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School scrapbooking albums usually include pictures of a child’s first day of school for each grade level, but there’s so much more to our back-to-school memories.Why not scrapbook a few pages that reflect the memories and feelings of back to school season?  Get your camera and your scrapbooking supplies ready, and try these school scrapbooking ideas.

Clothes Shopping for Back to School

This is a ritual of the new school year.Shopping for back to school clothes is a traditional at the beginning of the school season.Try taking your camera along, and you’ll capture the current kids’ fashion trends along with some fun memories of your children shopping.  Be sure to include the good, the bad and the ugly of this year’s fashions.   Even if you have a less than enthusiastic shopper, it’s a back-to-school tradition that should be part of any school scrapbook.

School Registration

Standing in line to get your child’s class schedule and new textbooks is another common back to school event. If your child is young or this is a new school for him, take some pictures of his first impressions of the new school year.  Older children may not welcome photos during school registration, but you can still scrapbook their class assignment schedule after they no longer need it, or a picture of the stack of textbooks may make a nice addition to a school page layout. Registration is also a great time to snap a photo of the school building for a school scrapbooking album. 

Hopes for the New School Year

Ask your kids to write what they expect to learn in the coming new school year. Ask them how they see themselves at the end of the year, and what they are most looking forward to at this grade level.  Maybe they are looking forward to learning how to read or long division or maybe just making new friends. You can scrapbook these thoughts in a page layout.  It’s even more personal if you use each child’s own handwriting.

The First Day of School

So much is going on during the morning of the first day of school.  When you take a photograph of your children in their new clothes with new backpacks, pick the same place each year to take the photo.  You will get a better perspective of how they have changed in height if you pick the same location with the same background.

The School Bus

If your children take a bus to school, a fun moment to capture is leaving on the school bus on the first day of school. Take one photo of your children entering the bus, and then try to take one of them waving from the windows.

Reuniting with Friends

Part of the fun of the back-to-school season is reuniting with old school friends.  Photograph these moments at the school bus stop or in front of the school if you accompany your child to school.  Remember to be sensitive to older children who many not want photos taken during this time. 

The back-to-school season is full of traditions and rituals.  You’ll definitely want to document them in a school scrapbook album.  Whether you choose to create one scrapbook that includes all of your children or an album for each child, these tips will give you lots of ideas to fill up those pages.

Many parents are finding today that putting together scrapbooks is a great hobby that the entire family can enjoy, including young and old. You need to remember that scrapbooking for kids is not like scrapbooking for adults. It’s the same with any activity that you decide to do with your children. You may need to make some adjustments in order to accommodate the attention span and abilities of the children or else they’ll get as bored as they would with any other hobby. How do you involve your children in scrapbooking so they can learn to enjoy it as a hobby just like you do? Here are a few quick tips to consider.

Getting them involved and excited to make their own choices is essential to scrapbooking for children. Allow them to choose the photo or other page element that you will be using as the main focal point and have them choose the theme or colors too. You might think that bold colors or soft pastels would be the best choice on a particular page layout, but this activity isn’t about the final product, it is about allowing your children to express their own creativity. Give them as many options and choices as you can and you’ll see that they’re more involved and will enjoy scrapbooking projects with kids more often, as opposed to just dictating to them what you’ll be doing or working on. Their layouts may get better over time but be patient with them and encourage their own creativity.

You will want to remember to keep things basic and simple when scrapbooking for kids. You may be skilled at working in various elements and designs when it comes to your pages, but think of coloring books for children. Coloring book drawings stick to very basic, simple shapes, designs and colors. Keep your pages simple as well when considering scrapbooking for kids. You will want to stay with basic shapes like diamonds, hearts, squares, circles and triangles, and basic designs like flowers, suns, stars and boats, for example. You can use stencils or templates or maybe just have them draw things freehand, but be sure to avoid being too critical of their work.

Scrapbooking is a great hobby for anyone and everyone. It’s affordable, creative, and something to do when you can’t go outside! But when you’re enjoying techniques for scrapbooking with kids it’s a good idea to let them take the lead in their scrapbooks and really express themselves so they enjoy it as much as you do!

