Scrapbooking - Lesson 2

Scrapbook Basics:

ADHESIVES

With whole aisles dedicated to adhesives alone in any given store that sells scrapbooking supplies, it is a tough job to decide which adhesives are right for your needs. Here is a rundown of the basics, with a few tips for selecting the best adhesive for the job:

• Glue sticks are great all-purpose adhesives for scrapbooking. They work best on paper; however, they can be messy. Be careful not to transfer glue from your hands to your photos, and be sure your glue stick is acid free.

• Adhesive dots are small, clear sticky dots that you simply peel from a roll and use for just about anything from jewels and buttons to fibers and fabric. They come in different sizes, including pop-up for dimension.

• Glue pens also work well for mixed media like fibers, etc. They’re just what you need for applying glue to tiny accents and hard-to-reach places since many of them have a chisel tip.

• Glue and tape rollers adhere paper and photos without wrinkling them or making a sticky mess. Rollers are a good investment since you can purchase refills and continue using them for as long as you like.

• Mounting tabs and photo stickers are perfect for adhering photos—they’re easy to apply and you don’t have to worry about getting glue on your prints. Many come in a repositionable form so you can move photos around if you change your mind or need to take them out of your album.

• Vellum adhesive is a wonderful creation that allows you to adhere all types of vellum without the adhesive showing through. No more secretly positioning the glue behind a sticker or other embellishment to tack down vellum!

How to mat a photo:

Since photos are the most important items on your pages, you want to make sure they get the emphasis they deserve. The best way to spotlight your photos, especially your favorites, is to mat them. To mat a photo simply means to adhere it to a complementary color of cardstock or other paper, leaving a border around the photo.

Once you’ve decided which photos need that special emphasis, you’ll need to select the right color of paper to mount them on. Here are a few tips for success:

• Try placing the photo on different sheets of paper to see which one complements the photo best.

• Choose a mat color that matches your photo but doesn’t make it fade into the background and doesn’t overwhelm it. A good rule of thumb is to choose a color that brings out a significant color in the photo.

1. Place the photo on the cardstock or other paper.

2. Decide how wide you want the mat to be, and measure and mark the border

3. Trim the mat using a paper trimmer or scissors, and adhere it to the photo.


Photos do not always have to be square or rectangular. Vary the shapes of your photos by selecting to use round or oval shaped photos.

Mat your photos regardless of its shape. Another interesting technique is to double or triple mat your photo using different complimentary colors, and for even more variety, try cutting your paper mat with decorative-edge scissors.




Focal Point:

So how do you go about capturing a special moment on a scrapbook page? One of the best ways is to turn one of your photos into a focal point. A focal point not only tells the "reader" where to begin, but it also immediately conveys the mood or theme of a layout. Before you get started, you need to select a focal-point photo. In general, a photo that is well lit, in focus and vivid works best. If you're not pleased with the quality of your photos, you may need to try several of the techniques listed below, which will help turn those "not-so-hot" photos into great focal points. Read on to learn four easy ways to give your most important photos a little boost.

Size.
In general, large photos make great focal points because they catch the eye first. If you have a photo you especially like, you may want to have the photo developer make it into a larger size. (Note: Photo-imaging machines, like Kodak’s Picture Maker and Fuji’s Aladdin, are wonderful machines that allow you to alter a photo’s size in minutes.)

Matting.
When matting your photo, be sure to select colors that complement your photo rather than overwhelm it. Also, experiment with the sizes of the mats on a focal-point photo.
Try varying the widths of the mat, leaving an uneven mat for journaling, or use patterned paper that supports the general theme of your layout.

Shape.
When matting your focal point, don’t feel limited to the size and shape of the original photo. Call attention to your focal-point photo by adding a contrasting shape. For example, a circular photo on a square mat or oval photos on a rectangular mat are great focal point options. Even silhouettes can make great focal points, although you’ll probably need to mat them to add prominence. (If you do use silhouettes, don’t forget to “ground” them.)

