Do you have problems deciding on a scrapbooking layout?

Sometimes you just need a jump start!  You have your new scrapbooking packet, the Stamp of the Month, your inks, blocks and you just picked up pictures from the drugstore…. but you find yourself staring at a blank piece of paper and your mind goes blank!

You put the pictures out, but nothing comes to you… Don’t just put it away, I have scrapbook sketches posted every Monday Morning here at Creatively Carol. I call it my Motivational Monday Sketches feature.

We have all been there, and if we don’t infuse some new ideas into our layouts, we end up with all of our scrapbook pages looking alike. This is supposed to be fun, not work so I would like to invite you to come weekly and gather some new ideas for your pages.

Here is today’s Motivational Monday Sketch:  A single scrapbook page with 2- 4″x6″ photos.

Single page scrapbooking sketch

It is human nature to do something over and over when you find that it works for you but it does get boring. It’s okay to do the same scrapbook layout but wouldn’t you just LOVE to be like the professionals or the artists and just come up with a new design on your own?

Keep in mind, your scrapbooking doesn’t have to be perfect, it only has to reflect how you see the photos and how they make you feel.  I try not to scrapbook photos that leave me feeling blaa, but that isn’t always possible. I, too, have pages that are Dragnet journaling… (for those of you who are too young for the Dragnet reference it is… Just the facts ma’am.) If the page answers the who, what, where, when, and why, you have done your job for the next generation.  When you add how you feel about a certain photo, or even better, how the subject was feeling at the time you are helping your reader to get to know the subject a bit better.  I know I look at old photos my grandmother had and wonder what my great grandmother was thinking when she posed for a picture.

Scrapbooking is supposed to be fun and an enjoyable hobby, while at the same time telling the stories of your family and your life. If you are like I am and countless others who have become addicted to scrapbooking, you have many old photos that you need to put in your scrapbooks to preserve them and the sooner the better.

As you work with more and more different layouts and the many, many different ways of embellishing a page, you will gain more experience, more confidence and the Creative Ideas will come more naturally.

Remember, for every finished layout I receive, your name goes into the bucket for the end of the month drawing. I have lots of stamp sets to give away and you will be able to choose from them.

Now, leave a comment below with your thoughts, and then take the sketch and start creating. I will post my interpretation of the sketch later in the week.

6 Reasons To Scrapbook

Do you need a reason to get into scrapbooking?  Here are six reasons to get you started:

  1. It’s a lot of fun.  
  2. Preserve family history for your posterity while introducing your family to future generations. This does so much more than just a family tree!
  3.  A good excuse to go shopping.  Ok, let’s be real. Do you need an excuse to go shopping?  You can shop via my website and never have to venture into the store, and shopping in your jammies is better at home! If you need informtaion on scrapbook adhesives, here is a great post for help.
  4. Get together with friends who love scrapbooking too.  We all need to get back into the world after two years of covid and becoming comfortable with being always at home.  There are other benefits to scrapbooking with friends, you bounce ideas off each other and learn more techniques and ways to look at things. You don’t have to take the advice or suggestion, but sometimes it helps.
  5. scrapbooking with the familyYou can get your children involved and make it a family activity.  My daughter actually introduced me to scrapbooking, and my grandson was very interested in what his mom was doing.I loved how the kids would describe a photo – the perfect journaling!
    6. The scrapbook albums look a lot nicer than shoe boxes full of photos and a lot safer too! Clouds are great for backing up your photos, but no one wants to sit down with you while you look though pictures on your computer together… but sitting together to look through an album…priceless!

Leave me a comment below and tell me if you scrapbook and your reasons for doing so.  I love to hear about how other people think about scrapbooking!

Creatively, Carol

I Have a Dream!

Happy Martin Luther King Day! Today is the 60th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s famous speech. While that is still important today, I want to talk about dreams a bit closer to home. How many times have you said “I wish I could have asked ‘grandma’ (enter your person here” so many questions about their life.  The problem is as a young person, we are busy and don’t have the forethought to ask while these people are alive.  I have found in my sixties there are so many things I wished I had asked. Things like “how did you feel when you saw airline travel possible?” There are so many things.

How well do your kids know you?

How well do your kids and grandkids know you?  I have come to realize I don’t know some basic things about my parents, like their favorite colors, or favorite places to vacation, to mention a few. For this reason, I am starting a daily posting on the Creatively Carol Facebook page of questions to invoke thought, Share your memories, ideas, dreams and feelings with those in your life.  You can answer on the page, (then copy and paste your answer into an online journal or document, or write the question into a scrapbook or journal and then answer it.  While I favor this method because I think handwriting stirs feelings, however, that is not always as practical at this time in our lives.

Share These Questions With Family

My parents are not regular visitors to Facebook so I plan to e-mail them the questions they may actually answer. Some generations, (and some families) are more open about the things they will talk about. I raised my own children in a manner that told them they could ask us anything and we would answer or talk about it. My daughter has continued this with her own children. The questions may not always be comfortable, but sharing your answers could lend insight into their own lives either now, or later in life. My grandson, her youngest, asked how often her parents had sex! She asked him if he was really asking her if it was something he really wanted to know. He explained, yes, I want to know if you have a healthy sex life. She answered him and said “this is what a healthy sex life looks like. He later asked me if his grandfather and I still had sex. I was glad it was a yes or no answer as I didn’t feel as free to go into details!

