Stamping & Scrapbooking

How To Make Your Own Music Cards Like This Handmade Spongebob Card

2009-11-03T15:24:56Z

My nephew Ryan recently turned 3 and he loves Spongebob Squarepants. He also loves those cards that play music when you open them.

A couple of years ago I found a store that was going out of business. They had the music cards at a ridiculously low price, and I bought several. Their sentiments don't match any occasions I have coming up, but that's not a problem. You can easily cover the cards with your own design to personalize them for your friends and family and still have the fun of the music!

For my card, my stuffed Spongebob was the inspiration.

I'll show you how I made my own Spongebob Squarepants music card...

]]> Front Of The Spongebob Card

I covered the front of the card with a red cardstock square, using my Tombo double-sided permanent adhesive tape.

Then I studied Bob's face and cut matching pieces out of colored cardstock.

All the pieces were very easy to cut, although I'll admit I cheated and used my Cricut Expressions for all the circles.

I copied Bob's face to adhere all the pieces to the red cardstock.

Inside The Spongebob Card

The inside of this store-bought music card made it easy for me to camouflage the card's original design. The song on this card was "Come on shake your body baby do the conga," which is why the little figures are dancing in a conga line.

I used another piece of red cardstock to cover the top section of the card. I used the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge on my Cricut to cut a 3.5" number "3" from yellow cardstock. To tie it in with the Spongebob theme, I used orange circles to make the "3" look like the sponge on the front of the card.

The letters "RYAN IS" were cut at 1" and the exclamation point was at 3.5". (All cuts were using the Roly Poly feature.)

It isn't showing in the picture, but I used a Sharpie marker to write "Happy Birthday Ryan" in a voice bubble for the little dancing dude running to catch up with the Conga line on the inside left of the card.

Some of the insides of the cards are fully covered with a design to match the sentiment. You can cover the entire inside of the card with colorful cardstock just like I did on the front of the card. You could then create letters or a design that match your theme. Or, you can just leave the colors blank.

Back Of The Spongebob Card

On the back of the card, mine says "Innovations from Hallmark." I added "and Suzie."

At the bottom where the price is, I crossed it out and wrote "priceless" -- just a little humor!

3-year old Ryan loved his card and he carried it around with him for a long time.

He was excited to show it to everyone walking into his birthday party.

More points for me for "Greatest Aunt Ever." Woo hoo!

DIY Halloween Gift - An Idea That Could Be Used For All Kinds Of Seasonal Decorations!

2009-10-12T15:47:34Z

One of my favorite things is making seasonal decorations for my house, as well as for friends and family.

I find that most people have plenty of decorations for major holidays -- such as Fourth of July or Christmas -- but many people do not have decorations for other seasonal festivities.

The reason for this could range anywhere from lack of money to decorate year round to the person or family just not having enough time to decorate.

This is where you, the creative friend or family member, comes in!

After all, you found this article, and there are caboodles of similar tips for making fun seasonal crafts on this site. So take note and make someone close to you smile this holiday season!

Following are the steps I used to make this spooky Halloween gift idea. The best part is, you could adapt this same idea to make any type of seasonal craft for any time of year...

]]> The first thing you need to do is have plenty of supplies on hand.

Choose Your Colors

I decided on a color palette for Halloween that was not traditional orange and black.

I usually tend to think along the lines of the holiday's traditional ideas, and then I put a little twist on the colors.

For instance, when I think of Halloween I think of the outdoors. What colors are good for outdoors? I chose Clover Meadow (green) and Twilight (blue) and then thought of the moon and went with Sunflower (Yellow) and had to tie it all in with Black and Gray (think night and tombstones).

Decide On Embellishments

Next, I chose the embellishments and stamps that I wanted to use for this craft project.

I found chipboard letters that spell Spooky, plus some Halloween stamps that are images of an owl and a spider. I got those stamps at Michaels in the $1 bin. (Is that a great steal or what?!)

I also used black embroidery floss for the spider web and yellow felt stars to denote night time.

Preparing The Background Cardstock

I took my 12x12 gray cardstock and randomly drew lines from the top to the bottom -- you can use as many or as few as you want to.

