CREATIVE CRAFTING

Posts Tagged ‘scrapbooking’

The hardest part of any scrapbooking endeavor is to get your ideas together. For some the scrapbook is considered a work of art while others can slap together a page in a few minutes. It is always hardest, at least for me, at the start. So I came up with a few ideas to help get going on the scrapbook page. I prefer digital scrapbooking, but these principles apply to both digital and traditional scrapbooking.

1. Deciding on a color for the page. This should be the easiest to decide, but for many it is not. I usually try and find a background color to compliment the picture, maybe some obscure color in the picture itself. However, making the scrapbook page out of one color only is not always the best idea. Try laying out a few colors on your table, then laying the picture on top, then pick out which colors “pop” out for you. Don’t be afraid to try different textures too, sometimes a boring color will come alive with a little texture added to it.

2. Have you ever thought of using a literary character as your inspiration for a scrapbook page? If you have a favorite book or author getting ideas from some of their cover art is a great way to incorporate some of your

interest into a page. Taking a character out of your favorite book is another idea. Writers have wonderful imaginations and often portray their hero and heroines as larger than life, incorporate some of those characters into your pages. A scrapbook page, aside from showcasing a picture, should show your character as well.

Nothing says “Merry Christmas” than something given from the heart. I know most of the crafters are thinking decorations and gifts, but for those of us who have embraced Digital Scrapbooking start with your Christmas Card.

I feel Christmas cards have gone a little out of style what with the cost of the cards to start with, then the postage it can get quite expensive.  So save some of the expense by using your digital scrapbook papers, embellishments and pictures and make your own cards.

Here is an example of one I just made, don’t know if I will use this particular one or not, but it is a start and I think it came out quite nicely.

 I just love the free kits at My Memories Suite.  If you like Digital Scrapbooking try them out they have both free and paid kits.  This card was made with all free material.

I have been putting some thought into what I want to give family and friends for Christmas.  Since we are retired and money is not something I have a lot of  they can forget about the electronic toys they want!

So how can I combine my love for crafting (digital scrapbooking by far my favorite) and cooking?  I have an idea to make recipe cards using as a background pictures of family, favorite vacation spots and whatever I can find that would make a nice background for the card, print some of my favorite recipes, then put them in a box that would be decorated by me again with family photos or favorite pictures.

Not only would this be a inexpensive gift but one that is truly given from the heart.  Below is an example of what I am talking about.  See if you can come up with some ideas of your own using digital scrapbooking, favorite recipes and a plain cardboard box purchased at your favorite craft store.

Here is one simple idea I came up with…it will be printed on 4×6 cardstock..remember this is just an idea of what you can do with digital scrapbooking.

Happy Holidays

I know I write about Digital Scrapbooking quite a bit, but it is so easy and fun.     Minimal expense  is required if any at all.  Anyone can do it.   Why don’t you just try it?  Free scrapbooking papers and embellishments are available on the Internet.

As promised here  are some more pictures of my Germany trip.   All done for free!

Recently my husband and I were treated to a trip to Germany by our daughter and her husband.  She is living over there now for at least the next two years.  It was our first trip to Europe and very exciting for us.  I have longed dreamed of going abroad but never seemed to have either the time nor the money so when she said for us to come and she would pay for it, we jumped at the chance.  Literally!  Who in their right mind wouldn’t?

We were able to visit the Rhine Valley area of Germany, Prague, and Innsbrook Austria.  Of course I took pictures, lots and lots of pictures.  I want to remember this special time with my girl forever, so I started to scrapbook some of the pictures to remind my husband and myself of the great time we had.

Here are a few of the simple pages I have done today…7 in all.  I might add more embellishments once I get them printed to give a more 3-Dimensional look or I might not.

These ideas outlined here are the same for traditional or digital scrapbooking.

The term “simply scrapbooking” is often used when talking about the hobby of scrapbooking.  You probably have some ideas what it really is, but what is it exactly and what are the parts that are associated with the name?

A simple scrapbook is not your every day album that will rely on event in a certain order.  Focus is not on family traditions, your hopes, your dreams, or even everyday customs.  It fits outside the box as it is shorter, smaller and more manageable.  A simple album is one that focuses more on your more commonplace aspects of your life that is very often overlooked.  Another way to look at it is this: a more traditional scrapbooking album capture memories with pictures while the simpler scrapbook captures the memories of before and after the picture was taken.  What led up to and came after that special memory in your traditional scrapbook moment.

So what goes into a simple scrapbook?  When thinking of a simple scrapbook five (I call them the 5 F’s) terms come to mind: Format, Freedom, Framework, Finished, and Fast!  Let’s discuss them!

Format refers to the how one scrapbook is different from the others and yet somehow follows a certain format.  Simple scrapbooks all have size, content, and certain characteristics that are somewhat the same as the rest of the scrapbooks but upon examination they use different approaches to the subject matter.

I talk a lot about digital scrapbooking and what can be done with it.  First of all know that it is no different that traditional scrapbooking only you do it on a computer.  While it is true that you don’t need any special program to complete your projects I have found that it is easier with a digital scrapbooking program.

I have used two different ones Smilebox, which is essentially if you want to share your photos with others through email.  The designs are limited.  Not to say it is not a good program, it is, but I found it hard to import other papers and embellishments to the projects.

The other program that I use and love is MyMemoriesSuite.  I started by using just the papers available about a year ago and used the program I already had on my computer for manipulating photos (Microsoft Picture It! Publishing 2001 Platinum [Old Version]).

You can purchase the newer version, but it is over $300.  You can find the older version at Amazon for around $25.00 used.  You could probably find it at Ebay also.

This is just a cheap way to get you started to see if you even like digital scrapbooking.  Some who have done the traditional type of scrapbooking don’t like digital.

Once you decide you like digital scrapbooking you can then decide if you want to purchase a specific program such as MyMemoriesSuite.

Here are some of the pages I have done digitally of my sons wedding.

I am not a traditional scrapbooker.  I really enjoy Digital Scrapbooking and I get the same papers, embellishments, backgrounds and layouts as traditional scrapbooking.  The only difference is that I do not have large collections of papers, embellishments and so forth sitting around my craft room waiting to be used.  In other words no clutter, and the way I do things there would be clutter.

About 6 months ago I started using My Memories Suite on a trial basis.  They had a 60 day return policy and I figured if I could not get it to work in that amount of time I would ask for my money back.  Well here it is going on 7 months and I still love it.  So what is My Memories Suite?

My Memories Suite 2.0 is a fun and creative way to keep and share memories, whether you have a Mac or PC. The scrapbooking software’s design tools will help you to build entire albums effortlessly using one of the many installed templates, or designing your very own pages from scratch. Version 2.0 includes 20+ new templates, over 1,500 new papers and over 1,300 new embellishments. There is even a new color swatch library with matching sets of papers and embellishments. And if you’re searching for even more templates, visit My Memories Suite online Design Shop, which offers a growing library of digital scrapbooking templates, papers, and kits to inspire your creativity!