Stickers can be fun, quick, and easy embellishments. There may be just as many ways to scrapbook with stickers as there are stickers available. It is amazing the new and wonderful variety. There are embossed, metallic, and alphabets stickers in all sizes. Not to mention a sticker for almost any season, activity or theme you can imagine.

Keep in mind, if you don’t like the often bright or glossy appearance of stickers, you can tone them down and give them an aged look. Just use a little sandpaper! Here are a couple of ideas for your stickers:

Sticker Borders An obvious way to use stickers as page borders! There are dozens of sticker borders in dozens of themes just ready to be applied to a page. In fact, many paper companies also sell coordinating stickers to serve as borders and page accents.

Sticker Tags With pre-made tags available in so many shapes and sizes, it’s not hard to find tags to fit the stickers you want to use on a page. Just apply stickers directly to tags to make quick, cute page embellishments! Or, to make a tag for a layout, apply two stickers to white cardstock. I then cut the cardstock in a rectangle around the stickers and cut the upper two corners of the cardstock rectangle to create my custom sized tag.

Sticker Titles There are lots of fun ways to use letter stickers as page titles. A huge variety of colors, sizes, and styles of alphabet stickers are available. There are also wonderful stickers that are basically pre-made titles.

Letter stickers can be used to make great letter “tiles.” Stick the letters onto cardstock, leaving plenty of room around each letter. Use a square or round punch in the desired size to punch around each letter. (Hold the punch upside-down so you can see the letter sticker through the punch opening.) Add variety to the “tiles” by carefully using a pen to outline the cardstock edges.

Sticker Shaker Box You can put all sorts of things into shaker boxes, even stickers! Mount the stickers to paper that matched the background patterned paper of the shaker box so you can cut loosely around the edges of the stickers and any paper showing under the clear edges of the stickers will blend into the background.

There are a huge variety of products for your scrapbooking needs. It can sometimes be a bit overwhelming. Every once in a while, I like to get back to the basics to clear my mind and “start fresh” again. I usually do this by taking out a piece of cardstock that matches my pictures, choosing my favorite shape stamp and creating my own patterned paper.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Themed Make themed paper. By using the latest foam stamps such as Halloween or Christmas, you can make a great background for your holiday pictures.
• Duplicate Create the same pattern out of stamped shapes on two different colors of cardstock. Then, layer the cardstock in whichever way you choose creating the impression that the patterns aren’t homemade.
• Layer Overlap the stamped images on the background, especially if they’re stamped in different colors of paint.
• Circles Reach for those circle stamps and create your own background paper for a fun layout. By stamping circles (both hollow and full) in different colors and patterned textures, you can make an interesting and fun pattern that will be easy to use with your pictures.
• Letters For a fun pattern, stamp with foam letter stamps in random succession onto a piece of cardstock. Let some of them fall off the page, which gives the impression that the pattern continues elsewhere.
• Share and Share Alike Ask your scrapping friends to swap hand-made patterned papers. You’ll be delighted how unique they end up!

When I was a child, I liked to play “hide & go seek”.  There was always something exciting about finding the other kids and about finding a place to hide! I take the same enjoyment to my scapbooking! Hiding something on a layout can also be fun. I have found that the easiest way to hide elements in a layout is with pockets.

Some companies have manufactured pockets of every shape, size and color or you can simply create your own. Pockets make your scrapbooking pages interactive and future generations will love seeing what you’ve hidden on your layouts! Here are a few ideas for you next time you decide to play “hide & go seek”:

• Make a full-page pocket by tearing cardstock at an angle and apply to the page.
• Collect ticket stubs, newspaper clippings, receipts, maps, post cards or greeting cards from an event or trip and add them into the pocket on the page.
• Write a letter to someone to be read in the future and stick it in an envelope. It can be a way to disguise your journaling so that only the people you want to can read it.
• Write your heartfelt journaling on a tag and cut a slit in your page protector for easy access to the tag if you want everyone to be able to read it and it is a neat way to free up more space on your layout.
• Use a mini craft bag or create a window of vellum as a pocket by decorating the front and putting a picture, journaling or keepsakes inside!

