Digital Scrapping

Hello, Laura here! I'm not the normal scrapbooker around here, I'm the web designer. So what on earth am I doing posting here?

Weeeelll, working with this crew tends to get you interested in making your own scrapbook-y stuff, right? And I'm getting married in June and needed to send out Save-the-Date cards. Obviously, I went running to Lindsey begging for ideas and she helped me come up with a great one!

Since I'm more of a web geek and have my Photoshop skills, I just designed a 4x6 image based on Victorian postcards and had them printed as photos at Walgreens Photo. I got the postcard imagery from this AMAZING site with free, publicly-licensed images of high-resolution scanned Victorian paper cards and such on it that you can use to your heart's content.

Then on the back, we picked out a corner punch and I cut out 4x6 pieces of a pretty yellow paper. I ran them through the printer for the wording (realized after 2 cards I wasn't about to write 86 copies of this!) and borrowed Lindsey's Tim Holtz Postcard stamp for the vintage look.

For the divider, we used a Cuttlebug and made the embossing and VOILA! Beautiful, expensive-looking save the date postcards!

Both techy and crafty. I'm so proud! Thank you Lindsey!

Scrapbooking Resolution: Take More Photos

I remember as a child everyone getting annoyed at my uncle who always had a camera or video camera in our faces at EVERY family event.  Now that I'm an adult, I'm glad that he did as we have a record of memories from the past.

I don't think you can ever take too many photos.  In fact, I always have my camera handy at home in case there's an oppurtunity to snap a picture.  I almost always try to take it to any family event so I can record it.  Whether it's gathering together to watch Ohio State football games or celebrating a birthday, the camera is there.

I take pictures of my nephews and nieces silly faces, funny poses, and goofy dances.  Some of them are getting to the age where they HATE getting their pictures taken and I get an occasional roll of the eyes.

Now, you may ask what do I do with all these pictures?  Most are stored on my hard drive and thumb drive.  I don't print every single picture.  Just the ones I plan on scrapping or framing are the only ones that get printed.  And when I do print them, I do it online and have them shipped to my house.  It's definitely a lot easier and most of the online photo websites have photo editors that allow you to crop and correct pictures.  I've even printed pictures as cheap as a penny a print on sites!  Most sites allow you to upload your photos and store them in 'albums' for later use.  Some of my favorite photo processing websites are:

Winkflash
Snapfish
Kodak Gallery

And what if you want to scrap all your photos, but don't want 150 layouts of one person's birthday?  A few companies have started making 12x12 photo sleeves for your albums.  We R Memory Keepers and American Crafts are two companies that have sleeves for albums that hold 4x6 photos (or other sizes), enabling you to have photos and layouts in your scrapbooks.  These companies also make sleeves that hold larger and smaller photos in addition to 4x6 photos.  In addition to photos, you can put journaling blocks or other embellishments in the blocks!  The possibilities are endless!  We have these sleeves available here at the Scrapbook Outlet and can order additional sizes if you need something special.



Don't be afraid to stage photographs either.  If you see a paper you adore, stage a picture that would be perfect.  Case in point, my 3 year old nephew got a drum set brought to him by Santa for Christmas.  I had the perfect paper and title: 'Little Drummer Boy'.  I made him pose with the drumsticks and took lots of pictures with him playing the drums (very LOUDLY, I might add...) 

So...this year resolve to capture more memories on your camera.  Don't be afraid to take pictures and if you're like me, endure complaints from the subjects.    Take pictures of a child playing with a toy, a dog playing in the snow, or a haircut.  Take pictures of your flower garden, your house, or your car covered in the first snow of the season.  In ten years, you won't regret having records of these memories.

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Scrapbooking Resolution: Clean and Organize

Happy 2011 everyone!  Every New Year's, resolutions are made.  It may be to save money, lose weight, donate to charity, or spend more time with your family.  In addition to my yearly resolutions of saving money and getting healthier, I make a scrapbooking resolution (or two).

Walking in my scrappin' room ('The Scrap Cave' as I like to call it), I saw all the remnants of 2010's Christmas projects.  Paper on the floor, trash can overflowing, and scrappy supplies strewn about, let's just say that I am SO happy that company doesn't see that room.  It definitely looks like a bomb blew up in there! 



I resolved right then and there to be more organized and clean  in my scrapbooking. I plan on putting all supplies and materials away when I am finished.  When I get new paper or embellishments, I'll put them away instead of just laying them on the table for another time.  

There are TONS of great organizing products out there on the market.  One of my faves is the Clip-It-Up.  This thing is AWESOME!!!  Clip all your stickers, embellishments, and ribbon up and away from your workspace.  I've even got a few card-size papers hanging on mine.  The best thing is that the Clip It Up spins like a carousel, giving you easy access to anything stored on it!  This thing even comes with some great organizing dividers so you can divide by topic, color, or type.

Another one of my fave organizing tools is the Creative Options Project Box.  These boxes come in a few different sizes and colors.  These boxes are my go-to storage for weekend crops or finished album pages.  I'm notorious for scrapbooking various subjects at once and not putting my completed projects in album.  So, my solution is to keep all my finished layouts in these boxes until I get the time to organize them into albums.  The boxes are also VERY sturdy and take a beating, as mine travel frequently to weekend crops and to friends houses.

