Scrapbook Photos of Thanksgiving Day Preparations

Many people take pictures of all of their family at thanksgiving and the decorations, maybe even the finished meal. Cooking a Thanksgiving dinner is quite the undertaking, so snap some shots of the cook as she goes to work. The photos will make a great behind-the-scenes Thanksgiving scrapbook page and make you really appreciate that delicious meal!

Add Bubbles with Bubble Wrap.

Bubble wrap is perfect for packing items and shipping them off. But did you know that it is perfect for Scrapbooking as well!

Create adorable “under the sea” or "bath time" theme layouts by using bubble wrap and a little ink.

Take your desired color of ink and a sheet of bubble wrap, the size of the bubble wrap does not have to be as big as your page you can just re-stamp with it.

Roll ink onto your bubble wrap or just rub your bubble wrap on your ink, this may cause it to go on heavier in some spots. Lay your bubble wrap onto your page and press down firmly.

Lift the bubble wrap off of your page and voila! adorable little bubbles all over.

Cool Tip!

Cut your bubble wrap into circles, all different shapes and sizes.
Ink the circles and press them onto your paper coming out of a bathtub or off of a picture. This will create the same effect without doing it all over the page.

Have Fun!

Include Quotes on Your Scrapbook Pages

Originality is something you should always strive for when creating. You can create original pages with exclusive ideas; this includes journaling on your layouts. This is a perfect way to tell about the photographs and help you remember what was going on during that time.

Quotes for your pages are a wonderful way to add some "elegance" to your page layouts. Famous quotes for your era are fun to have in your books. You can also include quotes from family members about the people in the pictures.

For baby books you can quote your child or record "first words", adorable ways that they would say things and funny phrases.

Its almost Halloween

How can you possibly not love a holiday that makes it okay to dress up in a costume and invites children to go from home to home and demand candy. Yes, Halloween is pretty great!
Are you dressing up yourself or your child in an elaborate get-up? Set up your camera and kit record, you can either create a video of the transformation and grab stills from the video or you can take photos throughout the transformation, try to sit in the same position while taking the photos.
Then you can take the photos and create a start to finish "slide show" effect on your layout.

What does acid free mean to you?

If the paper is acid free it will be typically be neutral in pH or at most, between 6 and 7 (which is the neutral pH).

Where do acids comes from?

The scrapbooking paper is made of wood pulp that contains natural acids. During production, calcium is added to neutralize the acid during the treatment process. The paper may also be buffered to keep additional acids from forming.

Since we want our creative scrapbooks to last long, it makes sense to use acid free scrapbooking paper in our project. Manufacturers will normally have an ‘acid free’ label on the packaging to differentiate this special paper with regular paper. If you use acid free paper, you’ll also notice that they will not yellow and deteriorate easily as regular paper. This type of paper will not damage your photos too, so try to consider them in your scrapbooking budget.

Create the PERFECT Halloween scrapbook

1. Select a piece of scrapbook paper that goes well with your Halloween photos. Consider the main colors in your photos and use that as an accent, for example: A green paper with light orange swirls will pick up on the colors of pumpkins.

2. Choose a color of card stock that compliments your photos and the main background paper. Cut the card stock in a rectangular shape 1/2 inch larger than the photo to create a mat. Oranges, black and fall related colors go well with Halloween photos.

3. When it comes to embellishments stick to 2 colors, throwing in 3 colors can mix things up too much. Orange and black always work well.

The Halloween Photo Dash

We all plan on taking a bunch of great pictures of our children in their costumes, but really, how often does it work out? One is crying, one is too hot, one wants to leave with their friends. So here are a few tips I have learned over the years.

-Take photos of everyone getting ready, it doesn't matter if they don't look happy, its Halloween. Use black and white or sepia to make the photo more "creepy".
-Take photos of them in their costumes before you go outside! Do not open that door or they will be in 10 different directions.
-Use different levels, bend down and look right at them vs them looking up at your.
-It is not cheesy to get the good ol' flashlight under then chin look.
-Photocopy candy wrappers and use as embellishments.
Take after pictures of all of the candy, them eating it all, and them passed out!

Care for your photos!

Almost all scrapbooks contain photographs. Even the most disinterested reader will glance at photographs. It is really true that pictures are worth a thousand words, or sometimes more. This means emphasizes how important it is to choose photographs that are great quality and bring across the right message for your page.
You can use any photograph for your scrapbook but you must always be careful that the chemicals within the photos do not spill onto your page. Your digital pictures can be printed onto lignin-free and acid -free paper to help care for your photos and scrapbook page for years to come.
Good tip to keep in mind!
When scrapbooking remember to use copies of photos that you only have one of. Never use an original copy of your grandmother, copies look just as good on a scrapbook page.

