Chalking adds highlights, dimension, color, and character to your scrapbook pages and embellishments. It is long lasting and comes in dozens of colors. You can choose from single and multi-packs or chalk that comes in pencil form or wafers. Chalking is versatile, inexpensive, easy, fun and sometimes messy medium to give your album a professional look. Acid free chalk can be used on die cuts, stamping, cardstock, patterned papers and vellum.

There are no specific tools to apply chalk. You can use the applicator that comes with the set or you can use Q-Tips, cotton balls, make-up brushes or even your fingers. Experiment with what works best for you. A good thing to have is a chalk eraser to fix your mistakes. This should be done as soon as possible because chalk sets quickly. Wipe off excess dust by turning your page over on a paper towel and rubbing the back of your page. It is best if you have a specific area when working with chalk. It can be dusty and very hard to clean up if dropped on flooring such as carpet.

You can use chalk to fill in or outline a stencil template or create just the right color for photo mats, embellishments and ribbons. Chalking also adds soft colors and shading to borders and backgrounds. When chalking large areas it is a good idea to prep the area by choosing a color chalk that closely matches the color of your paper. This way there are no obvious lines and your colors will blend easily. Prepping will lighten the detail layers so you might want to use darker colors than the ones you want. Add finishing touches with pen work. Experiment and have fun!

Article Source: http://www.scrapventurearticles.com

Vera Raposo has been scrapbooking since her oldest child was 5. With tons of scrapbooking tips and ideas, Vera is now sharing some of her best scrapbooking ideas on her radio show at www.ScrappersTalkRadio.com.

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One-page layouts work well for busy scrapbookers. When you do one page at a time, you will have more time to complete the scrapbook and then have plenty of time to clean up. One-page layouts also have a sense of intimacy because the pictures are placed closely together on the page, along with the journaling and embellishments. You will have an album that is full and complete bursting with color and pictures. Because the layout is smaller, this is also often an easier option for beginning layout designers or for crafters who do not have a large workspace to spread out two pages at a time.

Two-page layouts, on the other hand, create an album that is more spacious. If you have a lot of pictures then it will be almost impossible to put all the pictures on one page. You can split them up over multiple layouts; however, by creating a two-page layout, you give the pictures a sense of togetherness. You will want to spread out the pictures over three or four pages and carry a theme to each page so that there is a consistent design. Two-page layouts also work well when you have a few pictures that cannot be cropped and will therefore not fit onto one page. When you do a larger layout you will be able to place everything you want in the pictures and have plenty of room for writing or doodling.

Either way that you scrapbook, there are disadvantages. You may not want to use just one of the ways exclusively. When it comes to a one page layout you won’t have to worry about having the paper to coordinate into two pages, however, the album may seem to be disconnected as a whole. Meaning, if you have one page of something and one page of another thing, it just won’t flow. You will want to choose the best options for you so that you can make a great scrapbook. You will find that when you have some patience, you will be able to give the pictures a good way to display them so that it all look interesting and fun.

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As a homeschooling mom of 4 girls, scrapbooking for kids has been on my mind alot lately. Let me back up a bit. My 4 year old was quietly playing one day with a roll of stickers. Afraid I was going to later find a bunch of stickers caught in the carpet, I asked her what she intended to do with them. She pondered for awhile and then said, “I am going to put them in a scrapbook. Mom, can I have my own scrapbook?” For some reason, this caught me by surprise, as I thought how wonderful of an experience this could be! So, I started thinking about it more and have come up with some tips and ideas to share with you on scrapbooking for kids.

First of all, I will admit, I am cheap! I wasn’t sure how excited I would be at the thought of my 4 year old and her sisters cutting up my beautiful papers and glueing everything down in sight! I immediately thought of our local dollar store. They have albums that would be perfect for showcasing their creations in for the time being. The dollar store also offers scrapbooking supplies in the form of kits, stickers and embellishments. We have a reward system in place, where the girls can earn a trip to the dollar store to purchase their own scrapbooking supplies to do with as they please. This alleviates the desire to “mess” with my stash while instilling a sense of responsiblity to earn thier reward!

