Kaye Dennan posts:


Yes, just because you are scrapbooking on a budget does not mean that your scrapbook will be any less attractive and it will definitely be more individualistic.

I have to be the first to admit that there are some absolutely fabulous scrapbooking embellishments for sale. BUT I often think that you need a big fat wallet to be able to make up a snazzy scrapbook. BUT THAT IS JUST NOT TRUE!

If you have had no art experience then you may need to do some practice to get the techniques right, but that is all in the fun of creating a piece you will be proud of.

Here I am focusing on the background page. It can be, and often is, a patterned card where you use photos, borders and embellishments to brighten up the page. But I will tell you a few tips so that you can use the plain colored card which is a lot cheaper than patterned paper.

First off, you can buy large sheets of thick colored card but make sure you cut them to the right size to fit your folder. And if you are on a budget you can use a ring binder for your work rather than buy a scrapbooking album.

LET ME GIVE YOU SOME SCRAPBOOKING TIPS:

1. Sponging – the best is a sea sponge. The sponging technique can create so many different effects. By using different colours or shades of the same colour you can create very interesting work. By using the sponge in different ways you can create circles, lines, swirls and borders – have a try first before going onto your card. This really is a fantastic technique which you will be able to use in so many different ways and for so many different things.

2. Lines – lines can be made on your background with felt pens. Make sure they are acid free. Rule in your lines lightly with a pencil then rule in the colored lines. This can be as few or as many as you like.

3. Creating borders – create a border down one side of the page or even right around. Various methods can be used. You can use paint, colored or patterned paper, material or even a row of embellishments e.g. a row of hearts.

4. Stamping – if you have a stamp, or your friends have, you can stamp a pattern onto the background and paint it in and outline it with a dimensional paint. Leaves, flowers, animals all look good and can be coloured different colours to suit.

5. Glittering – this is a pretty technique. Great for parties, engagements, weddings and the like. You can glitter borders, stamp shapes and more.

Jesse Fisher posts:


Scrapbooking can be an expensive obsession. From decorative paper, accents, embellishments, and cardstock, the costs can add up quickly. I’ve been scrapbooking for about 7 years and initially, I went to all the expensive specialty scrapbooking outlets, where products are more expensive. Since then though, I have found some great ways to save money.

Scrapbook Accessories at a Discount
The most evident way to save cash is to locate a place to shop that sells scrapbooking materials at a discount. I have realized that website outlets indeed have lower prices than offline outlets. One example is they carry the Hermafix Dotto Glue Refill for $3.99, that’s $2.00 less than at the two local scrapbooking suppliers near my neighborhood. The only downside of purchasing your scrapbooking materials online is that you will have to wait a day or two or four. So I wanted to find a website that ships same day. Another thing to consider on a scrapbooking materials website is free shipping. Good ones will provide free shipping if your order is over a predetermined amount. The lower that number, the better! The lowest I have seen is $25 and that is pretty darn good.

Cutting Paper Costs
Another way to save money on scrapbooking materials is by using papers that are a foot square (ie. 12″ x 12″). You get more square inches of paper for the money than when purchasing 8 ” x 11″ paper. It also goes a longer way{ in that you can use the scraps in creating additional adornments. Also, there are a wide variety of cardstock colors. You can always use cardstock on a layout. Sometimes, that’s all I use. That way, you don’t use and therefore you don’t need to buy patterned paper. This cuts down costs a lot as patterned papers are fairly pricey.

Saving on Trappings
A way to save more money is by reducing the number of scrapbooking accessories, like embellishments. The actual focus of pages is supposed to be the pictures. You won’t have to spend money on a bunch of little thingamajigs and you’ll save time too by not having to make something special.

If you just can’t go on without using embellishments, buy all-purpose embellishment materials that can be used on various layouts instead of purchasing embellishments for use on one specific page. For example, get fibers in a package that has several different colors. Tags are another great embellishment that will look nice on any layout.

Scrapbooking doesn’t have to be expensive. Keep in mind that the central purpose of scrapbooks is the pictures and the memories that go along with them, not how much money you spent!

Richard Robbins posts:


One of the first challenges scrapbookers, especially those new to the hobby, will find to making finished products out of their collection of photos is knowing where to get the right supplies.

Depending upon where you live, you may or may not have access to much variety. Not everyone wants to have a cookie cut layout. You can run out of creativity quickly if your local scrapbooking supplies store doesn’t have a wide variety of paper, page kits, stencils, rub-ons, embellishments, and other scrapbooking must-have’s. Thankfully, the Internet has largely solved the problem of being limited what you can find within a fifteen mile radius of your home.

