0tinam0 Scrapbooks Galore

I bought Making Memories’ Distressing Kit recently and I’ve been having lots of fun with it. I was using it to antique some pages in a mini-book I was working on and I was very happy with the results. I definitely recommend it, especially if you only do distressing occassionally - but make sure to pick it up when Michael’s has a 50% coupon going!

Making Memories has some great “how-to” videos on YouTube - here’s the one on how to use the kit:

I was at scrap camp last month and I won the geek-of-the-weekend award. Why? ‘Cos I didn’t bring any scrapbooks or paper or stickers or trimmers - just my laptop! I decided to dedicate the weekend to learning StoryBook Creator and doing it while my Creative Memories consultant was around to coach me. I’ve already raved about the program (see below!), so now I’ll just show you some of the results.

This set was done using CM’s Everyday Power Palette and the pre-designed pages. I believe these were the first ones I did.

Much as I used to say I’d never get into digital scrapbooking, well, never say never!

I bought Creative Memories StoryBook Creator and, oh my god, I am forever sold on it! It is so easy to use. Honestly - it’s logical and intuitive (if that isn’t a contradiction in terms!) and incredibly versatile. It’s like they took some of the best features of Photoshop and the other popular apps and merged them into a far more accessible and user-friendly format.

CM’s pre-designed templates let you simply drop in some pics and, voila, you’ve got a great looking page. Or, you can use your own graphics and create a page from scratch. The price is reasonable and the add-on templates from CM won’t break the bank either. And, believe it or not, CM also has tons of free layout templates on their website that you can download!

Say what you like about Creative Memories - they may be slow on the uptake, but once they decide to do something, they do it better than anyone else!

And they’ve finally converted to true 12×12 sizing!

from Scrapbook Life Tips

Bubble Wrap for Stamping

You can create beautiful pages for your scrapbooking with all kinds of material. Take bubble wrap for instance - most people use this product for packaging items so they don’t get damaged. Did you know you could use it for scrapbooking?

All you need is an inkpad or two, scrapbooking paper and a piece of bubble wrap (your desired size).

Load the bubble wrap with ink in the color of your choice and press it firmly onto your cardstock using a twisting motion. You will be left with little circles in various shades.

You can use this for a cute background pattern on baby pages or maybe a “water themed” page. Add variety by using different colors and placing your bubble wrap in various locations on the page.

Bubble wrap stamping is fun, easy and cheap. Once you master this technique yourself it might be something children may enjoy too.

whodathunkit?

Here’s a tip from the good people at Scrapbook Life Tips

Scrapbook Matting Techniques: Attaching Photo Corners

Do you have trouble getting photos and memorabilia on straight when you use photo corners? Here is a scrapbooking technique to make the job easier. Using a pencil, lightly draw on your page where you want the photo to go. Place photo mounts in opposite corners on the item, and place it on the page, using the pencil guide. Then apply photo mounts to the two existing corners. Don´t forget - if you are using lick and stick corners, use a sponge not your saliva. Saliva is acidic.

“Saliva is acidic” ….. lol

Today’s freebie is…

15 Things You NEED to Know to Become a GREAT Digital Scrapbooker from Scrap Girls.

This e-book is basically a big advertisement for the Scrap Girls website, but it does have a lot of good information on the advantages to digital scrapbooking and suggestions and links to software, layouts, etc. It’s also got some great tips on keeping all your layouts and embellishments organized on your hard drive!

And this week’s freebie is…

ScribblesOnline.com Transparencies

Print your own transparencies to use in your scrapbook! Never used them before? No problem - the good people at ScribblesOnline have a how-to guide that explains it all.

There’s a good size collection of transparencies organized by theme - baby, Christmas, wedding, etc - and some of them are just great looking. And you can download and use them all for free!

(yeah, it’s Saturday - don’t bug me )

Today’s freebie is…

Record your Genealogy with a Heritage Scrapbook

This is a neat site that gives you all sorts of tips and techniques for building a heritage scrapbook. From software to links and information on getting census material, vital statistics data and searching newspaper archives, there’s a ton of information here.

The best part of this video is the first 2 minutes or so where the hostess describes how she gets her layouts printed at Costco on 12×18 photo paper sheets. Apparently she uses Photoshop for a lot of her work and then uploads the finished product to Costco’s film developing website and in an hour….voila! Very clever.

I need it!

OK, I know a couple of people read my blog (even if you never comment….. ) - I need some advice. I’m trying to get a few of my scrapbook pages scanned to post here and show the world. (I have a great layout I did a couple of years ago for a nine inch nails show I experienced and I desperately want to share it… hehehe…). But, I am having a heck of a time stitching the 2 halves of the 12 x 12 pages together. I’ve done it before a couple of years (and at least 1 computer before) ago and I cannot for the life of me remember what software I used.

I’ve got Ulead Cool 360, but that seems to always leave blurry sections that I can’t get rid of. I’ve also got Panorama Factory (an old version I think) and it is just a pain in the rear and demands that all the images be exactly the same size before it stitches.

So, please, you pros out there… tell me what software you use and what tricks you know and I don’t!

What I wouldn’t give for a wide bed scanner right now.