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If you’re creating a scrapbook to commemorate a school year you may be wondering what you can use for a school scrapbooking border. Sure, most people use those block letters or school buses and these work just fine but if you want to be creative you can come up with so many other scrapbooking layout ideas and things to use to help you celebrate the school year.

For instance think of the child himself or herself. What kinds of activities do they like to do during the school year or what is their favorite academic subject?  Get more scrapbooking background ideas here.

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A Wedding Scrapbook is a perfect gift for a friend or family memeber if you are an artistic and creative person. This is great way to honor the special moment in the life of someone dear to you.  You are a witness to the most wonderful times share by the couple from friends, dating, the engagement and all the way to the wedding union.  This makes a wedding scrapbook a very enjoyable task. You could relate to it because you were part of them thus making it a very personal and sincere gift for both of them highlighting some of the most important cornerstones in their journey towards marriage.

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When the kids get home from school in the afternoon and say ‘I’m bored’, at least you can point them towards doing their homework – however – when it’s the week-end or school holidays – you know that it won’t be long until you hear ‘I’m bored’ several times a day!

Times are tough economically but entertaining kids has never been an expensive enterprise -  so here are eight ideas to keep your children busy, creative and active during these long summer months.

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A family focused on a common goal, works together, problem solves and talks together. Family projects bring all family members closer. Whether you choose to create a coloring book, make a garden, watch the night sky together or put together a time capsule, you will enjoy the camaraderie and conversation that develops.

Here are some great family project ideas that you might want to adopt – and who knows, some of these may well become a family tradition before too long.

MAKE A COLORING BOOK

Make coloring books together. Print coloring pages from the Internet and create coloring books for relatives, friends, nephews, nieces or even for yourselves to be put away for a rainy day. You could also keep a book or two aside as something for younger children to do when they visit your home.

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Scrapbooking Tips for a Vacation Scrapbook

When preparing for your vacation, you always remember to pack your camera, but do you ever think about how you will scrapbook your vacation photos before you leave on your trip?  Planning your vacation scrapbooking pages before you begin your trip makes it easier and quicker to design a beautiful vacation album when you get home.Here are a few tips to think about when planning a vacation scrapbooking album.

Your Vacation Album

Most of us plan in advance for our vacations. It’s never too early to start shopping for a vacation scrapbooking album.You will want one that reflects the location or the theme of your vacation.Consider buying an album that is specific to where you are going, like a Disney album or a Hawaiian scrapbook.  You may prefer a beach-themed album or a general vacation album.  Planning ahead gives you plenty of time to watch your local scrapbooking or craft store for sales.  You can even get a plain chipboard covered scrapbook and design your own album cover.

Vacation Scrapbook Embellishments

While you are shopping for your album, look to see what coordinating products are available to match it.Advanced planning also allows you to take advantage of embellishments that are on sale.Select paper and page elements that will coordinate with the theme and location of your vacation pictures.  Keep all your embellishments with the album you have chosen together in one place.  They’ll be ready when you return from your trip.

Journaling Your Vacation

Remembering the details of your vacation is part of the journaling process on your scrapbooking page layouts.Make it simpler by wrting in a journal or keeping notes on your trip.Document the places and dates that you visit and include your thoughts and feelings.Now when you get home, writing in your vacation scrapbook will be easy, quick and full of details.You can even rip out a few pages from your journal and put them right into your page layouts.

Planning Pictures of Your Trip

Think ahead and plan a few of your vacation photos.You will want a photograph that can be used as the title page of your vacation scrapbook.A photo of the ship would be perfect for this if you are going on a cruise.If it is Disneyland, take a photograph of the Disneyland sign.Don’t forget to include yourself in your vacation photos.  Before you go on the trip, make a list of what photos you don’t want to forget to take.Put the list in your camera bag so it is always available.

Mementos of Your Vacation

You will want to collect mementos of your trip to include in your vacation scrapbook.Pack small, plastic bags to hold them so they will not be damaged during your trip back home.  Save tickets to parks and shows, menus or napkins, maps and brochures.  You will definitely want to add these to your page layouts.

With planning, your vacation scrapbook album will easily come together.  Try to get your pictures developed as soon as possible, and start working on your pages while the memories are still fresh in your mind.  Following these scrapbooking tips, you’ll have everything you need when you arrive home to design a beautiful keepsake of your trip.

A baby shower is one of the most important events in a mother’s life, and of course she will want to find orginal baby shower scrapbooking layouts to capture her memories.Baby shower scrapbooking layouts are perfect for remembering those cute presents and visits by friends and relatives! Are you looking for more scrapbook paper?

There are many different paper packs and templates that you can buy for scrapbooking a baby shower.You can find scrapbooking pages that are already set with frames for photos, baby sayings and everything you need to make a baby scrapbook layout.  If you’re new to scrapbooking or aren’t creatively gifted then these baby shower scrapbooking layouts can be the right thing for you.  All that’s needed are those pictures!  But some people aren’t interested in having their pages already designed for them but still are a bit overwhelmed with what to do when it comes to making up their own baby shower scrapbooking layouts.