It’s not unusual to be looking for quotes and cheap scrapbooking supplies.Even if you are very creative, it really helps to see what other scrapbookers are doing with their scrapbooking albums, and of course most scrapbookers need inspiration with quotes.Of course you can search online for quotes and ideas for scrapbooking, but there are many other surprising places to find some great ideas for your layouts and some inspiring quotes you can use.Let’s consider what we mean.

For example, have you considered using your favorite sayings and phrases from movies or maybe even their titles are your christmas scrapbooking quotes?  If you’re doing a page around a photo of someone playing a particular sport, consider movies about that sport.  For soccer pages, use the movie title “Bend it Like Beckham.”  For a page about a female athlete, use the title “Million Dollar Baby”.For golf layouts, consider using the phrase, “Pushing Some Tin.”

There are other ways you can use movies and television shows for quotes and ideas for scrapbooking in general.  Think of sayings such as “I love it when a plan comes together,” or “What’s up doc”  These can work well for just about any type of scrapbook page or album.

Some other movie and television quotes and ideas for scrapbooking might include sayings like “I’ll be back,” or “D’oh!”  You can watch your favorite shows over again with the idea of considering famous quotes or your favorite sayings that would work well for scrapbooks.Keep paper and a pen near your television or nightstand, and when you remember or hear something you can write it down right away.

You can even include game shows and their famous phrases for your quotes and ideas for scrapbooking.For example, if you have a photograph of someone who just splurged on a new purchase, you could use a phrase for your title like “The price was right!”  Or titles like “Family Feud!” or “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” or “Joker’s Wild!” can work for other pages as well.

If you begin to think of how television and movies can provide great quotes and ideas for scrapbooking, you may be surprised at the wealth of options you get.  There are always funny or amusing quotes and sayings for scrapbooking you can use if you keep your eyes and your ears open for them and remember to write them down.

It seems like you can do just about everything on a computer these days, from shopping to banking, paying your bills, keeping in touch with family and friends, and yes even scrapbooking.  While those making up scrapbooks on the computer may be tempted to just follow the directions they find on those digital scrapbook tutorials, it’s also good to remember that like the instructions you get with actual scrapbook kits, these tutorials are just guides and suggestions.  You might just be happy with scrapbooking tips, but your scrapbook albums should be personal and unique just to you. Keep in mind that a scrapbook is just like the photos inside of it- it should always be something personal and meaningful to you!  So while digital scrapbook tutorials can be great as guides, they shouldn’t be considered hard and fast rules.

When you buy a software program for designing digital scrapbooks, it is a good idea to first review the digital scrapbooking tutorials that came with them.  This way you’ll know the basics of how to manipulate the clipart, wording, and other embellishments that may be included.  You can also find out how to introduce your photographs, resize them, and so on.Once you have a basic understanding from digital scrapbook tutorials, you can then move on to the more advanced techniques of designing and creating your scrapbook albums as well as digital scrapbooking techniques.  Again, use their templates and instructions as a guide.You might try moving around some page elements or taking some away, or maybe add items you have found online or you already have on your computer.  Also journaling or scrapbooking baby poems are other items where you’ll want to express your own personality.  Most digital scrapbook tutorials will tell you how to add wording and may come with a wide variety of fonts, or you can create wording in another program and upload it as you would any other element.

If you’re new to digital scrapbooking you may want to create one entire page with the instructions from those digital scrapbook tutorials so you can see the end result, but if you’ve been doing this for some time or are comfortable using computer programs, step away from their instructions and make up your own pages.  When following their instructions too carefully, pages usually come out looking contrived and somewhat artificial.  And isn’t half the fun of scrapbooking the ability to express your own creativity?  So use the instructions on digital scrapbook tutorials to learn how to manipulate elements but then step away from those instructions to create your own masterpiece.