Here are a few more “scrapbooking for kids” cost saving tips:

Have too many pictures to scrap? Let the kids scrap the leftovers.
When developing photos, get double prints. Let the kids scrap with the doubles.
When you complete a project, put the leftovers and unused scraps in a container for them to use. They can create their own embellishments with the scraps. You will be amazed at what they can create!
One thing I do want to mention, when you scrap for the first time with your children, be prepared to help and guide them. Don’t expect to get much done on your own pages until they start to get a feel for what they want to do and accomplish in their own scrapbooks. Now that they are ready to scrap, what should they scrap? Here are a few scrapbooking for kids layout ideas:

Have them scrap a page all about their favorite things at that particular age. (then repeat it for each year and see how their favorites have changed or stayed the same)
Have your kids scrap about their favorite activities or sporting events they are involved in. I’m sure you have plenty of photos!
Turn it into a learning experience and have them interview the subject of the photo. This would be great for older generations.
If there aren’t enough photos, have them draw pictures of people. Then watch how their drawings progress. Each one of my girls have a specific style of how they draw family members. It is interesting and fun to look at.
What about incorporating their artwork and creations? I am very blessed to get cards, pictures and artwork on an almost daily basis from my girls. But what do you do with all of them? Here are a few ideas:

Hang on the refrigerator for all to see. Then once the fridge is full, take a picture of your child in front of their artwork and scrap the photo. You can also incorporate their artwork into the layout.
Color copy and reduce the drawings/projects and use as photos in your layout or as embellishments.
Are you near the end of a roll of film? Use up those last couple of shots of your child’s artwork.
Use pocket pages to “hold” your child’s artwork.
Create a “brag” book and give to grandparents or other family members as a special gift!
Even though I can be anal at times, I still want to incorporate my girls work into my scrapbooks as well. Afterall, they aren’t really my scrapbooks but for all to enjoy! Here are a few “scrapbooking for kids” ideas:

Use child’s drawings as a background paper.
Use their creations as embellishments. You’ll be amazed at what they can create with some paper, scissors and adhesive!
Interview them. Ask them questions about the photo, layout, their mood. This would make for some awesome journaling!
I hope the above tips will give you some ideas on scrapbooking for kids!

Article Source: http://www.scrapventurearticles.com

Dawn Stegall is a homeschooling mom of 4 girls and owns www.FaithfullyYours.net a site dedicated to scrapbooking your faith!

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Unless someone has experienced the entire adoption process firsthand, no one can truly appreciate what is involved in this long haul. Some couples know right from the start that they will adopt. Others however don’t begin the application process until after years of disappointment. Either way, the end result – a beautiful child – makes the journey all worthwhile.

The gift of a loving family is an immeasurable reward to treasure; but can you think of a more precious material gift to give you child than the entire “birth process” documented in the form of a scrapbook? Once he/she is old enough to appreciate it, this scrap book will be examined time and time again. Start with a heart-felt letter of how much you deeply desired to grow your family; write about the anticipation and the prayers as you waited, and waited some more.

Detail accounts of the application process, the background check, and the home visit. Mark your shopping trips for bedroom furniture and a new wardrobe with photos of the occasions. If it’s an international adoption, do a section in your scrapbook on the country of origin. You may want to celebrate the heritage of your child so add thorough detail about the birth country.

An adoption scrapbook is similar to a baby brag book, only it reflects more on the journey, not the end result. It is much like a pregnancy scrapbook. You want to include milestones, victories and disappointments. Any parent of adult children knows the timeline from diapers to graduation goes far too quickly. And while you are convinced you’ll remember every detail about the adoption process, the truth is you simply can’t remember it all.

The homecoming will be the most memorable event in the entire adoption process. The day you’ve been waiting for – in many cases, waiting for years, will finally come to fruition. It will be a banner celebration – marked by friends and family, balloons and signage and most of all – lots of joy. Be sure to capture this joyous occasion with countless photos. Not that I needed to tell any proud parent to remember to take photos!

The welcome home celebration will be the final chapter to your Adoption Scrapbook. What may have started out as anticipation filled frustration will be completed with pure bliss. Memorialize this event!

Article Source: http://www.scrapventurearticles.com

Vera Raposo is the Scrapper’s Business Coach. Sign up for her personal mailing list at www.VeraRaposo.com and get tips and resources to help all of your scrap ventures succeed.

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(We would love to give you a journaling-tip to help you along…..)

Journals are a great way to keep track of dates, places, and events that you wish to include in your scrapbooks. You can use a special notebook, PDA, or a calendar to keep track of your scrapbooking ideas.

A journal is also a wonderful way to remember special times in the lives of your friends and family. Amusing thoughts and sentimental feelings can be recorded in your journal to give you ideas for captioning and titles in your scrapbooks.

It is important to keep your journal current. This will save you a lot of time when creating your scrapbook pages. You can write the dates and times of family outings and special occasions such as visits to the zoo, visits from grandparents and other relatives, and make notes as to what each person experienced during these times.

Scrapbooks are more than simple photo albums. They are a chronological history of the places and people that shape our lives.

A journal can keep new scrapbooking ideas fresh in your mind and help you keep your supplies and materials organized.

You do not have to write detailed accounts of every minute of your life in your journal, but instead interesting thoughts and occurrences that will make exciting additions to your scrapbooks and keep memories close at hand.

