Summer Time Giveaway

My friend, Danyelle, at Queen of the Clan is doing an awesome summertime giveaway each week. This week I'm giving away a Scrapbooking package worth over $100. For details about how to enter, please see Danyelle's blog.

If you'd like another chance at free scrapbooking supplies, become a follower of my blog. Leave a comment to let me know you are a follower and your name will be entered in a drawing for random scrapbooking supplies. There will be several winners. I will announce them on my blog on Saturday morning.

Scrapbooking Spring Sports

I love the feeling of spring in the air. At my house, spring inevitably brings busy schedules because it is the start of the soccer season. Between all the games, practices, carpooling and looking for lost equipment, I can't find any time for scrapbooking. But that doesn't keep me from plotting and planning pages I can create when the lazy days of summer--without all those schedules--come rolling in.

Since I've got soccer on the brain, I thought I'd share some fun ideas about how to create themed pages for all the sports your children play.

The first thing to consider is your photographs. It is important to use the right settings according to the lighting. A bright outdoor soccer game would be photographed differently than a nighttime football game under the stadium lights. Also, think about classic sports shots you can take: The team high-fiving after scoring a goal, the football huddle, the focus on a player's face, the batter sliding into base. Also, don't forget the fans and the quiet moments in sports. One of my favorite layouts is of my family huddled together under blankets and umbrellas watching a game in the rain.

Let's move on to the design of your pages. The first consideration is color. A good idea is to match the colors of your team. Especially if you are creating a themed album for one particular sport, it is fun to see the same colors throughout. Take a look at the wide range of sports-themed papers and products available as well. Many of the major paper companies have developed whole product lines around most major sports. Many have accompanying embellishments to further enhance your design, such as football-shaped charms or stickers.

One approach that is especially fun is to create a layout with the look of a newspaper or magazine cover. Many digital scrapbooking products include pre-made templates for this type of layout, or you can create your own. Younger kids in particular enjoy seeing themselves in that context.

Use these ideas to capture and create team memories. Enjoy the process, but don't get so caught up in saving the memories that you miss your child's first goal or touchdown.

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Is it Spring Yet?

Ah, spring! This is the season that so many of us call our favorite and with good reason. Although here in Utah, it still looks and feels like winter. But, I know spring has to be just around the corner. Right? To get in the mood, and hopefully spur Mother Nature on, I thought I'd throw out some spring scrapbooking ideas.

The first thing you might want to think about when it comes to spring scrapbooking layouts is the color choice. Many people opt for soft pastels when it comes to spring pages, but it's also fun to try something a little more bold. Try colors such as turquoise, lime green, and fuschsia. They are bold and bright and just looking at them makes you feel cheerful.

What is going to be your main focal point for your spring scrapbooking layouts? Remember the holidays during spring, like Easter. Easter egg hunts and Easter outfits make great photo opportunities for your spring layouts. Take pictures of your garden, especially the bulbs as they first start to sprout from the ground. Spring layouts can include springtime sports as well.

When scrapbooking Easter page layouts for spring, don't limit yourself to bunnies and baskets. This is a perfect time to scrapbook your faith. Include your feelings about why the gospel is important to you and your feelings about Easter.

Spring brings warmer weather and all those fun activities that go with it. Consider all of the fun things you do when the weather is warmer. They can be great themes or page elements. Since there is no right or wrong way to scrapbook, don't hesitate to get creative and you'll have pages that are as unique as you are!

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7 Steps to Scrapbooking Safety

Protecting your photos and historical items is important to ensure that your finished scrapbooks will last for decades. If, however, you neglect the proper storage and preservation methods, the results can be disastrous. Here are seven essential safety measures that will help you keep your heirlooms in pristine condition for years to come:

1: Liquids destroy memorabilia, photographs, and negatives. To avoid disasters, store your scrapbook supplies, albums, photographs, and negatives in a dry, cool place where water from broken pipes or overflowing toilets cannot reach them. Keep all drinks off your work area.