Accents.
Enhancements are an easy way to highlight a focal-point photo – especially if you are dealing with a photo that’s not all that bright or eye-catching. Also, adding enhancements to your focal point is a great way to immediately convey the theme or message of a layout. Just take care that the enhancements don’t overshadow the focal point – remember that your photos should be the stars of the layout.

Make sure that the story your layout tells is the story you want to tell. A focal point is the easiest way to do this. To check yourself, quickly look at a layout, then ask, “What’s the first thing I see on this page?” If it is not your most important photo, take advantage of these four easy techniques.

If you happen to find yourself at a location that does not allow photos to be taken, take a look at the gift shop. Often times they will sell postcards that you could use as photos. For instance, a friend of mine took a tour of the Warner Brothers studio in CA and they didn’t allow photos to be taken on all of their lots. Since she needed some sort of photos for the layout, so I suggested that she use postcards from the gift shop. Good thing she had not mailed them all before we had a chance to talk!

It is a good idea to pick up a few postcards anyway, just in case something happens to your film.

Color
Color is a pragmatic for many scrapbookers. It's hard to know which colors to pull from your pictures, how much is too much and how to use a color wheel.
Step-by-step guide to color selection
1. They say the best way to select colors for your scrapbook page is to pull them from your photos. That's easier said than done. If you're like me, I never know which of the colors in my photos to pick. What do the experts say? I've read two opposite answers for this dilemma. Some say take the dominant color of your photos and use that as your main color. Others say take a non-dominate color and use that. My advice, take a color from the subject you want to focus on and use that as your main color on your scrapbook page.
2. To make a page colorful and balanced you need to keep the number of colors to three on your scrapbook page. Why? Because odd numbers look more balanced than evens. This is a popular design element from interior designers. Too many colors can have an overwhelming effect on your scrapbook pages. When using three colors only use one color as your dominant color and the other two as accents.
3. To help pick your colors and make sure they all balance use a color wheel. Color wheels are a wonderful invention. They make color matching an easy process. To use, place your photo under the different holes in the color wheel until you find the color that matches your pictures. You can also use the color wheel to help define your accent colors. Be sure and add a color wheel to your supplies, it's well worth the money.
With these three simple steps color selection should become a little easier.


Pocket Page Purpose and Design:
Scrapbooking started many years ago, the scrapbooks of yesteryear were called other much simpler names: photo album or baby book. There was no big deal about scrapbooks or scrapbooking. The technology was not available to provide all the papers, were just was their name implied: book of scraps. The scraps contained in these books were much more like scraps of a person's life. Little bits and pieces of where they had been and what they had done.
Just like our ancestors, we each save mementos and memorabilia that mean much to us. We save these items because we know that years down the road, we are going to wish we had them to tell the tale of our life. But often times, we can save so much that we are unsure of what to do with it all! It starts to become increasingly hard to include every bit and piece in our layouts!
One option that scrappers have found is creating pocket pages. Pocket pages serve as a tool, and it is nothing more than a simple pocket that you create on a page in your scrapbook. The pocket is designed to match your layout and then you have a place to put all those birthday cards or vacation maps and brochures, movie tickets, concert tickets, or any type of memorabilia that you manage to collect.
There are many variations for creating a pocket page. I would like to share with you the basics, so that you may be able to adapt them to you own style.
First, you will need two pieces of paper or cardstock, which are the same width. Of course, if you have been working on a birthday layout, for example, you are going to want your pocket page to match the colors and patterns in it, so be sure to keep this in mind. One piece of paper will be used for the "background" and the other piece of paper will but cut in half, and will be used to create the pocket.
At this point, you will want to decorate your pocket and background page any way you wish. You can use stickers, die cuts, and paper piecing, or even creative lettering. The possibilities are endless! After your two pieces are embellished the way you desire, you will need to attach your "pocket" to the background. Remember, when gluing your pocket to the page, you will want to leave the top open and only glue the sides and bottom to your "background" piece.
After your pocket page is complete, you are now ready to place it in your album and fill it with your memories! Now remember, these directions are very basic and there are many other ways to create a pocket page. There are no rules that you must used cardstock or pattern paper -- feel free to try out vellum, fabric or other materials. You may also wish to create smaller pockets on your page, or maybe a pocket that is the actual shape of an item, such as an apple for a school page. The choice is yours -- have fun and experiment!
NOTE: Many items we collect are not archiveally safe or acid free. Newspapers are notorious for yellowing and breaking down over time. There is a solution, it is somewhat expensive so if you are going to collect items for your pocket page you will need “Archival Spray Mist”. Museums use products like this to preserve important documents. Shop around for this item, hopefully you can find it on sale. I know I paid a little more than $40.00, but I teach classes professional.
Here are some links to pocket pages to give you some ideas:
http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/Pocketpages.asp
http://www.scrappershaven.com/creativersity/pocketpages.htm
http://www.wildheartcreations.com/scrapbook/pocketpages/xmascards.html

