Scrapping by Design

The Crop-A-Dile Scrapbooking Tool is an interesting gadget. It punches holes in paper, card stock, chip board, thin wood, leather and various other substances. Unlike its earlier cousin, the hammer-operated eyelet punch and setter, this tool is silent — a real advantage if you life in an apartment or condo with nearby neighbors. Also, unlike the old system, you do not require a flat surface, so you can punch holes in a tin or box — another advantage.

I’ve created a video demonstration of the Crop-A-Dile, showing how it compares to the old system. The draw back that I see is that your holes have to be within an inch of the edge, given the Crop-A-Dile’s size limitation. This problem is overcome with its larger cousin, the.Big Bite, a scrapbooking tool with a 6 inch reach so you can get to the center of a 12 inch scrapbook layout if desired.

I’m into baby things these days, given that my friend has just become a first-time grandmother. I made this baby scrapbook from a purchased chipboard box that contains accordion folded chipboard pages.

The scrapbook has a shabby chic -- heritage design. I have aged the papers and card stock using distress inks. I have sanded around the edges of the pages, and I have incorporated lace and pearls in the covers. The lace came from Walmart, but it has the look of old lace.

The J (my friend’s initial) is much prettier in real life than it shows in the video. It’s a chipboard J that I painted a muslin color with craft paints. After the paint dried, I stamped with a pale blue chalk ink, using a “handwriting” stamp. After the ink dried I gave the J several coats of Susie Weinberg’s Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE). Finally, I made four holes in the J, using the Crop-A-Dial Hole Puncher, Eyelet & Snap Setter. I strung a pearl through each of three holes, and attached a small circle tag to the fourth.

I converted the photos to black and white. I like using black and whites. They work with every color scheme, they contribute to the heritage style and they hide any miserable color tones that appear in the colored versions.

I expect I’ll be doing a lot more baby scrapbooks in the near future. Looks like this baby’s gonna be a cutie

A friend gave me Easy Paper Crafting with Photos as a Christmas gift. I’m glad she did. This book is a welcome addition to my collection of books on paper crafting, scrapbooking, rubber stamping and other related topics.

Written by Vicki Blizzard, this book contains approximately 75 projects, complete with photos, instructions, and patterns to copy where needed. The projects are interesting, and are arranged into categories: Photos Books, Journals & Albums, Altered Art: Books, CDs, Tins, Cards & Tags, Unique Memory Displays and Frames.

Some of the projects include a beaded journal with fused microbeads over the photo on the cover, a delightful mini lunchbox especially for dad (wonderful Father’s Day gift), a patchwork photo purse, and stoneware coasters decorated with your photos and coordinating paper.

These projects begin with ready made albums, canvases, coasters, journals, etc. Those wanting instructions for making their own hand made journals will not find them here.

I recommend this craft book thoroughly, but with one caveat. The project instructions assume the crafter has experience in  scrapbooking techniques, photography and computer journaling. Experienced crafters will have no difficulty understanding the methods, but beginners or newcomers are advised to seek books with detailed explanations that are more suitable for their skill level.

Easy Paper Crafting with Photos is available at Amazon.

I seldom get an occasion to make a new baby greeting card. However, last week, my friend became a grandmother for the first time. Little Brendan Thomas arrived in the world on May 8, happy and healthy and definitely warranting a special hand made card.

Green seems a popular choice for baby cards and gifts this year, so I went with green. It’s a fairly easy card to make and requires a minimum of supplies.

Check it out:

If you’re interested in the QuicKutz , you can see more about it at this link.

Making new baby greeting cards is a lot of fun. I wish a few more of my friends would give me a chance to do my thing!

QuicKutZ scrapping die cutters are high on my list of most favorite scrapbooking tools. There are various die cutters available, as you know. They have their pros and cons.

I like the Sizzex system quite a bit — but the system is big and bulky and storage space is limited at my place.

The CriCut is certainly flexible. I like it quite a bit but I don’t have a spot to leave it set up. Putting it away and taking it out seems like a lot of effort if I just want to cut a little shape. Plus, the Cricut is not exactly a budget item what with the cost of the machine, the cost of the cartridges, and the ongoing need to replace the cutting blade and the cutting mat. Not only that, the first time I used it, I had to to fiddle around with it quite a bit to figure out how to get it set up.  I do like my Cricut, though. I’m just saying it’s not as convenient as the QuicKutz.

