Scrapping by Design

I made this scrapbook album using a chipboard scrapbook kit.  I believe that this is the first scrapbook kit I have ever purchased. I usually prefer to assemble and match my own papers, card stock and embellishments. However, this kit appealed for three reasons. First, I was time challenged and I wanted to get this scrapbook together relatively quickly. Secondly, the style, colors and embellishments worked well for my project — a small birthday album to give a 12 year old boy.  And thirdly, the kit was on sale at a very good price.

I used very few additional supplies other than the items that came with the chipboard album kit. I added a bit of orange ribbon, one additional sheet of scrapbook paper, some scraps of card stock used for matting, and one embellishment that I had made ages ago and until now, found no use for.

The scrapbook album turned out rather well, I believe. Of course, the only opinion that really counts is that of the 12 year old who is going to receive it!  And who knows what gets a thumbs up with that particular audience.

What compels you to buy a kit to make a scrapbook album?  Leave a message and share your experiences.

Scrapbooking is a lot of fun when you make your own mini albums. I made this mini album from chipboard coasters. It’s so simple it really requires no instruction. You decorate the coasters, punch two holes through each coaster and then bind using a binder ring.

The theme and title is My Meditations. The book contains meditations that I use when practicing the Silva Method of meditations.

If you are looking to buy some chipboard coasters for your next mini album, I see that Scrapbook Crazy Blog has some listed for sale.

Lauren Meader of My Time, My Creations, My Stupendous has posted a great tutorial for making a Onesie Baby Card. It’s simple to make and very eye appealing. I haven’t tried it myself, but Lauren says you can make one in ten minutes.

The sad message on Lauren’s blog post, however, is that someone has copied and pasted her template and her words, and submitted them to a publication as their own work.Luckily, the editor in question recognized the design and notified Lauren about this issue.

This is not only unethical; it is a violation of international copyright law.

When a person puts a design or idea in “fixed format’ — meaning it is more than just an idea and has been written down somehow — that person owns the copyright on that material, which is known as the “works”. Owning the copyright means I can publish the material anywhere I want, but others cannot legally copy it without my permission. If, when I publish my works, I stipulate that others may use the design or the writing for certain purposes, then I have awarded others the “right” to use my work in the ways that I have stipulated.

Perhaps some people are confused regarding what is fair use when it comes to scrapbooking and card making theft of ideas. “Scraplifting” is commonplace, and for the most part, expected and even encouraged. Scraplifting refers to finding a design that you like and then duplicating it for your personal use. Unless otherwise stipulated, most people don’t object to this.

Lauren has stipulated her copyright terms clearly on her blog. If I copy Lauren’s onesie card design to make a few cards which I then send to people to congratulate them on their new infant, that is quite fine with her. If I take pictures of the cards I made using Lauren’s tutorial and post those cards on Flickr, that is still probably okay, although it would be a courtesy to attribute the design to Lauren.

However, if I copy and paste Lauren’s design and her tutorial and submit that to a crafting magazine or web site, claiming it it my own work, that is illegal. If I make cards using her design and sell them at a craft fair, that is becoming a gray area. If you take the design but modify it substantially, then it becomes your design and not Lauren’s and you own the copyright. However, defining how much modification is “substantial” is a murky issue — and one that puts money in the pocket of lawyers specializing in copyright and intellectual property.

With all that said, surf on over to Lauren’s blog and enjoy making a onesie baby card with Lauren’s template and tutorial.

So often we want to design a scrapbook layout to commemorate a special memory or event, but we don’t do it because we have no pictures to use in the layout.

That’s a shame, because its entirely possible to create eye appealing layouts, even though we don’t have access to images.

Recording the memory is the important thing, and although admittedly, pictures are ideal, they aren’t a deal breaker.

The pictures to the right shows one of many layouts I made for a friend when she received the Order of Canada award.  She received multiple gifts, cards, letters and  emails that she wanted scrapbooked — not to mention  clippings from newspaper write ups and coverage in newsletters. To make matters worse, the photographs that a family member took at the ceremony were lost. There were a few other pictures that we rounded up,  but for the most part, we had many, many memories to record, and limited photographs to do it with.

Without many pictures, I filled three memory albums to overflowing.

Here are my suggestions for scrapbooking without pictures:

1. Collect other memorabilia about the event. Think in terms of email messages, letters, cards, newspaper coverage, tickets, programs, itineraries, travel brochures, pieces of fabric taken from a dress or item of clothing, buttons, bits of lace, passports, dried flowers — even small items of clothing such as a baby’s bib or a perhaps a hand crocheted doily that someone made for you. If you have items that you don’t want to glue down, simple create envelopes, file folders or some other type of support that allows you to tuck the item inside then remove it later for close up viewing.

