Web hosting Custom Email SiteBuilder

Scrapbooking & Frames & Rubber Stamping
 

Spring Garden Frame
Ribbon Rose Picture Frame

Scrapbooking - How to Start Your Memory Albums
 By Laura L. Bashlor
 Based on the Core Composition method by Apple of Your Eye
 
 CREATIVITY
Creativity means to push open the heavy, groaning doorway to life. This is not an easy struggle. Indeed, it may be the most difficult task in the world, for opening the door to your own life is, in the end, more difficult than opening the doors to the mysteries of the universe.
 
 ORGANIZE - Sort those photos.  One way is to start with putting the photos in chronological order. Some scrappers use zipper sandwich baggies if they know the photos won't be stored for long.  Others use file folders.  There are boxes with separators you can label with the years.  As you work you may begin to sort out specific events.  I label my baggies with a small post-note
sticky side out on the inside of the baggie.
 
 SUPPLIES - GOOD Scissors, acid free adhesive, acid-free paper, page
protectors -- minimum.  A photo trimmer and a corner rounder are pretty
important, too.  The supplies and equipment available are growing
frighteningly every day.  You may want to try before you buy at a
cropping or
scrapping party.
 
 STEP ONE - FOCUS
 
 1. Workspace - decide if you are going to do a one or two page layout.  Place those sheets right in front of you while you work.
 2. Theme - Decide what 8-10 photos you are going to use.  Select the theme and remove any that don't fit the theme.
 3. Edit - Take out the photos that aren't exciting, Choose only one of the same person in that setting.  Remove those that have cut-off parts, out of focus, too light or too dark.
 4. Focal Point - Choose the one photo that best tells the story.  This will be your Eye-catcher, even if it isn't a perfect photo.

PERFECT PHOTO
 a. in focus and clear
 b. has good light and shadow
 c. has a pleasing background
 d. expresses the main activity or interest
 
 5. Shape - This is known as cropping.  Trim off the margins, emphasize the subject by taking a little more off the length and/or width.  Decide on an oval, a circle, a square horizontal or vertical rectangle.
ANGLES LOVE CURVES - Vary the shapes in your layouts.  Combine a square with an oval, a rectangle with a circle.
USE THE CORNER ROUNDER - it gives the square or rectangular photos a finished look.
SILHOUETTES - be careful.  It is easy to get carried away and have a jumbled looking page.  Silhouettes must be grounded, not floating around in the space of your page.
 
6. PICTURE PLACEMENT
 Balance - both sides should be or look equal.  Consider the weight of color, size texture and "business" of the photos. "Rules" -- place and move the photos many times on the workspace.  Don't even THINK about attaching the photos to the page for a long time.
 a. CROOKED IS DYNAMIC
 b. OVERLAP, OVERLAP
 c. OFF THE EDGE
 
 STEP TWO - BACKGROUND
 
 1. COLOR -
 a. repeat the colors from the photo - select 2 or 3
 b. match the feeling of the theme
 c. what colors would be represented in black and white photos if they were in color
 d. Stick with only 2 or 3, too many colors detract.
 e. Usually choose a neutral or white for the background.

 COLOR GUIDELINES
 1) Use it Once, Use it Twice
 2) Opposites Attract
 3) Highlight or distract
 
 2. PERSONALITY PAPER
 a. Contemporary
 b. Country
 c. Classic
 d. Playful/Juvenile
 
 3. REPEAT REMARKABLES
 a. die cuts
 b. you cut it
 c. stencils or templates
 
 4. UNITY - KEEP YOUR THEME FOREMOST
 5. CONTINUITY - FLOW
 
 STEP THREE - ENHANCE
 
 1. Enhancements and accents - Not too many - this is a PHOTO album
 2. The Finishing Touch - Shape across the two pages - Allow for empty space
 3. Frames and Borders - across the two pages or around the one page
 4. One Final Word - Journaling - identifies for the generations to come.  Tell the story.

Spring Garden Frame

Supplies:
•8" x 10" wooden frame
•Aleene's Paints: True Lavender, True Apricot, Medium Fuchsia, Medium Red, •Medium Yellow, •Medium Green, Medium Lime, Light Blue, White
•Craftwood wooden turnings:
•Birdhouses - (4) 1-1/2" x 1-1/2" •Primitive hearts - (8) 1-1/2" x 3/16" and (6) 1" x 1/2" x 3/16" •Bird - (1) 1-1/2" long •Clothing buttons - (9) variety of sizes
•Ribbon banner - (1) 3-1/2" x 1-5/8" x 1/4" •Flower pot - (1) 1" x  1-1/8" •Wooden fence 5-1/2" long •One Birdhouse on stand from Birdhouse Collection
•Dowel (small enough to fit through flower pot hole)
•Green wire, thin enough to coil easily
•Brushes: 1/2" flat, 1/4" flat, and liner
•Aleene's
Tacky Glue

Directions:
1. Disassemble frame and set non-wooden parts aside. Cut base off birdhouse on stand, leaving pole attached to birdhouse. Drill hole in top of frame for dowel to fit into (about 2" from left edge of frame).

