Thanksgiving

On the road again gathering more pictures to scrapbook. Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Layout and Glue

As You are laying out your page, be sure that you've provided enough space for all your elements. When you've got your page just right, start by gluing photos to their mats. Then glue the background paper down. You may want to layout your page again at this point to decide whether you'd like your cut-outs or other elements popping out from behind or overlapping a corner of your photos. Once you've got your page just the way you like, finish gluing! Put your completed page into a sheet protector. And Voila: You've created your first personalized masterpiece!! Remember adding written information to your page can help you capture your memories and create interest. Practicing first on tracing paper overlay helps for size and placement of writing.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Preparation

With Your photographs and other memorabilla in order-and your creativity set in motion-you are ready for the next step: deciding what background paper to use as a base to display your photos upon. White is always an excellent choice: colored paper can really bring out details in your photo. Themed printed papers are available for an attractive look. Add embellishments for that special touch. Recently I went to the scrapbook expo in Utah where my grandsons live. We did a photo shoot for this months quilters corner where the boys are all dress as nijah's. They work so well into the layout for October, a little organizing,a little crop, and voila we are off and running.

Cropping

Once you have organized photos, then cropping begins. Using examples of a friend, with it being Elizabeth's birthday today we show that photo cropping allows you to display the photo in a different size or shape and adds visual interest. Begin by laying a template over a photo. Try different angles until the image revealed looks just right. Consider keeping in mind meaningful details. The house, yard, and neighbor that are so familiar to you now will bring back memories in the future. Also if the point of interest is all that you want, try cutting it out and just work with the figure.

Getting Organized

Recently Gary and I celebrated our anniversary. September 11, we decided to go to Dollywood and we had a blast. Got enough pictures to do at least twenty or more layouts, but we just had a great time... When you are taking pictures and doing layouts give your imagination free rein. Use a little of this and more of that. You can create unlimited types of projects! So following some easy set will help you. 1st Spread out your photographs and suitable mementos. As you organize your photos, they will fall into some interesting categories. Put each group into a large envelope or bag, label it and set it aside. Bring out one group to work with, selecting the best pictures. Select enough items for one page. Category ideas: remember that your photos might fall into more than one category; however, these groupings will help you get started with the sort: ~events-weddings, holidays, graduations and birthdays, ~People-realitves, friends, and co workers, ~Places-homes, vacations, and schools, ~Time-a yearbook, a seasonal or holiday record, or simply in chronological order, ~activities-sports, family reunions, society functions, retirements and anniversaries, ~specialties-pets, old or fragile (love)letters, postcards, and birth announcements

Sweet Circles

I scream you scream we all scream for ice cream and other sweet for a creative page.
Oreos: Cut two identical black circles and tuck between them a white circle of the same size. Decorate the top of the cookies with white 1/16: punch to spell out oreo
Chocolate Chip Cookies: cut the base of the cookies and decorate with square, circle or triangle punches. Take a "bite" out of one by trimming it with mini-scallop-edge scissors.
Lifesavers Candy: Cut a small circle from the middle of a larger circle to create the "ring" shape. Draw on Letters.
Banana Split: Cut two half circles one larger than other glue together at arc to create bowl Cut 4 large "cresent" shapes to form banana scatter over bowl Cut five circles of various colors to form ice cream. Cut scalloped circles from paper doiley to form whipped cream

Camping Circles

Our family loves camping. One of our favorite spots is Flaming Gorge and our favorite dessert or treats are s'mores. The great outdoors is a perfect place for spotting circles. Circles can decorate all sorts of memories.
Roasting Marshmellows: Cut the edge off of two circles to make a marshmellow. Then cut slits at the top and bottom of the shape and push through a long "strip" of paper.
Pine Forrest
Tree 1: For tall, slender trees cut circles into eights, for fuller trees, sixths. Layer the different sizes on top of each other with the points facing the same dirrection. Add a trunk with a narrow strip of paper.
Tree 2: Cut two sixth pieces, one much larger than the other. Tuck the point of the small piece under the curve of the larger piece.
Canteen: layer two cirles of contrasting colors, one slightly larger than thge othere. Between the layers, add a cirle that has had 1/3 cut off of opposite ends to serve as a spout. Add a stripe across the inside circle for decoration Cut the strip fro the canteen with regular scissors
Teepee: Use a large sixth piece as the base. Decorate with different-sized rings and 1/4' circles. Make the door opening by trimming one side of a black circle to match the curve of the bottom of the teepee. Tuck three small strips behind the top point.
Canoe: Cut a large "cresent" shape for the boat. Pen-stitch along the outside edge. To make the oar, cut 1/3 off each end of a circle. Using the narrow piece, add a stright "strip" and a small half cirle with 1/3 cut off one end for a handle.
Compass: A thin "ring placed on top of a rull circle with the same diameter creates the main part of the compass. Create the loop at top by tucking a smaller "ring" behind. The needle is a sixteenth piece with the rounded end tuck behind a 1/4" circle that has been placed in the center. Draw on the coordinates
Fishing Bob: Choose a base color and cut a small circle. Then cut two "crecent" shapes, one of black to create a line around the "middle" of the bob. Layer the black and then the white, trimming it to the same size as the base color. Make a loop by tucking a small "ring" behind.