2.  Utilize  various scrapbooking products to liven up your picture less pages.  Scrapbook paper, ribbon, decorative chalks, etc., can spruce up even unattractive items like printed email messages.

3. Look for clip art to add visual appeal to a layout. Attended a concert but picture taking was banned?  Use clip art pictures of musical notes, sheet music, musical instruments, people applauding, etc.

4.  Make shaker boxes or use cold laminating to display small items that pertain to your layout.  You might make a shaker box containing tiny seashells to decorate your beach layout, for example, or you might press a few flowers from your Mother’s Day bouquet, then cold laminate them and incorporate in a layout.

5. Sometimes special memories happen spontaneously, without the opportunity to take pictures. Think outside the box and find a way to display this in a layout.  For instance, perhaps you would like a layout of the day your spouse proposed.  You have no pictures, but you can work around it. Take a picture of your husband/wife as they are today, put that in the layout and then tell the story of the proposal. You might also photograph the ring and use that in your book.

6. Most importantly, write your memories. Place special attention on journaling. Tell us how you felt, what you saw, what you heard and what you thought about the memory or the event.

7.  Perhaps you’re just not a writer and hate the idea of journaling. How about making a voice recording instead?  Record into your computer, then burn the audio file to a CD or DVD disk. Put the disk in your layout, perhaps creating a special folder or envelope to store it in.  You and your fans can then remove the disk and play it any time you want.  How cool is that?

With a little thought, your pictureless scrapbook layouts can be just as charming and delightful as the other ones.

This post reviews the Xyron 505, also known as Creative Station. Demonstrated on the  Martha Stewart Show, the Xyron tool applies adhesives and laminates to paper and card stock. As Xyron’s web site says, you can create stickers, magnets, labels and laminates with ease.

The 505 is an older model, but they work the same. This tool is great for applying adhesives and lamination.  For card makers, scrapbookers and other paper craft artists, this is arguably among the most time saving and convenient adhesive tool that you can find anywhere.

The Xyron comes in various sizes, and of course, there are various other Xyron Products, including the Xyron Wishblade, a digital die cutting tool.

In my view, the cost of the cartridges makes the Xyron far from an economy item. However, if you are making large quantities of items, such as your Holiday cards or wedding invitations, the Xyron would be indispensable.

There is one last thing I want to mention. When I first purchased my Xyron, I had problems getting the cartridge installed. I don’t know whether I broke it in my efforts, or whether the machine was defective. In any case, I phoned Xyron customer service and they replaced the unit with no questions asked. I give Xyron an A for customer service.

Which is best? Digital scrapbooking or traditional scrapbooking?

Digital scrapbooking is a method of scrapbooking done completely on the computer, using scrapbook software or photo editing software such as Adobe Photoshop CS or Adobe Photoshop Elements. The completed layouts can be printed out and placed in albums, or they can be maintained solely as digital albums.

Traditional scrapbooking is done completely without help from the computer. All images, embellishments, backgrounds and journaling utilize “real life” products and methods.

Hybrid scrapbooking is the modern day marriage that blends the two.

Digital Scrapbooking Pros and Cons

First, the Pros.

1. Digital scrapbooking allows you to match colors of backgrounds and embellishments perfectly.

2. Digital scrapbooking makes it easy to change any aspect of your layout that doesn’t work. You can apply elements and change them as often as you want without damage to any aspect of your layout.

3. You require no storage space for craft supplies and no organizational products to keep things in.

4. Some say digital scrapbooking is more economical, given that you purchase no craft supplies other than possibly an album to store your printed layouts. In my view, that is debatable.  We must also consider the cost of the computer software and the cost of printing out layouts. At least a portion of the cost of the computer and printer must also be factored in also.

5. Printed digital layouts are flat without the bulk that often accompanies traditional layouts.

Now the Cons.
1. Digital scrapbooking requires a good computer and the skills to use it.
2. If you want to print 12″ by 12″ layouts, you will require a rather costly wide format printer that can handle that size of paper. The Epson Stylus Photo 1400 Photo Printer is a good choice with excellent ratings from satisfied users.

Otherwise, you can take your computer files to a commercial establishment offering that service.

3. Digital scrapbooking may disappoint some crafters for the exact reason it thrills others. Those among us who are tactile and enjoy the feel of working with paper, and who believe that bulk adds to a project’s charm, will not not be greatly enthusiastic about digital scrapbooking.

4. Digital albums, the ones that are never printed, are not appreciated by people who are disinterested in technology and in electronic equipment. Many people still prefer the look and feel of a book in their hands.

