By Carol Duvall
Today's segment was more about showing than doing. Although there have been segments on the subject of "scrapbooking" almost every week this season, there seems to be no tangible way to keep up with the constant flow of new products in the marketplace. In an attempt to play catch-up, we devoted half the show entirely to showing products that have not yet been demonstrated by scrapbooking guests.
While we have shown pop-up pages, we have not seen plastic three-dimensional pages like Keepsake Keepers. These are two plastic pages with dimensional pockets so treasures other than photographs can be kept along with the snapshots. Perfect for holding a corsage from the prom, a baby's christening bonnet, etc., these two-page snap-togethers have holes punched along one edge so they can easily fit into any standard three-ring notebook, scrapbook, or memory book.
Another version of a 3-D window is available from What's New. This company's Scrap-Ease Treasure Window can be assembled by folding and poking decorated cardboard frames with Mylar inserts, then attaching the window to the scrapbook page over the saved item.
Long known among crafters and sewers for its line of scissors, the Fiskars company markets more than 30 different types of blades for paper-cutting scissors. Additional products include a line of stamp pads and colored markers, and a circle cutter that can cut circles up to five inches in diameter from photos or background paper.
Fiskars also offers rubber stamps made specifically with the scrapbooker, rather than the rubber-stamper, in mind. Each group of coordinated stamps comes in a stacked plastic container with a bubble top (the bubble serves as a handle for the stamps) along with a stamp pad. Because everything is visible and labeled, there is no guessing as to what is where. There are stamps, both large and small, for camping, Christmas, Halloween, and other scrapbook pages and themes.
Scrapbooking projects, ideas and products are not aimed solely at adults. There are a number of "MY SCRAPBOOK" notebooks out there and, of course, the Pack 'O Fun folks have a notebook designed especially for the school-age set.
If the Mary Englebreit line is one of your favorites, check out the Mary Englebreit kit from All Nite Media. Included in the black and white bordered box are Mary's traditional, recognizable stamps along with ink pads, punches and scissors. Again, all great for scrapbooks.
Many scrapbooking kits available in craft and hobby stores include handsome, spiral bound books along with some supplies. Some kits include appropriately colored pages for a theme (baby girl book with pink pages, baby boy with light blue, etc.) glue sticks, punchout pages that result in a sheet of stencils after punching, and punchouts that work as die cuts, stickers, etc.
My Favorite Things (discontinued) has cover kits that include a very large three-ring notebook, batting, cardboard cut-outs for frames, and directions. You supply the fabric. The end product is a padded notebook with a padded frame on the front cover. Ready-made covers for large three-ring notebooks are also available from arts and crafts stores. Made of tapestry, they cover a variety of designs from lovely florals to Noah's Ark. Each ties with a heavy grosgrain ribbon in a color compatible with the cover.
More scrapbooks with a theme are available from Bound and Determined. There are books designed for your travel photos, for athletic feats, etc., but Carol's favorite was one designed especially to depict a youngster through his/her lower school years from preschool through sixth grade. Each grade has its own brightly colored folder with a cutout for a photo in the cover. The folder opens to reveal a space and a number of plain pages for handwritten notes. The back cover features a fold-over to hold special notes, report cards and other flat mementos. The folders are of heavy cardboard and glazed to enhance the bright fresh look.
For an entirely different approach to making a collage of your photos, try a Coluzzle. The pieces are sold separately or in kits. The kits contain a jigsaw puzzle made of large clear plastic puzzle pieces. The overall shape can be a frame, a teddy bear, a heart, a star or smaller frame. With the plastic puzzle comes an adhesive-backed foam pad that can be used to back the puzzle pieces when they are NOT used in a memory book. Included also is a very tiny swivel craft blade and directions. The basic idea is to cut various puzzle pieces from your photos, then fit them all together into a puzzle. The overall effect is interesting, attractive and unusual. Very clever.
And that's it for new scrapbooking products . . . until the next batch of mail arrives!
Note: Fiskars Stacker stamps, pigment ink stamp pads, Mary Englebreit scrapbook kit, My Favorite Things scrapbook cover kit and dual-tip markers have been discontinued.
RESOURCES :
paper edgers, scissors - Fiskars
Fiskars Brand Inc.
Website: www.fiskars.com
foam stamps - Rubber Stampede
Rubber Stampede
Website: www.deltacrafts.com/RubberStampede/
Coluzzle collage template system
Provo Craft
Website: www.provocraft.com
Keepsake Keepers 3-D scrapbook pockets
Crafty Creations
Hattiesburg, MS
Phone: 601-296-6944
E-mail: lisa@crafty1.com
Website: www.crafty1.com
Bound to Remember theme scrapbooks
Crafty Creations
Hattiesburg, MS
Phone: 601-296-6944
E-mail: lisa@crafty1.com
Website: www.crafty1.com
Scrap-Ease Treasure Windows - scrapbook page windows
What's New Ltd.
Mesa, AZ
Toll Free Phone: 800-272-3874
E-mail: whatsnew@whatsnewltd.com
Website: www.whatsnewltd.com
Un-Du adhesive remover
Pack 'O Fun craft magazine
Clapper Communications Company
Des Plaines, IL
US
Phone: 847-635-5800
Toll Free Phone: 800-272-3871
Website: www.craftideas.com
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