Matting Photos Properly

Matting photos can be very classic, but can get boring. To spice up your page try creating a picture frame for your photos. Photo frames are a more upgraded version of a photo mat.

1. Select one patterned and one colored paper.
2. Trace around your desired photo so you have the exact sizing of it.
3. Cut your colored paper to fit around your photo, overlapping the photo by just a bit.
4. Now cut out your patterned paper and place overtop, covering the colored paper except for the bit overlapping the picture.
5. Make the frame as thick or thin as you like.
6. Now you have a framed picture!
7. Go ahead and embellish the frame with anything you'd like

Make That New Stamp Old

It is a well known fact that stamps get better the more you use them. Want to skip the awkward first use period? Stamps come with a slight film on them from the mold they are in, lightly sand or use an eraser on the stamp and it will perform as if you have been using it for months!

Keeping up with Organization

So what do you do once you have already organized all of your old photos but you have just printed off more? Don't get back into the habit of just throwing them into a drawer or box and saying goodbye for the next couple of months (or years!).
Usually when we print off photos it is of one or two specific events. NOW is the time to organize them and put them into a page protector in an album. They are all in one place and already organized by events.
If the event has just happened you might want to jot down on a sticky note things you remember about the event that you wanted to play into with that specific page!

Test Before You Use

It is so much fun to use invitations and other mementos to bring your pages alive. But it is very important to know that when adding mementos to your page, test each item with a pH testing pen. If you are still unsure, wrap it in a small piece of polypropylene or a Envelopes or Keepsake Pocket to protect your page!

Reasonable Timelines

Making timelines are a good thing to do when scrapbooking, but you must make them reasonable. A timeline you can set for the winter may be completely different than a timeline you can set for the summer due to kids being out of school and of course the beautiful weather!

Being "caught up" can be a daunting task and will drive you crazy. So remember, scrapbooking is supposed to be a fun, rewarding hobby to make you feel accomplished and fulfilled so give yourself a break!

Plus! If you didn't live your life ...

What would you scrapbook about?

Preserve your families heritage and traits

Here is a fun way to preserve your families heritage and the traits that come with it.

List the traits that make up someone, physical, emotional, ect. Here are a few examples.

Physical Traits:
Scrapbook about a physical trait that is very obvious on one side of your family. My side is our nose, the "lion" nose as it is affectionately called. A cute little nose that slightly resembled a lions nose due to the larger nostrils. I look at pictures of my grandmother and my mother and it is quite obvious where it comes from.


Emotional Traits:
Temper, temper. You always like to think that your children get the best of your qualities, though, that's not always the case. Whenever the children throw a tantrum I giggle, because it is VERY clearly not from my side of the family.

Cute little blurbs about these things will help your children, and their children to see where they got their green thumb, or their love or cooking.

Stamping Techniques

As with all things, practice makes perfect and the more you use your stamps the better your works will turn out.

Here are just a few simple tips to keep in mind when using your stamps:

1. Choose your inks carefully.

There are many types of ink to choose from and this is the most critical step in stamping:

PIGMENT INKS are generally slow drying but some have been made for quick drying. Pigment inks are opaque and are also available in metallic and chalk finishes.

DYE BASED INKS are non-permanent, dry quickly and produce a translucent image.

RAINBOW INK pads offer a variety of colors all on one pad.

RESIST INKS produce a soft watermark type image.

SOLVENT INKS require special cleaners but are able to be used on a variety of surfaces (most papers, glass, tile, leather, wood, and acrylic).

MARKERS allow you to apply color directly offering you a variety of colors and shading.

3. Press or tap the stamp firmly on the pad several times. Make certain not to apply too much pressure or rock the stamp on the pad or you may get ink in areas you do not want.

4. Make sure the stamp is well inked. New stamps often resist the inks evenly at first and need a breaking in period. If you are uncertain, make a test stamp on a scrap piece of paper. After the test reink your stamp.

5. Always stamp on a flat surface.

6. Decide where you want the stamp to go and carefully set the stamp onto your surface. Do NOT readjust the stamp doing so will cause a blurry image.

