Scrapbooking Layouts - Creating the Perfect Memory

One of the benefits of scrapbooking is the organized and attractive way your memories are preserved. It's important to take your time with the initial layout because that's what really makes the core of your design. A good layout will be beautiful to look at and it will preserve your memories so you and the generations to come will truly enjoy them.

Your imagination is one of the best places to start your layouts. Just take a look at the number of pictures you have and the themes you'd like to create and go from there. But, if like everybody, you find yourself stuck for ideas sometimes that's OK. There are lots of places to look for inspiration.

Scrapbooking idea books and magazines are great for getting ideas. They have lots of layouts and you can often find them centering around a theme, such as "baby's first year" or "school days." This will help jump start your own creativity.

You can also find lots of layout ideas online. Spend time browsing scrapbooking sites and looking at galleries of the pages others have put together. You'll get some excellent ideas.

Don't limit yourself to just scrapbooking resources, though. Pay attention to the layouts of your favorite web pages and magazines. You'll find a wealth of beautiful layouts to draw inspiration from.

Kits and software are excellent sources of pre-made layouts. If you're just getting started with scrapbooking they can help you create beautiful pages right away. You will find that you can come up with your own ideas more easily as you gain experience.

Start planning your layout by taking stock of what you have to work with. How many pictures are you going to be using? Do you want to add a lot of words (journaling) to this particular page or spread? Is there children's artwork to be incorporated into the layout. How about mementos such as napkins, invitations, or programs? These things will all influence how you should lay your page out.

Are you going to have one picture be the focal point, or will you have many pictures and mementos working together to build your memory? Layouts often center on details of each photograph, in which case the pictures are cropped and several smaller pictures are used together. Then there are always classic pictures that deserve to be the focal point of your entire page.

Go with simple layouts. Pictures and words will get lost on a page that's too cluttered. It also helps to have a consistent look and feel for an entire album, so consider what will be going into it. Don't forget to leave space for journaling.

Remember that themed kits can be a great way to get started with scrapbooking. They're also wonderful if you're going to be creating your scrapbook as a gift for someone else. They contain a nice selection of stencils, card stock, and embellishments that match the overall theme of the kit. You'll find kits for everything from babies, to weddings, to anniversaries, to graduations, to birthdays, and more.

Taking the time to plan out your layouts before you actually start working on your scrapbook pages will help you create the perfect memory in an attractive and organized way. So spend a little while thinking about it and trying different things to get the look you want.

Kristen loves gadgets and electronics. Check out her new site where she shares her opinions on the best headset and includes reviews of her favorites like the Logitech USB Headset.

Creating Digital Scrapbooking Layouts - Resizing Your Photos

If you are new to creating digital scrapbooking layouts, there are a few skills you will want to master early on. One of these is: How Do I Resize a Digital Photograph to fit the digital template I've chosen?

Let's look at a typical scenario:

• A new mom has taken tons of pictures of her child (what new mother doesn't?)
• She loves scrapbooking, and wants to create a mini-album with digital layouts featuring several small photos, or just part-photos, on each page.
• She plans to use mostly head shots, and the standard 6x4s are too large for use on her page.
• She wants to be able to print the multi-photo page(s) as a part of her mini-album.

She already has Photoshop Elements, but you'd follow the same overall process for most photo-editing software.

First, Open a Blank Canvas, then

• Define the size and resolution of the page (250-300 dpi should give a good result when printing the page)
• Choose RGB color mode, unless you want a monochrome grayscale finish
• Set background color to transparent

You now have a canvas and are ready to start scrapbooking

Side Note: I find the checkered background you see (when color is set to transparent) makes it very easy to align photos and embellishments.

In PhotoShop each part of your design will be placed on a separate layer and you can adjust how far forward an item is by moving it up and down the layers.

Next, Open the Photo File to be resized.

There are now several options to resize your photo:

1. Simply make the whole photo larger or smaller.
2. Crop to a section of the photograph, thereby removing all that extra sky or foreground, then sizing the cropped image to what you need.
3. Use a mask which is an easy way to create identically sized photographs in a multi-photo layout.

1. Resize your whole Photograph:

• Go to Image, resize, image size
• in the 'Document size' section select your units (inches, mm, cm, pixels, etc) and enter the width or height you want
• you will want a resolution of 250-300 dpi to get good printing results

2. Crop a Section of the Photo:

• Select the crop tool and define the area to be kept
• Drag the crop 'window' around your photo to make the best selection

Side Note: if you want several photos exactly the same size in a layout I recommend using one of the fixed options instead of the freehand ones.

