“We’re having a heat wave, a tropical heat wave.” No doubt you are one of many in our nation trying to get through a long hot summer. Well, take heart! There is one activity which will not only give you pleasure, but memories to last a lifetime. It’s time to take out your new scrapbook, dust it off, and add new pages of photos to it.

Summer yields a myriad of opportunities. Photograph your favorite flower, plant or tree. If you enjoy the beach or pool, flash the splash! Take different shots of children at play using color and/or black and white. Dare to be different!

If you enjoy early morning walks, take your camera with you. Whether you walk around Central Park or simply around your own block, nature has a way of revealing the minutest detail of summer to you. Capture it!

Here are some photo tips:

•Use a digital camera so that you can edit your photos on line. If a digital camera is not available to you, use a standard camera and have plenty of film and batteries on hand according to the camera’s specifications.

•Keep an account of where you took the photos so that you will be able to label them in your scrapbook.

•When taking pictures outdoors, stay away from direct sunlight as it will result in shadowed photos. Overcast days are ideal for picture-taking.

•Experiment with close-ups, i.e., zoom in – zoom out.

•Use light and dark to give your photos perspective. Indoor picture-taking also allows you to experiment with light and dark…flash on – flash off.

•When traveling to any local or foreign destination include scenic photos of waterfalls, the local streets, people, rock formations, beaches, towns, historic landmarks, etc.

•When taking a picture of a friend or loved one in front of an historic setting, stand as far back as possible so that the entire backdrop is captured. Take a picture of a sunset. The colors derived from it can never be duplicated.

•Be creative! Photography is quite subjective. Only you know what appeals to you. Enjoy the experience.

Now that your photos are ready for the scrapbook, begin to improvise on how you wish it to look. Use pastels or textured paper for summer photos. There are many scrapbook sites online that give you excellent ideas on how to set up, maintain, and enjoy the process. Memories last a lifetime. Ensure that your photos last as well. Remember, the world consists of objects and colors with which you can begin to compose the painting in your mind’s eye.

Article Source: http://www.scrapventurearticles.com

Vera Raposo is the Scrapper’s Business Coach. Sign up for her personal mailing list at www.VeraRaposo.com and get tips and resources to help all of your scrap ventures succeed.

As a frugal mother, Sharon had to admit that she never got into scrap booking over the years because one visit to a scrap book supply shop sent her into sticker shock. With three kids and a limited budget, she knew she couldn’t afford all of the supplies and tools that she would want to use. So her children’s photos remained in shoeboxes.

In 2005 she discovered digital scrap booking, the practice of creating scrap book layouts on a computer using digital images. Sharon pulled out her shoeboxes and spent weeks at the computer scanning in every memory. The kids started to think Mom was going a bit mad though when she started to scan everything else she could get her hands on.

She scanned all kinds of fabric, curtains, blankets and scarves. She scanned greeting cards, calendars, wall paper and macaroni and cheese boxes. If it fit onto her scanner, she added it to her digital image library.

Then, with a simple image program, she went to work.

Without scissors or glue or double sided tape, she created page after digital page. With every new layout she thought up she felt like she was getting away with something sneaky. Surely she should have to pay someone something for all of the fun that she was having?

Digital scrap booking has matured to the point where you don’t have to find out own digital crafting elements, you can find some online for free and other image sets you can pay for.

As to be expected, digital image sets are far less costly when compared to purchasing paper and fabric and accessories. It really is an attractive alternative to someone scrap booking on a budget.

Sharon keeps her digital projects strictly on her computer, using the layouts as a screen saver slide show. Many others choose to share their creations online or even to print out their layouts and bind them together in a book.

If you would like to try your hand at digital scrapping you’ll want to check and see what kind of image manipulation software you have on your computer. If you don’t find something appropriate you can download a copy of the free public license graphic software named Gimp.

Learning to work with digital images will take some practice, but you’ll have fun in the process and soon be creating fun layouts for your memories.

Article Source: http://www.scrapventurearticles.com

Vera Raposo is the Scrapper’s Business Coach. Sign up for her personal mailing list at www.VeraRaposo.com and get tips and resources to help all of your scrap ventures

Chalking adds highlights, dimension, color, and character to your scrapbook pages and embellishments. It is long lasting and comes in dozens of colors. You can choose from single and multi-packs or chalk that comes in pencil form or wafers. Chalking is versatile, inexpensive, easy, fun and sometimes messy medium to give your album a professional look. Acid free chalk can be used on die cuts, stamping, cardstock, patterned papers and vellum.

There are no specific tools to apply chalk. You can use the applicator that comes with the set or you can use Q-Tips, cotton balls, make-up brushes or even your fingers. Experiment with what works best for you. A good thing to have is a chalk eraser to fix your mistakes. This should be done as soon as possible because chalk sets quickly. Wipe off excess dust by turning your page over on a paper towel and rubbing the back of your page. It is best if you have a specific area when working with chalk. It can be dusty and very hard to clean up if dropped on flooring such as carpet.

