I often stroll around scrapbook supply stores and drool over all of the expensive tools and embellishments that I can’t afford. The exercise is humbling and depressing at the same time. It can also be inspiring if you are naturally creative. After all, not all scrapbook supplies are budget busters. In fact, some of the most unique scrapbook materials can be found in your home… for free. Take a few minutes the next time you are cleaning your home and look for every day items that can be repurposed as scrapbook embellishments. Doing so can save you a ton of … Continue reading →

Awhile back I wrote a two part article on finding cheap scrapbooking supplies in the bathroom. I got a lot of mail from that article from scrapbookers who thought it was cool to find things like that in the bathroom. I promise to add to my findings, as they came along so here is a new location in your home to find cheap scrapbooking supplies – the kitchen. Bread Tab Ties – These little tabs are awesome for embellishing your pages. You can paint them, ink them, distress them, emboss them, stamp on them, alter them with patterned paper and … Continue reading →

You don’t have to waste your scraps of paper or try to figure out a way to work them into your layouts. Now you can just create some cute cards to give your friends and family and use up those paper scraps. So you aren’t wasting a thing. You don’t even have to be a really creative card maker to use them to create cards your friends and family will cherish. Most people treasure hand made cards, and enjoy them much more than a traditional card from the store. To create the layout pictured, I had selected three coordinating sheets … Continue reading →

One of my favorite ways to add my own creativity to a layout, is to create my very own embellishments out of things I have on hand. I am always on the lookout for products at a craft store that can be changed up and used on my layouts in new ways. This particular embellishment is an example of that. I came across a bouquet of silk flowers at the craft store that was marked at .49 clearance. I was shocked since there were about 18 different sized flowers on the bouquet and I could see how easy it would … Continue reading →

It is a proven fact that most scrapbookers seem to have a pretty nice sized stash of paper. This could be because papers are a huge part of the art of scrapbooking. However, it could just be because there are so many beautiful papers out there that we love to use in our albums. Whatever the reason you have a lot of paper, I bet you are looking for ways to stretch the paper as far as it can go. And there are a few tips to make sure you’re getting the most out of your papers. Measure Each Time … Continue reading →

Most scrapbookers feel that no scrapbooking layout is complete without a few embellishments. Whatever those embellishments happen to be is a personal choice, and one to be made as the page is either coming together or planned for. Sometimes scrapbookers are drawn to certain types of embellishments and they appear over and over again on their layouts. This is actually quite common. We have a style and we stick to it. So where do we find something new or different for our pages? You can browse the many aisles of the scrapbook store and with some exception, there is almost … Continue reading →

Most scrapbooker’s choose to use their computer for journaling. This is usually because they do not like their own handwriting. My hope is that you will at least do a few layouts a year in your own handwriting, but at the same time, I also understand the flow and look that only a font has. I’m often asked where I get the fonts for the journaling blocks and titles that are on my scrapbook layouts. There is no set location, but I tend to watch the idea books and magazines for cute fonts and then I look them up or … Continue reading →