Remember that you are not limited to baby pink and blue colors, and you can go beyond these colors and use any colors that you like.  Strong colors of autumn such as chocolate brown, rusty red, and warm yellow are favorites for many women when it comes to baby shower scrapbooking layouts.  One reason for this is that these colors are somewhat neutral and a bit easier on the eyes than strong blues, but aren’t as washed out as pink can sometime seem.  You might also try these same colors but in primary shades, meaning red, blue and yellow.Baby toys are often in primary colors making these a good choice for baby shower scrapbooking pages.

Get creative with the scrapbooking quotes and the fonts you use.  Many opt for “childish” fonts that resemble the writing of a child but there’s no need to do this if you prefer something more elegant or something simpler.  You can put the child’s name or a simple phrase such as “Baby Boy” or “Baby Girl” across the top of any baby shower scrapbooking layouts and some simple wording underneath in a smaller font for a nice touch. Try using cricut cutter machine to create your letters.    And remember that you don’t need to work the word “baby” into your layouts – try words like Love, Welcome, Family, and Cherished.

Adding wording and verbiage to your scrapbook pages is important and fun and a part of creating scrapbook albums.  You may be using scrapbook titles or you may be adding actual paragraphs to your page, and of course sometimes you want to add the name of your photo subject or a location and date for some pictures.  Wording can really make your page come alive and can help you remember times and locations for vacation or other photos, and certainly the add some personalization as well – the name of the pet is often used on pages with their pictures, and baby pages usually have the child’s full name as well.  But there are some creative and fun ways you can use scrapbook titles to make them seem as actual elements on the page, not just an addition or afterthought.

For one, scrapbook titles are a great way to tie an album together.  As an example, if you’re putting together a wedding scrapbook album you might want to use different short phrases or words that pertain to a wedding or to romance, and add these on the same spot on every page in the same font.  Your scrapbook titles will give your pages a cohesive look.  You can do this with a vacation scrapbook, graduation album, or with just about any album you create.

Try using scrapbook titles as borders for your photos or borders for your mementos.For example, you can use “special day” for a photo of your wedding, but put “special” above it and “day” below it so that it makes a frame around the photo.This will anchor the photo and helps to draw the eye toward it too.  Many use three small photos all taken from the same angle but one right after another on their pages; scrapbook titles can help to tie these together.  You can use three simple words, one under each page, to give them a nice flow.

Paying attention to the font and type styles that you use for your scrapbook titles is important as well.Stay with simpler fonts for smaller sizes so you can still read the words, and use the more fancy fonts for larger lettering on your layouts!  Or mix them up – one word fancy, the next plain, the next fancy, and so on.  This will give some personality to your scrapbooking page layouts and really help the wording stand out as well.

The Cricut Expression is a much larger version of the original Cricut Electronic Personal Cutting Machine and is meant to be permanently placed on top of a work table or perhaps in a media room. The main improvement is that it gives you the freedom to create designs as small as 0.25” or projects in sizes of up to 23.5”. Also don’t forget to look at the cool how to find a cheap Cricut Expression machine .

What exactly makes this machine so stinking amazing? For one- You can now make multiple cuts so thicker materials can be used, opening a ton of doors for new kinds of decoration. As mentioned above, the machine also allows you to cut either very small, intricate designs or large impressive artworks. The Expression also allows you to be more creative because it works well with both a 12” x 12” sized paper or 12” x 24” sized one.

Cricut products are among the most searched items in online auction sites. Because of this, sellers are also using these sites more and more to market their Cricut products. This is therefore one of the best places for you to get the best value for your money since it gives you the opportunity to buy your machine at a much lower cost than if you get it from a regular retailer. When bidding online, it is best to look for auctions that are nearing its end. This will strengthen the possibility that you will win in the bidding and also ensure that you don’t have to wait too long for the machine to be shipped to you.

If you buy on Ebay, always read the product description thoroughly before making a bid because there are sellers that include a few freebies with the machine itself. In case a free cartridge is offered, read the description of the cartridge as well so that you are sure to bid only on those items that include a cartridge that you do not yet own. You might want to focus on the auctions that offer free shipping to save a ton! Some items will have a lower bid price but for which you will have to pay shipping charges. You will need to compare the total costs of the different offerings in the auction because items that do not offer free shipping often incur a higher total cost than those that have a higher asking price but include free shipping. Just check below the auction price and if shipping is not free, there should be a space for you to enter your zip code. As soon as you provide your zip code you will be given the cost of shipping and you can get the total cost involved simply by adding the shipping charge to the maximum amount that you are willing to bid on the item. Keep your eyes out for great prices on Cricut Expression Deals at an online auction!