You can use chalk to fill in or outline a stencil template or create just the right color for photo mats, embellishments and ribbons. Chalking also adds soft colors and shading to borders and backgrounds. When chalking large areas it is a good idea to prep the area by choosing a color chalk that closely matches the color of your paper. This way there are no obvious lines and your colors will blend easily. Prepping will lighten the detail layers so you might want to use darker colors than the ones you want. Add finishing touches with pen work. Experiment and have fun!

Article Source: http://www.scrapventurearticles.com

Vera Raposo has been scrapbooking since her oldest child was 5. With tons of scrapbooking tips and ideas, Vera is now sharing some of her best scrapbooking ideas on her radio show at www.ScrappersTalkRadio.com.

Film is so expensive now days! With digital cameras, you can take as many baby photos as you want and delete the ones you don’t.

You can save all the ones you like but only print out the ones you need, therefore you don’t waste any cash.

If you do not have a digital camera yet and are planning to get one, I suggest you buy a larger memory as well.

When you buy one, it will come with a very small memory but you will realize that fifty pictures can be gone at a drop of a hat, so I suggest you buy one to save you the trouble of coming back.

Since we are preserving time and memories, you might want to try the aged look. Sepia is a good one to use.

If you don’t know, sepia is like black and white but with tans or beiges. You might just like the way your baby photos turn out!

If you have a digital camera, you have the choice of turning the pictures black and white or sepia within the camera.

If you do not have a digital camera, you can just drop off your film and ask them to print them off as sepia.

Looking back on the pages you have finished, it probably brings you back to the time when the pictures were taken.

Enjoy preserving your baby’s time with pictures!

Article Source: http://www.scrapventurearticles.com

Vera Raposo has been scrapbooking since her oldest child was 5. With tons of scrapbooking tips and ideas, Vera is now sharing some of her best scrapbooking ideas for your new baby in her newsletter www.baby-scrapbooking.com

I recently came across a neat idea for a scrapbook. The person, who created it, took her family’s favorite (and famous) recipes and created a scrapbook out of them. Recipe scrapbooking is such a great way to make sure all these great recipes of members of the extended family are preserved.

Start by getting all the recipes together. Look through your own notes. You’ll be surprised how many of the recipes you already have. Mine are usually scribbled on pieces of notepaper and then stuck into one of the cookbooks I have.

You can handwrite the recipes directly in the scrapbook, on a piece of paper or even a recipe card. Of course you could also type them up in your computer and print them out.

Take a quick inventory of the recipes from other family members that you already have. Are you missing Aunt Betty’s famous peach cobbler recipe? Call her up and get it.

Talk to other members of your extended family about your recipe scrapbooking idea. You will get plenty of suggestions about what else to include.

You can organize the recipes within the scrapbook by course, or by the family members. Group a few of the recipes on one page, or dedicate an entire page to each recipe. Include pictures of the person you received them from and pictures of the dish itself if you have them. I also like to add a little note about each recipe. You could write about how your great-grandmother brought this recipe with her from Italy, or how you invented your famous pie because you were missing one of the ingredients of the traditional recipe.

Add some cooking or baking related borders and pick up a set of recipe themed stickers to complete your family recipe scrapbooking album. Take it to your next family function to share it with everyone that contributed a recipe. You could even ask them to add a personal note about each recipe. Be prepared to add more pages, or create a second book as more family recipes start to surface.

You may be tempted to dig out the scrapbook next time you are fixing grandma’s famous roast. Don’t leave the scrapbook lying on your kitchen counter while you cook. It’s to easy to spill or splatter something and ruin all your hard work. Instead, jot the recipe down on a piece of paper, or even better, get a small binder and put all the recipe form your family recipe scrapbook in plastic page protectors that you can easily wipe off.

Creating a family recipe scrapbook is a great way to preserve your family’s recipes and pass them on to the next generation of family cooks.

Article Source: http://www.scrapventurearticles.com

Vera Raposo has been scrapbooking since her oldest child was 5. With tons of scrapbooking tips and ideas, Vera is now sharing some of her best scrapbooking ideas on her radio show at www.ScrappersTalkRadio.com.

Digital photography has made scrapbooking easier than ever before.
Digital cameras allow you to view your pictures immediately instead of
waiting hours or days for film to be developed.

You will also know if you have captured the perfect shot as soon as you take it and you can discard unwanted pictures right away instead of wasting time and money having your film developed only to discover that half your pictures did not turn out the way you had intended.

Digital photographs can be uploaded to your computer immediately and
most photo editing software includes various borders, cropping tools, and
the ability to include captions.

Digital photos can be stored indefinitely and you may choose to have them made into a CD Rom as an extra measure of safety. You will be able to edit, touch up, and alter your photos as you see fit in just minutes thanks to the convenience of photo editing software.

Digital cameras have become inexpensive and some brands even offer disposable digital cameras that can be used once and developed into pictures or a CD Rom at your local retailers.

Having access to your photos in digital form will allow you to be as
creative as you wish in creating unique scrapbooks.

