Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Free Scrapbook Printouts

Free scrapbook printouts are a great way to save money on scrapbooking supplies. You can find a large selection of printable scrapbook supplies online in a variety of designs. With the growing popularity of both traditional and digital scrapbooks, more free materials are available than ever before.


Types of Free Scrapbook Supplies

Many free scrapbook supplies are available to meet the needs of most traditional and digital scrapbook projects. Both traditional and digital scrapbook elements can be saved in an electronic file or printed out. Common free scrapbook supplies include:

* Paper: You can find many different types of paper in a variety of themes, designs and colors.
* Clip art: You can download and print clip art for scrapbook pages. Clip art includes cartoon characters, floral designs, animals, phrases and holiday symbols.
* Patterns: If you are searching for a pattern to use a background or for a design on a page, you can find many different free options.
* Frames: Frames of all sizes and designs are also available for free.
* Fonts: You can download free fonts and create phrases to print out for a scrapbook page.
* Flourishes: Free design elements such as flourishes can also be saved and printed out for use on a project.
* Stamps: You can choose free design elements that look like a stamp or postmark for both digital and traditional scrapbook projects. For traditional projects, you can print out the stamp and use it as clip art. Or, use the stamp to create scrapbook paper and print out for use in a project.


Benefits of Scrapbook Printouts

Free scrapbook printouts are useful for adding special touches to projects without adding extra expense. As long as you have Internet access, a computer and printer, you can take advantage of these free resources. A photo editing program such as Adobe Photoshop or Paintshop Pro may also be useful.

Many quality free scrapbook printables can be used to decorate scrapbook pages. However, some people also use free scrapbook elements to experiment with practice scrapbook pages. This allows you to explore creative ideas without wasting money.

Free scrapbook supplies are also handy for kids' art projects. You'll find a large selection of elements to meet most kids' projects. Even if you don't have particular project in mind, you can sit down with your kids and select free scrapbook elements. After you and your kids print out the scrapbook elements, design a project together.

When you are gathering scrapbook supplies for a gift, you can also include free scrapbook printables. In fact, you can even prepare a reference list of free scrapbook supply websites as a part of the gift.

You can find free scrapbook printouts that will work with most types of traditional and digital scrapbook projects. Before you head to the craft store, check out the scrapbook websites for free supplies. With the large selection available, you should be able to printouts that work for your scrapbook project.


Article Source: http://scrapbooking.lovetoknow.com/Free_Scrapbook_Printouts

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Free Scrapbooking Layouts: How to Create the Best Layout for Your Scrapbook

Creating the individual pages of your scrapbook is definitely the most exciting about the hobby. You get to choose pictures, images, items and other paraphernalia to put onto your page. However, with all the items, papers and letters that you want to include in your page, you usually end up confused. You don’t have to worry about that now, here are simple tips that you can keep in mind while starting to layout that page for your scrapbook.

Balance

Make sure your design has balance. If you have a large picture on the left page, make sure that it doesn’t look like it's hanging when you put the other elements on your page. Also, if you would like to create a two page lay-out, evaluate the items on the pages and make sure that they compliment each other.

Items

Always make sure that you have at least one theme in your layout. Sometimes the items greatly affect the layout of your page. So be sure that they are related. Items definitely have some commonality. Always evaluate them before designing your page.

Crowding

It is best that every item on your layout is distinguishable. If you put too much on a single page, the layout will surely suffer. Be sure that items are just enough for a page. Managing the page for its layout will be easier if you only have enough items for the space.

Variations

Be sure to make variations in your layout. If you can, make a dummy set for all your layout designs and put them on a list. In that way, you can immediately distinguish the styles that you have used on your pages. A really interesting scrapbook is one that varies but maintains a general theme.

Flood yourself with samples

One of the best ways to learn a great layout style is to look for one. Busy yourself in browsing the internet and comparing your scrapbook to others. When you are flooded with samples of good layouts, you can be sure that your own style will come out naturally.

The best way that you can do this is invite your friends who have the same hobby to join you while you are making pages for your scrapbook. In this way, they can also help you out in deciding what layout to make.

Be sure to remember these things when you start your layout. It is still best to create a dummy before starting the real one. Just take a moment to look at your materials and be sure to ask for some comments before putting them on your pages.


Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/scrapbooking-articles/free-scrapbooking-layouts-gtgt-how-to-create-the-best-layout-for-your-scrapbook-725361.html

Thursday, September 17, 2009

4 Free Scrapbooking Layout Ideas For New Scrapbookers

By Abhishek Agarwal

Believe it or not, the hobby of scrapbooking is now more popular than golf! A scrapbook used to be a simple collection of newspaper articles, cut-outs from magazines, or a group of related photographs. In the old days, you wouldn't see nice borders and designs in a scrapbook.