I’ve made a little video demonstrating the QuicKutz.

I like this product.  It’s lightweight. It comes with a nifty carrying and storage case. It’s easy to use. QuicKutz is available at Amazon, Joann, and possibly as your local craft stores. The company makes an assortment of other products, too, including the Revolution. The Revolution is a big brother to the QuicKutz scrapbooking die cutters,  I don’t have one but they look good.

Happy Mother’s Day tomorrow, all you Mothers out there.  And for the scrapbookers and other paper crafters, remember to take lots of pictures and preserve lots of memories tomorrow.  You are collecting fodder for future scrapbooking  or paper craft projects.

I launched this blog too late in the game to make any suggestions for Mother’s Day Gifts to make by hand, darn it.  I can do the next best thing, though, which is to remind everyone to save their memories for future scrapbook projects.

1.  Take lots of pictures

2. Save any and all mementos, including cards, gift tags, ribbons, notes, email messages, restaurant receipts, etc. You can use them in future scrapbook layouts of other projects.

3. Make notes to yourself during the day.  Record meaningful moments, touching, sentimental or humorous comments, details, times, dates. Memory can fail. Notes are forever.

4. If you have a video camera, take video. Did you know that you can export individual frames as still images?  You can then print these images and use them in scrapbook layouts.  The advantage is that you are almost certain to have some good still images out of the thousands that get recorded to video. If you’re taking individual stills, there’s always a chance the picture isn’t great but with video, the odds are in your favor.

And lastly, have a great and wonderful, scrappable day!  (That goes double for all the grandmothers who may be reading this!)

Happy scrapbooking!

Flowers in various forms are popular embellishments among those who are into scrapbooking, card making, altered books or almost any sort of paper craft. And why not? Almost everyone loves flowers. I know I do.

You can, of course, purchase flower stickers and various other floral embellishments to use. But why not make your own? Scrapbooking is an artistic endeavor, and I lean towards making most of my own elements. Here are five ways to make your own flowers to use in paper crafting.

1. Hand Made Fabric Flowers

If you have a sewing machine, or if you’re good at embroidery, and other forms of needlework, then fabric flowers are a perfect solution. You need a few scraps of attractive fabric, your threads and a little imagination. I confess right now that I do not like sewing in any form, so I have never made a fabric flower. However,  Lisa Woodhart at HomeGrown Scrapbooks has made some brilliant ones. Check out her tutorials and pictures at Fabric Flowers for Scrapbooking

2. Stamped Tissue Flowers

Kathy Cano-Murillo offers pictures and a tutorial of these beautiful stamped tissue flowers that she made for the Mexican holiday, Cinco de Mayo. I expect that the flowers as shown would be be too “fat” to add to a scrapbook layout, unless you don’t mind a lot of bulk. They would work very well as embellishments for the cover of a hand made journal or book, on canvas art, for a home decoration or on a greeting card. Why not make a stamped tissue paper flower brooch, and pin it to a greeting card?  The recipient gets a card that she can turn into an attractive piece of jewelery.

Kathy’s flowers have a decidedly Mexican influence, but with a little imagination, you can adapt them for any holiday or color scheme. Stamped Tissue Flowers for Paper Craft Projects

3. Dried Flowers and Leaves

Mother Nature has provided us with an abundance of flowers, grasses and leaves that make perfect scrapbooking elements when dried or pressed and cold laminated. Heat laminating would destroy the delicate dried vegetation, I think, but cold laminating is effective and easy to do.

Simply purchase a roll of clear shelf liner. The Dollar Stores often have them. Place your dried flowers on card stock or other paper, arranging them into whatever design you want. When you are satisfied with the arrangement, cover the card stock with your shelf liner, sticky side down. Do this carefully, as this product is very tacky and you won’t be able to reposition it if you make a mistake. Finally,  trim the edges or mount your laminated product on a card, scrapbook layout or other project.

One of my other web sites, the Altered Book has a tutorial for three different ways of drying flowers. It’s particularly fast and easy if you use this Microwave Flower Press . I have one and I love it. Some day I will make a video showing how easy it is to get perfect pressed flowers in a matter of a minute or so.

