My kind of scrapbooking

[melodyanne]

Hi! I just wanted to share my scrapbooking ideas. Since I don't have very much spare money for these kinds of things, I've had to put my own spin on the way to do it. My daughter is five and I started about a year ago. My life has been pretty topsy turvy so I haven't gotten as far along as I'd like to. I went to the store and looked in the scrapbook section for a really long time. Everything seemed pretty expensive, and for all that I wanted to do I knew I couldn't afford it. So although some may not like the homemade look of things, you'd be surprised how well things can turn out.
My first scrapbook was very cost effiencent. I bought a three ring binder to start, and a pack of those clear see-through plastic protectors. I also bought: different shaped scrapbook scissors(3-pack), tape, marble and plain construction paper(which will do several books) , pens and markers, scrapbook glue, and heavy multicolored computer paper (which will do several books), as well as a few stickers. I also sometimes buy/print specialty papers that have birthday ballons and such for backgrounds. Clip Art also has lots of neat things you can use in lieu of stickers.
With the construction paper and the scissors I was able to do many things including making my own borders. My first scrapbook is actually still a work in progress, but it's looking really good. I have only completely finished one.
I made it for my father who missed out on much of my life. My mom and I went through all her pictures, including my baby book, my file folder, (which holds everything from school, awards, report cards, band programs, and ect...) and we dug out everything. I also asked a few friends and relatives for thier help in gathering pictures. By the time I scanned and copied all those pictures on my printer, this got a little expensive. But normally I would just use my own pictures for the books I will keep and wouldn't have to have that extra expense. When I finished it, I was thrilled. I was like looking at my whole life right there in front of me, from birth to now. But it really didn't look that pretty in the three ring binder, so once again I improvised. I went to Wal-Mart to the fabric section and found a nice print on the $1.00 shelf. And I didn't even need a whole yard. I also bought a piece of felt to cushion it some. I don't have a sewing machine but I discovered iron on adhesive, "HeatnBond Hem", which is very easy to use. Be careful if you try this not to burn yourself as I slightly did. I used these things to cover the binder, but it still looked a little plain. So I bought a piece of matching ribbon that I used to keep it tied closed, and a cute 4x6 photo frame, that I got for a dollar in the kids craft section. I velcroed the frame to the front and I put a picture of me and my dad in it. It turned out wonderful!
I'm going to give it to him for Chritstmas.
You see, my dad and I have never been very close. He remarried a wonderful christian woman , whom I personally think is the best thing that's ever happened to him. He used to really get on my nerves because he pressured me all the time about going to church. It drove me nuts. He knows/knew so little about me. I have recently come to find that he is very knowledgeable about the Bible and can answer almost any question I ask. Trust me, over the last few months as I have been trying to draw myself closer to the Lord, I have had non-stop questions. I think God is drawing us closer together through Him, and that makes me really happy! I wanted to do something special for him. I hope he likes this scrapbook that I made especially for him, I don't really think he's even the sentimental kind of man, but I hope he likes it anyway. I guess I'll let ya'll know after the holidays.
Ok,well I just thought I would share. If anyone has any suggestions for me I'd love to hear them.

God Bless!

[ilovemotherhood]

I took up scrapbooking a few years ago when I discovered how fun and great way to keep memories alive. But recently I've put it aside b/c of our move and other things going on our lives. I've decided, now that we're settled in and not going anywhere, to take it up again. We are also on a tight budget now, so like you I will have to find other inexpensive ways to scrapbook.
Here are some neat tricks and tips I've learned:

Make your own tags, embellishments, letter stamps (using foam, plastic)
Collect things that you think you can use for pages such as paper clips, stickers, scrap paper, cards, even in junk mail, magazines, spare buttons, threads, etc.
Dollar store! I had a subscription to a scrapbook magazine, and there was an article where a few women were to create pages using things they can find at the Dollar Store. The pages turned out great!
Have a sewing machine? Great accent for pages.
Learn to scrapbook digitally(I'm trying this one)
SALES! SALES! SALES! Look for them.
Invest in good quality long lasting products.

