Scrappy Saturday….

Great news – I am actually posting this on time & the right day!!!!

Today, we will discuss tips on how to organise your photos.  These are my tips & how I like to organise my photos – everyone is different & you have to find the right system which suit you.

Organising your Photos –

The experts will always tell you to start from the most current event. This way it will be much easier & you will not feel so overwhelmed with all the photos in front of you. I am no expert by a longshot, but do agree with this.

I have what I call “A Working Album”. This is an album where I have my photos, papers, embellishments, etc altogether in a 12” x 12” plastic sleeve, including a rough sketch layout, so that when I am ready to scrap this page, it is all there for me. If I am using stamps to complete my page, I just scribble the name of the stamp set on the sketch page. Once this page is completed, I then transfer it to my current album in order that the event occurred. 
It may sound like a lot of work & double handling, but this system works great for me. Everyone is different & eventually you will have a system which works for you.

I also keep a photo album & put ALL my photos in this album. It is in date order. I do not have separate albums for separate events, etc, although a lot of scrappers do this. I often go through my albums & select a couple of good ones that I think would look nice scrapped. I either enlarge these photos or play with them until I am happy with the size I want to use on a page.   These are the photos that go onto a scrapbook pages & then into Scrapbook Albums.

Another way I have heard & seen people do is to sort photos into groups & store them in envelopes. I would then write on the front of the envelope everything about the photos & may even include a start of a layout if you wanted. I would then put these envelopes into a box & mark the box “Photos ready to be scrapped”.  I used to do this with my negatives, when we had negatives.

Mind you, after not doing any for a couple of years, it was great to go back to my photos & find them all sorted with either all the information I needed to complete the page or even bits of what was ideas forming.  All I have to do is follow through on my ideas.

I even found layouts completed just waiting to have the right photo added to the page.  I don’t do it this way very often as I like to scrap to suit my photos.  In saying that, I do know of a lot of friends who scrap pages they have seen or have done in a class, but I am always wondering if they ever do complete their pages with their photos or are they just sitting in their albums never to be used!!!!

Beginners –
If you are just beginning, I would pick a few photos of a recent event, eg birthday party, wedding, picnic, beach, fishing, kids, etc. The photos you select should be enough to finish 1 or 2 pages. Please remember that you do not have to scrap ALL the photos, only the ones that you want. You can always rearrange your pages at a later date.  Don’t feel overwhelmed, take it slow until such time as you feel you can do more.

Special Occasion –
If you have decided that you are going to do an album for a milestone or gift, eg 50th birthday, 25th wedding anniversary, etc collect a group of photos to start with. For this sort of album, they would be best in order, although again you don’t have to scrap them in order. A good starting point is about 30-40 photos remembering that the album will be double-sided.

My introduction into scrapbooking was a 50th Birthday present & boy did I dive in the deep end!  Even though I had only selected a couple of photos from what I thought were important events in the person’s life, it didn’t help that the person had done so much in the 50 years. What started as 1 album turned into 2 & then 3.  I stopped at 3!!!!!!  That was having 1 or 2 photos of each big event!  I must say at the end of the 18 months, yep 18 months, & after presenting it to the person, I was very happy with the albums, received a lot of lovely comments, but more importantly the person was over the moon with it.

That began my scrapbooking journey!

Since then, I have completed another album for a 50th Wedding Anniversary, numerous albums for different people, including many for myself.

I hope the above information is of help in some way to you.

Now on with today’s sketch & page……

I found a lot of old sketches I had drawn up in an old torn, ripped notedbook which had been packed in a box & out of sight.  I don’t even remember doing any of them but thought they would be great to use before being tossed out. 

Don’t forget, when looking for inspiration, go back through your albums, dig out a layout you really like & reuse, reuse, reuse!!!!   You will be amazed at the difference between the 2 when using new papers, embellishments, stamps, ribbon, etc.

Again this sketch is fairly basic, but it is a good place to start.  Once you know your basic layout & where your photos will go, then it is just a matter of selecting colours, DSP & embellishments to finish your page.

For my page, I went with all the colours in the photos, even though maybe just hints of the colours. I didn’t even consider the colour of the dog – which I just realised but palyed a major factor in the “white” – haha.  For my embellishments, I took the vase of shells on the table that can be seen in one of the photos. 

