Smile!

A friend of mine sent me this quote today. I loved it and thought I'd share:

"If I could reach up and hold a star for every time you've made me smile, the entire evening sky would be in the palm of my hand."

~Unknown

Natural Light

Contrary to popular belief, the middle of a sunny day isn't the best for taking pictures. For optimal pictures take them in natural light by a window, or outdoors in indirect sunlight. Keep an eye on areas throughout your house. At certain times of day, depending on which direction the windows face, sun streams in through the glass. Even if the sun isn't directly shining through the window, you can place the subject of your picture near the window and still get some great shots.

Outdoors is, of course, the perfect spot for natural lighting. Make sure to have the sun behind your subjects so they aren't squinting into the light and so they don't end up with shadows underneath their eyes, nose, and chin. Sometimes an overcast day is preferable for pictures. It creates a soft look and affects the mood of your photo. Consider taking the same photo in different kinds of lighting. Different lights create different moods.

If you're like me, you don't have the luxury of waiting hours until the light is 'just right' because children walk away and sunsets fade, don't stress about it. But do use natural light whenever possible. For some other fun photo tips check out my previous post: 5 Tips to Better Photos.

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Scrapbooking Recipes

Many of my childhood memories are of wonderful family meals, time spent cooking and canning with my mom, traditional holiday treats, and picnics. Each of these memories has special family recipes associated with it.

If you're like me, you probably have recipes written on scraps of paper, the back of receipts, or torn out of a magazine littering your kitchen drawers and sticking out of other recipe books. Take a quick inventory of the recipes you already have. Then think about favorite family recipes. If you're missing Grandma's famous sugar cookie recipe, call her and get it.

There are many ways you can organize your book. You could group the recipes by contributors, or by course. You can put several pictures per page, or dedicate one page to each recipe. They can be scrapped on 12x12 layouts, or simple 8.5x11 so they'll fit in a regular 3-ring binder. My favorite size is 4x6 or 5x7 because they are small enough that you can include the recipes and a couple embellishments without having to fill up a large page.

You could include pictures of the person you received the recipe from, or pictures of the dish itself. You could add a quote from someone about what they love about it or a special memory they have associated with this particular recipe. You could also include a bit of history about the recipes, especially if they are a collection given to you by someone else.

A beautiful recipe collection would make a great graduation gift, wedding gift, or even a great housewarming gift. A fun idea I for a new bride is to hold a recipe exchange bridal shower and have each guest bring a scrapbooked recipe, then combine them all into one album.

Creating a family recipe scrapbook is a great way to preserve your family’s recipes and pass them on to the next generation of family cooks. Whether as a gift, a treasured family heirloom, or just a fun and creative way to cook, compiling a recipe scrapbook is a great way to use your scrapping time. The inspiration, tools and methods are as endless as recipes themselves. So get cooking, and get scrapping!

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Expressive Journaling

I'm in a writing mood today, so we're going to talk about journaling. In my opinion, it's the most important part of your scrapbook. Yes, it's fun to look back at old pictures, but without the written words describing the picture, the memories start to fade and meaningful moments are forgotten.

We've all heard of the five W's. Who? What? Where? When? Why? Keeping these five questions in mind while journaling will help what you write to be complete. Consider the following:

-Who was there?
-What were they doing?
-When was it?
-Where were they?
-Why were they there?

It's important to record all the details of an event, not just the names of the people involved and the date it took place. While details are very important, don't include flowery words and phrases. Talk as though the person looking through your scrapbook is sitting right next to you while you tell them the stories in the pictures.

If you had just celebrated your child's first birthday, and a friend asked you how it went. Would you answer January 20, 1998--Our House? I doubt it. You'd talk about her excitement when she saw the pile of wrapped presents, how she stuck her hand in the cake, the guests who were invited, and all the fun she had. It's helpful to keep this type of thing in mind as you are taking photographs. Take pictures of things that will later provide details of a story.

When you're journaling be sure to add in details you can't see in the picture. For example, if you were scrapbooking Christmas photos, you might want to include something about your favorite gift, the smell of the pine tree or ham cooking, how the tree shimmered, what time you got up, and the excitement and joy on the children's faces.

It's important to journal while the events are still fresh in your mind. I have a journaling folder which contains thoughts and ideas I will eventually get around to scrapbooking. You don't have to wait until you create the page to create the journaling.