GET ORGANIZED
If you are a beginner scrapbooker, get organized now before it is too late. If you have been scrapbooking for any length of time, and you are not a naturally organized individual, stop everything and get organized now.
Not being organized will cost you time and money. Scrapbooking is serious business. You as the scrapbooker are the family historian. Most families have budgets, and if you do not get organized you could possibly go bankrupt.
In a previous article we learned how to organize photos, paper and scrapbooking space. Now it's time to organize the embellishments used on our pages. It's very easy for these types of products to become disorganized. When this occurs three things happen: one, they get lost; two, they get ruined; 3, you forget what you have and buy the same product twice. So sit back, grab a drink and get organized.
STICKERS
Organizing stickers can be quite a challenge because of the quantity scrapbookers usually have of this product. To conquer that let's take it in two steps. First, organize the stickers into categories. Stickers are generally organized by theme, but they can be organized based on size or manufacturer. Second, pick a storage system that will work well for all your stickers. The following are some viable storage options.
1. Use old baseball card dividers.
2. There are sticker binders made especially for the various sizes of stickers. Check your local scrapbook store for them.
3. Three-ring binders with page protectors are a great way to organize your stickers.
4. File folders in a box divided by category is a good option.
DIE-CUTS
Organizing die-cuts can be complicated also because of their various sizes. With a little ingenuity a simple storage system can be found. Generally, it's best to organize die-cuts by theme. The following are some inexpensive storage containers.
1. Music or computer cd holders/sleeves.
2. 5 x 7 index card holders with tabbed dividers.
3. Clear expandable 81/2 x 11 envelopes.
4. Three-ring binders with page protectors.
STAMPS
Stamps are becoming the latest embellishments for scrapbooking. Stamps can be extremely versatile, but their various sizes can be a challenge to organzie. Storing your stamps by theme is the best way. Following are some great storage ideas.
1. There are some fabulous products designed by stampers to hold stamps. Check for them at your local craft store.
2. Photo storage boxes are roomy and perfect for holding stamps.
TEMPLATES
Templates have to be the easiest supply to organize. Categorize your shape templates by theme and your letter templates by letter size. Here are some storage ideas.
1. Small embossing templates fit well in cd holders/sleeves.
2. Most templates are hole punched and fit well in three-ring binders.
Getting organized will save you time and money. Be sure and invest a little extra time and get your supplies organized.

Family History Basics
This is a link to an article that I would recommend reading if any of you are trying to trace your family roots. I suggest that it might be easier to copy & paste it into your browser. It just don’t seem like it wants to be “clickable”.
http://msn.ancestry.com/landing/msn/articles/5mistakes.htm?SourceCode=9309&o_xid...

Family History Basics
This is a link to an article that I would recommend if any of you are trying to trace your family roots.
http://msn.ancestry.com/landing/msn/articles/5mistakes.htm?SourceCode=9309&o_xid...