You already understand all the reasons why scrapbooking is your favorite hobby and the benefits it brings to your family. So why not share that hobby with your kids as well?  Scrapbooking for children can be just as meaningful and fun as it is for adults.  There are many reasons to start scrapbooking with your kids.  Here are just a few reasons you should start enjoying scrapbooking with your kids today.

1. The main reason most people scrapbook is to document their family memories and photos.  Scrapbooking for children is a perfect time to reminisce about favorite family memories.  While you design scrapbooking pages, you can relive your trip to Hawaii or the last time you went camping.

2. Scrapbooking family photos opens up discussion about family history.It’s a perfect time to discuss your ancestors and how they lived.Your children can learn so much from those conversations.  It’s a great opportunity to talk about family and friends that live far away as well.

3. Scrapbooking with kids can be a creative outlet the same as it is for you.  Providing your kids with the supplies and letting them enjoy the creative process helps encourage their imagination and artistic expression.  Scrapbooking for children should not be about the final product or page layout.  It should always be about experiencing the process, interacting with the materials and encouraging their creativity.

4. Scrapbooking for kids is an opportunity for quality family time.  Whether you are scrapbooking with a kid one on one or with several children, you have the chance to really listen to them.   Have them discuss the layouts they are creating, and ask them what they remember about the pictures in the page layout.You might be surprised at their answers.

5. Scrapbooking page layouts can also be educational.   Through scrapbooking, you can teach older kids about basic photography techniques, color theory and even design principles.

6. As your children are designing scrapbooking pages, they are expressing and documenting their thoughts and feelings in their own words.  They also are preserving their handwriting as they write on their pages.  Scrapbooking pages created by your children reflect their unique perspective and memories of family events.

7. Spending time with your children and scrapbooking is an opportunity to teach family values.  Just looking through your photos tells a lot about what your family values are.  Take the time to discuss them with your children.  Family time, friendships, and holiday celebrations all say something about what we value most in our lives.

8. While you share scrapbooking time with your kids, you may just be training the next photographer or historian in your family.  One of your children may catch the scrapbooking bug just like you have.

Scrapbooking for children provides many opportunities to spend time with your kids and have fun together as a family.  It can be educational as well as a creative outlet for both of you.  Round up your children and gather some pictures and scrapbooking supplies.  Enjoy scrapbooking with your kids today.

Is your child graduating this year?  The time seems to go by so fast. It often seems like only yesterday that our graduates started kindergarten.  Now they are graduating high school and will be off to college by fall.  It’s important to preserve and document those special final moments of high school in a graduation scrapbook.

Even though you have a school scrapbooking album for your child, you’ll still want a high school graduation scrapbook album.  High school memories can fill an entire album.  You can choose a small album, but remember if you want to accommodate senior portraits, you’ll want a larger scrapbook.

The summer before your child senior year of high school, he will usually sit for senior portraits.  Those special pictures should have a page in a graduation album.

There are so many things you can include in a graduation scrapbook.  Save a copy of your child’s graduation announcement and showcase it on a page. Be sure to include cards and letters from friends and family, especially ones with graduation advice.  Write a letter to your child telling him your hopes and dreams for their future in any advice you wish you would have had when you graduated.

Is your child receiving an honor or award at the graduation ceremony?  Design a page layout to highlight this accomplishment.  After the ceremony is over, make a copy to include in the album.

Is your child giving a speech at the graduation ceremony?  Take some pictures of your child preparing and practicing for the speech.  Save his notes, including drafts, and use them on a page layout.

Newspapers often cover graduations.  Clip articles from your local paper for a graduation scrapbook page.  If you or another family member have placed a congratulations newspaper ad for your graduate, make a photocopy of it to preserve it in the album.  Newspaper articles tend to fade over time, and copies will last longer.

Before the celebration even starts, make a list of the photo opportunities you don’t want to miss.  Photographs of your graduate with family, teachers and friends are as important as pictures of the actual ceremony.

Don’t forget high school mementos, such as, the program from the graduation ceremony.  Save at least two copies to use on a graduation scrapbook page so you can show both the cover and the inside of the program.

Take lots of candid shots during graduation parties.  You may not be attending some of these parties.  So be sure to send along a camera with your graduate and plan to exchange photos with his friends, too.  You’ll have a lot more photos to choose from if you share them.

You’ll definitely want to scrapbook a copy of your graduates final report card or high school transcript.  On the opposite page layout scrapbook a copy of the acceptance letter for the college your child plans to attend.

As a final closing page to a graduation scrapbook, design a page around a photo of him leaving for college. You might also choose to close the scrapbook with two photos that show how he has grown.  Place a picture of his first day of kindergarten next to a graduation picture.

It’s easy to create a graduation scrapbook.  It will soon become a family heirloom.  Keep it simple, and remember the most important thing is to scrapbook and document your graduate’s special day.