Today, scrapbooking is an art form and a billion-dollar industry. Where once it was hard to find scrapbooking materials and accessories, an overwhelming variety of albums, papers, designs, and embellishments is available to scrapbookers. And the community of collectors and vendors continues to grow.

As the craze grows, more and more websites devoted to scrapbooking are popping up on the Internet. They offer free advice and items for purchase. Some sites make free page templates available and contain many great suggestions for theme-based scrapbooks.

If you're new to scrapbooking, the Internet offers all the information you need to build a beautiful container for your precious memories. And whether through a local retail or the web, you can find an endless variety of supplies to accent your personal photos, decorations, and embellishments.

In fact, the range of products is amazing. You can find anything from scrapbooking software to help you create your own pages electronically to stick-ons that add sparkle to your scrapbook pages.

One basic step in scrapbooking is deciding on your layout - the basic design or format for your presentation. A good layout helps you carry your theme throughout the scrapbook and brings your bits and pieces together to tell a story. Your layout expresses your personality and style and helps you organize every page.

Here are some popular layout plans that you may want to try for your first scrapbooking adventure. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination, so review these descriptions for ideas. You may come up with some original layout plans of your own.

1. Newspaper Style. Newspapers have worked on efficient layout for hundreds of years. The layout is a great way to tie pictures and text together. The layout creates the impression of a newsy journal, and it's a wonderful format for events like birthdays, weddings, and anniversaries. The basic layout is columns. Depending on the size of your pages, you can use from two to four columns to create an interesting newspaper-like impression. You can choose fonts resembling those in the news for further effect. Times New Roman is an accepted and easy-to-read font, and Old English is wonderful for bold titles and headings.

2. Handprint Approach. Best in albums about your children, you trace their hand or foot to use on every page. You can use the outline on the pages as a background. You can use it as a frame for photos and mementos. Or you can use it to make a stick-on for your pages to frame your favorite pieces.

3. Rub-on Transfer Technique. Rub-ons have long been a favorite of scrapbookers. They create a textured effect that make your page layouts special. You can apply them to card stock and a variety of papers. Whether patterned or solid, the rub-ons add a special flare to your pages. Be aware that it takes some time to get good at making rub-ons. You'll want to practice the technique before using it in your scrapbook. But once you've mastered the technique, you can incorporate other media like ribbons, mesh, and glass. A tip: rub-ons need to be adhesive enough to create a lasting effect.

4. Chalk for Texture. Chalks add a nice texture to your paper. They give color and dimension, and they adhere well to most surfaces. You can use soft colors for your baby's scrapbook and deeper dark colors for your memorial scrapbooks. Chalks add a unique effect you can't duplicate with any other medium, but they can be messy. You'll need to use a fixative spray to be sure they don't rub off your page onto your treasures or your hands!

These are just a few of many layout approaches. You can combine layouts to make the scrapbook more interesting, but be sure that you use your final layout plan consistently throughout your scrapbook to maintain your theme. Layout design can be as simple as a page border or as fancy as you can imagine. They bring unity to your photos and mementos and add your personality to your pages.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Abhishek_Agarwal

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Beginners Scrapbooking - Parts of a Scrapbook

By Bernadine Otis

In beginners' scrapbooking, one must know the essential parts of a scrapbook. Although not everyone really follows this, at least they know that these parts of a scrapbook make up the essence of the activity. Here are the basic parts of a scrapbook:

The cover is the outer part of the scrapbook. For most, this is the hardcover, the book cover of the scrapbook. While on the other hand, creative minds can create another cover for the scrapbook itself. It may be knitted covers, or fabric covers, or for experts in woodwork, it may even be made out of thin wood or plywood.

Front Page

The front page is the first page inside the scrapbook. In beginners' scrapbooking, name, title of the project and event may be put in text on this page. The thing is, this page is essential because this is the first page that people will see, thus, the page has to be interesting enough to keep people interested.

Content

The content are the pages after the front page, thus, this will include the photos, the souvenirs, the decorations and the embellishments - the creativity all comes out in these pages. Make sure to even out the decorations to all pages.

Text

The text includes how you'll be writing and the information and quotes you'll be adding onto your scrapbook. It may be using glitter letters, colored pens, newspaper clippings, magazine letters, felt letters or any other means of text. Use embellishments to get the text to shine amongst the photos and the memoirs.

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Bernadine Otis

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bernadine_Otis