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.

Scrapbooking is a great pastime and hobby. Let Deb Botting give you some new ideas by visiting http://www.scrapbookingcontent.com/ For helpful tips and advice scrapbooking Idea

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.

Read complete article in Madison.com

Making Your Own Digital Scrapbook For Free

A lot of people have refused to try conventional scrapbooking, because they felt that the expense involved for papers and supplies was simply not worthwhile. There is a lot of time spent in tedious, mundane work: cutting and gluing small pieces, and keeping lots of special papers, letters, and stickers on hand.

These people want to get involved in making a free digital scrapbook. If you have a computer, scanner and digital camera, and your free scrapbooking software and photo program, you can start making your free digital scrapbook.

Since many people already are using a computer, scanner and camera, this just involves downloading the free scrapbooking software, and you can even get free digital scrapbooking templates and free printable scrapbooking pages online.

There are free tutorials and advice, free digital scrapbooking clipart and free digital scrapbooking kits and graphics that already have everything you need to merge your photos into. Everything is free, except your equipment, which most people already have.

Using your photo software such as Adobe Photoshop, Kodak, or HP Photosmart Essential, gather all of the photos you are going to use by scanning them or loading them onto your computer to begin your free digital scrapbook.

If you don't have a digital camera, or are using older pictures, simply use your scanner to scan photos into your computer. After that, you can create your page layouts, just as you would with traditional scrapbooking. You can download all types of background paper, borders, embellishments and free scrapbooking clipart or graphics.

A great way to start scrapbooking without all the expense, the clutter or the mess of conventional scrapbooking is with free digital scrapbooking. This is the best method yet to keep photos and scrapbook pages pristine, and there are limitless free scrapbook graphics, including those for unique events and holidays. Not only are these digital scrapbooks free, they are also great as gifts.

The free digital scrapbook pages can be sent through email and on personal web pages or if you prefer you can just print a bunch of copies and share them that way. In the event that your computer breaks down, it is best to have your files saved on an external drive or CD.

For unique and creative gift ideas, try burning CD's of your digital scrapbook design. Most people have access to a computer making digital scrapbooking popular, and it's free. The price doesn't get any better with free digital scrapbooking software, free digital scrapbook designs, free tutorials on digital scrapbooking, free digital scrapbook graphics and clipart, paper designs and more. The best thing is you can get really great ideas for free to help with your digital scrapbook and make it beyond beautiful!

Michelle Schmidt is a professional scrapbook designer who teaches others how to use their computer to create great layouts. For more creative ideas and resources for free digital scrapbooking, visit her site at http://www.pixelpaintpapers.com.

Scrapbooking Ideas - 7 Scrapbooking Projects For Kids

When you think of scrapbooking you usually think of making scrapbook albums. Have you tried using your scrapbooking materials for other projects? These project ideas are great for scrapbooking with kids.

1. Decorate jars and use them as small storage items in your children's bedrooms, like marble collections or collectible game cards. Look in your scrapbooking supplies for stickers and rub-ons to embellish any size jar. Baby food jars and Mason jars work well for this project.

2. Make greeting cards when scrapbooking with your children. Nearly any type of scrapbooking material can be used for making cards. Children will love creating their own Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day or birthday cards.

3. Holiday decorations are easy to make with scrapbooking materials. For example, Thanksgiving embellishments and cardstock can make name plates for the holiday table. Use your creativity and help your children make a centerpiece for the table out of paper and scrapbooking supplies.

4. Help your child keep a vacation journal. Before you go on vacation, create a scrapbook album to take along and have your child complete the album while traveling. Select a small album so it will be easy to pack in a child's carry-on bag.

Have pages pre-designed for some of the places you are planning to visit. You could even include some journaling prompts throughout the album. Some examples are "My Favorite Ride at Disneyland" or "The Best Thing about Staying in a Hotel."

Then attach a small plastic bag filled with colored pencils or markers, lots of vacation-themed stickers and some adhesive to attach memorabilia and photos from the trip. Let your child do the rest!

5. Scrapbooking for children is an opportunity to make gifts for your family. Flip through any scrapbooking magazine, and you are sure to see a gift project. Your child can use scrapbooking supplies to make picture frames, pencil holders, photo cubes, or note cards. Children also can design pre-made gift scrapbooks, like a recipe album for grandma or an ABC album for a new baby cousin.

6. Christmas ornaments make great scrapbooking projects for gifts. There is no limit to the kinds of ornaments you can make from scrapbooking supplies. Don't be afraid to get messy and use glitter for this project.

7. Birthday parties and sleepovers are the perfect project for using your scrapbooking supplies with your children. Begin with crafting invitations out of paper and embellishments. Have enough materials to keep the same theme throughout the project.

Take the time to create thank you notes at the same time. Then use your scrapbook materials to make napkin holders, name plates, centerpieces and party decorations. Finally, using the same theme, decorate goodie bags for your guests to take home.

You'll find hours of fun in these scrapbooking for kids projects. In most cases, you have everything you need in your scrapbooking supplies right now. Scrapbooking for children is a chance to spend quality time with your kids and encourage their creativity and imaginations. Try one of these projects today with your child.

Christine Perry is an avid scrapbooker and has over 10 years of scrapbooking experience. Her favorite scrapbooking subjects are her reluctant teenagers. She invites you to her website, http://www.intoscrapbooking.com for more scrapbooking tips and information on scrapbooking forums.