4. Ribbon Flowers for Scrapbooking Elements

It’s a simple matter to make flowers from ribbon. I confess to being a ribbon addict. Very few of my projects escape without ribbon of some kind or another. I have a method for making ribbon roses and ribbon mums that is simple and fast to do. It’s difficult to describe, though. This is me making another note to myself to make a video demonstrating how to do this when time permits.

In the meantime, there’s a fairly good Ribbon Flower Tutorial
at this web site.

5. Punch Art Flowers for Scrapbooking

Fast, easy and beautiful. You need flower punches in different sizes, and possibly a leaf punch or two.  Vellum makes particularly nice punch art flowers, but you can use any paper.

Punch three flowers in different sizes, using different colors or the same color. Align the three flowers on top of each other, centering. Put the largest on the bottom, then the middle sized one, and the smallest on top. Place this arrangement on your mouse pad. Poke a small hole through the center of the three, using a punch pin or other small, sharp object.

Next, use either wire or a threated needle.  Poke the the wire or needle through the hole from underneath, coming up from the bottom flower to the top one. String some beads on the wire or thread, then poke the wire or needle back down through the hole. Tie underneath. You now have a beautiful flower with a beaded center. You could decorate it with glitter if you want to make it even fancier. Arrrange a few of these in an attractive design. Add punched leaves and draw stems with a green pen, if desired.

There you have five ways to make your own hand made flowers for your scrapbooking and other paper craft projects.

I’ve just read an interesting blog post at the Scrap Shanty blog. They’re an online scrapbooking community. Becky, the blogger, made the point that scrapbook pages are all about telling a story. She suggests taking a critical look at your layouts and asking yourself whether they tell the story. Telling the story well is about photographs or keepsakes, of course, but its also about the journaling you do.

I don’t consider myself a great scrapbook designer. My layouts aren’t unattractive, but they’re certainly not the works of art that some designers turn out. Nevertheless, I do know one thing. The art is less important than the story. The question to ask yourself is this: Will the viewer of the future look at this page and know what it was about?

Becky also points out that it is perfectly fine to include long “stories”.

Six Journaling Tips

1. Tip 1: If they can’t read it, it isn’t doing much good. Make sure your journaling is visible and easily read when viewed through a page protector. Remember that not everyone has 20-20 vision. It is difficult for people with less than perfect eyesight to read tiny fonts or journaling in colors that do not stand out from the background.
2. Tip 2: Please situate journaling so the viewer can read it without twisting his or her head around in a circle like an owl. (Unless you’re making the page for owls of course. In that case, go right ahead.) I see scrapbook layouts with journaling that meanders around in a circle, going upside down, sideways and every other direction imaginable. This is darned hard to read. Remember that you are preserving memories, not creating modern art.
3. Tip 3: If you do digital editing of your photographs, incorporate brief journaling in the photographs themselves, locating the journaling strategically so you do not hide key elements in your picture. This frees up layout space for other elements or for more detailed journaling.
4. Tip 4: If the story requires a lengthy description or narrative, by all means, include it. You might create a page containing a decorative file folder that you have created, or an envelope or a flat. Do your journaling on a separate paper, then slip it in the folder or envelope for safekeeping. Affix a ribbon or string to the envelope so the reader can slip it out of the page protector for easy reading.
5. Tip 5: Do a Google search for “scrapbook quotations” or combine quotations with your keyword, as in “baby quotations” or “dog quotations”, etc. You will find plenty of great quotes from celebrities, literature, movies and so on. Include these quotes as a component of your journaling. This is particularly helpful if you are making a scrapbook with pictures that someone else has supplied and you know little information about the situation.
6. Tip 6: Consider using humor in your titles and journaling. Not all scrapbooking has to be serious or sentimental. I enjoy plays on words. For example, I made a scrapbook layout showing my friends needlecraft projects. I titled the page, ‘She’s Sew Smart.”

Lastly, remember that future generations of family members will be viewing your scrapbooks They will be interested in the photographs and in the stories — much more than they will admire your beautiful design or your creative elements. If you doubt this, show a scrapbook to someone who does not do scrapbooking personally and who may be seeing one for the first time. Note where their interest is and where their attention goes. Much as we enjoy making delightful elements, they play second fiddle to the story. Scrapbooking is all about memories, after all.

Traditional scrapbooking is fun, but I think I enjoy making small books from scratch or altering another object to use as a scrapbook even better.

I made this small album from a children’s board book that I bought at the Dollar Store. It’s easy to do. The video shows me making the altered book scrapbook but I’ll post the instructions here as well.

