Must Have Scrapbooking Tools
Scrapbooking is a technique of preserving photographs and memories. A lot of people are drawn to the hobby because scrapbooks intensify the beauty of photographs and allow you to enjoy the wonderful memories associated with them.
Many busy moms and working professionals are afraid of scrapbooking because they think it’s difficult and time-consuming. The secret to scrapbooking quickly and easily is having the proper tools. You’ll learn that the proper tools will make the experience fun, simple and rewarding, and what’s cool is that the tools will be able to be used again and again – thus saving you both time and cash. Here are some essential scrapbooking tools that you will need and can utilize over and over again:
1. Large Paper Trimmer: A paper trimmer is one of the most valuable tools in a scrapbooker’s kit, as it will allow you to cut straight lines with ease. The most flexible trimmer is a portable 12” trimmer. You’ll be able to cut multiple sheets of paper or photographs in one easy step (rather than attempting to cut a straight line by hand), and you’ll be able to take your trimmer with you wherever you go.
2. Scissors: A set of hand-held scissors are needed for cutting things like paper, pictures, ribbon and much more. Look for a sharp pair that will allow you to trim small details.
3. Glue: There are many options when it comes to adhesives. Whether you want to use dry adhesives (similar to double-sided tape) or wet adhesives (glue-like), you’ll want to have plenty of it on hand. You may even want to buy purpose-specific adhesives if you find yourself working with specific items a lot (such as Glue Lines made specifically for ribbon, or metal glue for heavier embellishments).
4. Trash Tote: Backs of stickers, scrap ribbon, paper leftovers and cropped photos – the end result is all the same: lots and lots of trash! Having a designated place from the very beginning will keep your space nice and neat, and it will make clean-up a snap. Small pop-up trash containers are especially useful to scrappers.
5. Small Paper Trimmer: Your 12” trimmer is the most versatile trimmer you can own, but a small 6” to 9” trimmer will be super helpful for quick photo crops. Many have rulers and are equipped with blades that can be replaced, so you can’t really go wrong with this must-have tool.
Eventually, you’ll certainly want to get a die-cutting machine, eyelet setting machine, punches, templates, circle cutters or other tools to your kit. However, the basic tools mentioned above will likely become your most-used items that will help you get through your pages quickly and easily.
Domingo Arias is a guru in the area of scrapbooking crafts and frequently offers tips to help others get involved in the hobby. Read more about scrapbooking scissors and scrapbooking projects at his website http://www.scrapbookingtools.org.
Scrapbooking is the art of making unique and personalised books packed with your memories. These books start as a basic scrap book to which you can begin to add photos, quotes and remarks. You can design any outline you fancy and attach paper cut outs and other trimmings to enhance your designs.
You can get scrapbooking equipment from most good craft shops or online. These supplies include blank albums, layout designs, paper cut outs, and embellishments made of a range of materials. You can begin to be creative by collecting your own trimmings, for example seashells, leaves, even show tickets or other memorabilia.
Once you have collected your photos and other items you can decide on the layouts of your pages. You can select unique outlines for each page or decide on a shared theme. You can then arrange your content and change it about until you are pleased with it. Then stick the whole thing down with glue and set aside to dry out.
You can create scrapbooks for yourself picking themes that are of importance to you such as your family or your baby’s 1st year. You can assemble scrapbooks as gifts for other people they make beautiful wedding or Christening presents.
You can even become a self-employed scrapbooker and create scrapbooks as a professional service for other people. At the very least it is a pleasing and rewarding hobby, but if you put your mind to it, it could turn into a superb profession.
About Digital Scrapbooking
Digital scrapbooking as the title suggests is the design of digital albums designed for printing. You can begin to make use of a graphic design software for example Paint Shop Pro or Photoshop to design designs which consist of photos, quotes, journaling, and graphical embellishments.
Digital scrapbooks could either be saved online or else on CD so friends and family can look at otherwise be printed out and stuck into an album. You could also create your own digital scrapbook for professional print by using one of the many online photo printing services which sell photobook albums.
There is also vast scope for building a small business as a freelance digital scrapbooker – especially in the wedding albums & new baby niches.
Some people prefer to use traditional scrapbooking methods which is to a great extent a more tactile style. However digital scrapbooking can present a more specialist finish to a project and moreover has the extra advantage of always being stored on hard disk if ever a duplicate copy is needed.
Hybrid Scrapbooking
Hybrid scrapbooking produces the best of both worlds using a mixture of both traditional and digital scrapbooking.
For example an excellent way of achieving a really expert finish is by utilizing an internet photo printing service to create a photo book which contains all of your photos and journaling in a design that you make online. Once your printed photo book is delivered you can begin to add your own page titles, cut outs and embellishments.
This technique is notably good if you have not yet printed out your photos, in addition it suits a expansive collection of scrapbookers seeing that it incorporates all of the best methods around and produces a truly professional looking durable scrapbook.
For more info and free tutorials visit Start Scrapbooking.