Scrapbooking

Some of the most interesting tags are made from fabric, wood, and other odds and ends found around the house. When the paper is fully dried, it should have all sorts of neat looking stains.

Then tape the freezer paper, with the fabric now stuck to it, to a piece of regular printer paper. You shouldn't use real popcorn, especially if it is butter coated.

After a while, lignin will cause photos, fabrics and other paper that touch it to turn brown. These embellishments and accents can be as simple or as fancy as you desire and your creativity allows.

The greatest thing about scrapbooking is that there are no rules. You could create embellishments that looked like scalpels and tweezers around various pictures of your nephew during his college years.

This is a rather difficult thing to test in a short period of time, so try using only special scrapbooking stickers for scrapbooks you plan to preserve. You shouldn't use real popcorn, especially if it is butter coated.

Who is the scrapbook for? Then use a hole punch to punch out each individual letter.

Do note that macaroni is a food item -- and we all know what happens to food after a while, just look in your teenager's bedroom for a reminder… Yeesh… There are a few things you can do to prolong your scrapbook pages containing these sorts of embellishments. Just cut your paper border about an inch larger than you need.

Click here to go to Paper Mojo. For instance, chronological order might be useful for an anniversary scrapbook.

99. To make your own quills, you roll strips of paper (from 1/8" to 1" wide, with 1/8" being standard) around a toothpick to make the paper into a spiral.

Faux Metal Rusting Get the rusted metal look without the rusted metal. Tearing creates an artistic look to backgrounds, borders, and embellishments.

You can even use moldable foam to make your own rubber stamps. Some interesting scrap material suitable for backgrounds include scrap fabric, bits of linoleum, and carpet swatches.

This isn't to discourage you from using it, not all. Book Jacket Backgrounds For an added personal touch and artistic flair, use a book jacket as a background.

To create this look, you will need glass marbles with one flat side. There are plenty of other dye's out there, like Rit, that create great looking colors, but they are mostly quite acidic.

Then lay the wax paper on top of glossy photo paper and then cover the wax paper with a sheet of regular printer paper. Another easy way to dye is with egg dyes sold for Easter.

This technique creates a three-dimensional artistic look. Look at your page.

75. This technique looks great on children's artwork and in educational scrapbooks.

Just be sure to place the object you plan to cut onto a mat or wad or newspaper before using the exacto knife. Glitter Glitter can add a wonderful sparkle to your borders and fonts.

18. At the top of this list is an exacto knife.

Unfortunately, typewriter keys are very expensive to buy. The various colors, textures, and weaves of fabric allow a great deal of creativity and imagination.

Accents Simple accents can be added to your pictures, borders, and backgrounds to create an air of softness and elegance. Iron the papers, using the hottest setting of a pre-heated iron, for no more than 5 seconds.

Acrylic Paint Acrylic paint can be use to draw and paint embellishments or create accents around focus objects. Then, using a small paintbrush, paint this piece of vellum with gold or silver leaf.

Do note that macaroni is a food item -- and we all know what happens to food after a while, just look in your teenager's bedroom for a reminder… Yeesh… There are a few things you can do to prolong your scrapbook pages containing these sorts of embellishments. Feel free to use crayons other than clear or white as well.

White out can also be used for white pages. Peel off the wax paper and then apply dye ink to the photo paper (like from Ranger Crafts).

Simply alternate horizontal and vertical threads over and under. If you can't find one you like, many companies can custom make them for you.

Smudging pencil is easier and gives a little bit more control. Painted Tissue Paper Painted tissue paper can add a colorful flair to your children's artwork or scrapbook page.

Single, twisted, or braided fibers can be used to accentuate focus objects, as picture frames, or along the edges of the scrapbook page as borders. Most punches are made of die cast steel.

Now, you've pretty much made this piece of paper the "bad apple" of your scrapbook, as it will age faster than normal and aid the decomposition of things it touches. Alternately, you can use embroidery cotton to tie the feather in place.

You can place everything in the center of your page, place a single focus item in the center, or divide the page into sections adding items to each section. There are spray-on polyurethane coatings to add a layer of protection.

16. These additions can be used to increase the busyness and overwhelming nature of the collage, or reduce the effect slightly by distracting the focus away from the collage.

Your theme could be a special event such as a birthday, a baby shower, a wedding, Christmas, or Halloween. This scrapbook technique looks especially nice when the book jacket is the reader's favorite book or author, adding a wonderful personalized touch.

44. Place a piece of pain paper on top of the fabric and iron where the fabric is.

Black ink brushed over orange crayon will create a great Halloween setting. pioneerthinking.

They normally sell large sheets of paper you can cut down (like 25"x35" large, and for good prices), but you can get 3"x5" swatches of 4-8 different papers for less than 4 bucks plus free shipping. This is a great technique for educational scrapbooks where text outside the window asks a question and the answer is contained inside the window.

Collages create great funky scrapbook pages. 6.

Hemp Hemp can be used for a number of purposes in scrapbooking. Stained glass is available at most craft stores.

Then lay the wax paper on top of glossy photo paper and then cover the wax paper with a sheet of regular printer paper. A light colored background creates a soft, farther away feeling; while a darker background sharpens the focus.

Yes, lignin-free paper does cost more, but it is a vital part of preserving your cherished scrapbooks. The tape should say "acid-free" right on the packaging.