Do you yet own a Cricut machine? If your answer is no, then the next question is, why not? For scrappers, crafters, anyone planning parties or gatherings or if you just want free digital scrapbooking, these little devices are the perfect die cut machine for creating amazing letters, shapes, and so many other embellishments. There are a few different varieties of the Cricut machine, some which are perfect for hobbyists and then others that rival any commercial grade die cut machine.

The smaller Cricut machine, the Personal Electronic Cutter machine, works well for hobbyists. It offers literally hundreds of designs and letters that range in size from one inch to over five inches! Of course any crafter or scrapbooker would love to have this machine, and it makes a great gift for those you love to do crafts. Larger Cricut machines, like the Expression or the Create machine, are great for those more serious about their die cut projects whether they be for scrapbook albums or party decorations. They’re also perfect for teachers looking for classroom décor, an idea that’s also great for those who homeschool their children! The 12×24 inch mat can be used to make shapes and letters up to 2 feet large! Just think of the creative banners, letters, centerpieces, decorations and other projects you can create with a Cricut machine like that.

Of course there is a wide variety of die cuts available with any Cricut machine with the additional cartridges you can purchase. You can even purchase licensed characters and cartridges such as Sesame Street, Hello Kitty, and Disney. Imagine what fun the kids would have creating their own Hello Kitty characters and shapes or cutting out their favorite Disney and Pixar characters as well! And for the grownups there are home décor shapes available for a Cricut machine, as well as many perfect for other scrapbook pages. These include beach scenes, sports, holidays, wedding, and even indie art that includes skills, guitars, and flames. Whatever your scrapbook or craft project, you’re sure to find something perfect for you with cricut expression machine!

And once you’ve created your pages with your Cricut machine you can also use binders and covers that are perfect for your scrapbooks. Your cricut electronic cutting machine couldn’t be more versatile.

If you do buy a Cricut machine, it’s an investment in your hobby that will last for many years. There is virtually no end to the variety of die cuts and shapes available and you’re sure to enjoy using it for years to come!

A Wedding Scrapbook is a perfect gift for a friend or family memeber if you are an artistic and creative person. What a perfect way to honor the special moment in the life of someone close to you.  You are a witness to the most wonderful times share by the couple from friends, dating, the engagement and all the way to the wedding union.  This makes a wedding scrapbook a very enjoyable task. You could relate to it because you were part of them thus making it a very personal and sincere gift for both of them highlighting some of the most important cornerstones in their journey towards marriage.

When you create the scrapbook you want to include as many sentimental moments as possible preserved the most special moments in your friends life. You can start the scrapbook with pictures of the couple when they were kids. Using pictures from their childhood will make for a great presentation. You should use pictures of them from the dating years.

Show the Bride how fun Scrapbook Retreats can be!!!

You want the wedding scrapbook to capture great moments from the wedding like images of them exchanging their vows. While creating the scrapbook keep in mind that this is the journal of their lives and put your heart into the project. This will also serve as a souvenir of your friendship reminding them of you every time they see it. It is also interesting that many things will be remembered especially when the scrapbook includes pearls of wisdom about marriage from their relatives and friends.

A wedding scrapbook is a very unique and personal gift that is sure to be treasured by the couple throughout their lives. Taking the time and effort to make one for your friend or relative is not just for fun but for the purpose of honoring them and letting them know that they are special to you.

Couples nowadays are more practical and getting chinaware or silverware sets are so common already. Usual wedding gifts like linen or kitchen appliances are things that the couple can purchase or might already have.  That is why a Wedding Scrapbook is a perfect gift for a couple from one of their closest friends or a family member.

You may also consider planning a surprise when you present the Bride with the scrapbook.  A great way to surprise her is to invite her to a Scrapbook Retreat with some of her friends.  Each friend would be responsible for creating one page in honor of the bride.The group presents the scrapbook pages to the bride at the end of the crop.

Scrapbook Secrets

By Teresa Surrency

While this machine is more expensive than some other personal die cutting machines that are available for scrapbooking, the Cricut Expression machine is a good investment not only for scrapbookers, but also for parents, teachers, and scout leaders.  If your looking for additional scrapbooking page ideas, this machine might be just what your scrapbooking projects need.