2: Sunlight will eventually diminish photo, negative, layout, and album quality. Keep all heirlooms out of direct sunlight.

3: Extreme temperatures damage photographs, negatives, layouts, page protectors, and albums. Store all historical items in moderate–temperatures and in locations where humidity is low.

4: Although not immediately apparent, fingerprints on photographs, negatives, and layouts become visible over time. Oil from skin is the culprit. To prevent this type of deterioration, you can first, handle photos carefully, touching only the outer edges. Second, wash hands frequently or use acid neutralizing wipes. Third, follow the example of certain purists who wear lightweight cotton gloves insuring their photos remain pristine.

5: Handle and store your photos, negatives, and layouts carefully. Improper storage increases the risk of scratches, tears, and bends. Store and seal your photos and negatives in a sturdy container, in plastic sleeves that fit into a three-ring binder, or in acid-free envelopes that have been labeled and filed. Layout storage should be doubly protected: first in sheet or page protectors, then in appropriate albums.

6: Not all plastics are alike. In fact, some sheet protectors, binders, photo enclosures, and photo corners will eventually damage your memorabilia more than if you had not used plastic protection or enhancement at all. The destructive material is polyvinyl chloride (PVC), more commonly known as “vinyl.” Because PVC is an unstable plastic, it releases a hydrogen-chloride gas that spreads to your memorabilia, corroding your photos and historical items over time. To avoid this harmful process, do not buy materials containing PVC. Instead, look for acrylic or polyester (polyethylene and polypropylene) materials. They are chemically stable and will ensure encapsulation safety for your memorabilia.

7: Paper and cardstock found in your local scrapbook store are not necessarily acid-free unless so stated on packaging or company display-signs that reference your particular item. In addition, be forewarned though a manufacturer’s white and pastel papers are free of acid that does not guarantee that their dark colors will be also. (Paper dies can affect the paper’s acidity level.) Your safest approach is to test any paper that is not specifically marked “acid-free.”

These are just a few of the safety measures you need to be aware of and follow to protect your family heirlooms for generations to come.

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Am I Adopted?.

Last week, one of my children came to me all serious and said they needed to talk to me. I could tell he was serious, so we went into a room where we could be alone. His question surprised me. "Mom, am I adopted?" He had been fighting with his siblings and felt that nobody like him so he wondered if he wasn't really a "true" member of the family. I went on to assure him that he was not adopted. I told him how he looked just like his dad when he was a child and shared other traits he had that were similar to other family members.

While thinking about that, I thought it would family traits could make an interesting scrapbooking layout. Anyone who has sorted through the family's shoebox full of old photos has probably wondered about their ancestors and what they were like. This, of course, is why we are scrapbookers--to pass down our legacy to our children and grandchildren so they don't have to wonder what our lives were like--we will tell them and help them to know where they came from and how they became who they are.

The following are a few items your layout could focus on:

Physical Traits - Where did Johnny get his red hair? Or whose nose does Suzy have? Is Ricky tall like Grandpa?

Temperment - Each of us have our own temperment. In the case of one of my children it is "Temper"ment. It would be fun to create a page showing each of your family member's individual temperments and where they came from.

Talents - Did you ever wonder where mom got her "green thumb"? Did you children get their love of arts and crafts from you and their mechanical ability from their father? File away these facts for future generations.

Take some time today to think about how your inherited family traits have appeared in yourself, your children, or others in your family. Document them and preserve this important part of your history.

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Finding Time to Scrapbook

Sometimes scrapbooking can be completely overwhelming and seems like a neverending job. In this blog I'm going to explore some ways you can find more time scrapbook. As busy mom's it's hard to find time to get everything done, but hopefully some of these suggestions will help you find ways to use little bits of extra time you do have.

There are three elements we can work on:
1. Establish scrapbooking as a priority.
2. Find storage and working space.
3. Use time-management skills.

Establish scrapbooking as a priority.

Any project that is going to get done needs to be given priority status. Think of your time spent scrapbooking as an investment not only in the memories of the past, but in the future as well. The scrapbooks you are creating and the memories you preserve will benefit future generations.

