One day, I was brushing my pearly whites and thought…

“Huh. That faucet handle is really pretty”.

From there I developed this tutorial featured on FaveCrafts, a site dedicated to developing the crafty crafter in you.

I remember moving into our current home (almost a year ago) and being amazed at how quickly I had forgotten details about our first home…the one we lived in for 7 years. Luckily, there are tons of photos to go back and relive the memories. But the details…did I capture the details?

I read a blog post a while back where the writer encouraged her readers to document the details of their homes…the good, the bad, the ugly. Because those things we walk past every day…they won’t last in our memories forever.

So check it out…there’s lots of room for variation and detailed step-by-step instructions.

Enjoy scrappers!

UPDATE: This video has been moved to the How to Blog: Video Tutor Library. You can purchase it here for $3.

Now what?

The first time you sit down to create your very first page can be an overwhelming experience.  I remember the first page I did 12 years ago. By the looks of it you would never guess it took me 2 hours to create.

Don’t laugh…

I look at that page and, as badly (…I mean…badly) as I want to redo it, I never will. From a design standpoint, its a disaster. From a memory standpoint, its perfection.

It reminds me of those two frustrating hours, sitting on my two-tone, ugly brown carpet in my tiny little apartment while my one baby boy napped, with every scrapbook supply I owned scattered around me. It reminds me of the decorative paper edgers and templates and stickers that were so “in” at the time. They may be “out” now, but to me, its a part of the story…my history.

So how do you start that first page (whether you decide to redo it 5 years later or not)? Here are some tips to get you started.

1. Put your perfectionist self aside! Your page won’t be perfect (whatever that is) now, or next year or ever. Except it. You could spend an endless amount of time tweaking, changing, compairing. Would you rather have imperfect pages in an album for you and your children and your guests to enjoy or nothing at all because you’re too afraid its not going to be perfect? That should be a no brainer, but if you need to, force yourself to get beyond that. Just start. It will get easier each time. (You’re welcome for the mini-counseling session…I’ll bill you later.)
2. Plan your page when you print. Personally, I plan my design around my photos. And its much easier to decide what you’re going to do with the layout when you’re ordering or printing out your photos. Take an event or theme or group of similar photos and decide which ones you want to use (only 4 or 5 per page, tops) Choose one or two to enlarge, print as black and white, or add a photo effect to.
3. Showcase the photos. For me, the photos are the focus of a scrapbook. I tend to use more photos on a layout than I should and rarely do a one photo layout. Pick paper, embellishments, etc. to enhance the centerpiece of the page…the photos. Take into consideration colors, design style, complexity, etc.
4. Decide on your canvas and template. Earlier I talked about starting small. If you do a mini book or a kit it may help to narrow down your choices of layout and elements. Whatever you decide to use, determine your canvas and arrange your elements in a visually pleasing way. Need some help with layout? Try some CK sketches.

   

5. Scraplift (everyone’s doing it…). Ok, that’s corny. But really. Its ok to borrow ideas. You may even set out to totally copy a page you love and end up making changes along the way, ending up with something totally unique and all your own. Its ok to scraplift…as long as you’re not claiming the layout as your own.

So go for it. Create that first layout and don’t stress! Take your time and enjoy it. Its all part of the process fun obsession.

You love looking through your friends scrapbooks and mini albums.

You secretly sneak peaks at the scrapbook store as you drive by.

But how do you get started in the overwhelming world of photos, paper, embellishments, die cuts machines, and more? Knowing where to start and how to coordinate all the different elements can be a challenge.

Here are a few things I would suggest:

1. Pay a visit your local scrapbook store. Online stores like Scrapbook.com, CreatingKeepsakes.com, TwoPeasInABucket.com, and AddictedToScrapbooking.com are great, but the local store is my favorite because you get to touch and feel the products and interact with the customers and staff. A great way to get started is to visit your local store and ask someone for help. That’s what they are there for…use them! And if you have a Michael’s and JoAnn’s in your town, you need to check out the 40% off coupon in the paper, via email and mail.
2. Start small. You don’t have to start with a blank 12×12 album to be a scrapbooker. Start with a mini album or a calendar or a kit (I have a great product to share with you next week!) or a layout to put in a frame. That way, you narrow your choices and a lot of times have design elements prepared for you.
3. Start buying what you like. I have a hard time decorating my house. I’m not good at that kind of spacial planning. I do much better in 2D. But one thing that helps me is to buy only things that I really like, that resonate with me or speak to me is some way. I’ve found that my style usually comes through and it all coordinates when put together. Same with scrapbooking. Find some nice 12×12 paper you like. Chances are it will coordinate with some ribbon or embellishments you buy next month, that you also like. Remember, you don’t need to spend a lot to get started. A few things here and there really adds up.
4. Organize and print those photos. Whether you plan on scrapbooking chronologically, by theme, by child, whatever, get your photos organized and printed. Purchase a handful of photo boxes and start sorting. Throw away the envelopes they came in and use dividers. The best way to use your photos is to have them visible and in some sort of order. For digital photos, use a program like iPhoto or Picasa to categorize them. If you haven’t printed out your digital photos in a while, use Snapfish or Costco to process them. Only print the ones you want to use. More on photo organization to come…
5. Start with now. This was the best piece of advice I got when I started scrapbooking. Don’t try to be a hero and start with your birth pictures. Start with the last special event or your favorite photos of your son or your Project 365 photos. Get started and comfortable with scrapbooking and if you want to go back through old albums, then do that. But don’t get caught up in the trap.
6. Find a group. Find a monthly scrapbook group. There are tons out there, you just have to find them. Call up some local churches and see if they have a group that meets regularly. Check with your local scrapbook store…many times they host weekly crops where you can use their space and shop at the same time, usually for a small fee. Or start your own! Know a few moms who want to get out of the house learn how to scrapbook? Host a monthly girls night out in your home. You’d be surprised what you’ll learn and how quickly it will grow. Getting inspiration, learning how to use new products, sharing ideas…its the best way to learn.