7. Apply firm even pressure to the stamp. Do NOT rock or slam the stamp onto the surface. Doing so will cause overstamping or blurring of the image.

8. Carefully lift the stamp off of the surface being careful to lift directly upward. Any side to side movement may cause a shadow image.

9. Allow to dry completely before coloring or applying another stamp nearby.

Every stamp and ink is different so a little experimentation before your final project should be done.

Chipboard Album How To's

TIP #1 - How to Bind Chipboard Albums:
There are many ways to bind chipboard albums together after you’ve finished them. Here are a few ideas:
1- Ribbon Binding
2- Scored Edge with Ribbon Binding
3- Binder Rings

TIP #2 - How to Adhere paper to your Chipboard Albums:
Mod Podge - glue is a favorite for the more advanced paper crafter. Simply spread the adhesive using a foam brush to the back side of your paper and then adhere to the chipboard and trim. Be careful not to use too much or your paper will bubble. Dry Adhesive like the Xyron’s Cheetas are easy for any level of paper crafter to use. Simply run adhesive along chipboard or paper and adhere. Use another running adhesive like Tombow’s Mono Adhesive to secure down the edges.

TIP #3 - How to trim the paper to fit the albums letters:

Trick 1 - Simply place your “letter” upside down on the “back” side of your paper, trace with a pencil and then trim along tracing line. This offers the most accurate way to match up paper to chipboard page.

Trick 2 - Adhere paper directly to chipboard and then trim around edge using an x-acto knife. Then sand along edge to create a clean meshed look between the paper and the chipboard.

Make your school morning easier

Even the simplest of tasks can be dauntingly long when your in a rush and your family is in a rush. Sure we all try to pack lunches the night before, but personally, I never remember. Then I forgot that I didn't remember and I can be seen running around the kitchen packing lunches and trying not to forget anything 5 minutes before we have to leave.

The biggest problem I find is everything is everywhere! The fridge, the cupboard beside the stove the pantry and so on and so on. Then the bright idea dawned on me, why don't you take 5 minutes and put everything in ONE place.

Wow, simple thought, why did it take so long. Anyways, I now have one bin labelled "Lunch Stuff" With all of the lunch-making essentials: napkins, spoons, thermos, baggies, peanut butter, bread, crackers and other small snacks. So when I last minute have to prepare the lunches it is all there.

Then there is the problem on the refrigerated items, yogurt, fruits, cheese, meats, I have assigned a small bin (with a lid) to these items and put it the fridge. This way they are all together and organized.

Hope this helps everyone!

Love Scrapbooking Ideas

Some of the theme based ideas could be:
-Story Of Our Relationship
-Our First Ten Years Together
-Our Plans For The Next Ten Years
-The Things We Love About Each Other
-Some Of Our Most Memorable Vacations
-Our Song with the lyrics
-Milestones In Our Relationship
-Our Shared Secrets
-Trials And Tribulations We Overcame With Love
-Our Romantic Accounts
-Some Of Our Funny Moments

Five Things You Can Do With Vellum

1. Mat a photo
Just like regular paper, use vellum to highlight a special photo on your page. Layer it with card stock, printed paper, mulberry paper and so on. Tear a vellum mat for extra dimension. If you cut a mat with decorative edge scissors, take care as vellum does crease easily and may leave a white dent or line.

2. Journal on it
Vellum makes a great overlay for journaling over printed paper. You can either send it through your computer's printer (a laser printer works better because it's a drier process, but you can try it on an ink-jet, too gel pens or scrapbooking markers. Be patient and give it time to dry.

3. Use it as tracing paper
Remember when you were little and activity books had tracing paper? Vellum is a grown-up's version. Place a sheet over a handwriting style you admire or a picture or logo you'd like to trace. Watch your hand for smudging.

4. Print a photo on it
Photos can be printed on vellum for an ethereal look. Experiment with placing photos printed on plain or light-colored vellum on different colors of card stock. It makes a very striking look.

5. Change the tone of a patterned paper
Plain colored vellum can make subtle changes to the paper you're layering. Love a certain patterned piece of paper, but the colors are just too bright for your photos? Placing a white or pastel color vellum on top will mute the colors, yet let the design still shine through.

Top 4 Scrapbook Tips

- Alcohol free baby wipes are perfect for cleaning rubber and acrylic stamps
- Place embellishments in odd numbers like three and five for more visual impact
- Test how your stamp will look first. Stamp on a clear inserts or packaging that come with products and move it over your page to test where it would suit best.
- Grab five to seven left out items from your desk and challenge yourself to use them on a quick page.
You’ll be amazed at what you come up with.

