I don’t know how it happened but I found a dollar in my cell phone holder this morning . It caught me off guard because I seriously have no clue how it got there . Not that I am complaining, I love finding money . The washer and dryer in my apartment building are coin-operated so I have to shell out a dollar and a quarter for every wash and a dollar for every drying cycle. I usually save up all my laundry until I have about ten loads so doing all of my laundry proves to be both a daunting and money draining task . Because my apartment is in a crappy building with crappy landlords, the washer and dryer are always down and sometimes ruin the clothes that I put into them . They are usually broken but sometimes it’s the coin acceptor that doesn’t work. The coins won’t go in it or they get stuck somewhere down the line . Sometimes they won’t even take coins, its like something is blocking the way . The scariest time I have had with washing clothes was when I put all my clothes in the washer, went upstairs to cook some food, and when I came back down to put my clothes in the dryer the washer was chasing me around the basement . It stopped inches away from running over my feet and then toppling over onto me. I guess I am the only one out of all the people that live here that actually cares if the washer and dryer work in proper order . Apparently the other tenants do not care if their clothes are clean or for that fact, that they are clean and appear in order. Honestly, I haven’t noticed them smelling bad or anything, but now I’m going to have to check. It could be that they take their laundry to another site or they do it in their bathtubs .

Many scrapbooking organization solutions come in a variety of shapes and sizes, from small paper storage cubes to full sized desk and shelving systems that fill an entire room. Although the options vary, they are typically expensive. Purchasing even a rolling scrapbook organizer tote can be a small investment for those with tight budgets. Here are some affordable ideas to organize your scrapbook space using some common household items or garage sale finds that you may already have available.

A shoe organizer designed to hang from a door makes a great storage solution for scrapbooking supplies. With clear plastic pouches that are large enough to fill with most scrapbook embellishments or tools, its easy to find what you need when you need it. Find a way to hang it on the wall next to your work area and your supplies will remain at arms reach.

A large diaper bag can easily be turned into a portable work caddy. The small interior pockets can be used to carry your tools or embellishments. The side bottle pockets are great for storing pens, scissors or scrapbook adhesive. Larger bags can hold albums and paper keepers. The changing pad is an added bonus as it can be used for messy projects or as a makeshift cutting mat.

If you have an old computer desk that is not being used, it can be turned into scrapbooking furniture for your workspace. The built in shelves and compartments make them ideal for a storage solution. For example, my desk, which was one of my garage sale finds became the center for my creative outlet. Although it is a small unit, it came with built in overhead wire shelves. The top shelf holds my ribbon and punch containers. Along the sides are wire CD racks which hold ink pads. On the sides of the desktop sit small raised ledges that are ideal for keeping jars of buttons and brads. The keyboard shelf underneath is great for storing a shallow utensil tray to house your scissors, tape or utility knives.

With a little creativity, your scrapbooking room can be clutter free without costing you much money at all. Many household items can be easily converted into fantastic scrapbook organizers that help you keep your sanity while adding a personal touch to your work area.

When we plan our scrapbooking, often times we think of albums that focus on holidays, weddings, births and special events in our lives that we want to preserve. These are days that bring smiles to our faces and laughter to our hearts. As normal as this may be to select such occasions for our scrapbooking ideas, sometimes we miss out on an opportunity to use our creative outlet to express our thoughts and feelings about those unpleasant moments in our lives that are uncontrollable.

When we stop and think about the pain we have suffered, whether through the breakup of a marriage or any other traumatic event, these are all part of what molds us into the people we have become. So often we choose to bury our pain instead of embracing them to discover the hidden treasures that are often overlooked.

Shortly after the birth of my second baby, I was diagnosed with severe post-partum depression. My difficult marriage that was riddled with chaos was coming to an end. The occasions that led me to the place of complete hopelessness were overwhelming at best. As part of my recovery, I began to journal my thoughts and feelings about each event that happened. What began as an attempt to sort through the pain, developed into a complete visual expression of raw emotion and the spiritual journey that accompanied my experiences. Although not your usual scrapbook theme, it is one that played a considerable role for me in finding peace and healing.

Piecing it all together with photographs, carefully selected decorative paper and just the right stamping and embellishments gave each painful memory a sense of validity. It was like placing a mirror up to my wounded heart and saying, 'Yes, that is what I felt. Right or wrong, good or bad. These emotions are mine.' To be able to openly disclose myself this way and to have a visual reminder has made it easier to let go of the pain, forgive and move toward healing.

