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Odette@AOKscrapbooks.com

 

 

 

Hints and tips

 

 

 

I have a newsletter that I send out each month to my

 

customers that has a hints & tips section

 

here is an example of past hints & tips that you may find useful!

 


 

Acrylic Albums

 

Here are some useful tips when you are using acrylic albums.

 

START FROM THE BACK!

You should make the album as a whole – not just page-by-page. If you start from the back

 

EMBELLISHMENTS

If you use things such as rub-ons, stamps or doodling, place them so they are effective seen through all the album pages. This gives you wonderful value for your money, as you only need a couple of things on each page to create a rich, well embellished look. This really helps stretch your scrapping dollars.

 

PENS

Our Sailor Pastel Writers are FABULOUS!!!!! Sharpies work fine on the acrylic. The longer Souffle brand pens are left to dry, the bolder the image becomes.

 

STAMPING & EMBOSSING

STAZ ON’ ink is very versatile. It doesn’t smear and stays where you put it. Darker colours work best, with the opaque range being best for light colours. Ink the edges of your patterned papers. Inking your stamped images allows them to be effective from both sides. If you stamp an image and are not happy with it, immediately use STAZ ON ink cleaner, and it will wipe the image away.

You can use embossing ink & powder, but don't TOUCH it for a while, wait for it to cool...

 

BLING

Remember, everything can be seen on both sides. Whether used as a whole, or separated,

place them carefully, or you will have the stick backing showing on one side of the page.

Bling like the memory gems are great to hide the BACKS of other embellishments.

 

ADHESIVE

Our Double sided tape is suggested for most items, I actually use a very fine strip along the edges I have inked, then you do you see it!  Our GLUE DOTS are great for things like flowers – as long as you have something on the back page, to cover the spot. Our DIAMOND GLAZE is great to enhance an image, & people do use around the edge of an item to attach it too!. VELUM GLUE DOTS for transparencies and those things you don’t want to have to cover from the back.

 

HIDING PHOTOS

When placing photos, you need to always plan what will go on the other side. To coverdisguise the back of a photo you can………

* place another photo of the same size over it

* use it as a journaling block for the back page

* cover with a large flower

* stamp an image on the back – this also gives dimension on the other side.

 

PAINT

Use paint around the edges for different effects…..

 


 Getting more out of your stickers!

 

How many times do you find you run out of the important letters on your sticker sheets?  I find I can usually have several sheets on the go at once, & once I run out of those “popular” letters, I am able to use alternatives.

 

 

Notice I use lots of A, E, L, S, a, e, h, i, n, o, r, s, t……. These are some alternatives that might help you too!

 

A

use a V upside down with part of another letter that is not as popular, or even part of a number.

 

E

use an F with part of another letter or number at the bottom.

 

L

use part of a Z for a “wonky” L or a mix of other letters.

 

S

this one is harder, but I often cut up the number 8, or number 3!

 

A

cut the stem off q or d

 

E

this one IS harder, but I always get it to work with a little imagination! I have cut up the number 8 or 3, I have used a “c” with the loop of a “p” and I’m sure I have used other combinations….

 

H

this one can be made from the number 9 or by using the letters u or n with the long stick of another number or letter.

 

I

just cut the bottom curve off the “j”

 

N

turn a “u” upside down!

 

O

cut the stems off a Q or the number 9

 

r

cut part of the “n” off or the upside down “u”

 

s

cutting up 3 or 8

 

t

can be made by VARIOUS letters

 

With a little imagination, you’ll be amazed how far your letters go!


 

Covering Chipboard letters & shapes

There are lots of different ways to cover chipboard letters. I would normally place the letter upside down onto the back of the paper & trace around it, I would then cut it out with a pair of scissors, but many people prefer to use a knife. I then adhere it to the letter with double sided tape (yes I know I LOVE my tape) but other people seem to like glue sticks, so try both & see how you go. Its best NOT to use a liquid glue, or you will need to wait for it to dry. Other people prefer to adhere the paper to the letter PRIOR to cutting it, but I find I cant get into all the nooks & crannies. Once you have covered the letter, sand around the edges. You can cut off thin pieces of the disk to get into difficult spots. Keep going till your happy with it!


Using Sketches

Many of you know I  love to use sketches when I am scrapbooking! As much as I will often have a complete layout just come to me, there are times that I WANT to scrapbook, but the creative juices just aren't flowing ! These are the times I will go looking for ideas! Looking thru magazines can work, but sometimes I can only see THEIR layouts, & often I just don't think of using MY photos when looking at their colours, titles & journaling! Using sketches will allow you to choose a layout with out all the extra influence…

You can copy a sketch almost identically or you can use your own ideas, photos & embellishments to alter it. In some cases you may find the final outcome looks nothing like the sketch!

Here are two layouts, both prepared from the same sketch! (see sketch three from above)

 
You will find you adapt the sketch to match your photos.

 

If this isn't enough help for you, I do “sketch” workshops where you can learn how to adapt sketches to your photos.

At $15 per person, book now!

 

One  websites that I used to use a lot is www.stickersnfun.com they have a HUGE collection, infact they have put up a new one everyday since November 2004, so there are lots to check out!