Then, I took a sponge (a foam tool would also work) and sponged the edges in black ink. You can do this as much or as little as you want to.

Next, I used my paper trimmer to cut each piece of colored cardstock into squares measuring 2-¾ x 2-¾. I cut 3 of each color.

I then chose a stamp that was polka dots and stamped each square in the same color ink as the paper -- to give the layout dimension.

Finally, I sponged each square directly with the ink pads. Or, you may want to use a foam texture tool and go around all the edges instead.

Laying Out The Design

Next, I laid out my squares where I wanted them and glued them to the paper. I tend to do this without being too precise, but you can always use a grid-lined cutting mat to line it up perfectly if you wanted.

Then comes the chipboard letters...

I took the "S" and tied 2 small pieces of embroidery floss to it. I then took the floss and randomly wrapped the first "O" and then tied a knot behind the letter. Next, I took a marker and drew more web lines on the "O".

The final thing I did to the chipboard letters was to sponge them with black ink. Again, you can do this is as much or as little as you like.

Adhere All Of The Embellishments

For my final part of this project, I embellished the layout.

I stamped the owl and the spider onto scrap pieces of gray cardstock, and then used pop dots to adhere the owl onto the second "O". This gives it a raised, 3-dimensional effect.

For the spider, I used Liquid Glass adhesive to adhere him to the first "O".

The tombstones are made from scrap pieces of paper. They are simply freehand cut to look like a stone.

The ghost is a sticker from the $1 bin at Michaels, as well.

I used Liquid Glass to adhere the felt stars to the page and also to adhere the "Spooky" letters to the layout.

Finally, I took a black marker and drew some grass on the bottom squares -- to kind of give it the graveyard feel.

The Finishing Touches

The only thing left to do was to punch 2 holes in the middle of the first and last square and tie the hanging ribbon to the layout.

I used a Crop-A-Dile to punch my holes.

I used white daisy ric rac ribbon and tied a double knot after threading each hole.

Adapting This Idea For Other Holidays

Well, I hope you enjoy this project as much as I did.

Maybe you can put a fun twist on this and make one for Christmas (advent calendar maybe?) or for Easter (make it look like a basket). Anything goes when you are being creative!

One more thing you could add to this project would be pictures onto some of the squares. If you do so, you should cut them to 2-½ x 2-½.

How To Make A Fun Snowman Card For The Holidays

2009-10-01T05:21:27Z

I made this Snowman Buddy card as my Christmas card for 2008.

It's never too early to start thinking about Christmas, so I wanted to share this fun idea with you now.

I will be estimating card and paper sizes from what I recall using...

]]> Paper & Envelopes

I had several shades of blue cardstock and patterned paper (8.5x11) with stripes or stars or other designs with complimentary blue colors.

Each card was created with part of one blue cardstock sheet and one patterned sheet. The cardstock was the base, and a small rectangle of the patterned paper was added to the front.

The rest of the patterned paper was made into an envelope for a nicely coordinated look.

The Details...

The base card was about 4x10, folded from the top down so that about 2 inches remained showing.

The patterend paper was then added (with double sided tape) to the front panel, leaving a small border all the way around.

The word JOY was cut from white cardstock on my Cricut Expressions at about 1.5" using the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge, and again using the "shadow" feature and a complimentary background color. Some of the backgrounds were red to match a stripe in the paper, as in my card. Others used white as a background and the base cardstock color as the letters JOY. The letters were attached to the top of the patterned paper by the very tippy top of the letters, so they would hang over onto the empty 2 inches that we left showing. I used my thin-tipped glue pen for that.

The snowmen were cut with white cardstock from the Doodlecharms cartridge at about 3 inches, and again with the "shadow" feature using the same blue color as the base card color. The face and arms were colored with pencils and markers to detail the eyes, carrot nose, face and arm color.

I used very thin, wire ribbon to tie a scarf around each snowman, then double sticky taped the whole snowman to the patterned paper section.

Using a Marvy paper punch with a snowflake design, I punched white and blue snowflakes. Each snowman had been cut with 2 holes (for buttons) on his belly, and I glued a blue snowflake on top of each one. Then I used 2 white snowflake brads to punch through the blue snowflake and secur the brads by folding the metal parts under the white snowman. Then I used double sticky tape to secure the white snowman to the blue shadow snowman.