'About Me' Challenge

Scrapbooking about myself? No thank you. I have no problem coming up with scrapbooking page ideas for my kids, my family, my ancestors, or our latest vacation, but coming up with pages about myself are a lot more difficult.
If you feel the same way it is pretty common. One of my main reasons was that I did not have any recent pictures of myself. For this I went to my friends, I figured if I had tons of pictures of them they would probably have the same.
A cute way to allow your audience to get to know you ( vs. writing a journaling block) is to try short notes about yourself.
You can try with "I Am" or "I Love" written with bullet points below. For example: "I Am" - Addicted to romance novels - The funniest person I know - Happy in this moment - "I Love" - Rainy Days - Great Laughs - Family Time.
So go ahead and take some ME time. It will be fun.

Scrapbook Creatively

A creative scrapbook does not focus on the scrapbooking traditions, rules and procedures.

All you need is a little creativity! Creativity is the thinking without limitations in creating your scrapbooks.

There are no rules in the scrapbooking. Usually the most creative and free person can make a really unrepeatable piece of art. You must think only about photos, your thoughts, your feelings and how showcase these things altogether in the finest way.

Play around with your pics, notes, words, thoughts

Add a little age to your project

Give age and texture to your scrapbook pages by inking the surface and edges. You will want to add more ink to the edges than the surface by rubbing almost any type of rubber stamping ink pad. Lightly rub the ink pad across the surface of the paper until you have it as dark as you would like it. Remember, you can always add more but you can not take ink off of paper. Add a little at a time.

Family Scrapbook:Do It Together

A family scrapbook will help you and your children remember what life was like for them growing up. It can also focus more on the history of the family by including a family tree and lots of old photos. No matter how you do it, putting a family scrapbook together will be a ton of fun.

Do It Together
Scrapbooking is a great activity for the whole family. Kids will love putting their own personal touches such as artwork, stickers, and favorite photos on scrapbook pages. Include everyone.

History & Heritage

•Family tree

•Beliefs

•Traditions

•Recipes that have been passed down

•Special achievements

•Family talents

Wedding Scrapbook PT.2

A wedding scrapbook is a lot of fun to make. It is also much more exciting to look at then a regular photo album because you can include special mementos from your wedding day.

Don’t forget to include photos of the following people and events:

•The bride
•The groom
•Walk down the aisle
•Vows
•The rings
•The kiss
•Bridesmaids
•Best man
•Relatives
•Walking out of the church
•Bouquet toss
•Photos of the decorated car
•Wedding Day Mementos
•Napkins
•Place cards
•Wedding favors
•Pressed flowers
•Confetti or rice
•Champagne corks
•The Reception
•List of gifts received
•Decorations
•Photos of the toast
•Photos of the guests and relatives
•Confetti or rice
•Cutting the cake
•The Honeymoon

A wedding scrapbook

A wedding scrapbook is a lot of fun to make. It is also much more exciting to look at then a regular photo album because you can include special mementos from your wedding day.

If you are a friend or relative of the bride or groom, a wedding scrapbook also makes an excellent anniversary gift.

The Engagement

Depending on how large you want to make the scrapbook, you may also include pictures and items from events leading up to the wedding.
Focus on the bride and groom individually and use photos and items to show the following:

•Hobbies or sports
•Friends
•Occupations
•How the bride and groom met
•First date details
•Engagement details
•Right Before The Wedding

•Wedding location and plans
•Photos or notes of planning mishaps
•Wedding rehearsal
•Invitations
•Decorations
•Newspaper announcements
•Wedding Day Photos

Graduation - Creating Memories

Graduation can be a very exciting time, wether you are graduating from kindergarten or college. But it can also be very hectic and stressful. You do not want to look back and not have any souvenirs from that amazing day.

Here are some easy steps to creating a great graduation scrapbook or page.

Here are a few to get started:
•How do you feel about graduating?
•What are your goals after graduating?
•What are your plans for graduation day?
•Who were your favorite teachers?
•What will you miss about school?
•What advice would you give to someone who is still in
school?

Items to Include:
•Report Cards
•Admission Letters
•Certificates or Awards
•Tassels
•Fabric from robe
•Cards from family or friends
•Graduation ceremony program
•Newspaper announcements
•Party mementos

Organizing Your Scrapbook Ideas

Your scrapbooking ideas can be found anywhere, inspiration really depends on the person.

