Scrap Your Magical Spring Break Adventure

If your family’s spring break escape includes a sprinkling of pixie dust, a pair of glass slippers and a castle fit for a princess, then you will likely be documenting every magical moment. No trip to a Disney theme park can take place without snapping at least a few hundred photos and collecting a mountain of memorabilia.  When you return from your fantasy vacation you’ll want create a scrapbook detailing all of the fun had with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and the rest of the crew. Fortunately, you don’t have to spend a ton of money crafting a Disney-themed memory … Continue reading

Making the Most of Leftovers

Tis the season to go through your scrapbooking stash. The holidays are a great time to assess the type and amount of scrapbook materials you have in stock.  The items that you want can be added to your Christmas wish list, while the leftovers can be used to craft end-of-the-year memory books. Taking inventory of your scrapbooking paper, embellishments and albums may sound like a pain, but in the long run it can prove to be a very cost-effective exercise.  In addition, finding ways to repurpose existing materials is a wonderful way to flex your creative muscle. Here are some … Continue reading

Capture the Holiday Magic

It took nearly six years for me to capture a photo of my daughter with Santa. I can’t remember a time when my daughter wasn’t deathly afraid of the holly, jolly, chubby guy.  She’s not a fan of skinny men with facial hair either, but I digress. My daughter’s exceptional fear of Mr. Claus made it impossible for me to snap a picture of the two of them together, so when it finally happened, I crafted a double page scrapbook layout commemorating the event. Two pages for a single trip to see a mall Santa may seem like overkill to … Continue reading

Over 40 Holiday-Themed Scrapbook Title Ideas

  “Holiday Hoopla” is the title of a scrapbook layout I made last year.  It features photos of three generations of my family cooking together.  I was going to use “Organized Chaos,” but decided to go with the seasonal title instead. Coming up with page titles is a passion for some scrapbookers, while others see it as a pain.  I like to ponder page titles while I am figuring out the placement of my photos, memorabilia and embellishments.  Often, a title will pop into my head as I survey all of the materials I am featuring on the layout.  However, … Continue reading

Holiday Time Crunch

Do you wait until January to craft holiday-themed layouts? I used to stock up on festive Christmas-themed embellishments, papers and memorabilia throughout the month of December, and then go into hiding during the first week of January to complete a marathon scrapbooking session.  However, my pages never turned out as well as I would have liked given my time crunch.  I felt pressure to slap together holiday memory albums just so I could cross it off my to-do list.  What’s more, I was extremely bothered by the idea of working on Christmas scrapbooks when Valentine’s Day was just around the … Continue reading

Experimenting with New Designs

Many avid scrapbook fans also dabble in book-binding.  Newbies may be intimidated by the prospect of making their own scrapbook covers, but once you start experimenting with new techniques, the idea of designing a memory album from cover to cover is not as challenging as you may think. There are many advantages to crafting your own covers.  For starters, you get full reign over creative control.  You can design a cover of any shape or size.  In addition, you can use a variety of your favorite materials to embellish your cover.  For example, one of the first covers I attempted … Continue reading

Preparing for Crops

  Weekend scrapbooking crops are the perfect venue to learn new techniques, get inspiration from fellow scrappers and experiment with new tools.  The organized get-togethers are exciting and informative, but they can also be intimidating for newbies. Depending on how large of a crop you attend, you could be looking at scrapbooking with hundreds of other memory book builders.  In order to keep the event running smoothly, there are typically quite a few rules to consider.  When I attended my first crop the following ditty circulated around the ballroom.  It was discovered on Scrapbook.com and speaks to the unwritten rules … Continue reading

Get Creative with Covers

When it comes to memory albums, you can’t help but judge a book by its cover. Crafting an eye-popping scrapbook cover is a challenge for some, but the process can be quite rewarding once you learn how to harness your creative energy. Making your own cover is not as hard as you may think. One way to craft a stunning cover without breaking the bank is to decorate a standard three-ring binder or a plain hardcover journal with a collection of your favorite scrapbook embellishments. Use stickers, rub-ons, or patterned paper to design an attractive cover. Another frugal idea is … Continue reading

Experimenting With Different Textures

One of my favorite ways to add texture to a scrapbook layout is to incorporate a variety of fabrics to the page design. For example, in an effort to add flair to my daughter’s First Holy Communion memory album, I used real lace and lace paper to enhance the theme. Several manufacturers have recently come out with paper that can be mixed with items to add more texture to layouts. Patterned paper with raised edges or lines for journaling can be found in a variety of colors. In addition, many online retailers offer paper that serves as an attractive background … Continue reading

Bring On the Borders

Maybe it’s the time of year, or perhaps, it’s because I saw them used in a prize-winning layout. Regardless of the reason, I’ve been adding garlands, banners and borders on nearly all of my page designs this fall. The fun embellishments are an easy way to spice up an otherwise boring layout. What’s more, scrapbooking manufacturers are making it easier to add them to page designs by rolling out banners and borders in every theme imaginable. Festive holiday banners are readily available online and in stores, as are colorful borders featuring everything from baby to zoo themes. Making Memories has … Continue reading