Because the Cricut Expression Machine is bigger than most die cut machines, it needs to remain on a work table or in a craft room.It is not meant to be portable or to be moved from room to room.  However this larger size means that it can accommodate not just 12×12 pages but sizes of mats up to 12×24.Because of this, you can get twice the size of die cuts from this machine!  The Cricut machines all use the same cartridges and same blades, so you can use any Cricut cartridge for the Cricut Expression Machine.  You also don’t need a computer for this machine; you make your selections right there on the LCD screen which also shows you exactly what you’ll be cutting and what size so there are no mistakes.

This makes the Cricut Expression machine perfect for scrapbooking projects, as well as for making classroom banners, party decorates and other teaching tools.Just think of the party decorations you can design and create with this machine or how you can put the cartridges to use creating teaching aids for your children that are homeschooled.Scrapbookers appreciate the larger-sized die cuts that the Cricut Expression Machine creates, and by cutting individual page elements and layering them you can really enhance your scrapbooking page layouts.

Remember too that with the Cricut Expression Machine you can purchase many different cartridges from Cricut.  They have licensed cartridges meaning characters from Disney, Sesame Street, and so on, and literally dozens of font designs as well.You can buy shape cartridges for your machine making it easy to cut out simple shapes to use in a variety of projects; stamp them or decorate them in any way before adding them into your scrapbooking layouts.

Don’t forget the amazing Cricut Design Studio software.This software enables you to attach your computer to your Cricut Expression machine.This is an essential tool for every Cricut owner.  With an on-screen cutting mat, you’ll be making your own creations in no time.  It also has a keyword search feature for the Cricut cartridge library making it quick and easy to find just the right image for your next scrapbooking project. You should definitely consider cricut studio design.

There’s very little that you can’t do with a Cricut Expression machine.So if you can afford the investment, it’s well worth the money and will make a great addition to your disney scrapbooking supplies.Of course you will need to make room for it in your scrapbooking workspace, but scrappers who have this machine say it is well worth the investment.  Whether it’s for parties, school projects, or scrapbooks, it’s a great machine!

Scrapbook Weekends

CHOOSING A SCRAPBOOK THEME

Over the years, scrapbook theme has been considered as a work of art. It is simply an assemblage of pictures taken in a particular event for purposes of recollection. It will help you become more focused and organized in creating your masterpiece.

Your scrapbook theme can be simple or complex and it could be special events such as birthday, debut, wedding, holidays, etc. This can also be a personalized one containing special interests of the scrapbook recipient. Interests such as cartoon/animation characters, cars, sports, flowers, etc. can become a theme for your scrapbook.

Consider these three (3) things in choosing your scrapbook themes.

1. What is your general scrapbook objective?

2. To whom do you intend to make this scrapbook?

3. Who or what is the content of your scrapbook?

Answers that you will derive from the aforementioned queries are factors in choosing an appropriate theme. Your scrapbook theme must go along with the embellishments you will be using and must be in accordance with the story being told by the pictures. If you are making a personalized scrapbook for your friend, you have to use embellishments that would reflect his/her interests.

WAYS TO COME UP WITH A SCRAPBOOK THEME

1. Photos as your insitation. Collection of photos can produce a common theme.

2. Memorable vacation places. Photos from one of your most memorable vacation trips can help you obtain a very nice theme.

3. Projects participated in and Events attended. Photos or mementos from these types of affair can also be the basis of your scrapbook theme.

4. Hobbies and interests. Things that bring you happiness can be a theme of a scrapbook.

5. Genealogy / Family tree scrapbook. Preserving and displaying family mementos is a hot scrapbooking trend.

6. Create your own twist on template themes. Creating a scrapbook that focuses on you and your family instead of creating one for yourself.

