Scrapbooking 101 Alicia Bull January 31, 2005 The “basics” in the scrapbooking world may not seem so “basic” to the beginner. With on-line stores galore and a local scrapbook shop in almost every community you have probably had some degree of exposure to this hugely growing phenomena. You probably have also realized that the selection of albums, papers, embellishments, organizers, tools and etc. is absolutely overwhelming. Well, have no fear ... I’m here to give a little advice to get you started and to share my favorite must haves! My first bit of advice is to get a corner in the house that is yours--a spare room or just a spare table that you can work at and leave out your work in progress. If that isn’t possible then I suggest you buy 12 x 12 folders that will hold your paper, pictures and other materials for individual layouts you are working on. That way things can be brought out and be put away as needed without a dreaded hour long clean up. (www.ContainerStore.com can help you out.) Secondly, we need to talk about one of the most commonly asked questions, what pictures do I start with? I am a firm believer in starting to scrap your pictures of today and working backwards as you have time. You will remember the journaling details, dates and important info of your current pictures and then can fill in the blanks of your past, as you get more comfortable with the process. I have all of my photos placed in regular photo albums or on disk and pull the ones I want out for scrapping. I rarely scrap all the pictures of an event. I just use my favorite pictures and plan my page or album around those photos. Last but not least, lets talk about tools. Tools are extremely important. If I don’t have my favorite tools I would rather not scrap at all. Sounds petty, huh? Petty, but very true! My must have tools are a 12 x 12 Fiskar paper trimmer, my favorite Fiskar Soft Touch scissors, my Hermafix Vario Tab adhesive dispenser, my Zots glue dots and my newly acquired “Better Setter”. (You can find the “Better Setter” at www.ScrapArts.com). Armed simply with these basics I can complete any page. Of course there are other things that I use quite often but they are not my must haves! (This is only around a $70.00 start up investment). Some of my favorite places to shop on-line for inexpensive products are www.CreateForLess.com , www.TheHappyScrapper.com and www.Scrapbook.com . Watch for free shipping specials, which will significantly lower your costs. As you begin to collect all your own favorite tools you will find yourself also wanting to experiment with inks, stamps, paints, sewing and much more. The sky is the limit but my advice to you would be to avoid feeling like you need to do it all today. Take time to work with the basics and slowly acquire all the extras! Find your personal style and do what you like. It will be two fold if you are completing albums and you can make it feel therapeutic at the same time! Make sure to check in next month for my hottest new product review of 2005. Happy Scrapping!

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Jeff Radel, CRS 'Make a Smart Move' House of Brokers Realty, Inc. 1515 Chapel Hill Rd. Columbia, MO 65203 Phone: 573-446-6529 Fax: 573-446-5408 jefrealtor@aol.com Website			Donna Adams, GRI, ABR 'Make A Smart Move!!!' House of Brokers Realty, Inc. 1515 Chapel Hill Rd. Columbia, MO 65203 Phone: 573-446-6530 Fax: 573-446-5408 dadams@houseofbrokers.com Website
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