The last step was to scatter a few snowflakes on the card and secure. And voila! Your first Christmas card!

Are You A Scrapbooker, Or A Life Artist?

2009-09-17T14:05:18Z

So, I ask you... do you call yourself a scrapbooker?

Or would you rather be called a "life artist"?

I've been doing scrapbooks since my high school days in the 80s. Of course, those were the old-fashioned kind using products that were not archival.

]]> In the 90s, I switched everything over to archival-quality papers and scrapbook albums and tossed those old clunky "scrapbooks" to the curb.

I spent many years attempting to create "the perfect" scrapbook pages. I only use archival-quality items, no exceptions. But soon, that became impractical, as there were programs and such that I really wanted to include in my scrapbooks.

At the turn of the century (you know, that one that was supposed to have the world crashing to a halt once the Millinnium bug hit.), I lightened up a bit and did my best to spray non-scrapbook friendly things with archival spray to make them last, but I still included whatever stickers and embellishments I felt were cute, rather than always using embellishments that were "safe".

Today, I have X 12x12 scrapbooks. Each one of them is jam-packed and filled to the gills with my lifetime of memories. I don't add to to the albums as frequently as I used to, but I cherish my scrapbook albums just the same.

So yeah, I like to think of myself as a Life Artist. What about you?

I encourage you to take a few moments to think about your goals with scrapbooking.

Don't miss this post where Ali discusses what a Life Artist is. It's a refreshing look at scrapbooking and art -- and where the lines cross.

I would venture to guess that anyone who works with a lifetime supply of personal photographs, has memories journaled in the margins of pages, and likes to get creative with fun tools & embellishments is, indeed, a Life Artist.

Welcome to the club.

How To Make Scrapbook Embellishments With Your Printer

2009-09-14T14:52:19Z

Make fun blocks, corners, and tags for your scrapbook pages using your printer.

It's easy and only takes 15 minutes using 8-1/2 x 11 photo paper.

Here are the instructions from HP: Black & White Scrapbook Embellishments

How To Organize A Stamp Swap

2009-09-13T14:56:22Z

If you are like me, chances are you have several upon several rubber stamp sets sitting around your craft space that either already served their purpose or they have so much dust on them you can't even read the title on the package.

If that sounds familiar, then you are a great candidate for hosting a stamp swap!

Here's how to organize a stamp swap...

]]> The Invitation List

The first thing you need to do is make a list of everyone you know.

Remember neighbors, school teachers, doctors and their assistants, people at church or another local club you belong to. It can be anyone who you have come in contact with.

The object of the swap is to have many choices of stamps to choose from, so the more people you invite, the better.

This step will help you gauge how large of a place you will need for your stamp swap.

Determine A Place & Time

Next, you will need to decide on a date, time and location in which to have the swap.

One thing you might want to consider is holding your stamp swap at a local church or hotel meeting room. That way, you will have plenty of room for people to gather and talk while looking at stamps. But keep in mind, there could be a small fee associated with such a location.

Get The Word Out

Next, invite everyone you know!

I personally like using Evite because there are many styles to their invites, and Evite gives your guests the option to forward the invitation to someone else. It also gives you a place to poll your guests, or ask for a fee. (This works great to help cover the cost of your venue.) You will also get an email every time someone RSVP's. This makes keeping track of attendance very easy.

You will want to send out your invitations at least 2 weeks in advance of your stamp swap. Be sure to include all the details, including exactly what a stamp swap is.

TIP: You might consider having an "expert" on site who can help answer any questions that your guests may have about a company or a certain way to use a rubber stamp. There are many local scrapbooking consultants who would love to come and share what they know with your guests.

Trading Rubber Stamps

At my stamp swaps in the past, I realized that not everyone would have stamps from the same stamp company or stamps of the same quality as everyone else.

That's why I let all attendees know up front that the stamp swap is like a trade. You only agree to swap stamps if you think it is fair. If you don't like the trade (or offer), you can feel free to politely say "No Thank You" or offer something else (or in addition) to the offer and see if the other person takes you up on that counter offer. Many times this works very well.

