Xin Nian Kuai Le! Happy Chinese New Year. The Year of the Dragon, the most powerful sign in the Chinese zodiac, kicks off on January 23rd. For 15 days you will be able to commemorate the popular holiday at massive public festivals complete with parades and firework displays. Whether you are planning to take part in city-wide celebrations or you’re keeping it simple by hosting your own Chinese New Year party, you’ll want to document the festivities and add them to your scrapbook. Fortunately, there are many amazing Asian-themed digital scrapbooking elements that can help embellish your Chinese New Year … Continue reading →

In just about 48 hours we will close the book on 2011. However, before you make like Wal-Mart and start working on Valentine’s Day preps, now is a good time to look back on the year that was. Creating year in review layouts is a tradition for me. I love selecting memorable moments from the last 365 days and putting them together in a classic page design. Since the passage of time is a vital part of any New Year’s celebration, consider using time-related embellishments in your layout. For example, I recently printed out an image of a large clock … Continue reading →

Now that most of the Christmas commotion has died down and out-of-town guests have vacated your home, it may be a good time to collect your thoughts for your holiday scrapbook. After a whirlwind of cooking, cleaning, wrapping and caroling, it’s nice to reflect on the memorable moments of the holiday and look ahead to the New Year. While some people find journaling to be an intimidating proposition, scrapbooks really benefit from unique perspectives. You will find that a layout can only be enhanced when you include your thoughts or commentary on certain events and photos. If you are struggling … Continue reading →

My 7-year-old is obsessed with those plastic New Year’s Eve party poppers. Pull a little string and you’re treated to an explosion of paper confetti and a computer-generated fortune–depending on where the favors were made. The ones my daughter has been playing with were clearly made in China… but I digress. When it comes to making your New Year’s scrapbook layout pop, consider adding bits of wisdom and inspiration from your favorite celebrities. For example: “Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.” –Oprah Winfrey “An optimist stays up until midnight to see the … Continue reading →

Typically, I don’t design New Year’s Eve layouts until at least the third month of the following year. I guess I should resolve to get my page designs done quicker. Still, a little procrastination doesn’t have to compromise a festive holiday layout. As long as you can execute your theme with eye-popping embellishments and meaningful content, you shouldn’t fret about when the final product is revealed. This year I have big plans for my New Year’s Eve scrapbook layouts. For the first time ever I am planning to create a time capsule page. I got the idea at a scrapbooking … Continue reading →

I just spent an hour going through the Christmas photos I snapped earlier this morning. My goal was to select about a dozen or so to email to my mom in Hawaii, as she is trying to finish a year in review scrapbook and needs shots of the grandkids opening their presents. The rest of the photos will be featured in my holiday-themed layouts, which will be dramatically less elaborate than my mother’s page designs. Unlike my mom, I didn’t go wild buying a ton of new Christmas embellishments this year. Whereas I plan to look for scrapbook supply deals … Continue reading →

Christmas Eve is here. While it’s easy to get caught up in the celebratory madness, if you are planning to scrapbook the holiday, you want to remember to document the festivities. Grab your camera and snap your family and friends partaking in holiday traditions, including sipping hot chocolate by an open fire or baking cookies to leave out for Santa. If you are planning to make a massive holiday meal, preserve the recipes to add to a recipe scrapbook or at the very least, place the directions in a journaling block along with photos of the finished products and shots … Continue reading →

Unless you are purchasing a gift for a fellow crafter or you absolutely have to have a holiday-themed memory album complete by Sunday, I would avoid purchasing Christmas-themed scrapbooking embellishments in the next 48 hours. Rather, if you wait until next week, you will be able to score great deals at post-holiday sales. There is no shortage of holiday-themed scrapbooking supplies on the market right now. However, these products can often be very expensive. If you’re a frugal scrapbooked, you’ll wait to stock up on seasonal goods when they go on sale. You can stretch your scrapbooking dollar even further … Continue reading →

Don’t blow your budget buying every seasonal scrapbooking embellishment you lay your eyes on. While the fantastically festive items are tempting to purchase, you can find slews of holiday-themed scrapbooking supplies for practically nothing if you simply take the time to surf the World Wide Web. For example, several websites offer free Christmas fonts for use on holiday layouts. Check out Fonts and Things, The Holiday Spot, Font River, Font Space and 1001 Free Fonts, and then use them to design your own customized Christmas scrapbook paper. You can either repeat a saying or quote in the font of your … Continue reading →

T-minus five days until Santa sets out on his annual gift-giving all-nighter. By now your halls should be decked and ready for loved ones to share in the holiday merriment. If you are planning to document the upcoming seasonal celebrations in a scrapbook, now is the time to make your list and check it twice. Make sure your camera has extra batteries and an empty memory card, so you don’t have to worry about missing any of the magical moments. Also, have a pen and pad ready to document funny anecdotes that abound when you have multiple generations of family … Continue reading →