We'll have some more resolutions throughout the month of January here on the blog and in the newsletter, too.  What are you resolutions?  We'd love to hear them so leave us a comment!!

Happy Scrappin'!

START 2011 OFF WITH A BANG!

We've got some GREAT things in store for 2011 here at the Scrapbook Outlet! In addition to adding more scrapbooking product to the website, we also plan on starting a blog. The blog will be updated weekly and will have new product information, upcoming class information, instructional tips, and more! The blog will also feature the Design Team members work and other in-store events as well. We've got some new classes coming up as well. Alexandra will be holding a bi-weekly card club starting January 12 from 1-3pm. Each month a different grouping of Hero Arts stamps will be featured. Card made will feature various techniques including embossing and other stamping techniques. Classes cost $10 each and students will make 2-3 cards per class. Also planned for the new year is a monthly Tim Holtz class taught by Lindsey. Each month a different project will be featured using Tim Holtz products and techniques. Classes will be held on Saturdays near the end of the month. Continuing in 2011 are the monthly Cricut classes, Duets card classes, and also the Outlines Stamp classes. So join us in the new year for some NEW classes! Sign up today to secure your spot!

Class Gift Basket Giveaway

Congrats to Jerri J. who won the Class Gift Basket full of wonderful paper crafting goodies!!

Featured Products

Family Keepsake Family Keepsake by We R Memory Keepers This collecction is perfect for those family albums or heritage albums. The patterns in this collection remind us of vintage fabrics. Paper is available in open stock or collection packs, and there are brads, stickers, and acrylic stamps to complement the line. Check out some more of the line below!

'Almanzo' Chipboard Titles Acrylic Stamps 'Nellie'

January 2011 Class Calendar

Hero Arts Card Club-Wednesday, January 12 and 26, 1-3pm, $10. Join Alexandra in a NEW biweekly card club featuring Hero Arts stamps! Each month, a different set of stamps are featured. Please bring basic tool kit to class with you.

Cabin Fever Crop ‘til You Drop-Saturday, Jan. 15, 10a-12a, $50. Need to get out of the house and catch up on scrapbooking those holiday photos? Join us for 14 hours of undisturbed scrapbooking. Use of our Cricut cartridge library available during crop. Participants will receive goody bag and lunch, dinner, snacks, and beverages will be provided.

Winter Wonderland Layout-Saturday, Jan, 22, 10-12am, $13. Join Design Team Member Sherrie for a winter-themed layout class featuring Lost & Found papers. Please bring basic tool kit to class with you.

Valentine’s Cards-Saturday, Jan. 22, 12:30-2:30pm, $20. Join Alexandra in making six Valentine’s Day cards using different techniques including embossing. Please bring basic tool kit to class with you.

Winter Distress Tags-Saturday, Jan. 29, 10-12pm, $18. Join Lindsey for a Distress Ink class where students will make 4 tags using Distress Inks and other Ranger brand products. Prepare to get inky and leave with 4 tags that make great bookmarks or magnets. Please bring basic tool kit to class with you.

Outlines Valentine’s Cards-Saturday, Jan. 29, 12:30-2:30pm, $18. Join Alexandra in making three Valentine’s cards featuring embossing techniques and Outlines brand stamps. Please bring basic tool kit to class with you.

Cricut 101-Saturday, Jan. 29, 10-12pm, $10.Join Jennifer in learning the ins and outs of the Cricut machine. She will take you through basic function, cutting, and will answer any question you may have on the ever-popular die-cutting machine. Please bring Cricut, basic tool kit, and scrap paper to class with you.

Advanced Cricut-Saturday, Jan. 29, 12:30-2:30pm,$15. Join Jennifer in making a gorgeous two-page layout featuring the Designer’s Calendar Cartridge. Please bring basic tool kit, Cricut, and Designers Calendar cartridge to class with you.

After Christmas Inventory Reduction Sale

We love working here, but we aren't huge fans of counting thousands and thousands of items at the end of the year for our inventory. We need to move out as much as possible to cut down the counting and spare us from lists of numbers in our dreams at night. You can help! Stop in for 20% off all regular-priced scrapbooking this week!! Save on paper, tools, embellishments, stickers, and more!

Wishing you and yours a very safe and Happy 2011!! ~~the Scrapbook Outlet Be sure to check us out on the web: the Scrapbook Outlet and on Facebook for news.

Welcome to the Scrapbook Outlet's Blog

When I am at a loss for new ideas for my scrapbooking or cardmaking, I turn to the internet.  There are countless sites and blogs, like this one, that are chock full of ideas when you have 'scrapper's block.'

The goal of this blog is to give tips and share our knowledge and tricks of the trade with our fellow scrappers.   We will also have cardmaking techniques, altered items, and more featured on here as well.  I'm a firm believer that cardmaking and scrapbooking go hand in hand so techniques learned in one format can be used in the other.  Pictures, videos, and sketches will be featured as well as tips from our teachers. And of course, the Scrapbook Outlet's Design Team will be featured here, with their monthly projects and tips.  We'll also link you to some of our faves and who we get our inspiration from.  And feel free to comment and ask questions.  We'd love to hear your feedback!!

So hang onto your glue sticks and sharpen your scissors for some inspiration, ideas, and fun! 

Happy New Year from all of us here at the Scrapbook Outlet!!