Tip of the Day!

Cosmetic brushes for chalks.

Cosmetic eyeshadow applicators work great to put chalks on with.   They last a lot longer than Q-Tips too.

Tip of the Day!

When adhesive gums up your scissor blades wipe them down with individually wrapped rubbing alcohol preps.  The preps remove the gummy adhesive, and any remaining alcohol on the blades evaporates quickly as well. Best of all, you don’t have to worry about a large bottle of rubbing alcohol accidentally spilling near your work.

Tip of the Day!

Cover buttons with paper to coordinate with your page.

Try it!

Jacquelin wanted to share this post…

…from her BLOG regarding tips on taking your holiday photos!  Check it out:

http://groovyscrapbooker.blogspot.com/

Tip of the Day!

Don’t have many pictures of a special friend and you want to give them a really great gift for their 40th?  Try doing a “40 reasons XXX is my best friend album”.  Use reasons both serious and lighthearted.  Try to capture your years of friendship.  It will be the best gift you ever give your friend.

Tip of the Day!

IF ONLY I COULD REMEMBER THAT GREAT IDEA I HAD!  Now you can.  Start a book with ideas – put down your layout idea and if you think of the journaling you want to use, record that too.  If you found a certain page of a book or magazine, record all that info (Magazine, title, date, page, etc) and maybe what caught your eye.  It is great for those days you feel like scrapbooking but have a block, or you can’t remember that great idea you had.

Tip of the Day!

To keep your punches sharp and clean, periodically punch several times through wax paper and then clean with rubbing alcohol.  The wax keeps the edges of the punch fresh and the alcohol removes any excess stickiness.

Tip of the Day!

It can be frustrating if every time you get your liquid glue out it’s clogged.  To remedy this problem, squeeze a little out after you use it so it’ll dry on the end of the tube.  Next time, just peel off the dried glue and it’ll be clog free!   Simple, but it works.

Tip of the Day!

Do you have mini-clothespins?  Use them around the edges of cardstock, embellishments, journaling blocks, or matted photos to hold ribbon, wire, and especially jute that you’ve glued with liquid glue.  The tension is just enough to hold the item in place, yet not enough to crimp and bend your pages like another clip/clamp would.

Tip of the Day!

# 4 – Create the look of handmde paper 

To create the look of handmade paper, run a piece of cardstock under water to soak both the front and the back of the paper.  Once wet, crumple the paper in your hands.  Partially unfold and then crumple a second time.  Use an iron to dry the paper flat.  When ironing, flip the paper back and forth on each side to dry.

Tip of the Day!

# 3 – Create your own scrapbooking inventory using Microsoft Excel

Create several different categories (i.e. paper, embellishments, stickers, etc.), then list where you purchased the item and a column to mark an ‘X’ if it was used.  This way, you know what products you have instead of rummaging through all your supplies.  Whenever you come home with new supplies, put them into your inventory.  It seems like a lot to enter all of your supplies into a spreadsheet, but once it’s done, it’s well worth it!

Tip of the Day!

# 2 – Inexpensive Light Box

Take a “touch light” and put an inverted acrylic shoe box over it.  Works like a charm plus you can use it anywhere without worrying about an outlet!

Tip of The Day!

I’m going to start posting TIPS on the blog each day!

Here is # 1 – Color Copying 12 x 12

It can be difficult to copy a 12″ x 12″ scrapbook page without sacrificing some of the design.  To remedy this problem, ask your copy center clerk to use 11″ x 17″ paper and reduce the image to 91 percent.  The cost may be a little higher, but you’ll get great results!