Next week I’ll share with you a great product that can help you get started scrapbooking. And the week after that I’ll share how I plan my layouts.

Stay tuned, cropaholics!

So I came up with an idea to use an origami folding technique to create my Blossom layout. This was the layout I did for the first day of school pictures from this year and I remember thinking as I posed early in the wee hours of that morning how quickly and amazingly my boys are blossoming into young men.

So I thought I’d do a tutorial on how to create the main element of the layout, the origami cherry blossoms.

Was that helpful? Did I talk too fast? If you use the technique, what kind of layout will you do?

Enjoy!

I always have. I don’t know if its poor genetics or poor education way back when (not that I had a poor education, but maybe I was sick that day…). Seems like good handwriting is like good hair, a good singing voice, good hand-eye coordination…you either have it or you’re me.

Anyway, as a scrapbooker, I know I want to leave my mark on my scrapbooks for generations to come. Its a piece of me, however much I detest it, so sometimes I journal in my own pen. Other times I use pretty, fancy fonts.

Here are some resources I’ve come across in search of ways to improve my handwriting and finding and using that perfect font:

Font Capture

I love this and use it in my scrapbooks regularly. It creates a font out of your handwriting and makes it appear much  more uniform and less like chicken scratch.

Tips for Improving Your Handwriting

Turns out, you can improve the handwriting God has (or hasn’t) given you. I found this link several months ago and I see improvement, but I still have a long way to go. PaperPenalia talks about hand position, muscle control and relaxing while your writing.

Font Space

This is a great tool to use to find that perfect font. They have over 12,000 fonts available and what I love about this site is you can see the actual word in recommended fonts. So, if I type “scrapbooking” in the search field, not only will it suggest scrapbooking style fonts, it will show them to me using the word “scrapbooking”. Very cool.

Font Freak

A great resource for finding oodles of fonts.

What The Font

Have you ever seen a font that you just must have but don’t have a clue what it is? Simply scan and upload it to whatthefont.com and it will probably find it for you. This is such a handy tool.

Letter Girl

See the cute button on the right? I found Letter Girl on Etsy and she and I are polar opposites…well, our handwriting is anyway. She is a.mazing. She creates everything from her own handwriting (oh to be her…) and then makes them into stamps for addresses, weddings, gift tags, etc.

What about you? Do you love your handwriting? This post is part of We Are That Family‘s Works for Me Wednesday series. To find other helpful tidbits on everything under the sun, be sure to check out the McLinky.

I hope you enjoyed these video tutorials. And if you have any questions or tips on the Gypsy, please leave a comment!

I also mention the Relative/True Size tool, which truly, I don’t see the need for on the Gypsy. I’m still trying to figure out how this works on the Gypsy and how it relates to the “Real Dial Size” function on the Cricut itself (which I’m still a bit confused about).

I see another tutorial on this coming…

But as to not leave you hanging for now, here is the definition of the Relative/True Size tool from the Gypsy Quick Start Guide:

Click this button to toggle on Relatvie Size mode (white) or True Size mode (yellow). When highlighted white, this feature allows you to control the size of the images selected in relation to the size of the key height character. Every chartridge contains a key height character, and the size of every other character in that cartridge is based on the size of this key character. This is done so that when images are selected to be cut they are the correct size relative to one another. For example, if you enter the images C-a-t to be 1 inch tall, where “C” is the key height character and “a” should be half the height of “C”, then the “a” will really only be half an inch tall. You can control the exact size of all images selected without regard to the key character by toggling the button to True Size mode (yellow).

I’m probably making this harder than it really is, but I’ll do some testing and will get back to you (probably in video tutorial form) and let you know what I find out.

Promise.

So, on to the video…

Any questions? Please feel free to leave a comment on this or any other post. And don’t forget to enter the Gypsy giveaway here (before 1/19/10).

(And a word of warning…please don’t be alarmed by the sudden barking of a certain Chihuahua. He’s harmless…really).

Until next week!