Stamping Bliss

Scrapbooking With Stampin' Up! Video

I get asked again and again how to scrapbook with stamps.  I must admit I was a sticker scrapbooker before I became a demonstrator.  I used stickers to embellish every page I created.  Once I became a demonstrator I realized that I have so many more options with stamps then I ever did with stickers.  My scrapbook pages have since taken on a brand new, more modern look.  I hope this video helped you see all of the possibilities of scrapbooking with stamps.

May is National Scrapbook Month.  What a perfect month to work on some projects and get some pages finished.  I am having an Open House on May 22nd from 10:00AM until 8:00PM.  Just e-mail me about what time you will be coming over, bring whatever you are working on and come scrapbook with me.  I am always so inspired by scrapbooking with other people, aren't you?

 

Scrapbooking Essentials #6

Today we are going to talk about Scrapbooking Essentials #7:  Paper Trimmer

I scrapbook for many years just using scissors.  Now for those of you who have been scrapbooking for many years you know what scissors I am talking about.  The fancy ones with all the different edges.  So yes I am guilty of trimming every piece of paper and photo with those scissors.  =)  I than moved on to straight photos and paper edges, still using scissors.  What a nightmare that was!  I cannot cut a straight line to save my life.  So you can imagine how straight and clean my edges were.

My mom actually bought me my first paper trimmer (I think she got tired of me getting frustrated).  I now rarely cut anything with scissors, unless it is a stamped image.  I can't function without my trimmer it makes cropping and cutting a breeze and cuts down on the amount of time it takes to make a page.

I have the paper trimmer that Stampin' Up! sells so I can vouch for its quality.  I have gone through a couple of cutters but this one is by far, my favorite.  It is very easy to use.  I must admit, I have a hard time using someone else's paper trimmer because I am so used to mine.  It is almost like a worn out pair of sneakers, it just fits me.  I sound crazy, I know, but it is true.  You have to find the paper cutter that works best for you but I highly recommend our paper trimmer (#104152 $24.95 pg. 191).

Scrapbooking Essentials #5

Okay, I will post more pictures of projects I am working on over the next couple of weeks.  I am going to continue my articles on Scrapbooking Essentials between those posts.

Today we are going to talk about Scrapbooking Essential #5: Scrapbooking Pens.  

You might be wondering why a pen is considered an essential.  Why can't I just pick up any old pen and journal with it?  Why spend the money on a scrapbook pen?

You shouldn't use any old pen in your scrapbook because it may not be archival safe.  Many inks are made with acids and other chemicals that can break down your pictures and paper over time.  Those precious words and phrases you so carefully wrote out will eventually eat away at your treasured album.  Also many cheap water-base markers can fade over time, ruining the look of your pages. That is why you shouldn't use just any old pen on your scrapbook pages.  When buying pens or markers for scrapbooking, you need to make sure they are "scrapbooking", "acid-free" or "archival-safe".  This should be written on the packaging.

Stampin' Up! sells two great pens for scrapbooking:  uni-ball Signo Gel Pen (white) and the Stampin' Write Journaler (Black).  I highly recommend having each one of these in your supply box.

The uni-ball Signo Gel Pen (#105021 $3.95 pg. 190 IBC) is perfect to use on dark cardstock.  It is ver easy to use and moves smoothly.  I also use this pen to add little details to my stamped images, punches or art.

Our Stampin' Write Journaler (#105394 $3.25 pg. 190 IBC) is fade-resistant, waterproof, pigment markers.  These markers are great for journaling because you don't have to worry about it ruining your pages or photos over time.

I hope this helps you carefully choose what pens or markers you use in your scrapbook in the future.

Scrapbooking Essentials #4

I meant to continue this series over the weekend but it didn't happen.  If you read my Tweets than you know that I managed to hurt my foot while stamping.  Who knew stamping could be so dangerous right?  I was playing with my new Build-A-Bear stamp set and was trying to gather stuff to use.  I accidently knocked one of our solid wood dining room chairs over and the top of the chair slammed into the top of my foot, right under my big toe.  So I have spent the weekend hobbling around on crutches and icing my bruised foot.  But I have managed to get a little bit of stamping done, not quite the amount I thought I would though.  =)

And yes, in case you are wondering we are still going to have Scrapbook University tonight.  

