Crop Corner

Cricuts on Sale

Andrea M. — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 05:44:14 +0000

Another website I’ve built tracks online sales of name-brand products. Although we usually track deals on women’s clothes, purses, gifts, etc - I found a great deal on a Cricut - and felt the need to post it there! If you’re interested - you can check out the site at www.MarkDownAlert.com or link directly to the Cricut on sale.

Mini Book of the Month: Domestic Diva

Creating Keepsakes Magazine — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 04:20:00 +0000

Another great online idea for a mini book. I just love the creativity and step-by-step scrapbooking instructions.

Another Crop Room

scrapjazz — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 12:07:00 +0000

If you’re like me, you enjoy peeking into others crop rooms to see how they organize their scrapbooking space. Here’s a small crop room that looks like it could be in anyone’s house.

I just re-organized my room at home as well. I bought a ton of coordinated boxes to stash supplies in. It’s not really picture-worthy yet though. It’s still just a table and a set of shelves from Ikea sharing space with the guest bedroom.

If/when we move - I have my sights set on a better layout!

Ten Photographic Principles

Andrea M. — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 04:09:00 +0000

Many classes and tips about photography, talk about improving the fundamentals of how to take better photos.

I was inspired by this article by Jim Altengarten, an educator in photography, in which he talks about ten principles of how to take better photos.

His top 10 photography tips include:

Believing is seeing
Take five or more shots of any scene
Keep your mind open
Use every lens in your bag
Photograph your values
Use one of the seven exposure values that are available
Be childlike
Stay out late… get up early
Know when to pull the trigger
Practice, practice, practice

What I liked about the article was that he really made me think about how to get in the right frame of mind to capture a scene. Although I’m still a one lens kinda-gal, and I fumble with the manual settings on my camera, I still took away some valuable lessons.

Scrapbooking a Secret

Andrea M. — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 12:06:00 +0000

Over the years, I’ve been doing genealogical research about my family, hoping to someday find the time to put together the stories and old pictures for future generations to enjoy. As a girl, I remember spending hours pouring over my grandmother’s old photo albums with the black pages, white writing, and picture after picture of my mother, her siblings, and cousins who’ve names have long since been forgotten.

I enjoyed reading Jane Swanson’s article about Scrapbooking a Secret. She tells a great story about her great-grandfather, a secret he had, and how she captured it in a layout.

I hope through my research to be able to uncover some of these same types of secret stories about my own ancestors.

ELEMENT: Rick Rack and Easy Plaid

Scrapbook Bytes — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 04:13:00 +0000

ScrapbookBytes website has some great tips on how to use Photoshop to make digital elements for your pages.

For example - check out their tutorial on how to use Photoshop to make RickRack.

Also worth a look is how to create plaid paper from striped paper.

What I like most about the site (from a scrapbooking perspective), is that the tips and techniques are relevant to scrapbooking itself, not just vanilla image manipulation.

Summertime Fun

Andrea M. — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 16:06:40 +0000

One of the great things about digital cameras is the instant gratification they give - you can immediately look to see how the picture came out - and whether you need to reshoot.

With kids - it’s almost a necessity! Also, the theory goes, that you only have to pay for the good shots. Well, why is it August and I just sent some of my 2006 photos to be printed?

I guess it’s no different than the rolls of film that sat in the drawer for months before they got developed. It just feels like the extra step in selecting what pictures to have printed slows down the process… Oh well…

Preserve Your Summer Memories, Forever

Andrea M. — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 22:06:00 +0000

How do you avoid having your pictures of your summer memories end up with a different fate than 80% of all film developed? Get them out of their development envelopes and into albums where they can be enjoyed.

In this article about preserving your vacation memories, tips are given about what to do before, during, and after your vacation to capture the memories you want.

Old Supplies, New Designs: Scrap Paper

Andrea M. — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 12:07:00 +0000

I save and categorize scraps of paper. I just can’t bear to throw them away.

ScrapJazz has published some layout ideas on how to use all those scraps of paper you’ve been collecting.

