Q: Over the years I have saved a variety of greeting cards. How can I use them to decorate my scrapbook pages? A: Greeting cards are a versatile tool when it comes to adding character to your scrapbook pages. Here's a special way to document a special moment.
1. Start by cutting images from greeting cards. Glue them to cardstock and cut around each image, leaving a 1/8"-1/4" border.
2. Arrange the images on the page as a border or in a random pattern.
3. There may be special messages that you want to save along with the greeting card. In that case, cut out the message and attach it to cardstock. Cut out around the message, leaving a border as before and place it on the page along with the image.
4. Add a photograph of the occasion or of the person who gave you the card.
Q: Choosing the right color paper to coordinate with my photos is such a challenge. Any tips that can help?
A: There are so many different papers available that the options are endless. Here’s the best advice I can give you: Line up several colors on your work surface and lay photos from the same grouping on top of each color. This will help you pick the colors that look best with the photos. When you are purchasing papers at the scrapbook store, be sure to pick wonderful colors, even unusual ones. You never know when they will come in handy.
Paper Stackers are a perfect option. They're thick pads of different-colored cardstock sheets cut slightly larger than standard photos. You can hold your photo onto each sheet until you find a color you like. Then rip off the desired sheet and mount your photo onto it.
Another option is to coordinate the colors with the theme of your page. Maybe you took a family camping trip, in which case brown or forest green might be perfect to set the tone. Or maybe you went snow-skiing: how about using a light-blue paper?
Q: I love the look of a patchwork quilt and want to incorporate that look into some of my scrapbook pages. Can you tell me how to do this?
A: Just about any quilt design with give a warm, cozy appearance to your scrapbook page. It’s a very easy look to achieve.
1. Create a grid of nine squares by dividing the base page into three rows of 4" squares so it resembles a ticktacktoe board.
2. Cut the printed paper into 2-1/2" squares.
3. Cut the squares diagonally to create triangles.
4. Arrange and stick the triangles to the page to create various quilt blocks.
5. Mount the photos and use a black pen to finish the edge with "stitch" marks.