Back to Scrapbooking Essentials #4  Paper.

There is so much paper on the market today it can be incredibly overwhelming.  Thousands of designs and colors to choose from.  Anyone who sells stamps or scrapbooking supplies has a huge selection of papers from plain cardstock to printed cardstock.  You can get textured paper, flocked paper, velum and so much more.  If you are new to scrapbooking or even card making the selection can be intimidating.

Many people are what I call "Paper Hoarders" and I say that with love since I am one of those.  We just buy paper because we like it.  We have no idea what we will use it for, we just want it!  While there is nothing wrong with have a paper stash on hand, it is not always necessary.  When you are just starting out, having a small scrapbook store inventory of paper is not practical.  So here is some simple paper purchasing advice.

Buy paper according to your current project.  Are you making a wedding album?  Than buy paper that is in the same color scheme as your wedding or paper with wedding designs printed on it.  What about a baby book?  The same thing holds true.  You don't need to start scrapbooking by buying every piece of paper out there.  Start small, eventually you will build up quite a paper collection by doing different projects.  

Neutral paper is a must.  I always make sure I have a variety of neutral card stock on hand while scrapbooking.  You can matte pictures with it, make journal space and it will coordinate effortlessly with any paper you are using.  I love Stampin' Up!'s selection of neutral colors (#108589 12" x 12" Assorted card stock $8.95).  

Assorted colored card stock is also a must have.  Just having a large variety of colors will add so much to your scrapbooking.  But you don't have to have the entire store, just a little bit of various colors will do.  I use my colored card stock as the base for my scrapbook pages.  This is why I love our color families.  I purchase the assorted 12" x 12" card stock in each color family.  That way I have a little bit of everything.  These can be found on pages 156-7 in the IBC.

Printed paper is a fun way to dress up plain card stock.  I like to have a variety of printed paper on hand.  I especially like when I can get double sided printed paper, than it doubles that paper's use and takes up less space.  I use my printed paper as the icing on the cake, it dresses up the plain paper.  If you look at Stampin' Up!'s Designer Series Papers on pages 160-163, you will see that they give you the SU! colors that coordinate beautifully with that paper design.  I love that!!

Matching colors can be tricky.  Have you ever gone to a scrapbook store and bought the cutest printed paper, come home and can't find any other paper that matches it?  That has happened to me more than I would like to say.  Stampin' Up! has taken a lot of time developing their 4 color families, In Colors and Neutrals.  All the colors coordinate beautifully with each other.  All of the paper matches the ink which I love.  They have taken all of the guesswork out of matching papers.  It makes scrapbooking so much easier for me since all I have to do is look in the IBC to get color ideas.

I hope these little tidbits about scrapbooking paper has been helpful!!

Scrapbooking Essentials #3

The next Scrapbooking Essential is very important if you want your pages to stay together and not fall apart....

Scrapbooking Essential #4:  Adhesives

Adhesive is the one thing that I run out of the most and I am sure you can imagine why.  You need to make sure all of your scrapbooking adhesive is archival quality, acid free or scrapbooking safe.  You don't want your adhesive to eat your paper or photographs later on.  All of our adhesives are Acid-free.

Stampin' Up! carries a wide variety of adhesives for you to choose from...

1.  SNAIL Adhesive (#104332 pg. 192 IBC)--is the scrapbooking essential.  It is the adhesive I use for just about all of my projects.  It is a two-sided, permanent adhesive that dispenses continuously.  It is great for photos, paper and most projects.  I always make sure I have a few refills on hand as well so I don't run out.

2.  Dotto (#103305 pg. 192 IBC)--is a repositionable adhesive dot.  This is great if you are not quite sure if you like what you are doing and want the ability to move it around on your page a bit before it becomes permanent. 