As you journal, keep in mind the pages may be read by people many years from now. Help them feel like there were there. Talk about the important things such as how much you cared for your loved ones. Your words, no matter what you think of them now, will be treasured by generations to come.

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Winter Wonderland

There is nothing quite like stepping out into the brightness of new fallen snow. There is a stillness to the cool, crisp air that makes the world seem clean, new and full of the possibility of adventure. My family loves to spend time in the winter sledding down the hill at a local park and being dragged on sleds behind four-wheelers with their cousins. I'm sure you have similar winter traditions. And like all traditions, they deserve to be scrapbooked.

So, in the middle of this wintery January, I thought I'd give you some ideas for some fun winter scrapbooking layouts. Whether you are scrapping a weekend at your mountain cabin, a trip to the slopes, or the unexpected family snow day, hopefully these ideas will get your creative juices flowing.

WINTER SCRAPBOOKING TIPS

-Use darker shades of blue, purple, and green for a cold look. Goes especially good with black and white photos.

-The most natural color scheme choice for a winter scrapbook layout is blue and white. However, silver accents also look great.

-For a more contemporary look, you can even try adding a touch of purple to your page.

-Use bold, decorative fonts to enhance the theme of your layout. Try covering chipboard letters with winter scrapbook paper.

-Use patterned paper that includes glitter or flocking.

-To use all those fun sledding shots, use one larger picture as a focal point and crop the others down to wallet size.

-Use scenery shots of snow covered trees to enhance your layout.

LAYOUT IDEAS

-Building a snowman

-Making snow angels

-Catching snowflakes on your tongue

-Having a snowball fight

-Shoveling sidewalks

-Drinking cocoa

PAGE TOPPERS AND TITLES

-Let it Snow!

-Snow Angel

-Winter Wonderland

-"Snow" much fun.

-Snow Day

-Bundle Up

WINTER QUOTES

"Like a snowflake, you're one of a kind."

"Some of my best friends are flakes."

"A snowflake is one of God's most fragile creations, but look what they can do when they stick together!"

"Snowmen fall from heaven unassembled."

FUN WINTER FONTS

Ice and Snow features bold capital letters covered with snow.
Frosty is a contemporary font with small snowflake accents.
Snowbiz is a decorative font featuring snowmen holding each letter of the alphabet.
Fontasy Penguin has adorable penguins dangling from the letters.
Marshmallow World is a dingbat font with various images of pretty winter snowflakes.

DIGITAL SCRAPBOOKING
Check out the free papers and embellishments in the Winter Magic Kit by Monica or the Winter Kit Mini Freebie by Silvia.

Celebrate the winter season by scrapbooking layouts featuring sledding, snowballs, and time spent bundled up outside. In the meantime, you'll create some fun memories you just might want to repeat next year.

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Scrapbooking: Top Ten Essentials

Have you been to the craft store lately? There are so many scrapbooking supplies, products and tools available. It's overwhelming sometimes, and you feel like you need (okay, want) it all. So I thought I'd post a Top Ten Essentials supply list. These are the supplies most scrapbookers can't live without.

1) CARDSTOCK/SOLID PAPER

What's a scrapbook without paper? Cardstock and plain papers are great to use as backgrounds. They are generally less expensive than patterned paper and cardstock is a good choice to make your pages sturdy.

2) PATTERNED PAPER

Life would be boring without patterns. Pick papers that complement each other and can be used together to create unique layouts. I rarely use patterned paper for my backgrounds, but use it to embellish the page instead so it goes further.

3) ADHESIVES

You need something to stick all those photos and embellishments to the page. There are tons of adhesive choices: tape runner, glue dots, glue sticks, and more. Just shop around. Make sure the adhesive you choose is acid free since it will be touching your photos. Read more about adhesives here: Back-to-Basics: Adhesives.

4) PENS

A scrapbook isn't complete without journaling, so pick high quality pens that won't bleed, are fade-proof, waterproof, and keep your layout safe.

5) TRIMMERS

You need good cutting tools to create a professional layout. Buy a pair of precise, sturdy scissors with a small point good for getting in those tight spaces and cutting small letters and embellishments. You'll also want a high quality paper trimmer. I like to have a larger one for 12 inch papers and a small one for cropping photos. You can read more about trimmers here: Back-to-Basics: Paper Trimmers.