It's The Little Things...

You may want to have light refreshments for your guests.

Some stamp swap organizers encourage all guests to bring basic supplies and maybe a paper pack (so they can try out the stamp sets they may want to purchase). If you do this, I would have some inexpensive baby wipes on hand -- because using ink all day can get a little messy!

I would also have some scrap paper that people can use to test the stamp sets they want to trade for.

At The End Of The Swap

When your stamp swap is coming to a close, be sure and thank your guests for coming and taking the time to share the joy of stamping with others.

Encourage everyone to get together for future stamp swaps every 6 months or so. Remind them that stamp swaps are a great way to de-clutter your work space and actually use the products that you own.

By following these simple and inexpensive ideas for organizing a stamp swap, you will be a great host and you will be able to create new artwork without spending tons of money on new products!

How To Make Personalized Photo Playing Cards

2009-09-12T14:43:31Z

As scrapbookers, rubber stampers, and card makers, we enjoy finding fun ways to utilize photographs in craft projects.

Here's a simple way to put 16 of your favorite photos onto a set of playing cards. All you need is some photo printer paper!

Instructions from HP: King of Cool Photo Playing Cards

Fun Ideas For Wedding Scrapbook Pages

2009-09-11T14:22:51Z

Some links to help you make fun wedding pages for your scrapbook:

How To Make Pleated Wedding Pages

Wedding Scrapbook Must-Haves

Beautiful Wedding Scrapbook Layouts

How To Make A Digital Scrapbook Wedding Album

Tips For Putting Your Wedding Memories Onto Paper

Wedding Digital Scrapbooking Ideas

How To Make A Wedding Scrapbook As A Gift

Wedding Scrapbook Layouts

Love & Wedding Scrapbook Layout Ideas

Fun Things To Include On Wedding Pages

Vintage Wedding Scrapbook Ideas

Tips For Organizing Your Wedding Album Pages

VIDEO: How To Make A Witch's Boot Halloween Card

2009-09-10T14:13:36Z

This is an adorable Halloween card that's simple to make from cardstock.

The video instructions are easy to follow, showing you how to make a card that opens up for you to write your message inside.

These witch boot-shaped Halloween cards would make great Halloween party invitations too!

How To Make A Handmade Glitter Birthday Card

2009-09-09T14:32:36Z

This is a nice and easy birthday card, based on a 12x12 sheet of birthday paper from a DCWV paper stack.

The great thing about those value packs of paper is that each sheet is in there 3 times, giving you the option of creating several cards using the same design. This is great for making invitations or thank you cards.

I started this card with 8.5x11 purple cardstock folded in half.

My plan was to cut a large section of the birthday paper into panels for the top and to use one line of "happy birthday" from the card as the message at the bottom.

I started with the message...

]]> Once I chose the "happy birthday" I wanted, I used light purple cardstock to create a border behind it.

I centered it vertically on a 8-1/2 inch piece, with about 1/8-inch border on top and bottom.

I left all the length until I determined exactly how wide the base card would be.

I centered the message on the INSIDE of the card, 1/8-inch from the bottom. So that the message would show, I cut off the bottom edge of the FRONT of the card, letting 1/8-inch of the dark purple show above the message.

I wanted the top panels to be as wide as possible, with 3 or 4 panels on the card. Each panel of birthday paper is centered on a panel of light purple cardstock. I thought 2 inches would be good, so I cut a 2-inch strip of scrap paper and used that to mark the card.

Since the base card is 8-1/2 inches across, I could fit four 2-inch panels, but that didn't leave enough room for a border in between each panel. So I decided to use three 2-inch panels. I cut the light purple panels (2x4.25") and then 3 panels of the birthday paper, making sure the light purple showed as a very small border all the way around.

After securing the papers together (with my Tombo Mono permanent adhesive double-sided tape), I placed them onto the base card with equal borders all the way around and in between each panel.

Truthfully, this was how I intended the card to be when I started making it, just like this. But it needed a little something. Searching through my stash of embellishments, I came across some glitter (Prisma Pastels Glitter in fine soft blue). It was perfect!