Scrapbooking can be a great stress reliever. Mom's need to take time for themselves to renew their spirit and refocus their lives. Scrapbooking is one way I do this. It gives me time to be alone with my thoughts. Being creative seems to clear my mind and helps me figure things out in other aspects of my life.

Find storage and working space.

It is very important to have an accessible space in your home -- however small -- for storing your scrapbook supplies. You should also create a space to work on scrapbooks when you're ready.

When I first started scrapbooking I found it overwhelming to get all my supplies out, only to sit down and then be interrupted by kids, and have to put it all away again. It seemed so overwhelming that I often chose to just not get it out. I eventually ended up putting a card table in the corner of a room and piled all my supplies on top and underneath and left a few essential tools out so they would already be easily accessible.

If your supplies are spread out in various closets, even the thought of sitting down to scrap may be overwhelming. If they're all together, and each supply has it's own space, you can immediately settle into creating layouts.

Use time-management skills.

Now to tackle the issue of time. It can be hard to find ways to scrapbook, especially with little children around. The best solution I've found for this is to let them feel involved. I put all of my scrap paper, extra stickers, markers, crayons, etc. in a box for the kids to use. If they have their own supplies to play with they give me more time to work on my projects.

Just remember than even 5-10 minutes is long enough to make some progress on your albums. By using small time segments instead of waiting for a block of an hour or two, you will make progress, avoid frustration and keep the creative juices flowing.

If you do have large blocks of time during the week when your little helpers are otherwise occupied, you can do things that take more time and concentration, like sorting photos or organizing paper and cardstock.

Time and priorities are difficult challenges for all of us. But by using our creativity to organize ourselves, we have the opportunity to do what we love and take care of our duties as well. But like most things in life, preparation and organization make the experience more rewarding, productive and enjoyable. Keep in mind, you should not feel discouraged about unfinished projects because creative people always have them.

YourLDSneighborhood has added exciting new things to its website. Please drop by and take a look, browse around, check out our vendors, our radio station, our authors, our musicians and more. Check out the Neighborhood.

And while you're there, subscribe to the yourLDSneighborhood Newsletter. In addition to being able to shop in the new virtual neighborhood, the newsletter brings you articles, products, services, resources and interviews from around the world-all with an LDS focus. Look for issues delivered to your email inbox every week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Family History Questions

Scrapbooking is not just a craft. It's about preserving family history. In the end, written memories may be even more valuable than photos. I found a list of questions you can use to interview family members to create a history to share with future generations. You can go through the entire list in one sitting or break it up into many sessions. You may want to consider audio or video taping the session for an additional record of the conversation that will include the emotions of the story teller.

Here's the list to get you started. Don't hesitate to add your own questions:

What is your full name and why were you named it?
Were you named after somebody else?
Did you have a nickname as you were growing up?
If you did, what was it and why did they call you that?
Have you had other nicknames as an adult?
What do family members call you now?
Where were you born and when?
Do you remember hearing your grandparents describe their lives? What did they say?
Do you remember your great-grandparents? What do you know about them?
Who was the oldest person you can remember in your family as a child? What do you remember about them?
Do you remember your family discussing world events and politics?
Was there a chore you really hated doing as a child?
What would you consider to be the most important inventions that have been made during your lifetime?
How is the world now different from what it was like when you were a child?
What kinds of books did you like to read?
Do you remember having a favorite nursery rhyme or bedtime story? What was it?
Do you ever remember not having enough food to eat because times were hard for your family?
What were your favorite toys and what were they like?
What were your favorite childhood games?
What were your schools like?
How did you get to school?
What was your favorite subject in school and why?
What subject in school was always the easiest for you?
What was your least favorite subject in school and why?
Who was your favorite teacher and why were they special?
How do your fellow classmates from school remember you best?
What school activities and sports did you participate in?
Did you and your friends have a special hang-out where you liked to spend time?Where was it and what did you do there?
Were you ever given any special awards for your studies or school activities?
How many years of education have you completed?
Do you have a college degree? If so, what was your field of study?
Did you get good grades?
Did you like school?
What did you like the most and the least about it?
What did you usually wear to school? Describe it.
Were there any fads during your youth that you remember vividly?
How old were you when you started dating?
Do you remember your first date? Describe the circumstances.
Name a good friend that you have known for the longest period of time? How many years have you been friends?
Has there ever been anyone in your life that you would consider to me your kindred spirit or soul mate? If so, who were they and why did you feel a special bond to them?
How did you meet the person that you would later marry? Describe them?
Do you remember where you went on the first date with your spouse?
How long did you know them before you got married?
Describe your wedding proposal.
When and where did you get married?
Describe your wedding ceremony. Who was there?
Did you have a honeymoon? If so, where did you go?
How would you describe your spouse? What do (did) you admire most about them?
How long have you been married (or were you married)?
What wise advice would you give to a grandchild on their wedding day?
How did you find out that you were going to be a parent for the first time?
How many children did you have all together?
What were their names, birth dates and birthplaces?
Do you remember anything that your children did when they were small that really amazed you?
What is one of the most unusual things that one of your children did regularly when they were small?
What was the funniest thing you can remember that one of your children said or did?
If you had it to do all over again, would you change the way you raised your family? How?
What did you find most difficult about raising children?
What did you find most rewarding about being a parent?
Did you spoil any of your children? How?
Were you a strict or lenient parent?
Did you find that you had to treat each of your children differently? If so, why?
How did you first hear that you were a grandparent and how did you feel about it?
What advice do you have for your children and grandchildren?
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
What was your first job?
What kinds of jobs have you had?
How did you decide on your career?
Did you make enough money to live comfortably?
How long did you have to work each day at your job?
How old were you when you retired?
What were the hardest choices that you ever had to make? Do you feel like you made the right choices?
Who was the person that had the most positive influence on your life? Who were they and what did they do?
Is there a person that really changed the course of your life by something that they did?Who were they and what did they do?
Do you remember someone saying something to you that had a big impact on how you lived your life?What was it?
How would you describe yourself politically?
Are you Conservative or Liberal and why?
What wars have been fought during your lifetime? How did you feel about them?
If you served in the military, when and where did you serve and what were your duties?
If you served in the military, were you ever injured in the line of duty?What were the circumstances and what were your injuries?
What United States President have you admired the most and why?
As you see it, what are the biggest problems that face our nation and how do you think they could be solved?
How tall are you?
What color was your hair as a young child and then as an adult?
What color are your eyes?
Where have you lived as an adult? List the places and the years that you lived there.
Why are you living where you are today?
Do you wish you lived somewhere else (If so, where would it be)?
Describe your general health.
What major illnesses or health problems do you remember having?
Do you have any health problems that are considered hereditary in nature? If so, what are they?
What do you do regularly for exercise?
Do you have any bad habits now or in the past? What were they?
Have you ever been the victim of a crime? What happened?
Have you ever been in a serious accident?
Has anyone ever saved your life? Describe.
Have you ever saved anyone else's life? Describe.
Have you ever been hospitalized? If so, what for?
Have you ever had surgery? If so, what for?
If you could change something about yourself, what would it be?
Have you ever had an experience that you would consider to be super-natural or psychic? Did you ever know something was going to happen before it actually did? What was it?
What do you usually dream about?
What church, if any, do you attend regularly?
Describe your religious beliefs.
Do you believe in an after life?
What was the most stressful experience that you ever lived through? What helped you get through it?
What is the scariest thing that has ever happened to you personally?
What kinds of musical instrument(s) have you learned to play?
Would you consider yourself creative?
What things have you made that others have enjoyed?
How would you describe your sense of humor?
What is the funniest practical joke you ever played on anyone?
What activities have you especially enjoyed as an adult?
What are your hobbies?
What did you like to do when you were not working?
What is the most amazing thing that has ever happened to you?
What is the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you?
Have you ever met any famous people? Describe what happened.
What organizations and groups have you belonged to?
Have you ever won any special awards or prizes as an adult? What were they for?
Describe a time and place when you remember feeling truly at peace and happy to be alive. Where were you and what were you doing?
What is the most beautiful place you have ever visited and what was it like?
What is the longest trip that you have ever gone on? Where did you go?
What has been your favorite vacation? Where did you go and why was it special?
What was the favorite place you ever visited and what was it like?
What pets have you had?
Do you have a favorite story about a pet? What is it?
Is there anything you have always wanted to do, but haven't?