3. Use a Mask to Reveal only the Part of your Photos You Want to Display:

This is a technique I wish I'd learned about much earlier in my journey into Digital Scrapbooking...

• Create a new layer and select the Marquee Tool
• Select the size you want (choose from freehand, fixed ratio, or fixed size options)

if you chose either the fixed ratio or freehand option:

• Draw your mask shape on the new layer while holding down the left button on your mouse;

If you chose the fixed size option: (good when you want multiple images the same size)

• Click on your new layer, and the fixed size you've chosen will appear in outline with the 'marching ants'

Whichever style you used, the next stage is to

• Select the Paint Bucket Tool and fill the shape with color (just so that its easier to see while you are working)

Now you have a photo mask layer ready for use in your current project. You can also duplicate the layer for as many photos as you plan to use.

• Place your photo on the layer above the photo mask, and clip the two layers together. You can still move your photo to select the best part, and you can grab a corner to adjust the size.

Do this for each photo until you have all you need for your digital scrapbooking layouts.

Genie Balfour: As a paper crafter and scrapbooker for many years, Genie is well-versed in the ins and outs of paper and digital scrapbooking. As the founder of the popular website ScrapbookingGems.com, she writes regularly on paper and digital scrapbooking topics. Click this link to read Genie's step by step photo resizing instructions and other digital scrapbooking layout tips. Or click here and check out her free scrapbook sketches and layouts series.

Premade Scrapbook Layouts - A Variety to Add Personalization

It cannot be denied that mothers and young people from all over the world are getting more and more engrossed with the hobby of scrapbooking. When you go to bookstores and craft stores these days, you would notice that there would always be scrapbooking kits for both the beginners and the experts. Most of these kits already include premade scrapbook layouts.

But have you ever heard of the new and more modern concept of scrapbooking? Digital scrapbooking is the term used when you plan to make scrapbook albums without having to leave your seat in front of your computer. It offers a wide range of available premade scrapbook layouts that you can use to incorporate your photos with.

To get started with this modern way of scrapbooking, all you have to do is to choose first from the many premade scrapbook layouts that you will be presented to online. Then you can start creating your very own embellishments by using graphic and photo programs along with your selected photos. Nowadays, there are many interactive websites which can give you more ideas on this new innovation in scrapbooking.

The hobby of scrapbooking has been known all over the world for encouraging majority of the female market into getting involved with it. For mothers, it has contributed to improve their lives by adding variety to their everyday routine and for some, has even become a form of additional income. This can be said true for the young female market.

Teenagers have also fallen in love with this idea of scrapbooking that they have even formed clubs and organizations that encourage everyone to be an enthusiasts as well as a member. In nursing homes for the elderly people, scrapbooking has also taken a place of its own as a form of hobby for those who have been starting to lose their capacity to remember memories in their lives.

Do you need Scrapbooking Ideas? Check out Premade Scrapbook Pages and Scrapbook Page Ideas

How Can Scrapbooking Quotes Brighten Up Your Scrapbooks?

Scrapbooking Quotes. Scrapbooking isn't just merely keeping fond memories and maintaining the freshness of events right in the pages of your scrapbook. It is more than just remembrance. It is history itself.

Moreover, nothing could be better in your scrapbook than to have quality quotes to enliven the sprit and rekindle the thoughts that were once part of the memories.

Indeed, scrapbooking quotes are necessary in any kind of scrapbook. Scrapbooking quotes are devices that can take your scrapbooks to new-fangled and creative altitude.

For so many years now, scrapbooking has been an all-time favorite hobby, and creativity has made it more attractive than ever. Thanks to the wonderful additions of scrapbooking quotes that continue to perk up different scrapbooks.

It has been a well-known fact that pictures can speak for themselves. However, there are so many instances where words are still the most powerful means of communication. When pictures can't convey the message, words are important to express the total meaning of the image in the picture.

In scrapbooking, pictures aren't the only main attractions. Quotations are also considered as one of the most important parts in scrapbooks. This is because even if there are many photographs, magazine articles, news clippings, etc., that are worth remembering, there are also some statements or words that are worth cherishing. These words don't merely explain the material but can also add drama to the subject in focus.

Most scrapbooking experts contend that scrapbooking quotes are actually words that speak from the heart. These are the sentiments of the hobbyist who would like to express his or her feelings through words as much as he or she would like to express them through images or any other scrapbooking materials.

