News - Notes from a Craft Studio wk1

Do you have any of those peel and stick albums?  You know the ones?  We often call them magnetic albums; they were very popular in the 70's and 80's.      Technology and science have moved on a lot since then, and we now know that these albums are causing our photos to deteriorate more quickly.   Your photos are sandwiched in a chemical layer of acidic cardboard, non-photo safe glues and PVC plastic....   You may also find the photos are stuck solid in the albums, despite them being marketed originally as repositionable. So, this is a ‘heads up’ for you...

Now is a great time to think about creating some new, simple time saving routines to make your photo taking and scrapbooking life easier. Here’s some suggestions to start you off....   Edit and cull your photos regularly. For normal day to day life, I review what I've captured once a week.  If I'm on a travel trip I review and delete at the end of each day. This saves me so much time wading through months and months of photos when I’m looking for images to print for my scrapbooks and saves my sanity too! You're looking to immediately...

  How much do you think about what colours to use on your page.   Are you a 'get on with it and get it done' kind of person... do you mull for hours over a layout, moving things around every few minutes before sticking them down? If you're finding it hard to decide what colours to use with your photos, this rule of thumb, and a colour wheel may help. To use the colour wheel, you must first pick your base colour. The best way to find your base colour is to look at the photos you plan to use...

Continuing our theme of alternative scrapbook themes, rather than the chronological events formula, I'd like you to consider making a 'Book of Me'. A book of me is exactly what it says.... make some pages about you.  It could be your favourite flowers, or what you've done in the garden.  Maybe your 10 favourite films and why, or books you've read...  Music you listen to, recipes you love to cook.  10 weird facts about you, there's all kinds of things you could include...   Or think about documenting important milestones in your life, maybe match them up with events happening in...

This week I'm continuing with ideas for alternative scrapbook ideas to highlight special memories. Traditions: Do you have particular family traditions or stories that have been passed down the generations? Memories of your childhood? You don't always need to have photos of the event or person to document them, so don't let that stop you!   Get creative, you could take photos of places, look online for historic images too.  Think about places or objects, or even TV programmes, books or films that have a special meaning?   French skipping anyone?  Playing Cluedo at Christmas?  Blue Peter and John Noakes?   ...