2. Frame: Paint inner edge of frame Medium Fuchsia. Paint rest of frame True Lavender.

3. Flower Pot: Paint inside Medium Fuchsia and outside True Apricot.

4. Birdhouse on pole: Paint interior of birdhouse holes, perches, and roof True Lavender. Paint outside Medium Fuchsia. Paint pole Light Blue.

5. Fence and Ribbon banner: Paint Light Blue. When dry, paint edges of banner with a brush side loaded with True Lavender. Letter on Welcome.

[When I make this, I'm going to leave out the word Welcome ... just fyi.]

6. Small birdhouses: paint one each as follows -- Medium Fuchsia with True Apricot roof and perch; True Apricot with Medium Fuchsia roof and perch;  Medium Red with Light Blue and perch; Medium Yellow with Medium Green roof and perch. (Insides of holes may be any color.)

7. Dowel: Paint Medium Green and let dry. Cut into six 2-1/4" lengths for along fence, and the remainder into long stems -- two at 7-1/4" one at 4-1/4" and the final one about 3-1/2". Paint cut ends Medium Green.

8. Hearts: paint all hearts Medium Green. When dry, paint a fine Medium Lime line around left half of heart.

9. Buttons: Paint any combination. When dry, paint small white petals in centers of buttons using a liner brush.

10. Bird: Paint True Lavender. When dry, outline with Light Blue, using liner brush: add comma strokes for tail feathers.

11. Roofs: All plaid roofs are painted using the same technique with your choice of coordinating colors. With 1/4" flat brush, paint evenly spaced horizontal lines on roof. When dry, paint vertical lines using a different color, same brush. Over first set of horizontal lines, using liner brush, paint a third color, then repeat with a new color over vertical lines.  With liner brush and coordinating color, paint a fine outline on front of each birdhouse.

12. Assembly: Glue picket fence and banner onto frame. Position green hearts along bottom of frame onto each picket, so they extend slightly over bottom edge of frame. Glue the two remaining hearts onto the frame, one on each side of fence, lined up with the others.

13. Secure wire to buttons. Coil wire for about an inch on a brush handle then remove from handle and wrap remainder onto short dowel and spiral down to bottom. Clip off excess wire. Repeat for all 6 stems, then glue onto each picket, making sure stem rests in indentation of hearts.

14. Glue birdhouse stems into place (two on each side) again nestling stems into indentation of hearts. Glue birdhouses in place and glue down four small heart leaves. Glue bird on fence.

15. Slip birdhouse on pole through flower pot hole and into hole on top edge of frame. Glue in place. Glue button flowers, on coiled wire, into pot.  Glue remaining heart leaves into pot.

16. Reassemble frame with your choice of photo, artwork, or saying.

Ribbon Rose Picture Frame
 
Create the perfect picture frame that's as pretty as any picture you display in it! Victorian inspired with a feminine touch, these fabric covered frames are accented with softly colored ribbon roses by-the-yard.

Supplies: (to create 5" x 7" frame on left side of photo above)
•1/2 yd. ivory moire fabric
•1/3 yd. unbleached muslin (for back of frame)
•1-1/2 yds. pink ribbon roses by-the-yard
•12" piece 1/4" wide pink ribbon
•1/3 yd. batting
•1 pre-made cardboard frame (picture size is 5" x 7")
•1 piece cardboard cut to 8" x 10" (for backing piece)
•Craft glue
•Scissors
•Marking pencil •Iron

Directions:
1. Lay frame on wrong side of fabric and trace shape of inside of frame on to wrong side of moire and muslin.

2. Cut out shape, enlarging approximately 1/4" on all sides for seam allowance. The outside edges of the fabric will not be trimmed at this point.

3. Place moire and muslin right sides together and sew around frame cut out.  Trim edges if needed, turn right side out and press seam.

4. Cut the center hole of frame out of batting. Glue batting to frame.  Fit the sewn piece over the batting and frame shape. Gently pull moire taut and glue to back side of frame. Cut excess fabric to avoid bulkiness. Make sure seam around inside of frame is even with edge of frame.

5. Trim muslin piece on back and glue down.

6. Cut ribbon roses by the yard into lengths of 3 roses each. The lower left hand corner and the upper right hand corner of frame will have 1 length each of 2 roses, and 1 length each of 5 roses and one single rose in each of those 2 corners.

7. Begin gluing lengths of roses at an angle from the outside corner to inside. Glue roses so the ribbon in between isn't tight, but has a slight "ruffle" to it. Place ribbon about 1" apart on frame. (See photo)

8. For frame back, cover 8" x 10" piece of cardboard with solid piece of moire, folding fabric to back side cardboard. With iron, press a 1/4" hem on second piece of moire so the finished size of this piece would be approximately 7" x 9". Glue this piece to back to finish.

9. Glue covered backboard around the 2 sides and bottom, leaving the top edge open for inserting the picture.

If desired, at top of frame glue narrow pink ribbon for hanger to hang on the wall, or set frame on an easel to place on a table top.

Follow the same directions for covering and decorating frames of various sizes and shapes. The frame on the right in the photo above is another example of how to decorate frames with buttons, ribbons, silk flowers, appliques, and pieces of lace or trim.

 If you see any broken links or pictures that aren't showing, I would appreciate it if you would let me know.
Send me a message with the name of the craft or the name of the link and what page you were on, by clicking here.