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!

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.

Since today is my birthday, I thought I’d share a few of my favorite ideas for scrapbooking birthday party pages!

• Make custom patterned paper by repeating your age across a plain cardstock background using rubber stamps or a decorative font.
• Use small bits of ribbon and teardrop shaped rhinestones to make your own candle embellishments.
• Add eyelets to a die cut of a cupcake or birthday cake to make your own “sprinkles”
• Tie string to hand-cut ovals to make a balloon bouquet embellishment.
• Create pocket in your layout to hold the birthday cards you’ve received.
• Scan the day’s newspaper headlines to include a reference to current events in your layout.
• For creative journaling, include a list of things you’ve accomplished during the last year or your goals for yourself during the upcoming year.

Matting photos is one of the first techniques scrapbookers learn. Mats help enhance your color scheme and draw attention to your pictures. However, you don’t need to mat every photo on a layout. Matting is a time consuming process that will quickly use up your supply of cardstock. Try matting only the focal point photo on your page or creating the illusion of photo mats by placing multiple photos close to one another.

If you get your photos printed at Wal-Mart or through an online developer, ask if they can print them with a white border around the edge. This will give you the look of matted photos without the extra work or expense. If you can’t live without the look of a double mat, however, place the white bordered 4×6 photo onto paper from one of the Die Cuts with a View mat stacks. You’ll have a perfect double mat with no cutting or measuring required!

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

I must confess that I love using templates for scrapbooking, even though I am still primarily a traditional paper scrapbooker. A template makes it easy to quickly create finished pages for your album. Simply drop your photos into the appropriate spots, add a bit of journaling, and you’re ready to insert your layout into your album! If you’re in a hurry, or just not feeling particularly creative, a template is a great way to get your photos into your album where they can be enjoyed.

Lately, I’ve being working with the CD Digital Quick Pages by Ali Edwards to get caught up on my son’s scrapbook album. The bright colors and simple geometric patterns in these scrapbook templates are a great choice for toddler pages. For our family album, I’m thinking I’ll have to try some of the Quick Page templates at A Cherry on Top .

I love using acrylic paint in my scrapbook layouts! It’s a cheap, fun, and easy way to embellish your projects. You can paint your own background paper, alter the colors of purchased stickers and die cuts, or make a title with your favorite foam alphabet stamps.

Acrylic paint can be purchased from scrapbook supply stores, but you don’t need to spend extra money for paint labeled as being specifically for scrapbooking. The same acrylic paint you use for painting designs on canvas or decorating wooden furniture will work just fine for your scrapbook layouts. If you like to custom mix colors of acrylic paint, however, be sure to cover your paint tray with Saran Wrap when you’re finished. Then, if you need to do any touch up work after your paint dries, you won’t need to worry about remixing the color.