TECHNIQUE: Using Layered Templates

Scrapbook Bytes — Thu, 24 Aug 2006 22:46:00 +0000

Pre-made templates can be a quick and fun way to put together pages. This tutorial will show you how to use layered templates in Photoshop, adding papers and photos. To add the background paper, open desired paper & holding the shift key to center, drag paper into layered file. Rename layer to background and move to the bottom of the layers palette. Delete the original background template layer. To add papers to the shapes, open new paper and drag over holding the shift key to center. Place paper above the desired shape layer, in example Layer 11 is the yellow paper to be masked by Layer 2.

Chalk Popping Technique

Andrea M. — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 13:03:28 +0000

I love finding blogs of other scrapbookers where they take the time to give instruction on a particular technique.

Here is a nice description of how to use chalk and clear embossing ink to get more use out of your rubber stamps.

Memory Lane PA joins the blogosphere

Andrea M. — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 13:32:37 +0000

My favorite local scrapbooking store, Memory Lane PA has just launched their blog at : memorylanepa.typepad.com.

Here’s their first post introducing what they’re all about. If you’re ever local to Quakertown, PA - be sure to stop in!

Journaling First

Andrea M. — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 12:10:00 +0000

Journaling is usually one of the most difficult parts of coming up with a compelling scrapbooking page.

Here’s a tip from ScrapJazz about how to start with journaling, and then design the layout around it.

August 2006 - Why I Love Brads

Scrapbooking 101 — Wed, 16 Aug 2006 04:15:00 +0000

Taken right out of the office and brought into the world of paper crafting, brads have quickly become a staple embellishment for craft projects. So what is it about these little paper fasteners that paper crafters just can't get enough of? I love brads because everything about them is completely versatile. To make inserting a brad super simple, start by punching or poking a hole in your project wherever you'd like to add the brad. For mini brads, a 1/16" hole punch works great, and for larger brads, a 1/8" hole punch should do the trick.

Super Glues: Impressive Adhesives

Andrea M. — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 22:09:00 +0000

Creating Keepsakes magazine reviewed 90 (yes 90!) adhesives for use in your scrapbooks.

If you’re looking to decide on what adhesive you should use, or are just curious what’s new in this area, check out their two articles on adhesives:

Altered Project Ideas

Andrea M. — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 12:12:00 +0000

Altered scrapbooking projects are all the rage.

Here are some project ideas from ScrapJazz that I liked:

Perfect Paisley Scrapbook Pages

Andrea M. — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 12:08:00 +0000

About.com scrapbooking has a large collection of layout galleries that include page ideas as well as free scrapbooking patterns. For example, here is a gallery of free paisley patterns and scrapbook page layout sketches. They’re not really my style, but are a good example of the type of resources available to us scrappers.

If only I had time to try them all out!

Calendar photography project - learning from a pro

Andrea M. — Fri, 11 Aug 2006 22:22:00 +0000

As an amateur photographer, I think it’s interesting to read about how professionals setup for their photo shoots.

Here’s a good article from ePhotoZine about how a professional setup for a calendar photo shoot.

Things I learned:

even professionals sometimes have unwilling subjects and need to have quick action
a simple process to use to create black and white images
a skylight can be used to light photos from the top

TECHNIQUE: Sky Removal for Landscapes

Scrapbook Bytes — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 12:14:00 +0000

This technique is particularly useful and makes removing skies, even where their are fine details encroaching into the sky, easy. It allows you to protect the areas you do not wish to erase, eliminating fiddly painting work. The first task is to create a history point this will allow you to paint back the original image in any areas that may be accidentally erased. Double click the photo layer (background) to turn it in to an editable layer. In the History Palette, click the box next to Make Layer, to set the history point.

Using Almost Done Page Kits

Scrapbooking 101 — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 19:07:00 +0000

Fall is upon us and that can only mean one thing: It's back to school time! Remember how exciting it was to go back to school every year? Shopping for school supplies and new clothes, meeting your new teacher and seeing which friends would be in your classes-all in anticipation of that exciting first day! Or do you remember not wanting to leave home, being afraid that you won't find your classes or that you won't have anyone to sit with at lunch? Back to school brings up so many different memories for each individual, so now is the perfect time to scrap your old memories or your child's new memories with great school-themed pages!