Celebrate with circles

It was Gary's birthday earlier this month. Use circles to keep your memories spinning around and around.
Ice Cream Cone: We all scream for ice cream" Top an eighth piece with two circles trimmed with a seagull-edge scissors, one slightly smaller than the other, Trim photos to fit inside each scoop. Use the corrugater to give the cone texture.
Summer and picnic's make for fun in the sun
Picnic Basket: Cut one large circle for the basket and the handle. Cut around the outside edge to create a "ring" Reserve the middle for the basket. Cut 1/3 of the cirfcle off the end to create a flat edge. Decorate that edge with a triangle of gingham paper. Use thhe "ring" to make the picnic basket handle.
And what's a picnic without ants:
Ants: use three half-circles for the three parts of the body. Use tghe hearts and borders stamp to create the legs and antennae. The eye is created by layering 1/8" circle and a 1/16" circle.
Finish the picnic off with a slice of watermelon:
Watermelon: Cut a large green circle, slightly smaller white circle, and even smaller red circle. Layer the circles. Cut in half and decorate the red "fruit" with "seeds" made from a teardrop punch.

Creative Circles

Look around you, You'll see circles everywhere. From the wheels on your car to the big circle in the sky, circles are a basic shape in the world around us. With a circle cutter, you'll be able to cut perfect circles and create a whole world of exciting images. Use the Circle cutter to make scrapbook decorations and more.
We are dedicating this month to creating exciting circle decorations. But look around you for more ideas. You'll be surprised how many circles, or parts of circles, make up our everyday environment. Before long, you'll be seeing circles everywhere. To start please look at the basic cuts

Lettering Techniques

On my recent visit we went to Philladephia Historic district seeing many sites one being Betsy Ross's home
1. Practice makes perfect! If you are writing letters freehand, you need to practice so you can feel the arc of the letters in your hand. If you are freehansd cutting the letters out of cardstock or photo practice with blank paper first.
2. Keep the size of your page in mind when selecting letter style and size. Choose letters that will fit the space size and shape.
3. When selecting a lettering style, always choose one that fits the tone of your page. Each style has its own personality.
4. Experiment by writing the same word or phrases with several different pens and pen nibs to find one that feels comfortable and produces an appropriate lineweight for your page. Try a variety of styles.
5. Plan ahead! Always sketch out the lettering on scrap paper before fixing it to your page. If you are going to cut the letters freehand, cut them out of scrap paper first and lay them on your page, moving them around until you find the right spot and angle.

Patriotism

Our country is not the only thing to which we owe our allegiance. It is also owed to justice and to humanity. Patriotism consists not in waving the flag, but in striving that our country shall be righteous as well as strong. ~James Bryce

Photo lettering

Traveling to be with my husband Gary has been interesting as well as created many scrapbooking opportunities. Gary loves to take lots of pictures.
One technique that helps use large amounts of photos is Photo letters. Photo letters are very versatile. You can use it to create everything from fun and funky scrapbook pages to quiet and elegant ones. You may use purchased letter stencils or freehand your own unique alphabet. The techniques is especially useful if you have many photos from the same place. It's also an opportunity to use any less-than-perfect photos. A simple trim will turn them into works of art.

Starting a Project

Armed with photos, album and tools, you're ready to get started. Know what you want to do by starting with a plan. There are four areas that you need to keep in mind with your plans:
1. Cropping: cropping your photos allow you to enhance the image by eliminating extraneous portions of the shot or by turning it into unique shapes. Create your shape by tracing around a template, or create a silhouette by carefully cutting out the photo subject and discarding the background. Before trimming ask yourself if this portion of the photo adds interest and balance. Does it help date or place the subject. Taken out of context, can the image stand alone?
2. Matting: Matting photos prior to mounting can help bring focus on the photo and add visual interst and balance. Mat a cropped photo by adhering to a piece of contrasting or complementry paper for added interest layer the matting.
3. Mounting: It is not hard to mount photos in a album, Double sided tapes and liquid adhesives, create a permanent bond. Photo corners allow you to place and easily remove photos from the album and are available in different shapes, sizes and styles.
4. Journaling. Next to your photos, there is nothing more valuable than the information written about them. Who what when are details that disappear from memory over time Each page has its own personality and its own reason for being part of your book.

A New Beginning

We are so excited with this new beginnings. We are a family that enjoy each other and want to bring you the same enjoyment. We all began scrapbooking at a young age and it has become an addition for all of us.

June 12, 2004

As we get up and running we will be adding many new items to this blog such as tips, scrapping news, sneek-peeks, challenges, poems to go with layouts, list of titles/quotes, fun techniques or advise. We would love to hear from you with your ideas. Please submit to info@scrappersareus.com

Wednesday May 30

We are getting close to getting our website up and running, It is really exciting to see the finished result of all our work and are hoping for the best.