My scrapbook album, titled 'A Journey Through Life's Challenges' does not sit on my coffee table out on display. Instead, it lies on the desk in my office, waiting for moments, sometimes through tears, when I need a reminder of where I've been to truly appreciate where I am today.

As scrapbooking has taken the world by storm, more people are turning to the computer to create beautiful pages that mimic current paper scrapbook techniques and trends. To venture into the world of computer scrapbooking, you don't need to be a professional graphic artist. You simply need a computer, computer scrapbook software, and a digital scrapbook kit or two to get you started. Once you discover what you can do with a computer, the possibilities for displaying your precious memories will be endless.

Scrapping a digital album will save you tons of space that is normally needed to keep paper crafting stored and organized. Everything is located in on place - on your computer. There is no need for paper racks, tool boxes or cropper cases. However, organization is still essential and can be easily achieved with a well-planned directory system. Otherwise, it can be easy to loose track of your electronic scrapbook embellishments and forget what you already have. Clean-up is a snap with computer scrapbooking. You won't need to pick up paper scraps, or put away crafting tools. If you are interrupted in the middle of designing your electronic scrapbook page layout, simply saving it is all you need to do without worry about keeping your layout in tact before you can finish it.

Whether you are new to making scrapbooks or are searching for new and creative ways to design them, computer scrapbooking is an exciting alternative to paper crafting. But beware. It is just as addicting as its counterpart and equally rewarding. So have just as much fun preserving your memories as you do making them.

A lot of families have them; the resident photographer. My brother filled that role. He got a camera when he was 10 and took pictures of every meaningful family event all the way until he left for college. I had some of those photos, so I created a free digital photo album and sent it to him. He was thrilled, and since he had all the originals, he loaded a bunch of Christmas photos and created his own free digital photo albumand sent it to me. Now, we are sharing photos and digital photo albums back and forth all the time.

Scrapbooking has joined the digital age. We can now make complete scrapbooking pages on our computers. Even those of us who prefer traditional scrapbooking tend to use the computer for our journaling to print clean, neat captions and narratives on our layouts.

Your handwriting may not be as neat as a printed journaling block from a computer. Yet, your families will find it so much more meaningful and personal than anything typed.

Why do we hesitate to use our own handwriting in our albums? There are a few reasons. The most common one is concern that our handwriting is too messy or won't be able to be read by others. We should all try to get beyond this and realize how important it is to our family to preserve something as unique as our handwriting. Think about those handwritten letters and recipes from a grandparent and how important they are to you now.

Handwriting mistakes a common reason why people hesitate to use their own handwriting on their scrapbooking pages. You can use different techniques to correct your handwriting errors. First, use a paper journaling block. These are inexpensive, and if you make a mistake on one, you just try again on another. If you spot your mistake after the journaling is attached to the page, just glue another paper block over the one with the error. You can use stickers to cover your mistakes as well.

The right pen makes a big difference when it comes to handwriting success. Look carefully at the paper you are using, and choose the best pen for that type of surface. Many pens will smear or run on certain types of papers. Choose a pen with the appropriate width as well. Trying to write in a small space with a wide tip will be a definite handwriting challenge.

For handwriting success you need to practice. Make a draft of your journaling before you glue anything to the page. Read it to yourself and out loud. This allows you to spot any errors in spelling or grammar. Having someone else proofread your journaling is especially helpful when you have a long, narrative block of writing. Be sure to test your pen on the page you intend to use for your final journaling. Making a draft also lets you be sure your paper is large enough to handle all your journaling.

Do you write on a slant or uphill? Many of us find it difficult to write straight on a blank paper. Try using lined journaling blocks. These are available in your local scrapbooking stores or you can make them yourself with lined stamps or with a ruler and pen. Try using the natural lines on your patterned papers. Write with the stripes on your paper as your guide. Frames can be accented by printing along the edges. You can even writes along the boundaries of your page borders.

There are few things as personal as our handwriting. Handwriting is unique. Like our signature, it is a statement of who we are. When you use your handwriting on your page layouts it adds character to your scrapbooks. It will tell your family and anyone who looks at your albums about your mood and your personality. Your family is sure to treasure your scrapbooks even more. Let your handwriting add depth and emotion to your pages, not a computer font.

Paper crafts are a very popular hobby at the moment. Scrapbooking is a super way to show photographs and chart family history. Other paper crafts include making greeting cards.