3.  2-Way Glue Pen (#100425 pg. 192 IBC)--is perfect for those little embellishments and glitter.  This glue can be temporary by letting it dry before adhering it or permanent when used right away.  

4.  Stampin' Dimensionals (#104430 pg. 192 IBC)--if you want to add a bit of dimension to your pages than these are perfect.  These foam dots lift your images slightly off of the background to add some depth to your page.  

5.  Glue Dots (#103683 or #104183 pg. 192 IBC)--These are great to attach small embellishments to your projects--ribbon, bows, buttons, etc.

6.  Sticky Strip (#104294 pg. 192 IBC)--These is strong adhesive.  Perfect for attaching ribbon to card stock or making 3-D projects.  This stuff is permanent, so once you have adhered it to something, it is not going anywhere.  (This is what I cut with my "sticky scissors").

These are the different adhesives I use for my scrapbooking projects.  In reality all you really need is the SNAIL adhesive but the other options are great for different projects.  I hope this helps you weed through the list of adhesives that Stampin' Up! carries.

Scrapbooking Essentials

As I spend this week getting caught up and re-organizing my stamping supplies, I thought this would be a good time to share some tidbits about scrapbooking.  Over the past few months as I have expanded on scrapbooking in my business I have come across many people brand new to papercrafting.  I than realized how overwhelming trying to get into this hobby can be.  So I am going to do a series of articles this week on "Scrapbooking Essentials".  I will go over the basic tools you need to get started.  

Please tell anyone you know who is interested or new to scrapbooking to come over and check out these posts.  I would love to meet them (even if it is only through cyberspace).  I am also publishing these articles on Facebook so click on my Facebook link and become a fan!!

Scrapbooking Essential #1:  Scrap Book Album

I do recommend getting a Scrap Book Album as one of the first things you get.  This may seem odd to some of you but as you finish pages it is nice to be able to put them in an album right away.  This keeps all of your hard work from getting damaged or ruined.  It is also nice to be able to see exactly where you are at with your scrapbooking.

There are three different types of albums on the market today--Post-Bound, Strap-Hinge and 3-Ring.  

Post-bound scrapbook albums allow pages to lie somewhat flat when open, there is no separation between the pages.  So you will have a more continuous two-page layout.  Adding pages to expand a post bound scrapbook album is easily done with extension posts, which are included with most scrapbook album page protector refills.  These albums can be a bit hard to rearrange after they are assembled.

Strap-hinge scrapbooking albums use a strap and a metal hinge attached to the scrapbook page.  Pages are added by removing the straps and running them through the new pages.  These albums also lay flat.  Typically page protectors are purchased separately and placed on the scrapbook refill sheets that are added to the photo album.  These albums can be a bit hard to rearrange after they are assembled.

3-Ring Binder scrapbook albums are very easy to use.  They don't lay as flat as other album styles and there is a separation between the pages.  These albums make rearranging pages very easy.

You can also find albums with every kind of cover imaginable.  The options are endless.  Prices can be anything from $10 to $100 depending on the type of album and the design.  You can also purchase plain albums and decorate them however you want.  This can be a lot of fun and help kick off the creative process for your entire album.

At Stampin' Up! we sell 3 different sized albums-- 6" x 6", 8-1/2" x 11", 12" x 12"-- in the 3-Ring and Post-Bound styles.  Our albums are covered with linen fabric that has been pretreated with a stain-resistant coating.  Our albums are plain which means you can decorate them however you want.  I love this option with our albums, I want to make my album uniquely mine and Stampin' Up!'s albums make it easy for me to do that.  All of our albums are located on page 203 in the 2009-10 Idea Book & Catalog (IBC).  They range in price from $16.95 to $29.95.  You can click the shop 24/7 button to go to my store to see the different albums!

I hope today's article was helpful as you start out on this brand new hobby!!  I will see you tomorrow for our second Scrapbooking Essential!!