Some serious scrapbookers subscribe to magazines or buy books to check out the newest techniques and ideas, but they can take up a lot of room if they are not organized properly.

Here are some organization ideas for your scrapbooking magazines and scrapbook idea books:

If you don't mind displaying your magazines in your scrapbooking corner or room you can use a magazine rack and sort them by the month.

Lots of us don't have the room to display tons of magazines so we will only cut out specific ideas or pages and you can store them in page protectors in a 3 ring binder.

Photos, Photos, Photos

Almost all scrapbooks contain photographs. Even the most disinterested reader will glance at photographs. It is really true that pictures are worth a thousand words, or sometimes more. This means emphasizes how important it is to choose photographs that are great quality and bring across the right message for your page.

You can use any photograph for your scrapbook but you must always be careful that the chemicals within the photos do not spill onto your page. Your digital pictures can be printed onto lignin-free and acid -free paper to help care for your photos and scrapbook page for years to come.

Good tip to keep in mind.
When scrapbooking remember to use copies of photos that you only have one of. Never use an original copy of your grandmothers wedding photo, copies look just as good on a scrapbook page.

My Word Albums

Some people may be overwhelmed at the though of making a My Word album. When looking at a finished product it looks like a lot of work, but we've broken it down with a few easy tips.

Easily Adhere Paper To Album:
All-Purpose Stik Flat Glue is a favorite for us here at Stuff4Scrapbooking, it adheres to almost every surface without leaving behind any bubbles or wrinkles. Easily applies to the surface, we recommend applying the adhesive to the chipboard then adhering the paper so you can manipulate however is needed to get the right fit.


Those Tricky Edges:

- You can do this beforehand if you find it easier, place your paper down and trace around your letter, or album then simply cut out the shape and adhere.

- The second way you can do this is to adhere the paper, let it dry, then place your album on top of a mat and cut around the edges with a trimmer or cutter. Sometimes it is best to leave a bit of excess paper so you can fold it over onto the other side, allowing the top of the album to be covered too.

Why Scrapbook? We've got the top answers.

People tend to Scrapbook to accomplish the following:
Preserve Your Past
Share Your Story
Allows Unique Memories To Live Forever
Family Heirloom

Go crazy with embellishments, not albums

There are many ways to make your own unique albums, but remember that for now we are keeping it simple. The most popular sizes are 12 x 12 and 8 1/2 x 11, but you can find albums in larger and smaller sizes.

It will give you a better sense of accomplishment if you first start outwith a pre-made album and create your pages from there. If you spend a lot of time just doing an album cover you may get discouraged at the amount of time it took you to do this and you do not have anything in your beautiful album yet.

Don't go THEME CRAZY.

When buying cardstock it is easy to go theme crazy. You can find a complete collection for practically any theme you can think of. Though this is wonderful you should choose to either let your embellishments focus on your theme, or your paper.

For Example:

If you are doing a Ballerina theme, you can do a ballerina cardstock as your background and choose pink or white embellishments, depending on your colors. Or you can choose a solid cardstock for your background and get ballerina embellishments such as little tutus.

Do you have junk? Repurpose and reuse

Who doesn't have that pesky junk drawer that seems to refill itself with junk all the time.

I find it easiest to dump everything in it into a small bin or bag and bring it to a table or spill it out on the floor. From there you can sort through things properly, junk, keep, scrapbook. I have found tons of cute little pieces to use as embellishments on my scrapbook pages. Old figures from hair clips, buttons, ribbons or more sentimental pieces.

So go ahead and clean out that junk drawer to find some goodies.

Cropping your photos

Cropping is best explained as cutting off the excess part of the image that may distract from the intended feature or may be messy or bring looking.

When first beginning you should always crop your photos with straight lines as you do not want to get too complicated with too many shapes and sizes all over your page. But there are always times when an oval or circle cropped image is suitable.

Example:
A photo of your child in the bath, you could have small pictures of them coming up from the bath looking like bubbles, you could them crop them into circles.

TIP. Do not try to cut a circle around your photo, it is always best to use a punch or circle cutter.

Liquid Adhesives

There are so many scrapbooking products to choose from that it is hard to decide what to use on your scrapbooking pages. Dimensional adhesives are best to create a more 3-D look on your scrapbooking layouts.

Tapes and runners are best for one dimensional embellishments, but if you are looking to purchase one adhesive to do the most for you, you will want to go with a liquid adhesive.