When you begin at paper crafts, it is really easy to spend a a substantial amount of money! Go easy in the beginning until you decide what kinds of paper craft items you are most likely to use. Forexample, you might learn you like working with stickers in scrapbooks, but rarely work with rubber stamps. If this is the case, it makes sense to spend your money on stickers.

Nearly everyone has some of their photographs kept in a shoe box or put away in a drawer. Scrapbooks are an ideal way to get those photographs out where family and friends can appreciate them.

You require a loose leaf binder, some plastic page protectors, and a selection of colored cardstock to get you started. Many paper crafts lovers insist on using archival quality products. It’s best to check as you buy. Many paper products, even the less expensive ones, are labeled "acid-free," which indicates that they shouldn't wash out or otherwise degrade if kept for a long period. Sunlight does,of course bleach nearly anything, but your paper crafts will not be very often.

To start a scrapbook you have many choices. You could choose photographs that all relate to a single happening, for example a birthday party or a sports match. This type of scrapbook will be short, but can be arranged around a theme. This is a great option if your photographs are not in a muddle. If they are, then you may wish to choose 3 or 4 photographs around a particular theme, and alter the theme for each page. For impact, it’s a good idea to include some double page spreads in your scrapbook.

Fasten your photographs to the cards with gluestick or double-sided tape squares. Then it's time to adorn the page with paper shapes, stickers, or rubber stamped designs. In addition, you could use a colored gel pen to write names,dates and other highlights relating to the activities in the photographs.

Other products are availableSuch as die cuts, which are pieces of paper already cut into many shapes and objects. You can also buy craft scissors that cut paper with an appealing edge. A pair of the type known as "deckle" scissors is very helpful for designing interesting scrapbook pages, greeting cards, and other paper crafts. If you also have an old pair of pinking shears that are too blunt to cut through fabric, you could use those for cutting out shapes and photographs.

Lots of paper crafts enthusiasts start with scrapbooking, but then branch out to making their own greeting cards. Greeting cards do not have to contain an original verse. A simple ”Have A Happy Birthday”, Wishing You A Speedy Recovery, or even simply ”Best Wishes” is sufficient to brighten any person’s day, so don't concern yourself about not being a creative enough writer to create your own greeting cards.

Rubber stamps often help to create lovely greeting cards. You can even add tiny ribbons, beads and other items to the hand made cards. A handmade card is very likely to please the recipient, whether or not they are a paper crafts fan.

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If you are into scrapbooks, rubberstamping, or other types of papercrafting, you most likely have quite alot of one thing: paper. Since I have so much paper, I used to have a terrible time trying to organize it all. I used to just store it in a drawer and would have to hunt around through the stack whenever I was looking for paper. Eventually I started using a couple of far more efficient methods for storage that looks beautiful and lets me pick out the perfect paper in a matter of seconds. Allow me to share with you my experience.

Most of my paper comes in 12×12 blocks perfect for large style scrapbooks. I also have a fair bit of 8.5×11 paper that is your normal letter sized paper. The paper I buy for my scrapping tends to be the 12×12 and it does not fit properly into a standard file cabinet like my letter paper would. When I buy the paper, it's usually in big paks, all shrink-wrapped up in a bundle. This saves alot of money and I get all sorts of wonderful paper from buying it this way. However, once the shrink-wrap is off, the paper is just loose and really requires a good storage solution.

Organize It!

The first thing I do when I unwrap my paper is organize it. The scrapbook paper tends to often only be imprinted on one side so I make sure all the paper is facing the same direction if it's imprinted paper. Once I have it all going in the same direction I organize it by color. How many colors you use depends on how much paper you have. If you only have a few hundred sheets then maybe the 3 primary colors will be sufficient. If your like me though, go ahead and make piles for all the colors. I actually now have piles for combinations of colors, such as red/green, as well as a separate pile for straight red and a separate pile for straight green.

Store It!

Now let's find a good method of storage. One great method is to use the large ziploc freezer bags. These bags are very large square baggies that can hold 12×12 paper. Make sure you get the heaviest ones you can and ones that have the little plastic zipper at the top of them. I once bought the non zipper kind of bags and they kept popping back open when I shuffled stuff around. I ended up just switching them out for the zipper ones.

Another great method for storing your paper is with the rubbermaid or clearview style plastic drawers. These translucent drawers are everywhere nowadays. They are affordable and they are often stackable. The drawers are actually available in 12×12 size and can fit large scrapbook paper perfectly. I have 3 sets of 3 drawers each that are stacked up beside my crafting station. That gives me 9 different drawers full of different colored paper that I can sort through very easily.