Where to Shop Online

Probably the most commonly used “store” for finding the variety of scrapbooking supplies you need is eBay. There are hundreds of scrapbookers who have made home businesses out of supplying scrapbooking products through eBay. That means you are likely to find whatever you are looking for by doing a few simple searches on eBay.

Besides eBay, there are also hundreds of online scrapbooking stores. Some of these are online versions of traditional retail stores, such as Joann.com. Others are strictly Internet businesses with no walk-in locations. Their sizes range from hundreds of thousands of unique products, such as with AddictedToScrapbooking.com, to work-at-home mom stores with a handful of specialty products.

Things to Consider When Shopping

Obviously, price and selection (including availability) are two of the main concerns you will have when shopping online stores. Many stores have a page listing shipping policies and costs. You may find one store that is slightly more expensive than another, but offers free shipping for orders totaling more than a specified amount, like $50. If you know where to find them, you can use coupons in some stores, such as Scrapbook.com. A 5% off coupon from a store like that could save you a significant amount of money if you are planning a large order.

If you are interested in comparing prices and variety among various online retailers, you can use
ScrapbookFinds.com, a new search tool for finding scrapbooking supplies among online retailers. The site currently compares twenty or so popular online stores, allowing you to sort by price.

If you plan to buy through eBay, make sure you understand the eBay paradigm, especially if you are new to eBay. For instance, you may find a big difference in the products and service you receive if you buy from someone who has a feedback rating of 75% compared to one whose feedback rating is 100%. eBay provides some useful reading for those new to buying and selling there.

The ability to shop online opens up a great number of possibilities for scrapbookers who want more than what their local store can offer.

Sotiris Bassakaropoulos posts:


How are you Capturing Your Treasured Moments in Time maybe you like to take a lot of photo’s,
and you also have lot’s of stories to accompany every picture, life is full of special moments and we should make an effort to capture them forever just the way they were for all of our future generations to have.

The day you got married was one of the best day’s of your life. Don’t you wish that that you could keep these emotional days in your life forever. Photos on their own are just not enough did you you ever think of scrapbooking in the past. You can keep the memories of that special day in a spectacular presentation. You can have everything in the scrapbook keep photos memorabilia and stories.

You are the lucky one, Because you have the knowledge to preserve these pictures and moments for many years to come. You want your collection to look good and you also want to be able to share it with many people for many years to come.

Modern scrapbooking is all about using great materials.You will also be using some materials up which some people would throw in the bin. Every trip you go on you can keep all the photos and stories captured in a special travel scrapbook.

If you have children helping it can also be something with which you can help them feel involved.
Most children like doing crafts.In this way their work and ideas will be kept for the years to come.

Maybe you don’t like cutting and sticking paper. There is a more modern scrapbooking method!

Digital Scrapbooking.

With digital scrapbooking you can also involve other people.It also gives you an option to print off your Materials. Then all you have to do is add some nice stories and a few special pictures.
You want to be able to give your loved ones a very special gift.There is nothing more personal than a scrapbook. It will be something that they will most certainly treasure forever.

Christine Perry posts:


When you think of scrapbooking you usually think of making scrapbook albums.  Have you tried using your scrapbooking materials for other projects?  These project ideas are great for scrapbooking with kids.

1. Decorate jars and use them as small storage items in your children’s bedrooms, like marble collections or collectible game cards.  Look in your scrapbooking supplies for stickers and rub-ons to embellish any size jar. Baby food jars and Mason jars work well for this project.

2. Make greeting cards when scrapbooking with your children.  Nearly any type of scrapbooking material can be used for making cards.  Children will love creating their own Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day or birthday cards.

3. Holiday decorations are easy to make with scrapbooking materials.  For example, Thanksgiving embellishments and cardstock can make name plates for the holiday table.  Use your creativity and help your children make a centerpiece for the table out of paper and scrapbooking supplies.

4. Help your child keep a vacation journal.  Before you go on vacation, create a scrapbook album to take along and have your child complete the album while traveling.  Select a small album so it will be easy to pack in a child’s carry-on bag.  Have pages pre-designed for some of the places you are planning to visit.  You could even include some journaling prompts throughout the album.  Some examples are “My Favorite Ride at Disneyland” or “The Best Thing about Staying in a Hotel.”  Then attach a small plastic bag filled with colored pencils or markers, lots of vacation-themed stickers and some adhesive to attach memorabilia and photos from the trip.  Let your child do the rest!

5. Scrapbooking for children is an opportunity to make gifts for your family.  Flip through any scrapbooking magazine, and you are sure to see a gift project.  Your child can use scrapbooking supplies to make picture frames, pencil holders, photo cubes, or note cards.  Children also can design pre-made gift scrapbooks, like a recipe album for grandma or an ABC album for a new baby cousin. 