1. Sand the pages and the covers to create a slightly rough surface. You need this so the glue will adhere better.

2. Cover all surfaces with a few coats of acrylic gesso, sold at Michaels Arts and Crafts store, or at any place where art supplies are sold. I suggest using the white gesso as opposed to the clear kind. You want to hide the brightly colored pages so they won’t show through your paint later.

3. When the gesso is dry, cover all surfaces with craft paint, sold at Michaels, at Dollar Stores and at craft stores.

4. Drill or punch a small hole in the front and back covers, centering it near the edge and about half way down from the top. You will thread ribbon or fabric through these holes later.

5. Decorate your pages with photos, journaling and embellishments.

6. Tie the ribbon.

This scrapbook is not archival. The book itself and the products used are not acid free. These make a great gift for a child or an adult, and should be looked at as a fun project and gift, but not a keepsake that will last for generations. Archival memory books require traditional scrapbooking procedures.

Scrapbooking supplies are expensive. Even if money is no object, you might want to try some of these money saving tips. Some of them are environmentally friendly and help the planet, as well as helping your pocketbook.

• Save leftover scraps of paper. Using punches, make your scraps into flowers, leaves, geometrics or other shapes that you can use later for embellishments. Store your punched out shapes by color or by shape for easy “finding” later.
• Make leftover paper, card stock, stickers, etc., into serendipity squares to use later.
• Use rubber stamps or punches to create alphabets rather than buying costly alphabet stickers.
• Rather than making copies of photographs (to save the original), scan the original into the computer, edit it with photo editing software and print out on glossy photo paper. Crop your photos before you print them, saving both paper and ink.
• Not every project requires acid free adhesives. If you’re making greeting cards, decorating a tin or box, for example, use more economically priced projects such as Aileen’s Tacky Glue or Mod Podge.
• Similarly, not every project requires acid free embellishments or paper. If you’re not preserving memories for future generations, look to magazines, books, wrapping paper, old greeting cards and even junk mail for images and shapes that you can use in your craft projects.
• Visit the Dollar Stores, if there are any in your area. You can often find scrapbooking and craft products at a fraction of the price.
• Instead of throwing out old jewelry, remove stones, dangles and anything pretty. Save and use as embellishments. Wire cutters (available at hardware stores or at places where beading products are sold) will readily snip off most fasteners or other unwanted elements.
• Remove buttons from old clothing, or purchase buttons in bulk at places like Michaels Arts and Crafts store. Buttons make great, economical embellishments. Wire cutters remove the shank readily so they lie flat on your surface.
• Save ribbon from gift wrapped items. Use as an embellishment.
• Remove lace from any clothing before discarding. Lace makes a wonderful embellishment.
• If you are a needle crafter, or if you have friends who are, ask them to save scraps of fabric, wool and yarn. Use as embellishments.
• If you must buy yarn, buy the entire ball when it is on sale, rather than buying a few yards at a time as is often sold in craft stores. Find a crafting friend to buy a second ball of yarn then split the two between you.
• Find a feather in the park? Bring it home. Feathers are fine embellishments for projects that do not require acid free products. If you know anyone who keeps birds, ask them to save the feathers that moult off.
• Dry flowers and leaves and use for embellishments. Dried plant products require cold lamination for most projects. Go to the Dollar Store, purchase a roll of clear shelf liner and use it to laminate your dried flowers.
• Rather than buying costly organizers and storage containers from craft stores, check out the Dollar Stores. Containers such as the ones that people use to store a week’s pills or medications are great containers for eyelets and brads.
• Look to office supply stores for some of your products. Push pins often work as well as paper piercing tools. Staples are serviceable, and you can color them with stamping ink if desired.
• Rather than buying eyelets in many colors, buy white eyelets and color them with stamping inks.
• Save envelopes of various sizes that reach you by mail. Take them apart and use them for templates to create your own envelopes to incorporate in scrapbook layouts or other projects.
• Watch flea markets and yard sales for board games, dominoes, jigsaw puzzles and other items that can be turned into attractive, affordable embellishments.
• Do a Google search to find quotes and sayings suitable for use in scrapbooks and cards. There are many such sites where the content is freely available.

Do you have any of your own money saving tips for scrapbooking or other crafts? Please leave a comment and let us know.