Get More Ideas for your Scrapbook at Choosing A Scrapbook Theme and other Scrapbooking Ideas

Scrapbook Crops

SCRAPBOOKING PENS

Do creations from scrapbooking pens facinate you?  Do you wonder how scrapbooking professionals produce eye-catching journals and titles? Well, need not to be because you yourself can do it. Just know which scrapbooking pens are appropriate to use. The following will tell you everything you need to know about scrapbooking pens.

ACID-FREE, LIGNIN-FREE AND ARCHIVAL PEN

These pens do not contain harmful alcohol-based chemicals that will lighten and disappear right away. Acid-free pens resist fading over time and do not smear.

The following are the types of acid-free scrapbooking pens:

• Felt-tip pen / Marker Pen – a pen that has its own ink-source and a tip made up of a porous material such as felt or nylon. Felt tip pen / marker pen can be used for writing titles, journals, etc. Tip styles are as follows
• Fine tip pen – has a very small tip which is usually measured in millimeters (ranges from .005mm to .08mm). This is great for outlining, adding details and doing your scrapbooking journals.
• Double-tipped point pen ­– has a very fine tip on one end and a bullet tip on the other part. You can use this in writing titles in order to illustrate the color better.
• Calligraphy pen – creates grand-looking titles and captions. Its tip is flat and broad that can produce letters that are beautiful and ribbonlike when held at a 45-degree angle. This gives elegance to your scrapbook.

• Gel pen – can be used to create doodles. This pen comes in variety of colors with glitters which is typically being written on black platform to make your work very captivating.

TIPS ON STORING SCRAPBOOKING PENS

If you want to use storage drawers in organizing your scrapbooking pens, be reminded to place it horizontally so that the ink will be distributed evenly. However, if you are on a tight budget, just simply look for an old shoe box in your storage room and place it in the same manner.

You can buy a cup with compartments at an office supply store and just place your scrapbooking pens on its side to have easy and accessible storage. This can also be substituted by tin cans, plastic pencil cases, make-up organizers and/or clear acrylic boxes.

Organizing your pens by color provides ease in finding complimentary colors and in scrapbooking; color is known to be the key in layout design. You may sort out colors in this order: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Pink, Purple, Naturals/White and Grey/Black. You may also organize it according to its thickness and type.

Get free scrapbooking information on Scrapbooking Pens and other Scrapbook topics from
Teresa Surrency at her website.

© 2009 Cherish-Creative-Scrapbooking.com

A baby shower is one of the most important events in a mother’s life, and of course she will want to find orginal baby shower scrapbooking layouts to capture her memories.  All those cute presents and all the friends and relative that gather should be remembered and some baby shower scrapbooking layouts can be just the thing for that! Are you looking for more digital scrapbooking techniques?

Many different paper collections and templates are available for scrapbooking a baby shower.  Many scrapbook companies put together pages that are set with frames for photos, cute sayings, and everything you need to make a baby scrapbook page.  If you’re new to scrapbooking or aren’t creatively gifted then these baby shower scrapbooking layouts can be the right thing for you.  All that’s needed are those pictures!  But some people aren’t interested in having their pages already designed for them but still are a bit overwhelmed with what to do when it comes to making up their own baby shower scrapbooking layouts.

Remember that you are not limited to baby pink and blue colors, and you can go beyond these colors and use any colors that you like.Try autumn colors on your baby shower scrapbooking pages – rusty red, warm yellow and chocolate brown work well together.  One reason for this is that these colors are somewhat neutral and a bit easier on the eyes than strong blues, but aren’t as washed out as pink can sometime seem.  You might also try these same colors but in primary shades, meaning red, blue and yellow.Baby toys are often in primary colors making these a good choice for baby shower scrapbooking pages.

Get creative with the scrapbooking quotations and the fonts you use.You can use just about any type of font on your pages, from childish-looking fonts to elegant and simple ones.  You can put the child’s name or a simple phrase such as “Baby Boy” or “Baby Girl” across the top of any baby shower scrapbooking layouts and some simple wording underneath in a smaller font for a nice touch. Try using cricut personal cutting machine to create your letters.  Try words like Love, Welcome, Precious, Family and Cherished instead of always using the word “baby” on your layouts.