- When using liquid adhesives on your scrapbook layouts you should remember to use it sparingly.

- Gently squeeze the tube on the area where you want to apply it.

- Go over the letters or fill in the shape you desire.

Liquid applique works best if you let it dry overnight, but if you can’t wait for it to dry you can use a heat embossing tool to dry it instantly.
Liquid applique can help emphasize a certain area of a shape or picture, such as the center of a flower or the candles on a birthday cake. You can color your liquid applique with ink to enhance an element of your scrapbook page.

Why Mat Photos?

Let's first start with what a 'mat' is, matting your photos is when you have an outline of the photo, a shape or a regular square around your photo in a cardstock.

You would do this so that you can emphasize your photo, bring out a particular color in the photo or if your entire page is muted, and you have a black and white photo it will bring the focus to your photo.

You can use more than one color mat at a time. If you want to get really creative you can even use decorative scissors or page punches to cut particular patterns out around the edges.

You can also use glitter to mat your photo, click here to check out a tutorial on how to do this with Martha Stewart glitter and glue.

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The Basic Makeup of Scrapbooking Layouts

These are the basics of what the average scrapbook layout will consist of. Hope this helps all of you beginners out there.

Photo
Photos are the the essence of scrapbook layouts. Most scrapbooking pages will have at least one or multiple photos on them.


Page Title
The words that highlight, summarize or suggest the page theme on scrapbooking layouts. You can use famous sayings, names, or simple phrases as page titles.

Journaling
Text that expands or explains the story of the photos. But the journaling doesn't have to be related to the event of the photos all the time. You can write out short descriptions including names and dates, heartfelt letters, captions, basic information, quotes, lyrics and even poems.

More to come next week ...

Never Underestimate Journaling

You may look at your child or family today and know everything about them, their favourite saying, color, food. But in five or ten years you may not. Memories may fade but journaling will not. Journaling is a great way to capture those phrases that a photo cannot. It is a simple way to add a personal touch to an album and leave a lasting memory. If you want to get really creative you can include page talker, these can record that adorable first word from your baby or that special someone saying how much they love you.

Simple Tip To A Good Page Flow

A good rule to keep the flow going on your page and ensure that it looks the best it can look is picture position! Not only the position of the physical picture, but the person in the picture. You should always create your page having the people in the picture facing inwards or looking straight ahead. If you have a photo with a persons back toward the center of the piece it can look like that person is mad, due to their back being against the other images.

Having all of the pictures facing inwards or straight ahead allows the eye to flow nicely over one thing and onto the next and creates unity in the image.

Organization

Organization experts stress that you need to evaluate your needs before you buy a single storage container. Before you begin to organize think about the following questions:
-How much time can you devote to scrapbooking?
-Where are you most likely to work?
-Do you have a specific style or are you flexible and experiment with new techniques
-Do need peace and quiet when you work or can you handle a little background distraction?

The answers to these questions will give you valuable information for how you scrapbook and what your scrapbook organization system should look like. Keep them in mind as you consider each aspect of scrapbook organization.

Ending Your Pregnancy Scrapbook

End your scrapbook with an introduction to the baby. Include a picture of the newborn, date born, and size.

Pregnancy scrapbooks are a great way to look back and cherish the moments of your pregnancy even after your little one is grown. Creating a section in it that reflects a journal of diary of your thoughts, cravings, energy levels, and such is one way that many mothers leave a little something behind for their children to learn about their journey of birth.

When you become pregnant again, it's also a good way to look back and anticipate the feelings and emotions that subsequent pregnancies bring. Don't forget that just as no two children are like, so are no two pregnancies. Make sure to document your nine month journey for all your children.

Ultrasounds and Baby Names

Include Ultrasounds

Some women have numerous ultrasounds while others just have one or two. No matter how many ultrasounds you have, include a section in the book of pictures from them. Include the date, weeks of pregnancy, and any other information that you gain. It's also fun to include from a baby book what the baby has developed so far. "For example, Today Baby Girl is developing her ..."

Boy or Girl?

If you find out the gender of your baby, include a page that is dedicated to blue or pink. Include thoughts on how you and your family feel. You can also include some favorite baby names to that gender. If you choose to not find out gender of the baby you can include favor tie baby names with a gender neutral themed page.

Keeping Track During Your Nine Months

Pregnancy Tips Continued ...

Keeping Track During Your Nine Months

Write down the date, and how far along you are at the top of the page, and if you are comfortable, include a picture of yourself.