I don’t know anyone who doesn’t enjoy fresh flowers. As a centerpiece they brighten up any room. The same goes for scrapbooking!  It adds texture and color to my layouts and really adds dimension and character. It doesn’t matter that you don’t have too many girlie pages.  They are beautiful when they adorn the pages of a wedding or heritage layout as well as express the seasons (daisies for spring, lilies for Easter, poinsettia’s for Christmas etc.)

First, consider the types of flowers you think would look great on your layout. Then explore different materials to add texture, such as fabric, textured paper or die cut. Consider selecting one of the ideas below or come up with a creative idea of your own to embellishing your page.

• Select a flower(s) that match the page and tuck them underneath a picture. They will appear more subtle. Not only will they take up less space but also a way to add flowers to a masculine layout without them looking too feminine.
• Faux or fabric silk flower need to be removed from the stem to fasten to the page. I recommend glue dots to adhere silk flowers to the page.
• Cut your flowers for variety. Make them bold or try tearing for a jagged effect.
• Try a cute charm, button or cropped photo in the center of the flower. Make the flowers really stand out by layering them. Start by using floral patterned paper, and then layer with similar or matching flowers.
• Use several flowers to create a border or photo frame.
• Remember, less is more…small flowers can be just as effective as the large ones.

You've finished scrapbooking your most recent layout, but now you're left with as much paper from cutting photo mats, titles, journaling blocks and embellishments as you do on the layout. It's likely a mixture of solid cardstock, printed paper or vellum. You could trash it all, but here are some reasons why you should save "scraps” for your next scrapbooking project.

1.      Scraps can be used for borders, decorative squares, and large Sissix die cuts.

2.      They are great for all of your decorative punches.

3.      Perfect for cutting out the letters for a title.

4.      Small pieces of torn or confetti paper can be used to create accents on handmade greeting cards as well as scrapbook layouts.

5.      Kids love scrapbooking too! Let them start with a pile of your scraps.

6.      It can save time. Try cutting basic shapes out of the paper underneath the photo and save for mats. Save all the rounds or ovals in a bag and they are all set for matting for future projects.

7.      Save the die cut paper. They can make great frames.

8.      It saves you money!

There are a few different ways you can organize your scraps.  I recommend an according folder that is large enough to hold 12 x 12 paper, so that you don't need to cut your scraps down before filing them. Then color code your scraps in the separate file folders. It is a good idea to clean out your scrapbooking folders periodically and get rid of the smaller pieces of paper and hold on to just the larger ones.

In today’s busy world, who doesn’t have a “To Do List?” From the grocery store to the errands I have to run, a list has helped me keep my life in order.  It would only make sense that it became a part of my scrapbooking layouts.

List making can be a wonderful scrapbooking alternatives to traditional journaling! Instead of who, what where, when, why and how, how about a list?

To Do Lists

Things you want to do in your life

Goals for the year

Things you do on a typical day

Things to do to prepare for a baby

Things to do/did on vacation

Funny things kids (boys, girls, siblings or cousins) do

Top Ten Lists

10 Things you can hear around our household

10 Reasons we love our city

10 Reasons I am proud to be an American

10 Cool things about kindergarten

10 Things that make me happy

10 Top ten things I learned in the '60s, 70s, 80s etc.

How To List

How to carve a pumpkin

How to use a power tool

How to build a house in six months

How to keep a toddler busy

How to be a good mother

Inventory List

Favorite things (toys, books, food, etc)

Movies you watched this year

Birthday, wedding or Christmas presents

Classmates and friends

Shopping lists (groceries, school supplies, etc)

Personality traits

While we see color everyday, not everyone realizes the impact of color and the impression it makes in our scrapbooking! Advertisers understand the magic of setting the mood by the color choices they use to tell their story. Once you understand a few basic color principles, you will be able to choose colors that set the tone for your projects.