As for me, I prefer the hybrid albums to purely digital scrapbooking or to traditional scrapbooking. I use my computer to edit and print photographs. I use my computer to print my journaling. Occasionally, I print out a clip art button or other embellishment to use in my layouts. Everything else is done the traditional way.

If you have photo editing software, such as Adobe Photoshop CS3 or the more affordable Adobe Elements 6 , you can do any number of cool things with your photographs.

I wish I knew the name for the effect, but I do not. Do you remember those old photographs where the subject was centered clearly, but faded out to a soft blur towards the edge of the photograph, usually in a circular or oval shape?

It’s easy to get that effect digitally. You’ll be delighted with the way this will spruce up even relatively boring photographs.

Take this picture of my cat, Baloney to the left. Yes, his name is Baloney. Don’t ask.

It’s not a bad photo, as far as cat photos go. But as you can see by the middle picture and the picture to the far right, it can be made more interesting with a little Photoshop magic.

I did this with Photoshop CS, but you can do it with other versions of Photoshop, and with Adobe Photoshop Elements.

These are the steps:

1. Open your picture in Photoshop

2. Using either the rectangular, circular, or freeform Marquis tool, select the portion of the image that you want to use. In the pictures here, I used the circular Marquis tool set to a fixed aspect ratio. This selects a perfect circle.

2. While the image area is selected, go to the Select Menu item and choose Feather. A window appears asking you to provide the number of pixels that you want to feather. I used 15 in this project, but you will want to experiment. Add your number and click Okay.

3. Copy your selection into the clipboard. I use the keyboard command of Control-C (Windows) to do the copying.

4. Open a new file with the preset set to Clipboard. Have the bottom layer white.

5. Create a new layer on the new file.

6. Paste your clipboard onto the new layer. I use the keyboard command of Control-V (Windows) Your feathered image will appear, with a soft blur that fades to white, since your bottom layer is white.

7. At this point, you can leave the bottom color white, or you can change it to any color you want. In the middle picture above, I used the eyedropper tool to pick up the creamy color from the cat’s mane. In the picture to the far right, I picked up the bluish gray color from the chesterfield stripe. When you have chosen the color you want, make the bottom layer active (refer to the Layer Window to do this). With the bottom layer active, use the keyboard command of Control V to fill the bottom layer with the color you have selected with the eyedropper tool.

8. Save your file.

This is a simple photo editing trick but very effective in your scrapbooking projects.

Paper cutting and paper piercing is a paper craft technique suitable for us in scrapbooking, card making, altered books or other projects.

The video demonstration below shows me making a paper frame using a paper piercing and paper stencil purchased on Ebay

Other necessary tools are a good craft knife, painter’s tape and a paper piercing tool similar to the ones used for Pergamano (parchment craft).

I don’t do a lot of paper piercing or paper cutting in my scrapbooking and paper craft projects. However, I did make the frame above and it worked perfectly for the title page on a great little gateway album I’ve just completed.

I can’t take credit for the idea for this cute altered art project made with wedding favor shoes. A while ago, someone posted a picture to an email group that I belong to, and I just had to try them myself.

The plastic wedding favor shoes came from Michaels, sold in a package of ten or twelve.

This project is amazingly fast and easy to do. I simply colored the shoes using Tim Holtz Adirondack Alcohol Inks, sold at online Joann.com or or MisterArt.com.

Just follow the instructions that come with the inks. Dab a few colors onto the shoes, using the applicator. I liked adding the gold metallic color towards the end. Blend the inks using the blending solution, and let dry. That’s all it takes.

Lastly, attach fibre or ribbon to the heels or toes.

I gave these altered wedding favor shoes away as gifts, and tucked a small chiffon gift bag containing potpourri inside the shoe. Small bags of tiny candies or mints would be nice also.

I expect these wedding favors are intended to hold place cards and you could certainly use them that way at any dinner or event.

Alcohol inks are so versatile. There is seemingly no end to the altered art projects you can make with them.

This altered art project is an altered film canister. Some of you may remember the film canisters that we once used to store our home movies and so on. I wonder if anybody’s still using film canisters now that we’ve all gone digital. If you can get your hands on one, they make great little containers for altering. You can give them a functional purpose and store something in them — or display simply as an art object.

The altered film canister in the video below won a prize in my local scrapbooking store. Its decorated very simply with Basic Grey paper and ribbon. The colors, which may not show up well in the video, are shades of green and bright orange. It doesn’t sound like those colors would work, but strangely, they do.

Post a comment and leave a link to your altered art projects!