The very essence of scrapbooking quotes is that they intensify the beauty that hobbyist forms and establishes on every page that captures every single moment as history itself unfolds. The beauty that it creates is something that is priceless.

For those who are interested in getting fresh ideas for quotations, they can easily acquire beautiful quotes to live by on the Internet. All they have to do is browse the web, look for quality scrapbooking quotes, add them into their scrapbooks, and rekindle the memories once more.

Indeed, scrapbooks and quotations are perfect combinations to keep those memories well appreciated and full of life.

by Scrapbooking Is Now My Business

Scrapbooking Ideas

Scrapbooking ideas. Even if you don't have a creative bone in your body, you can still come up with something which is pleasing to the eye when making a scrapbook.

Just go with whatever it is that you feel like doing, have fun or do it with somebody else – a friend or a younger member of the family.

You can look at samples online or have a scrapbooking enthusiast show you his or her work. Then you can gather concepts to apply when you make your own.

Here are some great ideas for you to use when making the ultimate scrapbook:

1. Album

You can buy these online or at a local crafts store. The album that you choose will dictate the overall design of the album so take your time in picking one.

Look at the material used in the paper. If you plan to make a collage and include heavier materials, look for a thicker paper. The regular thickness of craft paper will do if you just want to stick many different photos in your scrapbook.

There are various sizes to choose from, beginning from a letter-size album which is 8 ½” x 11” or the smaller square-sized paper of 6” or 8”.

For a smaller format, you can use just one or two pictures to showcase on each page and just add on embellishments.

2. Themes

Look around you and you will surely find an inspiration when it comes to the theme of your scrapbook.

The weather is one example, look for a bright-orange or yellow-based color. Then, you could cut out photos of sunflowers and loop a yellow yarn and glue it on to represent the sun.

Next, paste the pictures on the pages of your scrapbook and finish up with writing a personalized quote or paste a clipping from a newspaper. Glue on additional memorabilia of a different medium then your scrapbook is as good as gold.

3. Borders

You can use the same theme for the borders as the page itself or the borders of the photos.

Pasting a picture on top of a paper which will serve as your border will add depth to your scrapbook layout.

You can also cut a big shape then inscribe another shape or pattern – like a square inscribed in a circle, then place the photo underneath the border.

4. Design and Layout

You can either go with the theme and coordinate it with the design or make a completely different design altogether.

Within the layout, you can go with the standard photos or memorabilia items in the middle or you can put them on either side of the page.

by Scrapbooking Is Now My Business

Capture That Special Day with a Wedding Scrapbook

Nothing is more special than the union of two people, and a wedding can be the inspiration behind starting to take up scrapbooking as a hobby. Wedding scrapbooks ensures that the day of joy and celebration lives. A couple can bond through reminiscing on the feelings and events of their weddingand can be captured through your wedding scrapbook.

Your Wedding Scrapbook is more than just memories

It is clear that as time goes by so do the memory of events in our lives. Your scrapbook can be worked on as a present to yourself and others in the future. The crucial thing to remember when starting your wedding scrapbook is that you need to work on layouts. This will ensure that you have a firm foundation upon which the wedding pictures will be showcased.

Wedding scrapbooking is more than just putting pictures into a fancy book. It is a story of its own that can be retold with the visuals provided, and in the end you could use your wedding scrapbook for your children to see and experience the beginnings to their past.

Helpful tips for creating Wedding pages

You do not have to feel alone and overwhelmed with your project. There is a whole lot of help to be found so that you get the right steps in making your wedding scrapbook project a reality. You can often go to search engines and find out how to tackle the project and get some great advice. There are books and magazine written out there that will help with layouts and techniques you can use to liven up your pages.

Save your favors, cards and wrapping papers to add dimensions to your pages. If you haven't had you wedding yet, try having your guests write a special moment they remember of you or your spouse and leave it is a vase at the guest table. Use these thru your scrapbook pages as part of your journaling.

Remember that a scrapbook is a journal as well as a photo album. Take the time to write memories down shortly after your wedding so you don't loose the little details that you remember so much at the time. A great way to do this would be to write them on the back of family pictures when they are returned from the store.

Find a color combination that will bring the colors of your photos out. Try and stay with that theme thru out the book.

At the end of your project, remember that this will be a cherished family gift for years to come for all to enjoy.

Marcy Larsen - Close To My Heart Consultant. CTMH offers much more than just scrapbook supplies, including opportunities to make money while scrapbooking. I love to help people get started in scrapbooking. To learn more, please visit my website at http://www.marcylarsen.com.

by Marcy Larsen