want to consider having them processed with a matte finish. Since I tend to be a messy scrapper and my son has started to enjoy playing with my glue sticks while I’m working, I anticipate most of my 2009 photos will be done in a matte finish. Textured acid-free cardstock is another great choice for printing images, since small imperfections on less visible on this surface.

If you love to scrapbook, it’s only natural to want to share your passion with those around you. However, converting people into full-fledged scrappers can be a challenging task. At one point, both my mother and my best friend were avid scrappers. Now, I’m the only one who has managed to keep it up.

Luckily, there are still ways to share what you love without forcing everyone to pick up a new hobby. Enlist your family and friends to help you find embellishments for your scrapbook. Have them save anything they think you might be able to use. Many people hate to throw useful items away and will be happy to give their buttons, bows, wrapping paper, greeting cards, fabric swatches, and other goodies a new home. Remember to show them the finished layouts you created with their treasures.

Asking your loved ones to contribute journaling to your scrapbook pages is another way to share your hobby. This is especially fun if you have a young child at home, since kids tend to have clever and usual insights for holiday scrapbook layouts. For example, a child’s description of how your family celebrates Christmas is a wonderful way to spice up a layout of people opening their gifts.

Even though they’re not exactly one of the more “trendy” scrapbooking supplies available, I love using eyelets on my scrapbook pages. I have one of the newer silent eyelet setters, but I usually use my old-fashioned hammer and setter. It’s fun to pound out your frustrations! However, if you seldom use eyelets on your layout, you don’t need to invest in a set of eyelet tools. Just make a whole in the paper with an X-Acto knife, insert your eyelet, and bend back the edges with a wire cutter. Instead of an overpriced eyelet pounding mat, use on old mousepad to protect your workspace.

Want to go beyond using eyelets as the center of a flower, mock photo corners, or a way to adhere journaling blocks? Try pounding a variety of different sizes and shapes of eyelets into plain cardstock to create your own custom background paper with lots of texture and dimension. If you don’t have enough eyelets in coordinating colors, cover the entire piece with a layer of acrylic paint when you’re finished.

Although red and green are the traditional color schemes for Christmas scrapbook layouts, you don’t have to feel limited by these options. Browse through any store with Christmas decorations and you’ll see that holiday celebrations now have a variety of design options. Blue and purple are a good choice for a fun winter-theme. A “girly” Christmas theme could include hot pink with lime green accents. Black and white is also becoming popular as a hip and mod alternative Christmas decoration scheme.

Of course, glitter and metallic accents are always at home on holiday scrapbook pages. Die Cuts with a View makes great metallic and glitter infused cardstock stacks that make it easy to add pizzazz to your pages. Many companies are also making patterned papers that include flocking to add extra texture to your scrapbook layouts.

During the holiday season, it’s hard to find time to scrapbook. However, by planning ahead and saving bits of interesting bits of memorabilia, you can create wonderful keepsake pages for your album in a hurry. Here are some items you can use as the basis for quick and easy holiday scrapbook layouts:

• Your child’s wish list from Santa
• Tags from some of your favorite Christmas gifts
• Your family’s annual Christmas letter
• A copy of your grocery shopping list from making Christmas dinner and the recipes you used
• A program from your child’s Christmas concert
• A collage made from photo greeting cards you’ve received from family and friends