Cherish Scrapbooking

After all of the e-mails, text messages, voicemails, and other unnecessary portals of communication, it is nice to get a letter in the mail from relative or a close friend. What makes an envelope cool and fun o receive you might very well ask? Well, address labels will do just the trick. A custom sticker with your name and information printed on it with a cool design is probably the coolest thing you could do with a mailed envelope other than completely decorate it yourself. return address labels are also really cool because it gives the recipient a chance to have fun with your labels too.

Many companies sell address labels with custom designs that range anywhere from a pink butterfly background to a 9/11 memorial design. You can really customize it so that it fits your very own style. The best things about address labels are that they arrive in numerous amounts that can be changed monthly. It is also usually very easy to contact companies to change your information if you ever move or change any information. The return address labels are also really helpful if you’ve just moved and you need to send your family a new address to send things to.

Address labels really brighten up a plain white envelope. Any letter really brightens up anyone’s day but making the letter colorful and fun to open is even better. Another perk from address labels is that you never have to write your information. You can just simply choose a label and apply it to the envelope. Often times you can even use these stickers on forms or for paperwork other than letters. Address labels can ultimately save you some time when sending out your family Christmas cards.

If you don’t use address labels regularly they are great for the holiday seasons. If you are extremely busy and barely have time to pull out a pen to write on Christmas cards then maybe address labels would be the best thing for the season. The address labels are easy to use, fun to look at and not necessarily very expensive. Address labels make it a whole lot easier if you are sending out lots of gifts or letters. If you have elderly family who love to send letters but can no longer use a pen very well, address labels are great for them as well. That way you can still get a birthday card in the mail from Great-grandma!

Address labels are a great tool for the office if you are a small company, at home if you are a frequent mailer of letters, or even just as labels if you don’t want specific items like books or backpacks to get stolen. Address labels are fun to have and very easy to buy, making your job even easier. The best way to utilize your address labels is to send more letters to your family. This way your family receives a fun-filled and happy letter, and it didn’t even take that long for you to write it and send it!

Do you hang around with someone who smokes cigars? Put them on the scale, cigar vs. sweetheart, and the sweetheart would surely win. So you might as well make the best of it and make use of the cigar bands. In particular, the bands from Cuban cigars are sought-after because they are so hard to come by. And, like other such advertising identifiers, they are beautiful.

What can you do with these bands? Try a collage. Try decoupage. As your smoker unwraps his stogy, request that he please remove the band carefully and save it for you. When you have a good number of these bands, you can begin to think about a good place to display them. If you are impatient and want a quick project, put them into a picture frame. Purchase a piece of foam board. Paint it a color that will set off the colors of the bands. Then place the collage in a frame that shows off the beauty of the bands.

This collage idea can be enhanced and beautified if you take the project to the next level and create a shadow box. You can have a shadow box custom made by a craft store or framing store, but this choice can be expensive. Your project can cost less if you use a ready-made shadow box frame. Of course, when you use a ready-made frame, you need to fit the contents into the size of the frame rather than fitting the frame around the contents. This is relatively easy with something as small as cigarbands. As you lay out your shadow box, think of other small objects that fit in with this smoking motif. Consider match books, color-coordinated ribbons, wine corks, and postcards or other pictures that depict life in Cuba.

If you want a larger, more impressive project, try decoupaging the cigarbands on a small table or coffee table. Mod Podge is a product that has been around for forty years. It makes it easy to artistically place the bands on the surface of the table, glue them down, and apply the Mod Podge. When the collage is this large, you might want to include more than just cigarbands. A natural partner of the cigarband is the wine label. It’s probable that the person who enjoys the big brown smoke also enjoys a glass of fine wine. Wine labels can be artistic in the same way that cigarbands are. And if you are an adventurous wine taster, you can quickly accumulate a collection of highly varied wine labels.

As your collection of bands and labels accumulates, you can take the display to the highest level: the family room wall. Yes, you can glue your bands and labels to your wall. This display is most effective if the room has a chair rail. It is best to put the labels above the rail on a single wall so that it doesn’t become overpowering. But think of how unique your room will be when it displays the beautiful cigarbands and wine labels.

You don’t have to invest hundreds of dollars and hours of time to create your own special scrapbooking albums. With the right tools and supplies, anyone can get started scrapbooking right away. No need to feel intimidated as you peruse isle after isle of memory book products. Stay tuned and you’ll find out how to start preserving your cherished memories without too much muss or fuss.

