Tip for the Week - Journaling on your scrapbook pages

 Journaling

I found this wonderful article on Papermill.com and thought I would share it.

Scrapbooking is all about the photos. Here are our tips for choosing and working with your photos:

1.    Print multiple photos, especially if you plan on cutting them. That way, you’ll have a backup in case something goes wrong.

2.    Start with recent photos. Don’t jump in using important photos like antique prints passed down from your grandparents or expensive shots like wedding photos, unless you can easily reprint new ones.

3.    It’s totally okay to trim or crop excess sky, landscape, or background when necessary, but…

4.    Don’t cut or trim heritage or antique photos, and…

5.    Avoid cutting your photos into weird shapes. If you want to crop your photos, stick to the classic shapes like squares or ovals.

6.    You don’t need to use every photo from an event or vacation on a particular page. Instead, narrow it down to a few of your favorites and focus on only the best memories.

7.    Use different photo sizes for variety. Combine 3×5, 4×6, 5×7, 8×10, and even panoramic shots.

8.    Combining black and white photos with color prints is a great way to incorporate multiple shots while keeping the spotlight on your focal photo.

9.    Lightly write dates on the back of printed photos. This will make it easier to remember specific details about your photos if you don’t get a chance to scrapbook them till much later.

Next to photo choice, journaling is the second most important aspect of scrapbooking. Journaling gives you an opportunity to tell the story behind your photo and put a truly personal spin on your layout. Get writing with these tips:

10. Just write! Starting is the hardest part, and you can always adjust and edit your draft until it sounds perfect.

11.    Handwrite your journaling. Handwritten text adds a personal touch compared to journaling that’s been printed off your computer. If you aren’t confident in your hand-lettering abilities, try typing and printing your journaling and tracing it.

12.  If you don’t know what to say in your journaling, use a quote, poem, or song lyric.

Start on those Christmas cards!!

 Tip for the week:

 

Start on those Christmas Cards

 

Now is the perfect time to get going on your Christmas Cards . 

Let’s get started – here is a list of items you may need. Of course, you can add more items as you need. Even if you don’t think you will use it, put it in the box.

 

1.     Project Box or basket

2.     Cardstock

3.     Designer Paper

4.     Stamps/dies

5.     Inks/markers

6.     Grafting paper or note paper for sketching your ideas

7.     Plain copy paper for drafts 

8.     Any ideas from Pinterest you like 

9.     Sentiments for the inside

10.  Adhesives that will be needed

11.  Embellishments that you want for your card

 

Gather everything together in the basket or shoebox. 

 

Draft some rough ideas on plain copy paper use old designer paper that you no longer want to use.

 

Once you have your idea sketched out or drafted start to think how you can assembly line your cards.  Ie: stamp images that will need to be die cut, stamp sentiments for the inside, etc.  Remember to decorate your envelopes as well.

 

Assembly line building makes things go faster and easier if you are doing several. 

 

Place all cards in the same spot, box etc. I cannot tell you how many times I start to clean up and find cards I made and stuck them in a bag, etc., sure I would remember where I put them.  Write down where you are going to store your cards. I write this info on my card sketch in my project box. Now misplacing my project box is a totally different problem, LOL.

 

Let me know if you need help drafting or getting supplies. I find if I gather all my supplies into one space it is easier to not search the whole studio for one item.  If you need any supplies let me know and remember the Stampin’ Up Designer Series paper is on sale until August 31, 2024.

 

Hugs,

 

SJ

Crafting Tip for the Week: Card Mailing

 Crafting Tip of the Week:

 

Card mailing:

 

I was reading another presenter’s blog and she suggested that you go ahead and get your cards for the next month ready to mail and put the date in pencil on the back of the envelope.  So I thought I would jot down a few other tips:

 

Review your calendar and see how many cards you are going to need for the month:

1.     Birthday

2.     Anniversaries 

3.     Thinking of you, etc.

4.     A couple of Sympathy 

5.     Thank you cards    

 

Create a folder and pre address envelopes especially for birthdays, anniversaries and keep them ready for when you create the card. That way you are not searching for the addresses

 

Make a perpetual calendar for example - Line list in a notebook if you don’t do calendars. Put the month at the top of each page and then number every other line – that will be able to list the names by the dates. For example:

 

            January

            1

            2

            3 John

            4 Kenneth, Kent, Jim

            5

            6 Bryan, Nicole, Mary

    So forth and so on. . . 

 

Another perpetual calendar my friend Nesa made for me: It has the month on the front and on the back are the dates. All I need to do is list people on the back of each of those months and that way I can get my cards ready for the month. 

 

Am I good at keeping up with the cards? To be honest I’m not, but I keep trying and that is all you need to do. Keep trying. You will find a system that works for you.

 

Hugs,

 

SJ

Tip for the week: Destash

 Tip for the week: Sorting your Stash

            

I hope you all have had a great week, This week is a tip on how to de-stash your hoard.  

 

I had a friend who found herself homeless after she suffered the sudden loss of her husband. She was forced to reduce her stash to almost nothing when she moved back into her parents’ home with her children. About 90% of her collection ended up storage or trashed as they were given 2 weeks to move out of their home of many years.  She is now settled and her children are on their own and she is once again attempting to rebuild her collection. 

 

Before a disaster causes you to sort your stash. Take the time to do so on your terms and your timeframe. Set aside one day a week to go through one box, one bag, one drawer, etc.

