Accents 2 Scrapbooking

Getting Inspired

2009-03-15T12:38:00.000-07:00

I don't know if many out there are like me, or at least how I was. I use to organize the photos I was going to do, even put the papers and cardstocks together. I was taking the time to be organized and making my scrapbooking easier. What I found was that when I tried to get inspired by the pictures and things that I was "Organizing" I was running into scrap block. I spent a lot more time looking over the organized folders of pictures and papers and not getting inspired by any of it.
Then I would run away from all of it for days and days until I could get rid of the frustration and look at the over all picture. I would load all my folders up and go to scraps and sit there the whole night and maybe get one or two pages accomplished. I finally figured out that my block comes from looking at those pictures and all the "Organizing" I put all those folders aside and went for it. I grabbed photos and started getting inspired in the moment, not the organization of it all.
I truly believe in organization and its great to have everything where you can find it, but when it comes to scrapbooking my photos I realize that its about the moment and the inspiration that comes when I start cutting and placing them on the paper. I am what you call an inspirational scrapper. I can't organize my moments by placing my pictures in neatly organized folders. I need to let myself go and grab the scrapbooking papers and embellishments as I go along.
I guess what I am trying to say for a tip, is that you need to take a moment and find out just what kind of scrapper you are. If you are running into frustration over your pages, maybe its time to re-evaluate the way you are scrapping. Making it your way is the only way. Scrapping should be full of fun, inspiration and not frustration.
If my tip helps one frustrated scrapper, then I am so happy to have put my input onto paper!

Sandra
Oaklahoma

Patsy's Tip

2009-02-23T09:44:00.000-08:00

I have always had a problem with the glue in my liquid glue bottle, clogging. Then its a long process of getting it unclogged. then one day I figured out that sometimes there was a little glue left on the end and if I just wipe it away my glue wasn't clogged. So everytime I use my liguid glue I gently squeeze out just enough to let it dry over the top. No more trying to put a needle in the tip to clean it out, I just wipe and its ready to use!

I want to thank, Accents 2 Scrapbooking for giving me the opportunity to put something in their newsletter. Also a big thanks for the Valentine layout. It not only gave me a beautiful 2 page layout but a lot of ideas on how to use some embellishments!

Patsy

Folding Pages

2008-11-09T15:17:00.001-08:00

This one is so fun. Its a great way to use up small photos or do some awesome journaling that is a little hidden.

What am I talking about. Well instead of talking if I show you I know you will be able to make your own pages.
Here is a page that I made of my son Adam. Although he absolutely hates his pictures. I adore them! As you can see there is one side of the layout that is folder over. To do this is so simple, you just adhere a piece of paper to the side of your layout. You can decorate the inside anyway you want. Well then again, let me just show you

Here is the inside of that flap that I was talking about! As you see I put one of those little photos that you have to crop down. Another great idea would be to use a school wallet picture inside also. I had to write all my mushy mommy stuff on the inside and he is quite grateful that we can "Cover it up" so no one else can see! Oh well when I am dead and gone, he might appreciate all the Mommy loves you stuff. The important thing is how I decorated the inside of the flap! Don't be afraid to do just Write just about anything in there No one is going to see it that you don't invite to see it.

I have one more to show you. I actually did a class with this. It was absolutely a blast. I showed my layout, gave them their papers and of coursed showed how to put it together. Then I let them go. With a few suggestions and a lot of enthusiasm from each other, these ladies created some gorgeous layouts. Of course you are stuck with the layout that I did of myself for my "About Me" album.

Oh the photo's are horrible, but that is not the important part of this, once again its how its put together.

This is a layout is made with photos that I shot of myselves. Long story short, Adam and I were fooling around with the CAMERA!
Anyway there were a few photos that would make a good layout and being a scrapaholic any picture that is OK is good enough to scrap.

Here again, I created a flap and wrote about me in this one.
You can do just about anything inside. I love the look of these layouts and the idea that you can make it a hiding journaling or put some more photos in there and embellish it to the fullest!

I love my albums filled with different layouts and different styles! If you have a unique style that you would love to share I sure would like to see it.
Just send it to me at debbie@accents2scrapbooking.com Can't wait to see what you do!