I hope these ideas have inspired you to organize your own collection of paper. Take the time and plan on spending a few hours going through all your paper, facing it the right direction, and organizing it into color coordinated piles. After you are done you will take pride in a job well done and you will thank yourself time and time again every time you reach for a piece of paper.

As the Holiday season approaches more and more people are looking for unique and personalized Christmas gifts to give to loved ones and friends. It is always a challenge to find a Christmas gift that will be a lasting treasure and legacy for future generations.

A vintage Christmas scrapbook is an idea for a unique Christmas gift that can easily be created by digital scrapbooking. You could quite quickly and easily create a vintage Christmas scrapbook filled with memories of previous special holiday times to give as a Christmas gift. For example, you could use photos of previous years of Christmas family get togethers and capture these memories in a special scrapbook. This special gift could become a family heirloom, that will be treasured by future generations.

First of all collect all the photographs you would like to use and place them in folder on your desktop. This makes it easier to access them. You can take older hardcopy photographs and scan them into your computer. Look for photos that show your beautifully decorated home, family members dressed in their Christmas best, sitting down for that wonderful dinner, or that capture the joy, surprise and happiness that Christmas brings. It will be a great to create memories of your family life to see how the children have grown and changed over the years, as well as to remember those family members who are sadly no longer with you.

You will need a photo editing program to create your digital scrapbook. If you don't have one, you can purchase software programs such as Adobe Photoshop or Microsoft Digital Image Pro. However if you have not tried digital scrapbooking before you might want to choose to download a free program from the internet such as Scrapbook Max or Scrapbook Flair

The next thing is to go onto the internet to find a Vintage Christmas digital scrapbook theme that you like. Ready made Vintage themes are very inexpensive and you can use them over and over again, and change them to make them unique very easily.

Once you have selected and downloaded your vintage Christmas scrapbook theme, you can start to create your pages.
Photographs can easily be placed into the layout, cropped or re-sized by the click of your mouse. Usually this can be done by dragging and dropping the images into the page.The vintage pages are usually soft and elegantly designed and perfectly coordinated to look beautiful with formal pictures. You can even change the colours of the scrapbook layout very easily.If you want to be able to change the photograph colour to a sepia, to add to the vintage look you can easily find a online tutorial that tells you how to do that.

Most Christmas digital scrapbooking kits come complete with journal pages to record your holidays. Choose a layout that has 8 x 8" page size.This will make printing convenient and affordable. Just add your photos and your Christmas story Print your pages on your color printer or send them to your local office supply for printing. By using different photograhs for each gift you can create a unique personalized gift for each person
The great part is that you can have multiples made and keep one for yourself.

To perfect the gift find a classic album cover and wrap with a velvet ribbon.

Are you stuck for ideas for gifts for those people who have everything?

How about creating a unique Christmas themed gift<
by digital scrapbooking.

Digital scrapbooking holds a myriad of possibilities at the click of a mouse.

It is easy to create unique gifts that hold special memories using a digital
scrapbooking program on your computer. You can find free software programs
online.

The advantage to digital scrapbooking, as opposed to traditional scrapbooking
methods, is that you can ctreat multiple copies of photographs or embellishments
very quickly and easily. The time involved in creating a creative memorable display can be easily invested over and over again. Just copy your design and
personalize it for another person by changing the
photographs, the layout, colors, and embellishments without having to
start all over again.

To save even more time, download a pre-made Christmas
digital scrapbooking kit, and add your own photographs and text

Why not make your friends
and relatives a calendar full of memories that will last all
through the following year. Create a basic template and
photos of people and events that will remind them of happy times all year long.

For every month create a different theme or have photos of family members
spanning years gone by

A gift such as a calendar can easily be sent across the miles digitally and
save mailing costs. Alternatively you can send the digital files to a local
printer who produce them professionally and these can be mailed as holiday
gifts.

Did you share a special event or celebration this year? Why not create
through digital scrapbooking
a keepsake of that time. There are special kits that can be purchased online that can make this project very simple and yet looking very professional.

Start thinking of the many possible gifts that you could create for family
and friends through digital scrapbooking for this year. I'm sure you have been
wondering how you can use all those digital
photos that are stored on your hard drive. Start looking at them, enjoy the
memories and choose some special ones for your digital scrapbooking project.