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Tips, Techniques & Glossary

If you are new to the Craft industry you may find some of the following information useful. However don’t think you have to try all of these techniques on all of your pages, all of the time. If you are new, just try a small, simple project first and don’t get overwhelmed by all of the elements on the page – keep it simple – you can always go back when you have a bit more experience and add more embellishments.

Just remember, the more projects you do the better Crafter you become.

Class Kits are a great way to start out as all of the matching paper and embellishments are already chosen for you and step by step instructions are included to guide you through the project.

I love page sketches. I, like most scrapbookers are not designers and a sketch takes the guess work out of what to put where. Choose a sketch based on how many photos you have to use. As you get more experienced you can change the design to suit your needs i.e. flip the design or add journaling where there was a photo in the sketch design. I personally like PageMaps, Becky brings out new sketches monthly.

By all means get some ideas from magazines however don’t expect to produce pages like that right from the start. Most of the Crafters in the magazines have been doing it for years.

GLOSSARY

Acid Free – Acid causes photos to fade and discolour over time so using Acid Free products may help prevent photos from fading or yellowing – photos printed at home do not have the protective layer on it that processed photos do so they may not last as long as the ones printed at a lab.

Titles – A title on a page gives it character and a theme – a scrapbook page is like a mini story so a title starts the story. Titles can be added using stickers, pens (freehand) die cuts, rubons or chipboard alphabets.

Journaling – really completes the story. Include dates, names of people in the photo, occasion, ages of the subjects or write a heartfelt message for future generations – this really brings out the “real you” on your pages. Something future generations will thank you for in years to come. If you are really stuck for words use quotes, words to songs, poems to help put the message across. If you don’t want everyone to see your journaling then you can hide your journaling under photos, titles, embellishments or even on the back of the page.

Inking – Lightly brush ink around the outside edges of the page or embellishments, this adds dimension to the page.

Embellishments – Added bits and pieces that accent your pages or projects i.e. Flowers, stickers, die cuts, ribbon, rhinestones, brads, buttons, eyelets and memorabilia, just to name a few.

Chipboard – Also known as box board or fibre board. Basically it is compressed cardboard and can be covered, inked, painted, left natural or can be wrapped in paper and used for book binding (to make your own scrapbook covers).

Die Cuts – they are shapes or letters already cut out for you to use as embellishments. They can be made from paper, cardstock or chipboard.

Doodling – using a pen to draw freehand shapes on your projects.

Photo Mat – Cardstock or patterned paper slightly larger than your photo attached behind you photo to accentuate your photo.

Xyron – Pronounced “zyron” – Is a machine to turn most things into stickers. Xyron comes in different sizes to suit your needs.

Brads – In the stationery world they are called split pins. You can add them to the centre of flowers or use them for points in journaling, they are very versatile embellishments.

Rubons – Are like transfers. They can only be used once but they go on most surfaces i.e. metal, paper, glass.

If there are any words or terms you are not familiar with and are not explained on this list – please let me know and I’ll add them to the list with an explanation.

TIPS

Stamp Pads

  • Store your stamp pads up side down to keep the ink on the very top of the ink pad. If you are worried about the lid coming off – wrap an elastic band around it.
  • Use a sponge or sponge dauber and ink them to add ink around your pages and embellishments – this saves your ink pads from getting damaged.
  • Some manufactures have refills for their ink pads so when they are used up, don’t throw them away, refill them.

Journaling

Is a very important element on your projects. Without journaling it would just be a photo album and future generations will still be wondering “who is that, where was that”? Write dates, names, places, what they are smiling at – tell the story. You can journal on the computer and print it out but try to add some of your own handwriting too – it just makes it a bit more personal and adds a little bit more of “you” to your work.

TECHNIQUES

Add dimension to your page by overlapping your elements. Have your title and/or embellishments touching and overlapping your photo. And have some embellishments touching your title and/or journaling. This stops any of your elements from “floating”.