Article by
Debbie Ruggles

Get that Happy Scrapping Feeling

2008-10-24T14:18:00.000-07:00

I am just coming back from a weekend of Scrap Camp. It was the most relaxing event for me. I actually spent 3 days doing nothing but scrapping. I actually got 15 pages done. So why go to something like this you ask, and frankly it does cost some money to go.
Well for me it was some much deserved time away from all the men folk that are at my house. The next thing was that running a business takes a lot out of you not to mention MOST OF YOUR FREE TIME. Getting pages done is a rare thing for me these days. Next is I learn so much from people around me, I get to try new things and yes I love the give aways.
I really feel that doing some thing like this, even if its just once a year is so much fun and it pumps you up to keep going.
Do you have to spend a lot of money doing this? Heck no! How about starting out slow and just start a little scrap club for just a day event. Maybe once a month or even bi-monthly. Advertise it just a little bit and see where it gets you. If you get to big for your house then its probably time to find a church basement or a community center you can get people to come to. No matter how big or small your group is there are many benefits to it.
You can invite independant instructors over to do classes. These believe me go over well. I do them myself. I give a bargain for a house party of 6 or more people. I charge for the 2-page layout and my time and I even give away a couple small prizes. I know there are people out there just like me that would love to come to your scrap club. That is just one of the many options out there for your club.
You can also have a table set up for trading things, or even one for selling items your club members want to try and get rid of.
One idea our scrap club has is that we rotate where the class is and that person that is hosting the club is the one who comes up with the layout we are going to create. We all bring a dish to pass and she supplies our coffee, water and pop!
This next year I am going to host my very first weekend retreat. I am in the organizing process and will let everyone know the final details when I have them all worked out!
Remember scrap clubs offer not only the opportunity to learn but its a great way to get together with you friends and have a great time! That has got to be worth everything!

Article by
Debbie Ruggles

Sticking Photos!

2008-09-21T06:52:00.000-07:00

We have all been there! I have even tore a couple that I wished I had taken a few minutes to just stop, and think about what I was doing.

Mostly I had a habbit of sticking my pictures in those magnetic albums. Well then when I started scrapbooking I started with my newer pictures always thinking I would get my other pictures out of those books. So here it is years later and I am finally attempting to get my pictures out of those books and into some layouts. I see some have faded and then of course a lot of them are stuck on those pages. Yes I did pull some off and the back comes off or I have ripped a corner or two. One of my albums all the photos are stuck to the pages and getting them off is almost impossible without some help.

So what do you do? Well I have tried a few ideas and here is what I am doing
There is a product out there called Undo. Its great it works by sliding the flat tip under the picture and then squeezing some of the solution under the photo. It turns the picture a wet sort of look but that goes away without any damage to your picture. Let is sit for just a few second and then take a flat spatula. I am actually using my Cricut spatula and it works great but there are others out there that will work just as well.
This is working great for me without any damage. This product is great as it will even work on your layouts that you have glued down and want to re-arrange. I won't have my scraproom without it these days.

In my attempts to look for a way to help myself out I found a few other tips that might help with this sort.

One place says to try and use a heat gun and heat your photos. Personally I wouldn't recommend this, as I know how hot a heat gun gets and just how fast it can burn. So if you are no expert at using one I wouldn't suggest you try this one only as a last resort.
Another was to try and use dental floss and slide it under the photo. This is harmless although I never gave it a try, but I might!

If you have any other ideas on how to help us out with a project like this, we would love to know your secret!
email your suggestions to me at debbie@accents2scrapbooking.com and I will gladly share them with our readers

Article by:
Debbie Ruggles

How To Get your Layouts Published!

2008-08-15T04:23:00.000-07:00

We have many questions asking for help getting their layouts published. Here are a few ideas to try and help you get your work published.

When we all started out Scrapbooking none of us were sure or even aware of how to get our layouts looked at on the web or in magazines. Here are some tips that should help you get them noticed:

#1 Never send your original layouts! They will get lost or never returned.

Instead scan your images in or take a digital photo and email them to the places you would
you would like to submit to.

