Tips and Techniques

Keep your papers in a binder with each colour in a separate page protector. This allows you easy access to your paper "stash" and lets you find the perfect shade at a glance. It also keeps your papers neat and clean and prevents bent corners!
~ submitted by Lisa A.

When you are having trouble deciding on colours for a layout, turn to quilting books for inspiration. They are also a great resource for border/page accent ideas and working with different shapes. You never know where you'll find your scrapbooking ideas! ~ submitted by Lisa A.

To avoid unwanted smudges and marks on paper, wash your hands before you begin to scrapbook. Seems silly, but you will be amazed at the marks fingers can leave. ( Which also translates to: be careful what you snack on while scrapbooking.) Have a baby wipe or wet cloth close if you need to.

Quick easy storage for going to classes - a video case ( cheap at the dollar store) is a great thing to hold basics such as: marker, scissors, adhesive, pencil, ruler and eraser. It is a great size to simply pop into your purse. Just grab your trimmer and you are ready to go.

Do not toss out film canisters! (Often, if you want more, photo developers are more than happy to give them away.) They can be a great storage solution for all those little items, eyelets, brads, buttons, fiber, walnut ink, punchies, sand, glitter...the list is endless.

Keep a small note book in your handbag to record the supplies that you have. This will ensure you will not make duplicate purchases of punches, pens, eyelet shapes or colors, idea books, and magazine issues. You can even keep track of cardstock you have on hand ( we all know we have LOADS!) This is also a great place to jot down ideas for pages that you see on your shopping adventures.

Quick pages - it can happen if you take a little time to pre plan. When you arrive home with your photos, sort them, put them into a page protector, then add stickers, paper and a few notes for journaling. That way when you have some time to scrap all you have to do is pull the stuff out of the page protector and go for it. No more sorting through paper and stickers and photos when you are ready to crop.

Scrapbook with a friend. I find it is always more motivational to do this, I get more done, get great ideas and feel like I have had a night out, to boot.

Put your scrapbook magazines in the bathroom....Face it, some days that is the only time we get a few minutes to ourselves. ( Put a note pad in there too with a pencil, when you see something inspiring jot it down.) Pretty soon you will have your own creative companion-like volume.

Inspiration is everywhere, look at adds in magazines, not just Scrapbook ones. A great ad layout could inspire a great page layout.

Set aside time each week to scrapbook, if we do not make the time, the time gets away then we have no pages either...

Get more life out of you personal paper trimmer ( Fiskars) by turning your blade around. We all have a favorite position to use our trimmer in, so one side of the blade gets duller faster. Flip it and get twice the mileage out of the blade!

Cup hooks on a wall of a scrap area are great little things to hang scissors & tools.

Do not toss out paper scraps, with collage being so hot all those little bits can be put to good use. They're also great for punches, or card making. This would apply to fiber and ribbon as well; a couple of inches may work wonders on a smaller project. Store your scraps monochromaticly in zip lock bags. ie: one bag for blue, one for reds. One for blue patterns, one for red patterns. etc. A white lable on the front of the bag is all the ID it needs.

For a non-transportable means of storing small embellishments, try egg cartons. This will only work if you have a designated work space to leave your projects out. This will be a mess if you try to transport, but will be cheap and great at home.

Baby wipes that are alcohol free are a great way to clean off most rubberstamps. Avoid alchohol based wipes as they will dry out the rubber on the stamps.

If you want to use a sticker on a pop dot and do not want the back to be sticky, brush with cornstarch or baby powder. This is great for dimentional looking projects, where the sticker does not need to stick to the layer below.

Always have a dictionary in your scrapbooking bag. ( A thesaurus is a good idea too.)

Try using chalks with different applicators. You will get different looks, different intensities. Add water for a unique look, too.

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