This list of oral history questions was compiled from a variety of sources by Joanne Todd Rabun in 1993.They included a 6th grade class project of her daughter and a college-level Women's Studies class project of her nephew. She used them to produce a booklet entitled "The Life and Times of Winnie Lacklore" to commemorate Winnie's 90th birthday celebration.

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It's the thought that counts

I can't believe it's February already and Valentine's Day is upon us. It's always been one of my favorite holidays. There's something about setting aside a day for romance that makes me weak in the knees and feel all gushy inside.

Set aside some time now think about how you will express your love this Valentine's Day. I always make cards for the people I love. There's nothing better than a handmade card with ae's personal message written inside. It makes those around you know you love them and shows you've taken the time to express it in a meaningful way.

Another fun idea for your Valentine is to make an "I Love You" book. Create scrapbooking pages with some of the following themes:

- How and where you met.
- Your first date.
- What attracted you to him/her.
- Special moments spent together.
- Special places you like to visit.
- Inside jokes
- Love letters you've received/given

This loving and unique book will be long remembered and cherished. Don't forget to include journaling. Often the words you say mean even more than pictures.

Happy Valentine's Day. May you and your loved one create a day of treasured memories.

yourLDSneighborhood has added exciting new things to its website. Please drop me and take a look, browse around, check out our vendors, our radio station, our authors, our musicians and more. Check out the Neighborhood.

And while you're there, subscribe to the yourLDSneighborhood Newsletter. In addition to being able to shop in the new virtual neighborhood, the newsletter brings you articles, products, services, resources and interviews from around the world-all with an LDS focus. Look for issues delivered to your email inbox every week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

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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And while you're there, subscribe to our fantastic newsletter. In addition to being able to shop in the new virtual neighborhood, our newsletter brings you articles, products, services, resources and interviews from around the world—all with an LDS focus. Look for issues delivered to your email inbox every week on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.Neighborhood Newsletter Subscriptions are FREE, and joining is easy.

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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Guilt-Free Resolutions

Happy New Year! I can’t believe 2008 is gone. It’s been a year of major changes for me, and I’m glad to put it behind me. I always love the feeling a new year brings. I like having a fresh start and the chance to look back on the previous year and make goals for the new one.

I have a whole list of resolutions, most of them not related to scrapbooking. My scrapbooking goal for the year is to learn more about digital scrapbooking so that I can start doing more of it myself, as well as be able to share more tips and techniques with all of you.

Scrapbooking may not be a high enough priority in your life to even make it on your resolution list. And you know what? That is perfectly okay with me. I’ve done my share of making resolutions that are sure to do nothing but make me feel like a failure and pile on the guilt. I’ve decided I don’t need that. Believe me, I’m good enough at the guilt thing, I don’t need to make goals to achieve it.

This year, as you make resolutions, scrapbooking or otherwise, be sure to pick ones that are realistic for you, your timeframe, and your current situation in life. Scrapbooking is somewhat of a paradoxical situation. When you have a young family, you take lots of pictures and want to scrapbook them, but don’t have the time. I’ve spent a lot of time feeling guilty for not being able to keep up on my children’s scrapbooks. I’ve finally decided, It’s okay. If I don’t have the time, there’s no purpose achieved by constantly feeling guilty about it. Once I came to grips with that, I decided the best I could do for now was to keep the pictures that I take organized so that when we are searching for a picture, it’s easy to find, and then when I do have more time to spend scrapbooking, the pictures will be sorted and labeled.