For 8-1/2x 11 resize them to layout and 500 pixels for a 12"x12" layout.

Name your layout with the title name. For instance if you have a layout that you entitled "Smiles Of Emily", then save it as smilesofemily.jpg. This makes it easy for you to keep track of your saved files and easier for the places you submit to. Save all files as a JPEG (.jpg) format.

#2 Makes sure you include in your email, your name, phone number, email address and any other information so that the company can get a hold of you

You can submit your layouts to many places! Have the confidence to show off some of your work. Believe me its great to see it as a winner!

Give it a try.

You can submit your layouts here for our customer contests:
layouts@accents2scrapbooking.com

How it works is we submit them to the design team and they choose the winning layout. The winner is notified and receives a $10.00 e-certificate to our websites along with publication in the Scrap Cents newsletter!

We would love to see your Stuff!

Article by

Debbie

Question from Becky

2008-07-19T15:00:00.000-07:00

I have a question. I look at all those beautiful layouts and they just seem to blow my mind. I would love to give them a try, but for the most part I am just not that experienced in the craft. I would love to make some of those layouts, but when I read the directions they overwhelm me and there I am just closing the book and sitting and thinking. What can you tell me about how I can get more experienced in this and learn to make my own great looking layouts???? Please pass along anything you got, I am more than willing to take any advice.

Question from Marge

2008-06-29T10:52:00.000-07:00

The question was:

I always draw my lines for journaling & then pencil in the text. Once I go over it w/ the markers & the text is dry, I erase, thus my problem. Is there an eraser out there that does a good job w/ no/very little eraser crumbs or flakes? I blow, brush but still inevitably end up w/ them stuck on my pictures. What do others use successfully.
Marge Geise

The Design Team Suggestions are:

A putty rubber is good as it doesn't leave the rubbing out bits as much if at all. The putty rubber is generally used by artists.Hope this is of some help.

Caroline
__________________________________________

White art erasers are the best. I find these in the art section of stores. (Actually I found my first one in my son's art supplies). The one I use is a Prang Vinyl Eraser.

Anita

Scrapbooking Chronologically

2008-03-25T16:57:00.000-07:00

This tip comes from Laura from Michigan

If you are newer to scrapbooking and do not scrap chronologically, I highly reccomend you start now figuring out how you want your albums layed out. I started scrapping over 7 years ago, my oldest had just started Jr. High and the other 2 were in elementary. I have always worked full time plus very busy with the 3 kids in a multitude of sports, band, scouts, 4-H and on and on and on and on...... and so only scrapped a few pages here and there. I would do current events, older items and some in between. I just threw the pages in albums to protect them as I finished them. Well today I took ALL of my albums apart, sorted the pages by kids, holidays, etc and chronologically. It took me several hours but my albums are finally in order and I was amazed how much I had gotten done. I have 10 times more to go than I got done, but it's a start. It is amazing the changes in my style of scrapping and picture taking for that matter. I am also switching to 3 ring albums. It was very tedious taking the albums apart and putting back together only to find another page I needed to put in the middle. ughhhh.

One more tip, ALWAYS date the pages you do. I couldn't believe how many of the pages I forgot to put dates on. I finally figured them all out.

Now to get some more scrapping done next weekend.

Laura

Another Great Tip

2008-01-12T05:12:00.001-08:00

One of our readers sent in this great tip for Scrapbooking and we had to post it!

Tip of the month
This comes from Angie of South Carolina.

I had a ton of magazines. I couldn't hold anymore in the magazine raks and I couldn't put anymore actually anywhere. My office and home were beginning to look like a pack rats place with scrapbooking and stamping magazines everywhere. In the magazines were ideas that I wanted to try but I figured out that I spent most of my time trying to find the idea I was looking for instead of scrapbooking. One day I decided to take apart my magazines. At first I was sickened to my stomach to think I was tearing these magazines apart but then I decided they weren't any good to me if I was constantly just looking for things and not actually getting anywhere. So I began.
I took a three ring binder to begin with and some inserts. I began to put my favorite ideas inside the inserts and then finally after I got through with my thumbing through magazines and finding the ones that I knew I would use and had them all in inserts I sorted them into piles. I put the Christmas layouts in one pile and the Halloween in the next, School, sports, family, etc. Then I found some 8x11 3-ring binders and put my sorted piles into order in the binders. Of course I have a binder for holidays and that includes all the Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving etc ones and then School and Sports etc. I actually took my ideas for my titles from your website for your papers. Works great and now I just reach up grab a binder off my shelf and look through what I have in there. When I get new magazines I just go through it take out what I know I will be scrapping and happily place it in its binder. Oh and incidently I passed along the magazines to my scrapbook buddies because now they have their own binders!