6.  Christmas ornaments make great scrapbooking projects for gifts.  There is no limit to the kinds of ornaments you can make from scrapbooking supplies.  Don’t be afraid to get messy and use glitter for this project.

7.  Birthday parties and sleepovers are the perfect project for using your scrapbooking supplies with your children.  Begin with crafting invitations out of paper and embellishments.  Have enough materials to keep the same theme throughout the project.  Take the time to create thank you notes at the same time.  Then use your scrapbook materials to make napkin holders, name plates, centerpieces and party decorations.  Finally, using the same theme, decorate goodie bags for your guests to take home.

You’ll find hours of fun in these scrapbooking for kids projects.  In most cases, you have everything you need in your scrapbooking supplies right now.  Scrapbooking for children is a chance to spend quality time with your kids and encourage their creativity and imaginations.  Try one of these projects today with your child.

Jennifer Gormly posts:


Finding time to scrap is difficult for even the most devoted scrapbooker. Our busy lives just do not leave us enough time to relax and play so it is most important that we take advantage of the times that we do get to ourselves to indulge our passions. By employing a few simple techniques we can achieve more in less time. Give them a try and you’re sure to be creating more pages in less time.

1. Be organised! No matter what your scrapbooking style, the single most effective method of saving time is by being organised. Make sure you know where all your supplies are and that they are easily accessible. That way you don’t have to go searching through everything every time you scrap. How you organise your supplies is up to you, but I recommend organising by type (eg paper, stickers, ribbon etc) and then by colour.

2. Use multiple photos. If you use more than one picture on each page you will need fewer pages to complete your album. You will also find it takes less time to embellish each page as the photos take up most of the space and serve as embellishments themselves.

3. Use pre-made alphabets. Alphabet stickers and die-cuts are great for creating titles and adding journaling to your pages without having to cut out all the letters yourselves. If you use a lot of letters you may like to consider purchasing a personal die-cutting machine like a Sizzix or a Cricut and several alphabet dies.

4. Use scrapbooking sketches. Sketches provide an easy to follow template and take the guesswork out of planning your pages. They serve as a map and prevent you from wasting time figuring out how to fit everything on your page.

5. Finally, don’t be a perfectionist. Scrapbooking is not about creating the perfect page design. It’s about treasuring the important memories in your life and being able to relive them and share them with others for many years to come.

Joanne Jones posts:


When you look around your house, does it seem like the scrapbooking supplies are taking over? With all the different tools, colourful bits and bobs, it can be hard to keep track of them all. There are proper storage options out there to keep your supplies protected from damage and all together. The proper storage system is comprised of several different items, such as shelves, containers, tote bags and more. Here are some simple tips to help you select the right storage for all your scrapbooking supplies.

The most important reason for proper storage is to protect your supplies from damage. The type of storage that you use can vary depending on what room your supplies are kept in. For basements, which are prone to floods, choose storage options with wheels to keep everything off the floor and away from floodwater. For rooms with lots of sunlight, choose opaque storage solutions that will keep the sunlight from getting to your supplies so that they will not fade over time from the sunlight.

Keep all your supplies in one place, so you will be able to see what you have in a glance. If everything is spread over several rooms, with a little here and a little there, it is easy to forget where everything is. You could end up buying an item twice or spend your precious time searching instead of scrapbooking.

There are a great variety of storage options, so choose options that not only fit your supplies and protect them from damage, but also work well together and fit your lifestyle. For example, containers or baskets work better when placed on shelves than when stacked on top of each other. It prevents the supplies from being crushed by the weight on top of them, plus you don’t have to move any containers to get to the ones on the bottom. Another example is if you are frequently bringing scrapbooking supplies with you when travelling, then look at storage options that you can take with you. This will keep everything you need organized and you won’t have to pack anything when you leave – just grab and go!

When deciding on what options to use, keep in mind these simple tips. Clear storage allows you to see what is in the container without opening it up. Baskets work well for smaller items or if you like to touch and handle items as you look at them. Use tote bags when you are travelling because they are easy to carry and still keep everything you need organized. For solid coloured containers or dressers, labels work great because you will know what is inside before opening it. Consider using pictures instead of labels if you are more of a visual person.

Randy Wilson posts:


You will find scrapbook supplies for photos and pictures in a craft store or online. Scrapbooks are used to combine photos and pictures to make a picture story album. Today with the advent of computers and image editing software it has become easier than ever to make your scrapbook.

Free scrapbook clip art is available online and will give you a head start in working on your book. The internet is an endless source of information to anybody interested in scrapbook making and scrapbook supplies. You will find ideas for different themes, excellent images,ideas and supplies online.

With the help of any search engine such as Google you can find numerous websites dealing with scrapbook supplies and ideas. Another source of free clip art would be coloring books.