You can use the information kept in your journal to assist you in organizing your photos in regard to dates and places where the photos were taken, a place to jot down new ideas for scrapbooking themes, and help you keep track of ongoing projects. A journal is very helpful to both casual and professional scrapbookers.

Article Source: http://www.scrapventurearticles.com

Vera Raposo has been scrapbooking since her oldest child was 5. With tons of scrapbooking tips and ideas, Vera is now sharing some of her best scrapbooking ideas for your new baby in her newsletter www.baby-scrapbooking.com

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During my pregancy I didn’t really have the desire to have my pregnancy-photos taken, I really wish I would have made more time to get them done.

If you’re anything like me, you’re usually the one holding the camera. Make sure to give the camera to hubbie so he can get the shots you can’t.

Here is what I believe are the best pregnancy-photos that you need to have done. Ok, some may sound a little strange, but believe me you will love looking back on even the silly ones!

Read my list of must have pictures!

Photo #1 Of course the day you found out you were pregnant! There are lots of women who keep the actual pregnancy test… why not take a picture of it and that can go into your pregnancy album?

Photo #2 If you have children…. take a picture of their reaction to the news.

Photo #3 Don’t forget the picture of the surprised daddy!

Photo #4 Get hubbie to take a picture of you calling your family & friends. If you’re having a dinner party to announce the wonderful news, be sure to click away that night.

Photo #5 Get a picture of yourself infront of the doctor’s office on your first visit, even get one with your doctor.

Photo #6 The next time I would bring the camera is when you get to hear the heartbeat for the first time. What a moment to capture! That’s the best moment there is for a mom to be.

Photo #7 Time for some mugshots! Get a nice front shot of yourself, then turn to your side for a profile shot. Do this every month as your pregnancy progresses. Easy to do.

Photo #8 Do you know a friend who can take some pictures of you and your husband? Get some nice shots of your husband with his head on your tummy….putting the music to your tummy…. kissing your tummy…. I could go on and on. Very cute and loving pictures.

Photo #9 Repeat Photo #8, but insert your older children.

Photo #10 Did your older children make something for your baby? Take pictures of them with their proud creations.

Photo #11 Get at least one picture of your doctor measure your belly. This is something that us women do every month with the doctor and it’s so comforting that the baby is growing properly.

Photo #12 Waiting around for an ultrasound? Bring the camera, get a picture of you infront of the hospital. You know they will make you drink a ton of water, so you’re doing the dance anyhow. Bring the camera to keep yourself busy. If there’s no one there with you……you’re in your gown right? Get a nice shot of those swollen feet.

Have fun with your pregnancy-photos! Create your pregnancy album during pregnancy is alot of fun.

Article Source: http://www.scrapventurearticles.com

Vera Raposo has been scrapbooking since her oldest child was 5. With tons of scrapbooking tips and ideas, Vera is now sharing some of her best scrapbooking ideas for your new baby in her newsletter www.baby-scrapbooking.com

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Mini albums are a perfect scrap booking party project. Invite a group of gal pals over for a night of scrapping fun. Tell each one to bring a yummy snack, their left over scraps and bits and 10-15 photographs from a recent event that they’d like to create a brag book about. You pick up a bundle of inexpensive mini albums at the store. They usually come six by six or seven by seven inches and cost just a few dollars.

Have your computer and scanner set up and ready with some card stock by the printer to be able to create text headings for the individual mini album pages or to create a title graphic for the cover if there’s a place for one.

Spread out all of your leftovers and tools and everything your friends brought with them and prepare to have a blast creating from what you have. There isn’t a lot of room for complicated layouts on a mini album page so you should find that you have plenty of material to work with.

It’s like a treasure hunt to explore all of the little bits that others have been saving for just the right little project. Ask the women to share stories about the original projects these leftovers came from, this out to spark some really interesting conversation.

Creativity seems to pour out when you get together in a group to do something like this. Watching each other’s ideas take shape is fun and inspiring. This is also a great opportunity to introduce a friend to scrapping for the first time. She can experience the process, get ideas and not have to have spent a lot of money on supplies in advance.

A mini albums party lets you create some fun new memories while you celebrate older memories and friendships at the same time.

Article Source: http://www.scrapventurearticles.com

Vera Raposo is the Scrapper’s Business Coach. Sign up for her personal mailing list at www.VeraRaposo.com and get tips and resources to help all of your scrap ventures succeed.

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I like to begin by creating a title for each page. You can be plain with the way that you create the journaling for each page like what the party was for or you can get funny or think about something heartfelt to write. Think of your page as a story and then name it. Use big bold letters for the title to draw attention to it, but make sure it does not overwhelm the most important elements of the page – the pictures.