You can communicate with color! Ask yourself “How did this event feel?” when beginning a layout.  Was it jubilant or somber. Also, consider the season or the location or event.  A common mistake many people do when scrapbooking is to choose colors based what is in the photo. While this may be a consideration it is not the only element to consider when choosing color. 

Warm colors convey excitement and energy. Such colors include: red, yellow, orange, pink, and neon colors. These colors are good for birthdays, parties, amusement parks, etc.

Cool colors convey serenity and are soothing. Such colors include: pastel pink, and powder blue, butter yellow, sage green, kaki, and lavendar. These colors are good for portrait pages, births, and landscape scenes.

Jewel tones convey a regal feel. Such colors include: emerald green, amethyst, ruby red, sapphire blue, gold, silver, and black. These colors are good for important events such as weddings, anniversaries, and heritage pages.

Remember that if you use layout colors that work well with each other, it will not matter what colors are in your photographs. In fact, photos really pop off the page when they layout colors are in contrast to the colors in the photos.

When using a color wheel you can select the coordinating colors adjacent to the color, the contrast across from the color or the compliments that run every other color, every two colors or every third color.  Lastly, monochromatic pages use varying shades of one color.  Keep these simple color principles in mind and you ill always are pleased with the results.

One of the first tools I bought for my new scrapbooking endeavor was cropping tools. I was so excited by my new find that it simply didn't matter whether or not it made sense within the layout, I was cropping every shape available from simple circles and ovals to the hearts and the stars.

However, eventually one comes to realize that cropping every photo doesn’t always produce the most balanced page. Keep in mind design first, crop later.

Whether you use your scissors, templates or punches, creative cropping can add a little magic or a touch of whimsy! When it comes to using cropping techniques on your pages, make careful decisions and do what works best for your design. Here are a few cropping techniques.

Circles, ovals and other basic shapes

There are a number of ways to crop a photograph into a circle. Cutting systems or templates are available. In addition circle punches are also effective.

Circles can add a fun, whimsical look to a scrapbook page, especially when fashioned into flowers or balloons.

Silhouette

Using a pencil draw the silhouette line of your subject eliminating all background elements so you are left simply with a tight freeform photograph of your subject itself and then cut the silhouette before mounting to the page.

It is effective when you want to emphasize the subject, or simply want to eliminate background from a photo. You can even us this technique for matting the subject for a stunning effect.

The moon and the stars and other unique shapes

Cropping your photographs into unique shapes is a creative process. The possibilities are endless. You can crop photos into flowers, hearts, moon and stars, or just about anything. Try using a die-cut system, cutting system or punches for unique effects.

However, you may want to use sparingly! Pages with these types of shapes are challenging and are most effective when used as the focus of the layout to set the theme for the page as to avoid clutter.

Creative cropping is simple yet imaginative! The key is moderation. When used effectively, you can create unique scrapbook pages that are memorable and fun.

Decorative scissors are a staple in everyone’s scrapbooking supplies. I had to collect every design available when I first started to scrapbook. Decorative scissors can really add to a layout, collage or other projects such as labels, tags, cards or gift bags. Here are some ways for your to consider using decorative scissors:

1. Cut frames and mats with them

2. Cut patterned or solid paper into strips to resemble ribbon or brick a brack.

3. Trim the edges of a picture to contrast against a mat background.

4. Use some of the patterns of scissors, like Pinking, along the edges of your paper instead of sewing. 

5. Cut circles and other shapes with them and fashion into flowers for a decorative embellishment.

Some thoughts to keep in mind:

1. Consider using one or two patterns of scissors on a scrapb book layout so that they stand out and don’t become lost in clutter
2. Use the appropriate scissors for the theme. For example, don’t use a victorian style for a boy scout expedition.
3. A few basic decorative scissors are a wave, victorian and pinking styles.
4. Experiment with the scissors, preferably on scrap pieces of paper. Reconsider cutting pictures if you don’t have copies.