Now it is your turn! Jump over to my Facebook page and answer today’s question (worry, nothing like my grandson’s questions) and begin your journey into sharing your life.  I will share a few more ideas about this in the coming days.

Creatively, Carol

 

 

Patterned Scrapbook Paper, Is it Safe For your Photos?

Today’s scrapbook market is a plethera of choice, not as much as 15 years ago but still you have a choice when it comes to albums, tools , adhesives, cardstock and papers. If you love color and pattern, you love browsing patterns either in person or by turning catalog pages. But how do you know whether these beautiful patterns are safe for your scrapbooks? While Close to my Heart patterned paper is sold in kits, and we tell you they are acid and lignin free, most stores sell printed paper by the sheet, and only a few are labeled using tear-off strips. Unless the display is clearly marked, you usually cannot tell which company sells the paper and whether it is an acceptable quality. For the most part, scrapbookers must trust the retailer’s claims that everything on display is photo-safe.

Many reputable paper companies have a vital concern about the quality of their papers. Unfortunately, because scrapbooking is a hot market, many companies jumping on the bandwagon have less regard for quality than profit. Claims that a product is “photo-safe” or “archival” are not always based on a true understanding of what characteristics are important for safe scrapbook paper.

Fortunately, there are standards that define the characteristics of scrapbook paper. The accepted standard specifies that scrapbook paper be acid-free (pH’ between 7 and 10), buffered’ (atleast 2 % alkaline reserve), contain no more than 1 % lignin”. I once read that scrapbook paper also resist tearing. Since I use tearing as a technique in my scrapbooking, I am not sure about the resisting of tearing is actually true.
For scrapbook papers, a pH on the lower end of the specified range is preferable because of the potential effects of higher
alkaline paper on photographs.

Most companies that sell patterned paper don’t make it themselves; they buy the paper from a paper mill and have it printed and packaged. Ideally, printing inks should be colorfast, lightfast and pH -neutral, choices that often cost more money. The printing itself also affects the visual quality of the paper. Dust spots, smudges or other imperfections should be caught during press checks. Additionally, verifying that the colors stay the same from batch to batch makes it easier for consumers to match papers in their scrapbooks. You can see this evidenced by the paper packs Close to my Heart offers, colors always go together in the kits, and you can use those colors as a guide when putting pages together.

Understanding the requirements of a quality printed paper still raises the same question. How do you know which papers meet these requirements? Close to my Heart is very upfront about the quality of their paper, unfortunately, finding this information with other papers is not as easy. Start by asking the person or store owner who sold you the paper. If they cannot provide the answers, call the paper company. Ask them whether their paper stock meets the standards for permanence and how the company ensures their paper quality on an ongoing basis. The answers will help you know whether to have confidence in a particular brand .

In addition to researching paper composition, you can also take several practical steps to ensure the quality of your papers. When choosing printed paper, visually inspect it for imperfections and determine whether it is an adequate weight for your purposes. I prefer a heavier weight than I find in big box craft stores. I like a good weight as base pages, so my photos are protected. If you are going to use a die-cut machine, the weight is important. There is nothing more frustrating than cutting an element only to have it tear as you remove it from the sticky mat. Don’t pick the first piece on the stack  it’s been most exposed to the environment,  including fingerprints from other consumers” Lastly

Finally, treat paper with care.. Store papers away from excessive heat, light and humidity, and avoid unnecessary handling, which can cause wear, tear and contamination. Remembering these things will help you put together a scrapbook that will withstand the test of time.

Are We There Yet?

Close to my Heart Jan-Mar 2023 CatalogThe newest Close To My Heart catalog was just released on the first and, from cover to cover, it is full of exciting new products and ideas to preserve the memories you’ve made in the past year and are planning for in the year to come. Today though, I want to share with you, the layouts from the cover featured paper pack “Are We There Yet?”   How many times as parents have we heard that one?

The paper pack was inspired by that wanderlust in all of us. Whether is a graduation trip, vacation or just a girl’s weekend, this paper is great. Let me show you these projects. I am listing the supplies used as well if you are interested. I will also post the full instructions at the end.

  • Scrapbook page on TravelZ4677 Are We There Yet?—Scrapbooking Stamp + Thin Cuts
  • C1966 My Acrylix® Are We There Yet—Borders Stamp Set
  • X7288S Are We There Yet? Paper Packet + Sticker Sheet
  • X6066 Honey Butter Cardstock,
  • X6063 Papaya Cardstock
  • X6044 Peach Cardstock
  • X5957 Sapphire Cardstock
  • 1385 White Daisy Cardstock,
  • Z6534 Papaya Exclusive Inks Stamp pad
  • Z6502 Peach Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad,
  • Z2848 Sapphire Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad
  • Z2828 Toffee Exclusive Inks Stamp Pad
  • X7288E Are We There Yet? Rubber Shapes
  • Z3726 Tags & Tabs Thin Cuts,

 

I hope you get to start travelling more now that the urgency of covid is past us (we hope) Just remember what they say ” if it isn’t in the scrapbook, it didn’t happen” really though,  think of how your family will love looking back on vacation pictures that are not just sitting on the computer.  Whatever adventures come your way, let’s not forget to document and preserve them! After all, sometimes to know where to go next, we need to remember where we’ve been. Scrapbooking is a beautiful way to journal these experiences, and it’s also a wonderful way to look back on them and share them with others.

Here is a link to the complete scrapbook workshop so you can see how you can create these layouts too!

Creatively,

Carol