First, start by selecting what photos you want to work with. Instead of choosing many photos that would fill an entire book about a family vacation, it might be easier to begin with just a handful that focuses on a smaller event, such as junior’s first baseball game. Once the photos are selected, arrange them to determine what size each should be, keeping in mind the total size of the page.

Next, choose the background paper. This can be a solid or patterned paper that reflects the theme of the page you are creating. If you would like to highlight the photos, they can be matted onto cardstock. You are welcome to use as many or as few colors as you’d like. Photos can have a uniform frame all around or they can be matted off center. For added pizzazz, decorative edge scissors may be used to cut the mat. Take care that all paper and card stock is lignin and acid free.

Once, the photos are where you like them, you might consider adding a border on some or all the sides of the page. Simple strips of paper or ribbon would work as well as wavy strips or polka dots. You get to decide what looks best.

Next, think of a title or name for this page. Both the color and style of the lettering will draw attention to it. Use alphabet stickers to spell out the title, die-cut letters, or ready-to-use title strips that you simply peel and stick. Stickers should also be acid and lignin free.

Now, take those special pens or markers and write about the event, note important dates, names and descriptions of places and activities. If you want to be extra careful, write on a separate piece of paper and apply it to the background paper when it looks just right. Check that your pens use pigment ink.

When used strategically, embellishments can turn a nice looking page into a work of art. Embellishments are considered anything that is decorative such as ribbons, buttons, tags, stickers, eyelets and charms. Remember that less is more so resist the urge to use them all.

Keep in mind that until you become more proficient, it’s best to lay out all the components of the page and play around with them before deciding on the final layout. Once your satisfied with the result, then it is okay to start gluing things in place.

If you get stuck for ideas, there are tons of books, magazines and websites you can look at for inspiration. These precious creations even can be made on and printed from your computer. Whatever method you choose, don’t be afraid to dive right in because every page is a unique creation.

Anyone who wants to begin custom scrapbooking will probably be a little intimidated when they start looking around the craft stores for scrapbooking supplies. Memory pages can be clean and simple, colorful or monochromatic. Whatever the style or taste, the same products work for every need. It involves more than purchasing an empty album and some page protectors in which to slide photos. While there is a veritable plethora of products to choose from, most everything one needs can be grouped into simple categories.

Cardstock and paper – Solid colored cardstock and paper are the fundamental materials for matting and embellishing photos. Paper can be found in every color of the rainbow and then some. Solid colored paper can be used as the background for the photos or it can be cut into shapes, letter or borders, for example. Patterned paper also can be found in a wide array of colors, patterns and themes. Papers that depict a specific topic, such as holidays or sports, is an easy way to unify the photo page. Patterned paper can be used as a foundation for the page or as a decorative element. Always be sure to use paper that is lignin and acid free. Only this type of paper can be trusted to last while regular paper will turn yellow and crumble over time.

Scissors and Trimmers – Scissors are constantly utilized in the making of memory books. They should not be used for everyday use but should be reserved for photo pages only. This will keep them sharp and clean. Trimmers are generally needed for cutting paper and cardstock to the desired size as well as cropping photos. Some types include both a guillotine cutter and rotary trimmer. It would be wise to purchase a trimmer that is self-sharpening or that comes with replacement blades.

Adhesive – There are so many different types of adhesive from which to choose because the types of materials used in memory pages are so varied in texture and weight. Read the product label to help select the appropriate product for the job. Some examples of the different kinds of adhesives are glue dots, double-sided tape, glue stick, photo corners and liquid glue. Make sure that the adhesive states that it is safe to use for archiving photos.

Embellishments – This is the area that can make a person afraid to even start. There seems to be an unending supply of stickers, rub-ons, letters, borders, tags, felt pieces brads, buttons and ribbons, just to name a few. There isn’t a theme that cannot be found in this area.

Pens – It should be no surprise that memory page pens come in a wide variety of colors and tip styles. Black is a must to have since it will coordinate with anything. Pens used in making memory pages must only contain pigment ink and be fade proof and water proof. Recording precious moments, noting dates, journaling and writing names and descriptions are done quickly and neatly with these special pens.

As overwhelming as it may be to begin to start a memory book project, the multitude of choices can also be extremely fun once it gets started. There is just no limit to what can be created.