What to keep and what to throw away is a yearly problem. Of course, everyone is different. Some people can make rigorous decisions because they know that they want to keep particular things: Others have a hard time throwing anything away.
For children's scrapbooks start with baby pictures, a birth announcement, cards and photos, and continue into the school years. For school years, keep report cards, special achievements, end of the year diplomas, and pictures from field trips. At the end of the year pick things out, thinking in terms of twenty years from now - what will be a treasure to have? And the things that will be really cute that show their hand writing or a special poem, or original art work. The purpose of scrapbooks for children is to keep things for them in an organized manner.
Weeding things out is making decisions about what is important and what is not important. Editing means deciding than an item may be important but that it is not appropriate for your scrapbook. It may be an issue of privacy or it may be that you don't want anything in your scrapbook that invokes negative emotion. For instance what about letters that weren't addressed to you? Perhaps they are letters that your parents exchanged or letters that your father wrote to his parents when he left home and struck out for the first time. For some people these are family treasures, for others they should be thrown away and unread because to read them would be an invasion of privacy.
Memorabilia to keep.
There is the issue of editing after some time has passed and our lives have changed. For example what do we do if a romance ends? Do we remove evidence of the relationship, or leave it in the scrapbook?
Creative Memories has Pocket Pages for storing memorabilia together with photos in scrapbooks.
The corner rounder is perfect for rounding the corners of the photo instead of using scissors. The tool is easy to use and all of the corners will match. Rounding the corners offers a softer look and creates more room on a page.
When you are using Shape Makers, it is often hard to see the placement. Turn the punch upside down, slide the photo or paper in, and punch. The punch is harder to hold this way, but you can see the placement of the shape easier.
Punch through wax paper several times to lubricate the blades.
When the cuts from the punch are not very clean, punch through aluminum foil or very fine sandpaper several times to sharpen the blades.
Mother's Day has come and gone, now don't get caught unawares for Father's Day in June. Creative Memories has photo mounting corners for the father who likes to collect cards.
1) For the card collector: You can safely mount collector cards in a Creative Memories album so that they can be removed for reading the back. One can also write the memories directly on the album pages.
2) For a fast an easy way to complete a Sentiments album full of Fond Father Moments, use a Creative Memories ABC method or an idea sheet available at a CM workshop. One can also book a workshop or Crop 'til You Drop event with your Creative Memories Consultant and get the job done in one sitting and receive motivation and inspiration while having fun with others while scrapping.
Although professional photos are wonderful additions to a scrapbook, using a professional photographer for all photos is not practical, or necessary. Your own snapshots are going to capture the most memorable moments in your life. The best times and conditions, as far as lighting is concerned, for taking photographs outside are before 10 am and after 4pm and on a slightly overcast day. The subject should be positioned so the sunlight is hitting them from the side instead of facing directly into the sun.
Add variety to photos by changing the angles at which photos are taken. Try looking through the camera viewfinder at the subject from low, high, and normal camera angles to see which will look best. Children's photos are often better if the photographer kneels down to the child's level before taking the shot. Many older people find photos taken from a slightly higher angle more appealing.
Get closer to the subject when you are taking the photograph. At first, it is a little awkward to get so close, but the results are great. The only exception to using this technique is when you are using a flash - especially indoors - as the subject can appear washed out or over-exposed. Try enlarging your photos. If you have a photo where the image is very small and you would like it to appear larger, either enlarge it on a color copy machine of have the photo printed larger from the negative. Then simply crop the photo so the subject is the main focus.
Creative Memories has products to help with your cropping needs:
Personnal Trimmer,
12 inch ruler, and
Personal Cutting System.
18 April 2004
Creating Scrapbook Pages
Once you've gathered and organized your supplies, you are ready to begin creating pages. Here are a few tips for a smooth start.
12 April 2004
Getting Started
Scrapbooking can be an overwhelming project if it is not broken down into categories. Being organized has to be the first priority on the list before beginning.
28 March 2004
Borders
One way to give a page a cohesive look is to include borders. Borders pull a page or a two page spread together and give it a unified look, even before you add images or text. Your borders can be as complex or as simple as you like. Stamps, stickers, stencils, writing, drawn-in lines, cut out patterns, and pieces of paper can all be effective borders.
Finally, when you are designing a scrapbook page, have fun. Try differnt layouts and different combinations of materials before you stick them on the page. Pressed flowers, wine labels, ticket stubs, coasters, menus, programs, and photographs can all work together on a well laid out page to create interest and activity. Think about what is important on a page, about the story you are trying to tell, and let your imagination go to work to create a one-of-a-kind layout.
Creative Memories has
Mounting Paper and
Great Length Stickers
to help with creating borders.
Use Photo Mounting Sleevesto safely mount memorabilia.
20 March 2004
Using a template to crop photos
To crop your photos, place a template over the photo to the best position. Using a pencil, trace the shape onto the photo.
Using scissors, cut around the pencil line on each photo. For a smooth cutting line, use these steps.
13 March 2004
6 March 2004
Negative space
An important layout principle is the wise use of negative space - that is, space on your pages that is free of pictures, captions, journaling, embellishments, borders, or any kind of decoration. The eye needs to have time to take everything in, and leaving portions of a layout empty prevents it from being too busy and frenetic. Negative space should be thought of an an embellishment in itself - study layouts that you like and note the use of empty space on the page.
See how I've used this in my personal albums.
Example 1,
Example 2
Calendar Pages
Use a Creative Memories calendar page and frame to document those special moments as your child grows up. A quick glance will bring back memories of the first tooth, first haircut, new bed, or that storm which knocked out power for a week. At the end of the month, simply place the page in your album and start again. Click on image to enlarge.
28 February 2004
Say Goodbye to Red-Eye
When you get your film developed are you faced with print after print of red-eyed relatives? It's frustrating, but there are a few things you can do to get rid of red eye before and after you take your pictures.
Red eye reduction feature This feature makes your camera emit a series of flashes or a steady stream of light before the picture is taken. This causes the pupil of the eye to contract and reduces the chance of having red eye in your picture.
Have your subject look away from the lens Have your subjects look either a little to the left or a little to the right of the camera (emphasize little to avoid extremes) or at your forehead or shoulder. This way they are not looking directly into the camera's lens, so their eyes won't reflect as much light.
Turn the lights on Turn on a light or move the subject to a lighted or brighter area. The pupils will shrink, and the risk of red eye will be reduced.
Get a removable flash This way you can point the flash right at the ceiling and bounce the light from the camera to the subject. This approach changes the angle of light so the subjects' eyes won't reflect as much light.
If all else fails, Clarifeye! Put the emphasis back on smiling faces rather than glaring pupils. Fill in the crimson color with the Clarifeye Pen, Creative Memories new Red-eye reduction pen.
Clarifeye pen removes red-eye
21 February 2004
Journaling
Toddlers: For a child who is just learning how to talk, you might simply keep track of the first words spoken and then create a page with that list, along with a photo of the child and his/her age. When children begin to speak in phrases, you can ask them simple questions about an event and then record both the questions and answers on a page.
Preschoolers: Preschool aged children (3-5 years old) often become little chatter boxes who will gladly express their thoughts to anyone willing to listen. You can ask children of this age to explain what is happening in the photographs on the page, and then write down their responses exactly as they give them: grammatical errors and all. Birthdays are a time to interview kids about their favorite things (colors, tv shows, food, hobbies, etc), friends, school activities, and goals for the future. Have them write their name on a page or draw their own illustrations.
Digital Camera Basics
Feel free to suggest a future tip of the week!
email me - au168@chebucto.ns.ca
Cheryl