After you find your free clip art, you can use a scanner to load the images onto your computer. After you have the images on the computer, you can use image editing software to add some creative touches to the clip art.

Other scrapbooking supplies would include glue, paint brushes, a wet and dry cloth.

One of the favorite uses of a scrapbook is to preserve the cherished moments of your baby growing up. Pictures and photos have will provide a lot of sentimental value in the future. You could have photos of the baby’s first moments since birth in the hospital, first clothes, first hair cut, first diaper change, pictures from the baby shower, toys, baby’s lovely mischievous smile etc. The ideas are only limited by your imagination.

When the your children get older you can capture all those memorable moments. These could include school awards, first day of school, first finger painting or first dance to name just a few possibilities.

Be a part of your child growing up and catch those cute unforgettable moments in your scrap book. One day your teenage child will be sitting with you and glancing through the scrapbook might just say blushingly, “I can’t believe I did that!”

Alecia Lehmann posts:


Scrapbooking is the synthesis of many creative pursuits into one. It can involve painting, drawing, computer art, digital and standard photography, photo editing, writing, stamping, paper artistry, and design and color theory, making it a fulfilling creative outlet for even those people whose imaginative side runs in many different directions.

From the big milestone moments to the little pleasures that make up the fabric of our everyday lives, scrapbooking is a way to immortalize our memories for future generations, to scrapbook is to create a legacy.

But how do you actually get started?

You don’t even need pictures to start; you can add them later. You will need some basic supplies, though. Invest in a good paper trimmer (a lower-end one will not give you a clean, accurate cut), some acid- and lignin-free cardstock and patterned paper, a good pair of scissors and an archival-quality adhesive.

Now, you’ve got your pictures and your basic supplies. Next you’ll need ideas. Where do they come from?

After you’ve been scrapping for awhile, inspiration will likely come to you from just about everywhere. But when you are first starting out, you might need a little creative nudge and some technical help. The best place for both of these is your local scrapbook store.

Although the large chain stores offer a dizzying array of scrapbook products and may even offer some classes, you won’t get the kind of personal attention that you will get from a local store. Even before you buy your basic supplies, visit a local store and ask for some help.

A good store will take the time to help you get started by making product recommendations and project suggestions. And if you bring in some pictures, they can even help you choose some cardstock and papers to complement them and help you with your first layout.
And it’s a good idea to take a beginner’s class at the store too. Chances are these classes will have fewer participants than a class at a larger store, and that can be very helpful when you are just learning the ropes.

Armed with your supplies, instruction and inspiration from your local scrapbook store, and your own imagination, you are well on your way to creating a memory. Life is all to fleeting, and although there is nothing one can do to halt the hands of time, you can freeze your memories forever in between the pages of a scrapbook.

Robin Michelle King posts:


I have always been a proponent of cheap scrapbooking. I mean, I totally love using new products and I’ll admit to spending into the double digits for some scrapbooking pages. But I love being frugal too and I like the creativity that can come from not having a ton to spend on scrapbooking supplies. So what are some of the ways that you can keep your money in the bank and still make great layouts? Here are some of my suggestions to be “cheap” without looking like it:

1.) Look around the house. You would be surprised what “scrapbooking” supplies you can find. I have used many household supplies or products including: paperclips, craft paint (not only can you use it to accent a page, but you can use it the same way you use stamp ink), old envelopes and used stamps (great for destination/travel pages), old/broken jewelry (use as embellishments), shopping/clothing/market tags (you can paint over, dye, or cover them), wrapping paper, gift ribbon, hair ribbons or rubber bands, game pieces, old maps, book pages (as backgrounds), cereal/shoe boxes (for chipboard) and much more. Just be careful that these items are acid free or at least if they are not, won’t be touching any of your photos.

2.) Go digital – or at least a little bit. There are many sites out there that offer freebies every week or so. I have stated loading up on these free downloads. Not only can you use them to do digital scrapbooking layouts, but I take parts of them and print them off to use on my regular scrapbooking layouts. And the great things about these is that you can print them again and again for different pages. Check out www.scrapgirls.com and www.digitalfreebies.com for some freebies.

3.) Have a scrapbooking supply swap. The next time you want to get together to scrapbook, just tell everyone that you will be having a “swap” table where people can bring supplies they don’t use any more or don’t want. You could also make it a sale too if someone wants to sell something they have. The last time I did this kind of “swap” I ended up going home with a ton of papers and stickers that others didn’t want.

Scrapbooking may not be the cheapest hobby out there, but it needn’t be expensive. I am sure there are lots of other ways that each individual can make it even more affordable. If you have any more ideas for making scrapbooking cheaper, let me know your great discoveries.