Each picture on your page should have a few words as a caption. You will want to name the people in the pictures or the places that can be seen in the background. This is because you may not be able to remember where the pictures came from or who certain people are years and years down the road. Others who do not know all of your friends will also benefit from these labels. You also want to think about captions as a small element on a page and you may only want to use a caption occasionally and not put a caption on every picture.

You will also want to include text into your page design. I like to keep this text around the same size as the smallest photograph, but of course this depends on the page layout. Many pre-made layouts will already include a space for text. Use this element of the design to record the “story” behind the pictures. Think about it in a way like you would when you look back with a friend. Like what would you say to the friend or what would the friend say to you? All of this information is readily forgotten, so it is important to jot down a few words on a piece of notebook paper and save it with your photographs if you think that you won’t get the chance to create your pages right away. Time just seems to blend the years together. Very few people can remember everything they did by date, but if you include a date or time you will be able to preserve the memories.

Occasionally you may forget your camera at an important event, lose your pictures, or not be allowed to use a camera in the space. Even if you went somewhere and you didn’t take pictures, you can still document that part of your life by using the scrapbook to document. These pages will be mostly journaling. Use descriptive words to take the place of the photographs.

For those who have a fear of using their handwriting to journal, you don’t have to worry because you can use letter stickers and cutouts to help you to journal. However, when you use your own handwriting, even if it is bad, you can use the handwriting to give it some character. However, you can also use your computer to print out some journaling elements on each page. You will want to choose some way of journaling that will allow you to scrapbook in a dramatic way and help create a wonderful album.

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If you are creating a photo album for your baby for the first time, or
are unsure where to begin in creating a scrapbook of your baby’s first
year, here are some tips to make it quick and easy to preserve your
photos and memories:

Rather than including every photo you take of your baby, organize your
pictures according to the month they were taken and chose a few of your
favorites from each month.

You can make single page or several pages from each particular month and stage of development without having to spend a large amount of time gluing every single photo into your scrapbook.

Be sure and include birth announcements and baby shower invitations as a special touch.

Keep a notebook or calendar within easy reach to record milestones in
your child’s development. You can then coordinate the events on your
calendar with the month-by-month photos.

It is always a good idea to keep an ongoing journal of special times in your baby’s life so that you can include those moments in your scrapbook. It does not have to be elaborate or detailed, just a few special dates and events that you can include as text next to your pictures.

Include a special folder or sleeve behind each page of your scrapbook
to place the unused photos and mementos. This way you can keep them
within easy reach and add pages to your scrapbook easily at a later time.
Make sure you write the date and place the photos were taken on the
back of the picture or on the folder.

When creating each page of your scrapbook, remember that you can add
extra pages containing amusing notes or special occasions as you see fit.
There is no right or wrong way to make a scrapbook of your baby’s first
year.

Include the photos and events that are the most special to you
and keep extras handy in the event you want to add to your scrapbook
later.

Article Source: http://www.scrapventurearticles.com

Vera Raposo has been scrapbooking since her oldest child was 5. With tons of scrapbooking tips and ideas, Vera is now sharing some of her best scrapbooking ideas on her radio show at www.ScrappersTalkRadio.com.

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The brag book is the scrap booking enthusiasts answer to what to do with all those left over bits and scraps from other projects. Brag books aren’t just for showing of babies either. They can be used to tell a story about trip, event or even a special accomplishment.

Even on a short weekend trip, a scrapper develops a habit of saving small mementos from just about everywhere that she goes. She pockets a matchbook, napkin or paper coaster from a restaurant. The plastic room key from a hotel does not get dropped back off at the counter. Parking stickers and pay stubs all make it into her purse.

Then later when she has photographs printed and ready to scrap from her weekend away, she has fun scrap elements from all of those places to work into her brag book. And when she is finished, she doesn’t have to just tell all her friends about her trip – she can show them.

Train your kids when they go to summer camp to do the same thing. Give them a supply of disposable cameras to fill up with memories. Tell them you want everything that they create and every ribbon that they win brought back home with them and to keep an eye out for other keepsakes that they would be allowed to pack away. A bunk assignment list gives them a lifelong reminder of the kids they shared space with.

Many couples take photographs as they remodel their home or redesign a room. Keep snips of the old curtains and furniture fabric to use with ‘before’ layouts. Even old
sun-faded pictures can be pirated for a wistful background to represent days gone by.

A brag book is perfect for those scrapping stories that deserve more than a single page but just aren’t big enough to fill a whole scrapbook on its own. They have wonderful pass around value and they’re small enough to ship inexpensively so they make a great gift for friends far away.

Article Source: http://www.scrapventurearticles.com

Vera Raposo is the Scrapper’s Business Coach. Sign up for her personal mailing list at www.VeraRaposo.com and get tips and resources to help all of your scrap ventures succeed.

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