I made a scrapbook for my mother in law last year for christmas of my family, mainly of my boys, her grandchildren. It was very simple. I purchased a pack of patterned paper, ribbons, and I had some items at home to start with already. But the pages were mainly focused on the pictures, and sometimes only the journaling. They had ribbons here and there, some had tags, and small easy embellishments. I took my pen and scribbled a little here and there as well, around the pictures for the frame. In the end I was proud of the scrapbook and it took me three days, plus Christmas eve night . She loved it.

Scrapbooks don't have to be about pretty things and spending hours working pages. For me scrapbook is about the picture and what's in it, what's going on at the time, feelings, thoughts. I love the journaling also.

[CLSx2]

Just be careful that the products your using are acid free. If the are not acid free they will begin to break down and the acid will eat away and destroy your pictures.

HTH,
Crystal

[Sheba1723]

a cheap idea i thought of this week is buying dollar flowers from walmart and using those instead of the ones that you have to pay 5 bucks in a can for

[onfire4jesus]

Thank you all for the great ideas. My husband and I were working on a scrap book but we have not worked on it in a while. God bless



Onfire4jesus

[missangie]

I recently purchased med. foam scrap books that came with sticky foam letters, flowers and such. It is like a spiral notebook. It was around $6 from wal-mart. I made them for two little girls that I had baby sat since they were 6 wks. old and just started kindergarten this August. I just used things that I had around the house for decos and such. They turned out so cute and the girls just loved them. I agree you can spend too much money on scrapbooking but am finding that inexpensive scrapbooking is just as good.
missangie

[CoerryLot]

Word really would not be a good platform for digital scrapbooking. For one thing, youll never be able to have anything printed as Word doesnt support graphics files much over 72dpi. You also cannot manipulate the elements as you could in a graphics program. In short, youd be very limited in what you could do using Word.

[DiamondRing]

I use a combination of ideas to create very inexpensive scrapbooks. I loved to stamp years ago, so I use stamping and I also loved to trace and color in with colored pencils, I bought a kit years ago for this with a friend who did a home based business all on making your own cards. I also will find pics now on internet of different scenery and simply print it out to use as background sometimes. Then I add the photos with Craft Bond Acid-Free No-Wrinkle Rubber Cement. It is perfect for artwork or photos. This rubber cement is acid-free, wrinkle-free and dries clear or Craft Bond Acid-Free Scrapbook glue sticks.
I use regular Construction Paper and I purchased a huge amount of it in all different colors at our local Goodwill for $3.99 and I use big 3 ring binders (again purchased at Goodwill for .99 each). I also use a variety of old cards snipped for the pretty pictures as well as other memorabilia such as ticket stubs etc. and stickers. Sometimes I even use my kid's artwork such as sponge painting to decorate the background before adding the pics (after paint drys). Then I lamentate each page with contact paper I got at Target.
Last I use a 3 ring hole punch and add to the binder. The binders I have are very big but you can get any size you'd want.
Bottom line I am having fun, all the products are acid-free and will not hurt photos (I checked a while back) and I do not spend much at all.
Now I finally got my first digital camera for Christmas so I really save with no film to purchase and develop! I am going to really be having fun now!

[mtmbab88]

I also enjoy scrapbooking--although it tends to get put on the back burner much of the time with our hectic schedules. I do try to stick to one type of product though and try to avoid the scrapbooking stores--I am afraid of them--afraid I'll go crazy in there. I also stick to acide free. I see how pictures have deteriorated over the years from the cheap albums I had my pictures in. The easiest way for me to get a lot done is to take a sheet of scrapbooking paper that I know will fit in my alburms and layout out my photos and then add text and embellishments later if I don't have exactly what I need but sticking with one company seems to curb my spending.