You can also include photos of your mother and your significant others mother when they were pregnant with you! This will be fun for your child to look back and see.

Seeing yourself in pictures from the beginning to the end of your pregnancy shows how much you have changed. Sometimes it is hard to see the changes in the mirror because you look at yourself everyday.

A fun tip is to include some baby picture of you and your significant other with a sonogram photo of your baby.


More Pregnancy Tips to Come

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Pregnancy Tips Continued ... Let Your Journaling Take Center Stage

You should start your pregnancy scrapbook from the moment you find out you are pregnant.
Include what you were thinking and how you told others. Include the date you found out and the date of your first doctor's appointment. Include your due date and other details such as first time you and your significant other felt the baby move.

There are not as many pictures to use before your baby is born as there are after. It helps to enclose a caption with each picture that you do have. If you do not want to take that many pregnant pictures you should at least take pictures of the milestones.

Take a photo of when you found out, your belly at 3 months, 6 months, and 9 months to show how your baby has grown.

It is also a fun idea to add a thought section to each page. You can type this or hand write it. Try to keep the thought section consistent throughout the book by using the same type of paper or pasting it in the same location on the page. For example, at the top, you can write "What Mommy is Thinking...", about cravings, growing, getting the nursery ready ect.

Pregnancy Scrapbook Tips

Creating a pregnancy scrapbook can be very exciting and easy. The best time to start it is before the arrival of your little bundle so that you have time to finish it.

There are so many milestones during those nine months that you think you will never forget. For example, I never thought that I would forget the date that I first felt my baby's movement, or when I first felt the floods of nausea that signified the growing life within me, as well as when they subsided and the cravings kicked in.

But as time passes your memories will fade as you get busy with your new little one. One great way to keep track of all of your precious memories and have a conversation piece to share with your little one as he or she grows is with a pregnancy scrapbook.

It does not have to be elaborate but yet it should be personal. As with any other scrapbook the materials used can be pictures, stickers, and embellishments. Consider some of these tips when thinking about creating a pregnancy scrapbook.

Make your picture pop

Matting letters is time consuming. A quick fix is to trace around your letters with a pen leaving a small space then color to make them pop!

I’m Glad I Always ...

Saw the true beauty of journaling. Its nice being able to look back at your photos and instead of saying, who are they? Where are we? You will know exactly how you felt about that special moment and why you thought it was important to scrap.
You can always look back and regret that hairstyle or those pants, but don’t let yourself regret not writing about that special moment.

Overwhelmed with Scrapbooking?

Overwhelmed with Scrapbooking? We've broken scrapbooking down into 4 easy steps for you!
1:Gather
2:Sort
3:Determine your start point
4:Do one page at a time

Travelling and Scrapbooking?

Is it your first time travelling with your scrapbooking items? You may think that you can simply pack everything up and move it, only problem being those tedious embellishments. If you do not have an organizer you may not want to purchase one for this specific occasion. Here is a simple and cheap trick. Tic-Tac containers. Have any old ones lying around? Pop off the top and fill them with your tiny embellishments. You can also get creative and decorate them according to what’s inside.

Tips to using more than 1 patterned paper well

1: You don't have to have paper made by the same company but you want to ensure that the papers have colors or shapes in common.
2: If you have double sided paper you should use both sides, this creates a nicely coordinated page.
3: Don't overdo it. Use a plain cardstock for the background, and accent with patterned papers. You can do a background image in all different papers, or create a layered flower.
4: Pick a few colors from your papers for your embellishments and always stick with solid colors not patterns.

Don't forget to create a title for your page

Adding a title might seem to be too obvious but a title defines the whole basis of your scrapbook. The title instantly tells the viewer what your page is all about in one word or a short phrase. Titles can be as basic as the date of an event, the name of an individual, or a special saying you share with those on the page.

Start Doodling

Sometimes it is easier to create a page layout when you do it quickly. If you have to wait to actually create everything you may loose your train of creative thought. So doodle it out, even if you don't think it looks right, don't throw it out because you may look at it tomorrow and see something completely different and inspiring. So try to keep all of your doodling drawings together in an album or book.

Show the Love

When scrapbooking use photos that show everyday communication with your loved ones. This will be something to enjoy when looking back, to show your everyday bond, not just special occasions.

