Scrapbooking Designs For the Budget Conscious

If you find you are spending too much money for your scrapbooking designs, instead of giving up the hobby you may want to learn ways to cut corners while still creating beautiful scrapbooks. While scrapbooking can be an expensive hobby, many scrappers have learned how to get many of their scrapbooking supplies on the cheap. One of the ways in which you can do this is to get more creative about the embellishments you use in your scrapbooks.

Embellishments are what many scrappers consider to be the most expensive part of scrapping. If you stick to only using embellishments that are designed for scrapbooks you can spend quite a bit of money on these adornments. However, by getting creative and brainstorming you can come up with everyday items that you can use in your albums that will cost only a fraction of the cost of the fancier adornments.

Many people use everyday items in their scrapbooking designs, which not only saves a lot of money on fancy embellishments but it also lends a more personal dimension to your scrapbooks. You can use everything from paper clips to clothing tags in your memory albums. You can get a lot of free ideas online about how to make these items stand out and look just as good, if not better, than expensive adornments.

Many people include keys and other special mementos in their scrapbooking designs. If you don't want to adhere the item directly to your scrapbook pages then you may want to purchase small, see through envelopes to hold your special mementos. Buttons and bottle caps also make great embellishments for your scrapbooks. Some scrappers even cut out words and lettering from items in their pantry, such as cracker and cereal boxes. These can make great additions to your scrapbook pages and if you don't already know how to incorporate items like this into your pages then you may want to peruse the Internet for ideas.

Charms are another popular item scrappers use in their scrapbooking designs and these can be quite expensive when you purchase them from scrapbook suppliers. However, if you get really creative, you can find your own charms much cheaper. Just look around the house for old costume jewelry and you might also want to visit garage sales and flea markets for charms and other items you can use in your scrapbooks. Creativity begets frugality and you may be surprised at all the great items you will find on the cheap once you start looking for them.

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Scrapbooking Layouts - Background Designs For Your Scrapbook

Having a hard time choosing from the millions of scrapbooking layouts? Would you like to have a unique layout that no other person could have made exactly alike? Well, recreating background designs are easy - especially when you have the right materials. Pondering over background designs will only take you one look at your tools and you should be having a brainstorm coming up.

Anyway, if you're having a hard time thinking up some crazy cool scrapbooking layouts, take a read on these ideas.

Playing with Shapes

Shapes are crazy cool, especially if you know how to work with it. Use colored paper or better yet, patterned paper for a much creative outcome. Cut out different big shapes in all sizes using different patterns.

When you're done, lay out the shapes onto your background in random order like a collage. Have shapes overlap others, overturned, half peeping, upside down, whatever position you can create to give the layout an eccentric look. Then in the middle, cut out a shape from felt paper and place in the middle. This will serve as your photo mat.

Punching Holes

Another idea you may want to consider for your scrapbooking layouts is the use of the puncher. Yes, the puncher is actually very useful. Punch holes through your background, a patterned paper or any kind of paper and use this as your background. Acetate paper can be used as a window and for those who don't want to throw away those holes you've punched, use it as embellishments.

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Bernadine Otis

Scrapbook: Honors And Class Reunions

Honors: Shannon F. Kennedy of Janesville was given an Outstanding Recent Alumni award by UW-Whitewater during their Founders Day activities. Kennedy is the president of SASID Inc., a Web-based insurance company he founded with his brother, D. Shawn Kennedy. The company was recently listed by Inc. magazine as one of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in America.

Tammy Andries, events coordinator for the Madison affiliate of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, has been nominated for the Randy Pausch award, named after the author of “The Last Lecture.”

Student honors: Sixteen Madison-area middle and high school students — finalists among 50 state students in the May 2 National History Day competition — will represent Wisconsin at the national event in June at College Park, Md.

Nine of the students are from EAGLE School of Madison: Laura Bunn, Isaac Herlitzka, Martha Longley, Carolyn Raihala, Mara Rosenstock, Madeleine Smith, Nate Smith, Anne Zhao and Jeffrey Zhao. Colin Brochtrup, Bailey Derks, Nick Jensen and Wendy Wolf will represent Madison La Follette High School. The final three local finalists are Joanna Weng of Madison’s Hamilton Middle School, Emma Svenson of Middleton High School and Kelly Parrell of Wisconsin Heights High School.

The competition includes papers, performances, Web sites, documentaries and exhibits on an annual theme, which this year was “The Individual in History: Actions and Legacies.” The Wisconsin Historical Society coordinates the state program.

Amigos: Following seven months of training, language study and fundraising, 11 teens from five area high schools will spend several weeks in Latin America this summer working on service projects with the Madison chapter of Amigos de las Americas. They will leave for their designated projects on Wednesday.

The students are Ben Arndt, Jackson Eagan, Rebecca Fitzgerald, Rebecca Gilpatrick, Anna Toman and Bit Oppeneer, all of Madison East; Leah Garner and Bryna Godar of Madison West; Lauren Hagen of Madison Memorial; Rebecca Cray of Edgewood High School and Caitlin Jenewein of Verona.

Class reunions: The Cambridge High School Alumni Association will hold its annual banquet on Saturday at Lake Ripley Country Club. The Class of 1959 will be honored, as well as all alumni celebrating reunions in 2009. The social hour is at 4:30 p.m., with class photos at 5:15 p.m. and dinner at 6 p.m., at a cost of $20 per person. Contact Tara Vasby at 608-445-7393 for information.

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