Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Check out ScrapTime to see our Real Papers

Hello all,

One of our favorite Scrapbooking shows (online or tv) is Scraptime out of Canada. The show is produced several times a week by host Christine Urias. Christine is a SAHM mom, who has been scrapbooking since the summer of 2004. She works at a local LSS, the Fresh Collective on Queen St. W. in Toronto, where she sells her handmade cards and teaches stamping!! When asked why she does the show, she says "I love to be in the know of new products and techniques, and I want to share this information with everyone who is interested".

So you might ask why am I telling you about this? Well Christine besides offering great tips and reviews on paper scrapbooking, altered projects, and stamping, has just reviewed some of BWScrapbooking's Rela Paper Packs. So please check out the video below, and if you are avid blog reader, make sure to check out her site http://www.scraptime.ca.

So without further delay...here is Chrisitne!!

Scrap Time - Ep. 372 - BW Scrapbooking from Mark Giles on Vimeo.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Ways to Help You Storytell.

Hello all you scrappers.

As I have been scrapping my sons baby book, I have had to do some serious thinking to remember info about the event. This got me wondering how you can maybe take notes when you take photos to help the journaling and scrapbooking process down the road. So here are so easy ideas that you can use to get more info for your pages.

Go Old School Use a Memopad/Notepad

One of the old tried and true methods used by old newspaper reporter is as they took photos they would right down notes for captioning, and also to help flesh out their article later on. You can find these at your local office supply store, or even your local drugstore, or dollar store. You can fund some small enough to fit in your camera case or purse. This way its with you whenever you snap that picture.

Go digital us a a Recorder, PDA, or Even Your Cellphone

lugging around a pad and taking out a pen/pencil seem a little too much. No problem, Let technology help you out. Digital recorders are so small now a days, some can attach to your keep chain. Simply click the record button and tel yourself some notes the date, and your good to go. Writers have been telling themselves notes for years to help their creative process.

Dont want to add another item to your keychain, well how about your PDA if you check out the programs you will find most Palms, blackberries, and even Ipod touch have notes programs, and most have freebie voice recorder apps that you can download. simply jot down the date whats going on and your good to go.

Oh you dont have a pda... Well how bout your cell phone. we all have free voice mail. just call you phone and leave yourself a message. most cell services allow you at least 30 seconds to leave a message. Thats plenty of time to mention whats going on, and no need to mention the date or time because you can get that info when you check your messages. Best of all no need to buy tool or electronics.

Well I hope these ideas will help you out when you are out and about taking your pictures this summer. So go out have fun and remember wirte down some notes so you are all set when you sit down and scrap.

thanks for your time

Jeff

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Looking to The Past

Hi all, and a happy June to you.

I found this wonderful video through one of the scrap groups I belong to. The video shows in a very Andy Rooney sort of way, an old scrapbook this man's grandmother created. Its old and brittle, but just shows how wonderful it is to get the little nuggets of info about our loved ones.



The thing about Jim's video is its exactly what I am going through. as my grandparents passed away I was able to get their old photos and mementos. Unfortunately they are not organized like Jim's grandmother did, but I have a great starting point.

So What Can Modern Day Scrappers Do?

The biggest question I think he raises is what to do with thee old albums and photo collections. I think as digital, hybrid, and even a traditional paper scrapbooker, can breath new life into these old albums and photos. We have a wonderful set of tools that can help use take what our ancestors have done, and bring them back to life. Think about it. With current technology that is accessible to the average consumer, we can easily scan photos, notes, report card, newspapers, even whole pages can be scanned or photographed and turned in to a computer file.

Once the document is digitized we have a variety of solutions to work with our old documents. you can take the scans and print them at home or at your local store and use them as we do our modern day digital photos.

We can keep them digital and you can color correct, and enhancements to bring them back to their former glory. Then using photo book vendors like photobooksetc.com and make new albums using these cherished memories that you can keep yourself, or make duplicates of for many family members.

So you say paper is no longer your thing? Well take those enhanced digital images, and use sites like scrapblog.com , you can take your old images and make high tech layouts complete with music and effects, that can give these old memories a layer of modern style that the original subjects could never have imagined.

So What Does this Mean?

The bottom line is no matter how old your family memories are you can bring them up to date. Granted this is not a quick easy task and depending on the quality of the photos this might take some effort. Depending on your skills with a graphics program, or the tools your computer comes with, you can revive images and documents from brittle decaying paper to fresh crisp clear images that allow you to experience what your relatives did from day to day.

Thanks for your time

Jeff
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