just started scrapbooking, have a lot of materials, & ideas.

Annie - posted on 07/29/2009

i have another way to save time!!! i bought a corkboard awhile back and all it did was collect junk!!! well i dont have time to sit for 8 hours trying to design pages and put em together. so i bought some quart size baggies (im working on custom size pages) and an accordion folder from modzy, the 5x7 size. well i gather all the things i want in a page, the embellishments etc, make sure the paper is cut to size and the pics cropped and i drop em in the bag, drop that in the folder and tack it to my corkboard. that way its protected from the elements(kids kids drinks kids!) and its there reminding to FINISH WHAT I STARTED!!! happy scrappin!

Charlie - posted on 07/29/2009

ok i am not coming on here to be a "pusher" and sell my stuff or anything but this has really helped me and i thought i would share.



I am a Close To My Heart Consultant and the thing i love the most about their product is it all matches! the paper, the ink, the stickers, the ribbon, the buttons - all of it matches - i don't spend an hour trying to find a color that matches my stuff, plus....



you can get a kit with a several "pre-designed layouts" along with some additional papers to add to it and it comes with a sticker set, a couple of page protector - all you need for about 6-12 layouts depending on how you work it and it is only $9.95 - you can add to these kits with stamps and other embellishments - but these kits really save a lot of time on designing the layout of the page and for a working mom - i need all the help i can get.



http://charliebennett.myctmh.com



you can look at the catalog online and feel free to ask me any questions - like i said i am not here to be pushy or anything just thought i would share what helped me get things done.

Bonnie - posted on 07/29/2009

Girls I have been a scrapbooking and photography addict for years! I agree with Michele ;-)...we should probably try to reserve our most treasured photos for these books and while parting with other lower quality photos or photos that all seem very similar may just break your heart...you may not necessarily want to take up the time or space to add these to a book. I am a ridiculously particular scrapbooker...and I am trying to choose my "star" pics more wisely





I also recently discovered picnik.com which is an AWESOME website. Suggestion...use the collage function on picnik. pick out a couple of awesome shots...and arrange on a college with some of your less appealing shots around it in the collage in much smaller scale. I am using this for my baby girls portraits...I love them all but if I scrap them all she will have 10 books by the time she is a year old...

Sharon - posted on 07/22/2009

One of the things I've decided to try is using wallet or smaller sized pictures. My husbands camcorder takes really low res pics, but has some good ones, we'll use those as satellite pictures around a better picture, to help tell the story.

Michele - posted on 07/22/2009

I liked Sharon's idea....and a great way to get started. One word of advice...

We take tons of pictures and seem to get lost in what can go into or stay out of the scrapbook. For example..if you have taken a trip to the zoo and have tons of pics of the animals, scrap a couple of your favorite animals and then put the rest in a binder in the back of the book. Save your scrapbooking pages for telling a story about your trip. It makes for a much more pleasant presentation. And you don't become overwhelmed with the tons of pictures you have taken! Happy Scrapping! Michele

Sharon - posted on 07/21/2009

OOOHHHH that is helpful!!

Sharon - posted on 07/21/2009

I learned a technique called power paging. You first pick your paper and lay it out each piece spread out on a big table, then lay what ever pictures you want on each page, next lay out any embellishments, stickers, journaling etc on top of each page. You are roughly designing your pages at this time. Then you can take the stacks and stack them on top of each other and lay them carefully in a box. The next time you have a little bit of time, you can take a page or two out of the box and work on it since you have already done the hard part which is sorting and designing your pages. I find this a bit more satisfying because I can complete one or a couple pages when I have a few minutes here and there rather than trying to set aside a large amount of time to finish the whole project. Hope that helps!

Shannon` - posted on 07/20/2009

Do you still have the pages? You can scan them onto your computer and actually make a hardbound copy on http://memories4today.com! We also have heirloom assurance, just in case it gets damaged or stolen! Membership is FREE for life! I hope this helps!

Sharon - posted on 07/19/2009

Start by gathering everything you think you want to use and put it into a box.

Eventually you'll group things together that you want to use. The book, types of paper, mementos, etc.

After that you just put it together. The hardest part for me (so far in my first venture) was how to sort and group the pictures. I used my online photo service book making tool. I was able to sort the pictures, group them and then use the arrangement tool to help them fit on the page. I know I'll have more options in real life but this helps me get started.

Good luck!

Lauri - posted on 07/19/2009

I have been scrapbooking for 11 years and would love to help you get started. It might be easier to call me but you can check out my website and then call me. I too lost a loved one, it was my son and so that is why I am so passionate about preserving memories. My website is www.mycmsite.com/laurihoupy. Looking forward to hearing from you.