6) PHOTO DEVELOPING

Everyone has digital cameras so make sure you have access to a photo developing service. I personally use my local Costco and Walmart. Both have online photo sites where you can upload your photos and order prints from home to pick up in the store an hour later. They also have fun options you can use to design photo collages, print on unique items, and more.

7) EMBELLISHMENTS

Embellishments make scrapbooks exciting. There are so many options available: chipboard, stickers, paper flowers, buttons, ribbon, brads, eyelets, and more. Look around your house, you'll be amazed at all the things you can use..

8) PHOTO STORAGE

Buy a photo safe box to store all your photos. There are also many options for digital storage. You can use an online service such as Photobucket or Shutterfly. For more ideas on photo storage and how to sort your photos read my previous post-- A Shoebox is not the Solution.

9) ALBUMS

Once you've completed all your layouts, you'll want something to keep them in. There are so many fun albums available in the market. They make you proud to leave them on the coffee table where everyone can see and enjoy your amazing creativity. I also posted about Album Sizes and Types, if you'd like to read more.

10) PAGE PROTECTORS

After spending all that effort on your pages, you'll want to share them and not just keep them hidden away to keep them safe. Page protectors keep your creations safe. When you use all the page protectors in your album you can add more. Make sure to buy the correct type for your album.

If you are just a beginner, don't worry about getting everything all at once. Start with some basic paper, adhesive, and embellishments. This allows you to get started on your pages and you can add the other items to your collection as you are able. Happy Scrapping!

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Altered Art: Composition Books

Do you remember using composition books in school? I've always loved them. With their hard cardboard cover and sewn spine, they seem more like a real book to me than a regular spiral bound notebook.

Since Christmas break is over, the kids are back to school, and a new semester is around the corner, it's a great time to replenish some of those school supplies. Surprise them with a new notebook and some fun scrapbooking supplies to make it one-of-a-kind.

I have an 11 year old daughter who recently went through the Hannah Montana craze, so we bought a Hannah notebook for school. Well, it only took a few days of kids teasing her about it before she came home and wanted to cover the book. We added some patterned paper and coordinating stickers in under 10 minutes, and now all the kids comment on how cute her notebook is instead of making fun of it.

You probably really don't need directions, just lay the book on the paper, trace it and cut it out, then glue it on. Add stickers, ribbon, embellishments, and you're done. A fun idea is to personalize them with someone's name to give as a gift.

To get your imagination going, I've posted a few pictures below:



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Blog Resources

Last week we talked about some New Year's resolutions. One I suggested was to start a blog to record the important happenings in your life. Blogging is a great way to stay connected with family and friends. It's also a great way to make new ones. I've made so many good friends through my blog and theirs.

I often get comments and questions on the appearance of my blog, so I thought I'd share some easy blog resources with you. The internet is an amazing tool! There are so many fun, and free, resources out there.

I've been designing my blog headers using digital scrapbooking methods in Photoshop Elements. I don't know a whole lot about it, and just kind of learn as I go. But this week, while searching on the internet, I found a really cool website, Scrapblog. It's basically a web-based scrapbooking program. It has tons of backgrounds, elements, fonts, stickers, etc. to create fun scrapbook pages, blog headers, cards, calendars, and more.

It allows you to either start with a blank page and build it yourself, or you can start with some of their predesigned templates. I was playing around with some of the Christmas templates and made eight layouts in under an hour. The ones below are a few of them:

I was hooked! I couldn't believe how easy it was. So then, I started creating new blog headers. The new look on this blog is one of them. Here's another one that will likely appear on my blog sometime in the spring:

I even made a desktop background for my computer:

Check it out! It's super fun and super easy. Oh, and did I mention it's FREE! Here's the link again: Scrapblog.

Another great, free, resource is The Cutest Blog on the Block. They have tons of free backgrounds you can add to your blog and other resources as well. I get all my backgrounds from them. You can check them out here. Their website includes many resources to teach you how to design your own blog elements. They also have a forum where you can ask questions.

I hope some of these ideas are helpful as you consider starting a new blog this year, or changing the design of one you've already established. I'm happy to help if you have any questions.

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