For my journaling, I just typed it on my PC & printed out!

Supplies –
Stamp Set – Seaside (Retired)
Ink – Crumb Cake
Cardstock – Textured Garden Green, Pear Pizzazz, Bashful Blue, Whisper White
DSP – Afternoon Tea (Retired)
Accessories – Snail Glue, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Chalks
Remember, Scrapbooking is mean to be FUN!!!!!

Scrappy Saturday…

Saturday brings on another scrapbook page.  I am finding that doing it this way, I am really enjoying my scrapbooking & it is going to make getting my pages done a lot quicker.

Of course, having a sketch from Maria helps big time – no thinking of a layout!

I used DSP – Blueberry Crisp for my layout & found this the perfect colours for my photos.

Base – Pacific Point Cardstock – 12″ x 12″
Layer 1 – DSP – 11″ x 11″ – Round corners using Small Corner Punch
Layer 2 – Not Quiet Navy Cardstock – 12″ x 5″
Layer 3 – Very Vanilla Cardstock – 3 1/4″ x 2 3/4″
Layer 4 – Sahara Sand – 3 3/8″ x 2 7/8″
Layer 5 – Photos – 3 1/2″ x 3″
Using Very Vanilla Cardstock, stamp images with Pacific Point, Sahara Sand & Not Quiet Navy Inks
Cut images out & adhere randomly along bottom of layout
Repeat above 2 steps & adhere image to top RH corner of layout
I printed my onto Very Vanilla Cardstock & mounted onto Not Quiet Navy Cardstock.  I also cut an image out & layered at the bottom of my journalling.

Supplies –
Stamp Set – Seaside (Retired)
Inks – Pacific Point, Sahara Sand, Not Quiet Navy
Cardstock – Pacific Point (Textured), Sahara Sand, Not Quiet Navy, Very Vanilla
DSP – Blueberry Crisp
Punches – Corner Small
Accessories – Multipurpose Liquid Glue
Until next time, Enjoy!

Male Card…

G’Day Stampers,
It has been a couple of days since my last post.
This is one of the cards we made Wednesday, using the great & effective Technique – Crayon Resist.  We also stamped off to create the faint shells in the background.
Although it was created for a male, it could easily be a female’s card as well.
Supplies –
Stamp Set – Seaside, Bitty Birthday
Ink – Creamy Carmel, Ballet Blue, StazOn
Cardstock – Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Ballet Blue, Glossy White
Punches – 1 3/8″ Square, 1 1/4″ Square
Accessories – Snail Adhesive, Grosgrain Ribbon – Chocolate Chip, Stamping Sponges, Crayons
Don’t forget, if you would like to learn new techniques, please see the Classes at the top for times & dates.

Until next time, Enjoy!

Shells………….

G’Day Stampers,

An early start this morning…..

After coming home from the beach yesterday arvo & finding this great, but oh so easy sketch  – http://just-add-ink.blogspot.com – decided to add the 2 together & here is my interpretation of the sketch.

The DSP I’ve used looks a little like starfish, so decided to go match it in with the stamp set.

Card –
Supplies –
Stamp Set – Seaside, Bitty Birthday
Ink – Chocolate Chip, Not Quite Navy
Cardstock – Very Vanilla, Not Quiet Navy,
Chocolate Chip
DSP – Bella Bleu
Accessories – Anywhere Glue Stick, Mini Glue Dots
I’ve stamped the greeting from “Bitty Birthday” straight along the strip of Very Vanilla.  It isn’t a straight line, but I wanted it like that, as it sort of reminds me of the waves coming in.
Until next time, Enjoy!

A Couple of Days….

It’s been a couple of days since my last post, but hopefully this card will make up for it.  Yet again another birthday!
Supplies –
Stamp Set – Seaside, Great Friend – “For You”
Ink – Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue
Cardstock – Whisper White, Bashful Blue
Punches – 1 3/8″, 1 1/4″
Accessories – Adhesive Glue, Mat Pack, Chalks
Non-SU – Cuttlebug

I’ve used the cuttlebug to emboss the Whisper White so that it looks a little like small waves.  
Using Chocolate Chip stamp pad, I then chalked the shell using shades of different blue.  Pefore adhereing to the Chocolate Chip, I then pieced 3 corners using my Paper Piecer & Matt Pack.  Great little Tool!
Enjoy
Vicky