So with that said, here are a few ideas for scrapbooking resolutions. Many of them are designed to produce less guilt about not being able to do more. And some are just fun ideas I ran across that I’d like to incorporate when I have the time:

• Worry less about scrapbooking. The pictures aren’t going anywhere.
• Spend time journaling. The details will then be available when you have time to scrapbook.
• Start a Blog. Blogging is a great way to record the simple details of life that make it so interesting.
• Use up the supplies you have. Don’t purchase more supplies just to store them on the shelf.
• If you have products you know you won’t use, sell them. Ebay is a great place for this.
• When making cards, make two instead of one. It only takes a little more time and will save you time when you need a card in the future. Or you can use the extra cards to give away in a set as a gift.
• When making your own layouts, make an extra one to have “Just add pictures” scrapbooking pages you can give as gifts.
• Complete one layout per week.
• Hold a monthly scrapbooking party with friends.
• Learn one new digital technique every month.
• Attend one scrapbooking weekend retreat this year.
• Submit a layout to a scrapbooking magazine.

I wish you a very happy New Year and I hope this year will be a great one. I look forward to sharing ideas with you and learning right along with you as we discover together the amazing world of scrapbooking. If there are ever any topics you’d like me to cover, please leave me a comment.

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Scrapbooking Calendars

Now that the Christmas hustle and bustle is over, it’s time to start thinking about the new year. I love this time of year and the opportunity it gives me to reflect on the year ahead and organize my life again. I have a large family, so when I think of organization, the first thing that comes to mind is our family calendar. We use it to keep track of everyone’s activities. I’d be lost without it—there’s way too much going on to remember it all.

So, on that note, today I’m going to give you some ideas on making calendars for the new year. Scrapbooking calendars are fun to make and also make great gifts. You can create a calendar using traditional scrapbooking methods, or design it digitally. There are many digital websites that have calendar templates available. Some even have the design done for you and you can just add in your own birthdays, anniversaries, and other important dates. Here is one created for your computer desktop for December. Just do a Google search for digital scrapbooking calendars and you'll find lots, and most of them are free!

For this blog, we are going to stick with making calendars using traditional methods. First, make a calendar template on your computer using any calendar software. There are a variety of templates available in Microsoft word. Add in special dates such as birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays. If you use a calendar program such as Calendar Creator, it will carry your dates over from year to year. If you don’t have a program you want to use, check out SmartDraw.com or TimeAndDate.com.

After making the calendar at home, you can save it on a disk or thumb drive and take it to a copy store such as Kinko’s and have them enlarge it to whatever size you want. I like a 12x12 size. This gives me a full 12x12 space to scrapbook on for each month. Kinko’s can also add a spiral binding. Another, even simpler, option is to purchase a blank calendar from your local craft store. They are available in a variety of sizes. The only disadvantage to this is you have to handwrite details on the calendar pages.

Now it’s time to decide what you want on each page. One fun idea is to use pictures taken during that month from the previous year. Make sure they are themed, such as snow pictures for winter, swimming pictures for the summer months, and maybe pictures in leaves for the fall. Another idea is to include pictures of family members who have a birthday or anniversary that month.

Now for the fun part, create your pages just as you would create a scrapbook page. Cover your design area with patterned paper. If you are using a 12x12 calendar you can use a whole sheet, otherwise trim it to the desired size. Add photographs, matting, stickers and embellishments. Pretty much anything you would put in a regular scrapbook can be used on a calendar also. You don’t need to feel like they are wasted, because when the year is over, you can cut off the binding and put the pages in an album.

I hope this has given you a few ideas for making your own scrapbook calendar. Have fun with it. In a few short hours you should be able to create something you can use and enjoy all year long. Once you make one, you will keep your eye out this year for fun photo opportunities for next year’s calendar.