Thank you Angie for your idea!

2007-12-11T16:32:00.000-08:00

See www.accents2scrapbookingjournal.blogspot.com for some great journaling tips.

Scrapbooking Tips to get started!

2007-12-11T16:05:00.000-08:00

This is our first post at our new home, so it was only fitting to start right from the beginning with how and why we scrapbook. As a mom I know that I have many reasons. One I love being a mom and I loved every moment of watching my baby boys grow up to the wonderful young men they are. I can't tell you how much fun it is to sit with all the scrapbooks and reminisce about the times that we shared. One giant reason to scrap is to preserve all those moments to look back on. Memories are one thing that they say can never be taken away from a person. Probably true, but when I look back on those scrapbooks I can relive my memories by the pictures and journaling on my pages. I just hope that my boys have as much fun looking back these times as I do. I feel like I am preserving a bit of their lives that one day they can share with the next generation. They can show them how we lived and what it was like growing up when they did. I just can't say enough about scrapbooking and how important it is to do.

So what tips do I have for you? Well there are many that we could list. So lets just start out with the basics and then you can just come back each month for more!

1. Equipement. That one is simple. You definately need a good, sharp pair of scissors. You also need some paper and/or cardstock, some kind of adhesive to begin.
**A lot of people begin with the glue stick and then progress into other adhesives. Glue dots seem to be the number one adhesive, so check them out and see if they meet your expectations.
**Rotary Cutters are fantastic, but pricey. Although I did see a small simple cutter at one of those dollar discount centers. So if you are short on cash then check out one of those stores and see if you can come across some bargains for one.

2. Something else that I like to have is a good cutting mat. There are a large selection out there. My only advice is to make sure it self healing. It doesn't necessarily need to be a 12x12 mat. Just one that you can cut on and punch on and works for those things.

3. The old thing about a album always comes up with beginners. Just because you don't have an album doesn't mean you can't scrapbook! Heck I know a lot of scrappers who just purchase the protectors and get a album whenever they feel the need. I do suggest you have a place that is flat and your layouts won't get wrinkled. I also suggest you do purchase some page protectors. They aren't that expensive and they will help keep your layout clean and free of wrinkles and folds. Does it mean you can't scrap if you don't have these? NO! Just keep them in a flat clean and dry place until you can get them safely in protectors.

4. As for ideas, they are endlessly displayed on the internet. You can find a ton of them almost anywhere. Just look around, you can find sketches, ideas and tons more patterns on making your scrapbooking pages. So don't concern yourself for looking for a magazine subscription just yet!

5. A great way to get ideas is to go to classes, or crops. There are a lot of them out there. I myself put on a monthly crop robin. where we make 1 project (usually a 2-page layout) and I just have everyone bring their pictures, adhesives and glue and we get the job done. We have a different host each month and a different project is made by that hostess. Oh we have visitors to, they just pay the host $10.00 and they can come and join in on all the fun. Just a idea to get you started on some of the fun social scrapbooking events that could be out there. You might even find one that is close to where you live.

6. Whatever you can afford, remember some of that should be for paper and cardstock. You can't really do much without some. I remember when I was starting out I looked at dollar stores for scrapbooking things. Just to save you the hassle, the papers were not that great. I love the heavy, colorful quality papers and you will to. So look at your local scrapbook store and see what they have. You will be amazed at the colors and beauty some of these paper have.

There, some tips on getting started. There is more information at http://www.accents2scrapbooking.com/starting_out_scrapbooking.htm
Once you start you will be hooked. Creating your own scrapbooking pages is oh so much fun!

Happy Scrapping

Article by
Debbie Ruggles