Homemade Buckles

Buckles look to sophisticated and classy but usually aren't kept on hand. A quick way to create a buckle for your ribbon, paper strips, or fabrics is a pop tab! Remove the pop tab and sand down the edges, you don't want any cuts to your hands, or fabrics. You can even paint these to give them a personalized look! Feed your fabric through and secure to your page! A quick and easy way to create a sophisticated buckle!

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

Make an Album from an old book.

One of your child's old books work well because they have already
stood the test of children and still survived. Do not cover over the
original book covers. Make a scrapbook album for your child, it is
a great way to bring a piece of their childhood into the album.

The good thing about reusing old books is that you are saving this
book from ending up taking up space in your house or in the garbage,
and in turn you do not have to purchase a new album.

One problem with using older books is that they are not acid free,
so this book may not stand the test of time as well as a new album.

Scrapbook Tip For The New Mom

The lack of sleep and wanting to spend every waking minute with your new little one leaves you barely any time to scrapbook or record those little moments you may soon forget. Focus more on the little moments of today then the grand scheme of a through the years album. Create a "Today" album. Titling each page "Today I ..." or "Today my little one ...". Here you can briefly record or jot down the cute new things they are beginning to do. Soon you will have a mini album filled with the joys of the present that you child can look back on.

Scrapbook with what you have

Not everyone wants to purchase new stickers, die cuts or chipboard every time they scrapbook. If you don't have a library of embellishments yet would like to scrapbook at the drop of a hat just look around! Any old buttons? Your daughter have any broken hair ties with cute little figures? Now we are not promoting becoming a pack rat, but if you see value in something in your home that will otherwise be thrown out try to use it first. If you cannot bear to throw some pieces away you can limit yourself, allow yourself to have one small drawer with pieces that don't necessarily work for anything right now, but may down the road.

Scrapbooking wish I hadn't moments.

As a veterin scrapbooker there are some tips and tricks I have learned over the years that I want to share with all of you, begginers and fellow veterins. Lets start with a wish I hadn't.
I wish I hadn't tried to be ‘creative’ and cut my pictures into all sorts of crazy shapes. When I was just beginning scrapbooking I thought it would be an awesome idea to cut my pictures into stars, hearts, you get the idea. I would advise against this. As you begin scrapbooking you should stick with a simple shape of a photo, square, rectangle maybe. Once you get better at taking photos you will realize what will look good on paper and may not have to cut at all.

*KISS* Keep It Simple Scrapper

*KISS* Keep It Simple Scrapper

A new take on a cute phrase. But the same rule applies, sometimes the most breath
taking pages are the simplest. You will get the WOW factor more often with the
more simple layouts. We have a few easy and quick tips to keeping it simple
-Focal Point: Most of the time will be a photo, or journaling.
-Colour Scheme: Monochromatic is usually best.
-Balance: Between your picture size and embellishments, don't have a tiny photo and
oversized embellishments.
These easy steps combined with a good direction on the page will allow you to create
a breathtaking layout. Most people believe the 'Z' pattern is one of the best to use.
You won't literally place your pieces in a 'Z' patten, but you will use the pattern
to allow your viewers eyes to flow through and down your page. Remember to KISS.

Die Cutting Machines and You

It feels this die cutting machines have just taken off. Everyone either wants one
or has one. But if your just getting into this whole die cutting thing its hard to choose which one is right for you so we will try to help.

The machines can range in price from $30 to $600. Different types of die cut machines have different functions and so in order to choose a machine that is right for your needs you need to understand the functions of the machines. Some of the most popular scrapbooking die cutting machines used are:

Sizzix

The Sizzix die cutting machines are great for beginners. This is because they have smaller, less expensive beginner machine to test out on then purchase the more advanced machine. The Sizzix machine has a handle you push down to cut your scrapbooking die cut shapes and letters.
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Cricut

The Cricut die cutting machine is an electric machine that uses cartridges for the die cuts and doesn't’t require a computer. The cartridges fit between two pads and the die cuts are cut out clean and easy. There are a variety of cartridges available and most scrappers agree this is a versatile, portable machine die to the large variety of sizes and price points.
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Cuttlebug

The Cuttlebug is one of the newest die cutting machines. This little scrapbook die cutter easily grips to your surface so you can cut your dies with ease. It will also emboss your dies with the click of a switch. The Cuttlebug is compatible with cartridges from most of the major brand scrapbook die cutters on the market. The Cuttlebug will cut paper, chipboard, thin metal, mesh and more.
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Any of these personal cutter are a great addition to your scrapbook supplies. But you need to decide which suits your needs the best.