 

Here are some tips for you:

 

Gather the following items

Post it notes, labels, tags or other identifying markers

TO DO LIST: 

Boxes or baskets

One gallon storage bags (These can be recycled) I also have 2.5 gallon bags too 

Sharpies

 

Make three boxes (I use laundry baskets) and label them

1.     Keep:

a.     Do I have a project in mind for this (Put a note on it)

b.     Does this have a goal or project it needs to go with (Put in a baggie and label it)

c.     I am in love with this paper, jewel, ribbon and cannot part with it.

2.     Donate

a.     Paper you cannot remember why you bought it or is left over from a project. These can go into a baggies.

b.     Ribbons that you cannot remember why you needed them or projects are completed.

c.     Tools or supplies that you don’t use anymore or never did truly liked

3.     Throw away

a.     Partial sticker sheets, especially if they are falling off the carrier sheet.

b.     Adhesive that is over 10 years old and/or lost its stickiness.

c.     Tools that do not work – no reason to keep broken toys.

d.     Partial bottles of solvents that are old (Depose per local regulations)

e.    Pens or markers that don't write or leaking ink everywhere.

 

Once you know what you are going to keep, make a to do list of the WIPs (work in progress) projects that you want to complete. You may be surprised at the number of WIPs you have. Make a deal with yourself. That once you finish a project – you will allow yourself a new project. Keep the list going. Or complete one WIP per week, month. Etc. Any WIPs that you realistically will never get finished: 1.) put in the donate box and 2.) cross off your To Do List. Once a month go through your To Do list of WIPs and make a new list of WIPs so that you always have a fresh view of projects that need to be completed.

 

Donate: 

1.     Churches

2.     Operation Christmas Child crafting centers

3.     Foster care agencies 

4.     Child care facilities

5.     Market place (Free porch pick up)

6.     Goodwill

7.     Salvation army store

8.     Senior Centers

9.    assisted living centers and 

10.    schools/after school programs

 

Trash- is just that Trash – let it go and then award yourself with a pat on the back. 

 

Start working through your WIPs and projects. Allow yourself a treat when you complete something, donate a box, or throw out a bag of trash. Brag on yourself and slowly unshovel your stash to an area you can find things in and be proud of. If you need help give me a DM, text or email. I may not have an answer, but I’ll try and find you one.

 

Happy Shoveling,

 

Stella

 Tip for the Week: 

Know when not to skimp – 

 

As any of you who know and love me will attest to, I am a HUGE fan of the dollar tree and dollar bins.  They draw me like a child to the candy aisle. With an extra $20.00 I would nearly empty a clearance bin. But unfortunately, I learned the hard way that those “great deals” were sometimes just not worth the money even when I paid next to nothing for it. 

 

All that to say, know what items you are ok with skimping on. Adhesives are NOT one of those items that you want to save a nickel on. My friends Carla and Cindy will tell you the heartbreak I felt when after I spent a weekend building an album and it started to disintegrate before our eyes,  I had to redo the whole thing with Cindy’s more expensive tape which luckily she had there with her and was willing to share.   The bargain I got on adhesive ended up being a waste of time and money. 

 

On the items you know you will use all the time, your paper trimmer, scissors, die cutting machine, punches, all-occasion stamps and yes even adhesive – DON’T skimp on these items.

 

Many companies make products for all levels of stores. You have seen some of these brands in the Dollar Tree and other big box stores and even some of the online stores.  Just because they look the same as a name brand items doesn’t mean that they are the same quality. 

 

It is true, you get what you pay for.

 

If this is a hobby that you know you are going to stick with, invest in the tools that will go the distance with you.

 

Hugs,

 

Stella

 

Tip for the week - Scissors

 Tip for the week:

 

Scissors

 

For a long time, paper crafters had about 100 scissors in their stash. Most of them were decorative or wavy cutting blades. (Slight exaggeration) Then the trimmers came with attachments that would do the fancy cutting and edges and the decorative scissors stopped being as popular. 

 

However, you do to have scissors in your craft room. Two pairs of scissors- minimum.  Nothing will dull your scissors faster than cutting paper.  I recommend having two pairs at a minimum because there is nothing like going to trim a piece of ribbon and having your scissors mangle the end of what you were hoping would be a clean cut.

 

I recommend keeping one pair for cutting card stock, paper, etc., and one for ribbon and or fabric.  To help keep these separate, tie a piece of around one of the handles of your ribbon scissors.  My family knows to ask before they use a pair,” is this a fabric pair?” Not that I have blown a fuse or anything. 

 

In my craft room I also have a pair of micro blade scissors for fussy cutting and a pair of Teflon coated scissors to cut my sticky stuff that I may have glued prematurely or need to trim. I also have a pair of TH scissor to cut heavy duty “stuff” like chipboard. I still have my decorative scissors because I am a hoarder by heart. LOL.

 

Once or twice a year, I would gather up all my scissors and take them down to McKinney to a person who sharpened blades and knives. 

 

Your scissors are tools and having the proper tools makes crafting easier and more fun. 

 

Enjoy your week,

 

SJ

July 2024 Paper Pumpkin!!

 JULY: Painted Petals

Subscribe 11 June–10 July
Craft beautiful cards with unique watercolor designs and pretty layers!

• Makes 9 cards: 3 each of 3 designs
• Project includes printed cards and coordinating envelopes
• Precut paper pieces and embellishments
• Coordinating colors: Calypso Coral, Gray Granite (Classic Stampin’ Spot), Melon

Mambo, Mossy Meadow, Old Olive

Kit comes in a beautiful coordinating box!