Scrapropos

It was all about the white background back when I started scrapbooking eleven years ago. Creative Memories taught us to back a few photos with paper, place stickers here and there and add a lot of journaling. This was all done on the plain white Creative Memories album inserts. My technique has changed over the years as the scrapbooking industry has introduced new products and styles of creating layouts. “I’ve come a long way baby!�

Would I go back and redo the pages I created back then? Absolutely not! It is too much fun seeing the progression my scrapbooking style has taken. Can I replicate any of the techniques I utilized as a newbie scrapbooker? Why not? Here is the question I posed to myself for this week’s challenge. What I came up with was creating a page on a white background. It is something, as I look through more recent albums, that I seem to have avoided doing for years now.

Are you with me? Grab a white sheet of cardstock and a few pictures and see where it takes you. Here is the layout I came up with:

I simply die-cut my title, backed my pictures and added rub-ons to provide a whimsical style to the page. This set of rub-ons included the jewels that you see I’ve added to the layout.

I’m happy with the page, as simple as it is. The white background truly allows the pictures to pop off of the page. I may just have to try this technique again. Let me know how it works out for you.

Something we scrapbookers create for most of our layouts are titles. They’re the anchor that ties our pages together and gives the reader an idea of the theme we are looking to express. In my scrapbook room you will find a plethora of supplies for making a variety of titles on my pages. From sticker letters in every shape, size and color to letter stamps that are wood-mounted, foam or clear acrylic. These are the scrapbooking supplies I never feel guilty buying since they are used so often.

The technique I would like to feature today is using foam stamps to create a title. I prefer to use paints with my foam stamps and the process is quite simple. The following layout, “SNOW�, uses this technique:

Here’s how to create a similar title on your next layout:

1. Use an inexpensive foam paint brush to apply the paint of your choice to the stamp. I find this type of brush provides a more even coverage and avoids having brush strokes. Of course if you are looking for a “rougher� look then you may want to use a regular paint brush and get those “brush strokes�. Apply a thin even coat of paint on the stamp for best results and stamp on the cardstock of your choice.

2. Allow the paint to dry and then cut out the cardstock around each letter in various geometric shapes.

3. Accent the edges of the cardstock with the same paint to add extra dimension to the title and allow to dry.

4. Matte the geometric shapes in coordinating cardstock.

5. Provide even more dimension by adding metal letter brads to the lower right hand corner of each letter shape.

6. Tie pieces of ribbon and add to the top of each with a glue dot. The ribbon I chose went along with the theme of the layout, but you could use plain ribbon as well

Heritage: Characteristics, traits and monetary gain of a family passed down from one generation to the next.

As a scrapbooker, you are chronicling your family’s heritage, telling the stories so that future generations will understand from whom they came. There is nothing more frustrating then looking at an old photo and not knowing who the people are, what there story is or when the photo was taken. Hopefully you are preventing that by journaling in your own scrapbooks.

On my last visit home I gathered up a bunch of old photographs, some over 100 years old, and decided to undertake the task of scrapbooking them. First of all they need to be placed in an acid-free environment, and secondly they need their stories told.

Luckily our family has quite a lot of genealogical information. My mom and I spent a lot of time when I was younger looking through microfilm of newspapers and birth/death records tracing our ancestors. They are special times I’ll always remember, and we have some excellent documentation to show for our time and effort. My dad’s history on his father’s side has been traced back hundreds of years from a relative in Holland. But there is much history that has been lost and so many stories that unfortunately can no longer be told.

Finally, after six months, I’m getting started on the project. Do we put these things off because we think they have to be perfect and it is beyond us?

Below is my first effort:

This is my grandparents on their wedding day (my dad’s parents). I searched their hometown’s newspaper on microfilm at the library and was able to find their wedding announcement dated June 30, 1932. It provided a great deal of information including specifically what my grandmother’s attendant’s were wearing so that I could identify them in the photo. Sadly, at this time there are two people I am unable to identify, though I will continue digging for information. For now they are identified with a question mark.

I will continue to work my way through my heritage photos and will share that journey with you. If you are working on a similar project and would like to share your process and layout ideas please email me at annl101@msn.com.

For many people today was a day of rest and relaxation, a well-deserved extra day off of work. Memorial Weekend to many means the kick-off to summer, but it has so much more meaning then that. Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service. I can’t think of better people to stop and say a prayer for, earnestly thank, and honor on this special day.

Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day because it was time set aside to honor the nation’s Civil War dead by decorating their graves. So what “is” Memorial Day? I found a great answer to that question on the web and you can check it out here thanks to Bobby Ross.

So what kind of layout can you do to commemorate this special holiday?

They tie up pretty packages, they beautifully adorn a little girl’s hair, and sometimes they represent a cause you believe in. Ribbons have been used in so many ways for so many years. They come in every color under the sun, in just as many materials, and now in themes from apples to zoos.

So today’s Weekly Wednesday Challenge is to use some ribbon on a layout!

Use ribbon as an accent on a border strip.

Ribbon is not just for girl’s anymore. I found some great dog-themed ribbon and featured it in a layout with my husband and our dog Buddy. I used to the ribbon to accent a border strip. To make a knot in the ribbon simply tie the two loose ends together, snip about 3 inches from the knotted portion, and place on your page.

Accent your titles with ribbon.

Ribbon looks great tied around or stapled to large letters in your page titles. It’s the perfect touch to add a little dimension to your page. You can use it with chipboard, die cut letters, or even tied on to a clip and attached to your journaling box. On the above layout I’ve also used it to tie my two patterned papers together as a “border” of sorts. With two heavily patterned papers it works well to use a coordinating solid colored ribbon to give them a bit of separation.

Use ribbon scraps as a fun accent on your page.

If you love ribbon as much as I do (I have 5 glass jars filled with it) then you may end up having a lot of ribbon “scraps”. Short pieces of ribbon should not be thrown away as they make great page accents. In the layout above I’ve used multiple ribbons to accent my focal photo. Find pieces of ribbon that coordinate with the colors of your layout. Fold them in half and glue them down the edge of your focal photo. This adds a fun, whimsical and dimensional look to your layout.

Ribbon is an inexpensive page accent, and something many crafters already have laying around from other projects. Most scrapbook stores sell ribbon by the yard, generally well under $1. So next time you’re shopping around for scrapbooking supplies, don’t forget to hit the ribbon aisle.

In the fashion world we hear about those “classic pieces” that never go out of style. In the scrapbooking world we have some “classic techniques” that are just as timeless, and still look as great today as when they were introduced ten years ago. Color blocking is one such technique that was all the rage and still produces classic, clean layouts.

Color blocking is basically using a variety of papers to create “quadrants” on your page. You can use plain colored card-stock or coordinating patterned papers. Back in the day there were color blocking templates with all different size quadrants, but it is quite simple to create your own pattern. Let your photos be your guide.

One reason I love color blocking is that it gives me the opportunity to use up some of my scrap paper. I just look for patterns that coordinate well with each other and with my pictures. Color blocking is also great when you come across a line that has highly patterned papers and you want to figure out how to “mix and match” them.

Here are some sample layouts using color-blocking techniques:

Layout #1
This is a simple color-blocking design using coordinating papers from SEI.

It’s only appropriate, though a bit late, to honor this special day for Mothers with a Mom-themed scrapbook page. Whether or not you are a mother, have a special mother, or have someone “like a mother” in your life, take some time to scrapbook about it. Here are some ideas for creating your own “Mother’s Day” layout…