You may print your photos from your computer using special photo printing paper or create online scrapbooks that you can share with the world in an instant. You will only be limited by your imagination when you use digital photos in your scrapbooks.

For those who have never owned or used a digital camera, have no fear. You can take digital photos with the same ease as a conventional camera, and you will be delighted to see your pictures displayed immediately on your camera screen.

Article Source: http://www.scrapventurearticles.com

Vera Raposo has been scrapbooking since her oldest child was 5. With tons of scrapbooking tips and ideas, Vera is now sharing some of her best scrapbooking ideas for your new baby in her newsletter www.baby-scrapbooking.com

Card making is the perfect way to express your feelings for others in a unique, creative way. Holidays, birthdays, and special occasions are preserved in our memories forever through cards and photos.
Purchasing greeting cards has traditionally been the way to express affection, excitement, sadness, and any other number of emotions. With a little creativity and thought you can create personalized cards that will leave lasting impressions on your friends and family.

Photos, textured paper, and your personal sentiments can be used to make greeting cards for all occasions. With the technology that is now available, it is easy to scan and print copies of your favorite photos and mementos and include them in your hand made greeting cards.

For holidays, you may want to create cards in unique shapes such as Christmas stockings, turkeys, hearts, pumpkins, and flags. You can include photos of previous holidays, printed clip art from free online sources, and small reminders of any other traditions or events that are special to you and your family.

Colored paper and fabrics can be used as a unique background for your cards. It is simple to attach textured paper and printed photos to greeting cards with two-sided tape or glue. Your card making efforts may include the use of scented oils, glitter, dried flowers, and stickers in holiday shapes.

Birthday cards can become treasured gifts through the use of a photo collage, clippings from newspapers from the day the person was born, and pictures of activities or hobbies that are of interest such as sporting or musical equipment.

Your card making efforts can be as simple or as complex as you desire and you are sure to leave those who receive your handmade cards with a wonderful memory that will endure for a lifetime.

Article Source: http://www.scrapventurearticles.com

Vera Raposo has been scrapbooking since her oldest child was 5. With tons of scrapbooking tips and ideas, Vera is now sharing some of her best scrapbooking ideas for your new baby in her newsletter www.baby-scrapbooking.com

You can create more scrapbooks in less time of you take a few moments
to organize your thoughts and supplies. Before starting your newest
scrapbooking project, plan out everything you will need and have it close
at hand.

This includes supplies such as tape, glue, and pens, photos
and memorabilia you intend to use, and an idea of how you want your
pages to flow from one to the next.

Effectively organizing your scrapbooking projects includes keeping a
written record of what worked for you in the past and what did not.

Notes of materials and fabrics that worked and those that were difficult to
maneuver, the types of paper and decorations that were the easiest to
attach, and which particular supplies were the most effective will save
you a lot of time when starting a new scrapbooking project.

Basic supplies such as scissors, paper, and page protectors should be kept in a special box or container so they will be within easy reach when you are
ready to begin your next project.

Keeping your family photos and mementos in a central location will make
it much easier to locate the ones you wish to include in your newest
scrapbook. Your calendars and journals should be kept up to date. This
will save you many hours if you don’t have to take time to remember
dates and places.

Make a special effort to keep your information current. Digital photos can be placed into directories according to the special event, the person, and the places in which the photos were taken.

Advance planning and making an effort to keep your scrapbooking items in a
central location are the best ways to keep yourself organized and make
scrapbooking a joy rather than a stressful experience.

Article Source: http://www.scrapventurearticles.com

Vera Raposo has been scrapbooking since her oldest child was 5. With tons of scrapbooking tips and ideas, Vera is now sharing some of her best scrapbooking ideas on her radio show at www.ScrappersTalkRadio.com.

1. Fold a brown (or whatever color) strip of paper back and forth and gently attach it up the page so it looks like stairs up the page.

2. Take a paper the length of where you want it to go and then draw a straight line ever so often across it. Every half inch let’s say. Then shade in every other spot. The shaded spot will then look like the toe kick of the stair.

3. Paperpiece stairs- Cut darker and lighter paper in stips the size you want the stair to be. Cut the darker color a little shorter, this would be the toe kick area. Depending on your layout, start with a toe kick (darker strip) then place a lighter strip on top of it, make sure and overlap the lighter color so it looks like it is hanging over the darker color. Put another toe kick strip above the lighter color, but don’t overlap it at all, just let it touch. Then repeat with the lighter color overlapping on that one as well.

If you have scrapbooking questions, please send them to me. littlescrapbookshop @ gmail.com

But my scrapbook room is not complete without these items. They are the same now as they were 10 years ago and I love that. I appreciate that I can still have the product loyalty after all these years.

My top picks in adhesives and yes they are in order

1. Hermafix Dotto

2. Foam Squares – especially since I love to stamp and cut out images.

3. Glue Dots

Seriously, anyone that has been scrapbooking for a while is laughing right now because we’ve all used these products since they came out. But they are something I can never be without in my scrapbook supplies.

What are your must-have adhesives?