The Prudent Scrapbooker: February 2009

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Tuesday Tip -- Straightening Ribbon

Well, it's only Tuesday for 15 more minutes where I live, but I just might make it!

This weekend, while cropping at a friends house, I was reminded of an awesome tip for ribbon straightening.

Have you ever found yourself frustrated because the ribbon you want to use looks like this?

Tuesday Tip -- Ribbon Straightening

There are several easy ways to flatten out the kinks in your ribbon.

1. Water -- wet it down, then hang it over something to dry. It takes a long time, but it's very frugal.

2. Xyron -- run it through your Xyron machine to coat the entire back side of the ribbon with adhesive. (Not always truly effective, but it is quick.)

3. Iron -- get out your big clothing iron. (Who wants to pack that in their cropping tote?)

4. Buy one of the mini irons out on the market.

5. My favorite: Curling Iron!!! This works great -- especially if you put the ribbon through slowly, with the kink facing opposite the curve of the curling iron. I happened to have an extra in my linen closet, but my friend Chris bought hers at a garage sale for 50 cents!! Can't beat this tip for prudence -- inexpensive, easy to handle and store, quick and very effective!

Happy Scrapping!

Thursday, February 19, 2009

My Start Here Jar Tag labels

So many people have asked what I have on my tags for my Start Here Jar.

From Stacy Julian's book, Photo Freedom, I used:

1. All About Us
2. People We Love
3. Places We Go
4. Things We Do
5. Storage Albums
6. Theme Albums
7. Photos I Love
8. & 9. Digital Triage

(I did not use Family Words File or Cultural Memorabilia Box because I'm not doing those two components at this time.)

I added these labels of my own:
10. Sort photos (just getting started with LOM, so I have lots of photos to put into all the binders, drawers, and cold storage)
11. Sort paper and scraps (I always have paper and scraps to put into my organizational system and I procrastinate on getting this done.)
12. Sort ScrapRack (I always have items that need to be put into my ScrapRack system. I have a basket I throw that stuff into when I get it until I feel like putting it away.)
13. Sketches Binder (I save printouts of sketches in a binder (see previous post) and need to constantly update my binder.)

I also do other crafts besides scrapbooking, so I added these labels as well:
14. Make a card
15. Knit
16. Sew

So, now when I sit down at my desk and don't know where to start, I've got a tool to help me! Glad to hear so many of you are enjoying it! I was so bummed last week that I was too sick to get it done.

I get to go scrapbooking at a friend's house for the weekend, but I just got Photoshop Elements 7, so I'm more excited about organizing my digital photos. I have 5 years of photos stored digitally that I haven't printed yet because I already had so many photos I was "behind" on. I kept saying that I'd print out the new ones as I preplanned the pages for them... but now I just want to print them out using Stacy's method. I've got them all backed up, but not organized at all! So, I think I'll bring my laptop and spend some time doing digital triage this weekend.

Happy Scrapping!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Tuesday Tip -- Start Here Jar

Thanks to everyone who sent wishes for good health. I got diagnosed last week with bronchitis. It hasn't been fun -- still coughing and exhausted. Now, though, I've got medication, so it's slowly getting better.

Tuesday Tip -- Start Here Jar

Have you ever sat down at your space and thought "Where do I start?" or "What should I work on today?" Have you ever felt overwhelmed? Have you ever avoided your space because you're not sure what you could or should work on?

I've recently read Stacy Julian's book Photo Freedom and am starting her Library of Memories (LOM) system of organizing photos. In her book, Stacy talks about using a "Start Here Jar" full of popsicle sticks with one activity for her system written on each stick.

Well, I didn't like the look of popsicle sticks. I thought that if I created a jar with the sticks, I wouldn't be inspired to use it. It would just clutter my desk instead.

So, I decided to throw my own twist into it. Take a look!

I bought flowers on sale at a craft store and cut them apart. Then I tied little tags from the Heidi Grace Love Blossoms line onto each flower. The tags all have activities on them, but I added extras that weren't on Stacy's list for some of the other activities I could work on in my space.

I searched all the stores for an inexpensive vase or jar to put them in and finally decided to use the pewter pitcher I have from my grandmother. It's one of those things that holds a lot of memories for me. I remember every time we went to Grandma's, she poured milk from that pitcher. She never put the carton on the table. The pitcher was on the table for every Christmas dinner, Easter breakfast, and Saturday lunch. I always thought it was such an elegant thing to do. When she passed away and Mom asked if there was anything I'd want to remember her by, I thought of the pitcher right away. So, it's been sitting in a cupboard, waiting for the "perfect" way to display it. I think I've found it now! See, Grandma was a scrapbooker back before scrapbooking was such a mainstream hobby. She saved greeting cards, letters, newspaper clippings, and all kinds of things. Her albums are now in a museum. I love having this pitcher decorating my scrapbook space, in such a functional way.

When I've done the activities on the tags, I move the flower into the second vase, "Accomplished." My One Little Word this year is "Accomplish" because 2009 is the year I want to get things done! Often I have great ideas, but don't follow through and finish. That's my goal this year and the word I've chosen to keep me on task.

All in all, I spent $4 on flowers and used everything else from my existing supplies. Not bad for a decorative item that's going to motivate me!!!

Happy Scrapping!

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

sorry -- no tuesday tip this week

I'm miserably ill this week -- fever, cough, congestion, exhaustion. I'll be back next week with a great tip, though! I can't wait to show you, but I couldn't get it done in time for this week's tip. Off to refill the water bottle -- you know, fluids and rest!

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Tuesday Tip -- Sketches organization

Do you use sketches to scrapbook? Do you cut them out of magazines? Print them from websites? Search for them in galleries? Draw your own? Purchase books and books of them?

I do all of the above. And I have a great binder full of sketches to go to when I'm ready to plan my pages. But, then I get overwhelmed by all the choices!! So, I found a way to organize what I have. This isn't really my idea -- my friend Chris does this and passed it on to me. I tweaked her idea just a little.

Tuesday Tip -- Sketches organization

I put all my sketches in a 3 ring binder. I don't bother to sort them by date, creator, or anything else. I just put little colored dots (drawn with a marker) in the bottom corner of each sketch. On single pages, there's one dot. On 2 page layouts, there are 2 dots. The dots are color coordinated by number of photos. (pink for 1-2 photos, red for 3-4, etc)

When I'm planning pages, I look at how many photos I have and search for sketches with that color dot at the bottom. When doing 2 page spreads, I can either look for the 2 dots, or I can divide my photos between the pages and then look for each page separately.

Here's a picture of my "Sketches Key" at the front of my binder.