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Scrapping Christmas Traditions

When you think of the word tradition, what comes to mind? The first things I think of are family traditions centered around the holidays, particularly Christmas. Often traditions have roots so far in the past that you may not even think of it as a tradition. As you're running around in all the holiday hustle and bustle, take some time to think about your Christmas preparations and which ones you traditionally do every year, then contemplate which would make an interesting scrapbook page.

For example, the tradition of opening presents. Some families open presents on Christmas Eve while everyone is gathered, some open one present on Christmas Eve, and some wait until Christmas morning. Pictures taken while opening presents and a blurb about why and how you do it, would make a fun page.

Decorating the house is always an important Christmas tradition, and an easy one to scrap about. Have you ever considered taking pictures of the decorating process, from carting the boxes up from the basement, to mom holding the ladder while dad climbs on the roof to hang the lights? These activities are not often considered traditions, but they typically are done the same way every year, and therefore constitute a tradition.

Christmas firsts are always important and fun to scrapbook. For example, baby’s first Christmas, the first Christmas in a new home, or your first Christmas as a couple. Of course, decorating the tree is a tradition in most homes. I gave some scrapbooking ideas for ‘trimming the tree’ in my last blog. You can read it here.

To come up with scrapping ideas of your own, ask yourself, “What is it that our family does every year at Christmas time?” It could be something simple like watching a movie after dinner. Or it could be something very unique. I know a family who hides a special ornament on Christmas Eve, and whoever finds it on Christmas morning gets a special present. Traditions such as these are what make your family unique. Preserve them by creating a scrapbook page, so the tradition can be remembered and passed down through the generations. I like the idea of creating separate Christmas albums. Then they can be placed on the coffee table as part of your Christmas decorations where everyone can enjoy them year after year.

I hope this Christmas season brings you all the hopes and wishes of your heart. Take some time to tell the people in your lives how important they are. As our beloved prophet, President Thomas S. Monson said, "Stresses in our lives come regardless of our circumstances. We must deal with them the best we can. But we should not let them get in the way of what is most important—and what is most important almost always involves the people around us. Often we assume that they must know how much we love them. But we should never assume; we should let them know."

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Trimming the Tree

For years, I've wanted a fancy Christmas tree, with matching ornaments, perfectly placed and not meant for touching. But recently, I look at my small tree, with its twisted branches and all of the homemade ornaments we've collected over the years, and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Our tree ranges from the fancy ornaments Grandma purchases for each of the children every year, to the homemade bows and gingerbread men we made the first year we bought our tree, but didn't have money to buy ornaments. After all these years, most of the gingerbread men are missing an arm or leg, and the bows have long been smashed and misshapen, but the kids still insist on putting them on the tree.

Since I have a large family, every year I get new ornaments the kids make at school. My favorites are the ones that include their picture on them, that way I can remember which year they were made and which child gave them to me. In fact, the angel on the top of our tree, was made by one of the kids in school. It is made from a paper plate folded in the shape of an angel. Over the years, I've debated about buying a fancy angel for the top, but I can't stand the thought of replacing that paper plate angel.

We also have many ornaments we've made doing the Christmas activity that comes in the Friend magazine each year. There are cutouts of shepherds, sheep, Mary, Joseph, and the Baby Jesus. We have popsicle stick mangers covered with hay, and candy canes made from twisted pipe cleaners.

While trimming the tree, our time is spent listening to the kids saying, remember when . . . or I made this one in 3rd grade . . . and this one I got the year we went to grandmas. Each ornament has a special memory attached to it, and listening to the kids recount them each year is one of the best parts of Christmas.

Now, this blog is supposed to be about scrapbooking. So, here's my idea. This year, as your children recount the story of each ornament, write them down. Take pictures while you trim the tree. You can even take closeups of the ornaments, and then write the story of each one. It will give you something to look back on when your children are no longer around to tell you the stories. It would make a great Christmas gift to give your grown-up children, so they can share it with their own children and say, I remember when . . .

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File Folder Albums

I was looking around on the internet the other day, looking for something new I could share with you. On the Two Peas in a Pod website, I ran across a project which I think is totally ingenious and very cool—File Folder Albums. Be sure to go to the link and check it out. You can look inside the above album and see all the pages. It's totally amazing!

