Scrapbooking Made Simple

My local K-Mart has recently increased the amount of merchandise it carries in its scrapbooking department. I can't believe how much is there! I think alot of little scrapbook stores are going to go out of business in my area. The range is good. The prices are very cheap...... what more can you ask for? Only problem I'm having is not spending anything at all.... There's a scrapbook fair coming to town in a couple of weeks so I'm putting aside my weekly scrapbooking budget to take to the fair..... Can't WAIT! And since I've just recently reorganised my stash of supplies I know exactly what I have and what I need. The thing I love most about these "Fair's" is the opportunity to explore new techniques and watch all the workshops for ideas I can make my own. I was recently watching an online tutorial where they used those mesh produce bags that you get your onions in... Anyway they took one of those bags and made it look like a net that some butterf...

Well it's official "I have way too much STUFF"! Not that I'm complaining mind you. And I won't be suspending my shopping privileges any time soon. But during my quest to reorganise my house and get the most out of the tiny space available to me I have decided to move my scrapbooking stuff. This consists of one bookcase and one sewing table. While moving the contents of my bookcase from one bookcase to another (my old scrapbooking one is now my daughters and my new scrapbooking one was my sons) I have discovered supplies I had forgotten about. It's great! The other thing I've enjoyed is organising everything into categories. I admit it I love to organise. I hate that moment before I begin the organising. That moment when the whole area (or in this case house) is a shambles. But I love it when it's finished! I've discovered long forgotten cotton crochet pieces my mum had done. (So I'll be going back over my memorial album and adding these... a...

One of the things I love to do with my layouts is to have elements that match perfectly. I don't like having one element not match in well with the rest of the layout. This creates a focus on the page that isn't my photo. At the end of the day my layouts are done to compliment my photos but the photo is still the main focus. So when a paper or embellishment isn't in the right colour shade or the pattern doesn't match... it will stand out like you know what to me! Also I hate it when I know what paper I want and I can't have it cause it doesn't exist. So in these cases I'l paint the pattern myself. In theabove examples I've used some foam stamps from Making Memories to create two papers that will co-ordinate with my layouts. I also use only scrapbooking paints such as Making Memories brand when I do this as I know they are acid and lignin free. I think this is a very cheap way to get a unique look to your layouts. I buy the plain coloured paper in ...

Well it's finally autumn here. We've had lovely springtime weather since February? The days have gotten shorter but the heat just wasn't disappearing. Then today with the cooler weather came the rain. I can't tell you how happy I am to finally see some rain. We've been in severe drought here and this little bit of rain is wonderful. I doubt it's enough to break the drought but we love it just the same. Now I've got an excuse to go buy that really cute rain hat, boots and coat set I saw and take some photos of the kids playing in the rain. My scrapbooking stuff is about to move... Yikes! I've set myself the gigantic task of reorganising my house. It all started with a bed purchase.... I was looking in St Vinnies the other day and saw this great bed. It's a loft bed with a computer desk as one end. $80? And being an all round miser I found this price infinitely more acceptable than the $600 for something similar brand new. So we bought it home and star...

This is the second video in the two part series on easy and cheap "No Bake Clay". This video shows you how to colour it and how to make embellishments with it. It's easy to create cheap original embellishments with this great clay. I've used Play Doh tools and freezer ice trays (starfish and shells) as well as embossing plates to create different effects in the clay. I hope you enjoy this video.

Mr Sandman... bring me a dream..... This is a very cheap layout at $1.20 I used four different papers to complete this layout. Three of those were left overs from previous layouts. I inked the edges and stamped the background. The word "Dream" was created using a free supply from a magazine and the rest of the words "bring me a " were punched out of paper as was the "4". So the breakdown cost of the layout is: Patterned Background Paper $0.50, Plain Black Paper $0.20 Plain yellow paper $0.20 and Patterned Red paper $0.30 Has anyone got a cheaper layout we can feature? Email me at: cheapscrapbookingideas@yahoo.com

Here's a really cheap layout that's also really easy to do. Letter Stickers $0.11 Cardstock & Acetate $1.00 Tag = Free on my new Pjamas Paint & Ink & Adhesive $0.50 Circle Stickers $0.20 Total $1.81 By purchasing in bulk I have saved ALOT! Also shopping at the thrift shops really paid off! This is a great example of how a cheap layout doesn't have to look cheap. The acetate overlay is usually an expensive supply. I actually bought a few packets of these with the background cardboard from my local thrift shop. They were on special so I bought a few. The cardstock and acetate worked out to be $1 a layout. So keep an eye on your local thrift shop. This means trolling through them every week as specials like this don't last long!