Basically, you take several file folders, 3-hole punch them, and then use the fronts, backs, and insides as your scrapbook pages. The really useful thing is you can also label the pages on the file folder tab that sticks out.

I haven’t made one yet, but I’ve got tons of ideas and can’t wait to get started. It would be perfect for a scrapbooking Calendar. Turn the file folders horizontally. On the inside of each folder, print a simple calendar and attach it to the bottom. Then decorate the inside top with the name of the month and a scrapbooking layout including pictures, journaling, quotes or anything you want.

You could either decorate the outsides of the file folder now or save them for later, decorating them with photos of activities you participated in that month. If you don’t want them plain in the meantime, you could cover them in a patterned paper applicable to the monthly theme, which you will use later for the background of your layout. If you don’t like the Calendar idea, you could still use twelve file folders, label the tabs with each month and just create scrapbook pages for each month of the year.

These would be a super fun activities for kids. They could make them as a memento of the school year, including their favorite artwork and assignments they are particularly proud of. Of course, being a writer, I’d encourage you to include a sample of their writing. It is fun to look back at their handwriting as well as the way they put words together.

Older kids could create one file folder for each of their friends, put their name on the tab, and create layouts about their friend and fun things they’ve done together. As a parent, you can use this same idea and create one tab for each child.

It could become a family tradition. Every year after Christmas, together as a family you could create a file folder for that year’s Christmas, including photos taken, family recipes, Christmas cards you received, etc. Then just write the year on the tab and add it to your album.

This brings up the idea of binding. There are many ways you can bind the file folders together. Since you three hold punched them, you could even put them in a hardback binder that has three rings.

Another possibility is to use metal clasp rings that open and close. There are many s sizes available to allow as many folders together as you’d like. There are many fun metal hinges on the market that can be used, or you could simply use ribbon.

Regardless of the type of binding you decide to use, it’s a good idea to reinforce the holes, so the folders don’t eventually tear through. There are clear round stickers made for reinforcing punched holes available at any office supply store. It also helps to glue your paper down before punching the holes, to give one extra layer of reinforcement.

One other binding option, if you aren't creating a very bulky album is to open all the file folders, lay them on top of one another, and using a sturdy sewing machine, stitch several times up and down the spine of the folders.

I’m going to make one of these during Christmas break. I’ll be sure and post some pictures on my blog.

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Altered Art: Clipboards

I've had lots of feedback that people are enjoying the altered art projects I've posted, so I've got another fun one for you today. Did you know you can turn an ordinary clipboard into a work of art and a perfect gift? They make super cool room decorations and are great for simply holding notes.

The first step is to choose a patterned paper or two and then a paint color to match. Lightly sand both sides of the clipboard then paint it using a foam brush. Let it dry well. You can also use crackle compound to give the paint a unique distressed look if you want.

Attach the paper to the clipboard using Mod Podge or another decoupage adhesive. To keep bubbles from forming in the paper, apply a thin coat to the clipboard underneath the paper. Apply the paper then smooth out any bubbles using a flat object, such as a ruler. Add any other flat embellishments you plan to use, the apply a thin coat of Mod Podge over the entire surface of the clipboard and allow it to dry.

Then simply add any three dimensional embellishments, such as metal doo-dads, 3D stickers, paper flowers, buttons, and ribbon, chipboard, etc. There is no limit to how they can be decorated and the many fun uses you can find for them.

Here are a few ideas:

-Decorate only the clipboard and then rotate pictures for variety or change them seasonally.
-Create a Christmas countdown calendar or advent calendar.
-Make a clipboard for a teacher gift. Avoid bulky embellishments so it is still functional.
-Paint with blackboard paint so it can be used as a chalkboard.
-Attach a magnet to the back and hang it on the refrigerator or in a locker.
-Create a Calendar and rotate the picture each month.

As always, the possibilities are endless . . . Have fun!

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