Using Zig Memory System 2-way glue with a chisel tip, I ran glue around all the edges and covered them with glitter.

I haven't worked with glitter for a long time, and forgot how messy it can be! But I love the effect and will keep it close at hand for other projects. And if you don't have glitter among your craft supplies, check out your Christmas decorations -- maybe you have some leftover glitter from stockings!

Finally, I found a complimentary piece of purple paper to use as an envelope and made it like this.

Go glitter!

VIDEO: How to Make Your Own Envelopes

2009-09-08T13:08:26Z

Plus, more simple instructions here: Card Making Envelopes - How To Make Your Own Envelopes

VIDEO: Simple Ways To Use Ribbon In Your Scrapbook Layouts

2009-09-08T01:04:58Z

This video shows a bunch of fun ways to use ribbon in your scrapbooking layouts.

Cuttlebug Machine Review - Cuttlebug Dies & Embossing Capabilities

2009-09-07T16:32:23Z

I have heard nothing but rave reviews for the Cuttlebug by Provocraft, so I decided to order one.

I love the site Custom Crops, and their prices are quite reasonable, so I got my Cuttlebug from them.

Cuttlebug Embossing Machine

With the Cuttlebug, you to use their plastic and metal dies to cut and emboss paper. You can also use the dies of several other popular cutting machines.

I wanted to be able to emboss the paper and cutouts I use to make my handmade cards and other craft projects.

Because I have a Cricut Expressions machine for cutting paper, I was less interested in that feature, but I couldn't wait to start embossing!

]]> First Impressions

My first reaction after opening my Cuttlebug was that it is smaller than I thought it would be.

I have seen them at Michael's and Hobby Lobby, but for some reason I expected it to be bigger.

It comes completely assembled, except for the handle. There are very easy-to-follow instructions as well as a tool to attach the handle; it is very simple.

The machine comes with 2 attached side trays folded up.

Using Suction To Stay In Place

To use the Cuttlebug, you place it on a flat surface and simultaneously open both sides so they are parallel with your table.

Opening the sides at the same time is supposed to create suction and hold the machine onto the table. Mine did not seem to do that, but I don't think the machine could move because it is pretty heavy (weighs about 9 pounds).

I tried a couple of different tables and never felt the suction, but it did not cause any problems.

Cuttlebug Embossing Folders

It comes with 4 plates that you have to use with the embossing dies and paper. They're about 6 inches long and 2 different thicknesses. The instructions are very clear and include diagrams on how to assemble the plates and dies.

The 2 marked "B" are basically used to hold the embossing folders closed while "A" is used to create a tight seal when you roll the plates through the machine. The "C" plate is for using dies from other cutting machines.

One of my plastic plates has very sharp edges that need to be shaved off. Another plate has a crooked sticker. This is not really a problem, but it's misleading to the eye when you're trying to line up the paper and embossing folder.

How To Emboss With The Cuttlebug

The embossing folders come in many sizes.

A set of the smallest size came with my Cuttlebug machine. There are 4 celebration stamp images about 1-3/4 inches square.

You place your paper inside the folder, close it, place it between the 2 B plates, put those on top of the A plate, and push it all into the machine. Then you crank the handle and it all comes out the other side, with the image embossed on the paper.

I also bought an embossing folder called "Birds and Swirls" that embosses an image about 4"x5.25". This is the largest folder and the primary reason I wanted a Cuttlebug. I have seen many cards and projects with embossed images from this size folder.

For me, this is too small for many of my cards. I tried to find a way to use a larger piece of paper and send it through the machine more than once, lining up the edges, but it won't work with the design of the machine. I know I could use the embossed image on just part of my card, but honestly this is not worth the expense.

For this reason, I exchanged the Cuttlebug for another product. Custom Crops has a great exchange policy, so I got the Design Studio for my Cricut machine. (I will review the Design Studio once I get it!)

Back to the Cuttlebug...

Cuttlebug Cutting Dies

Along with the 4 embossing folders, there is a cutting die. The image is a stamp outline about 1-3/4 inches square. The die is metal on one side and foam on the other.

The foam side says "When using Cuttlebug Machine place foam side up". The problem is, I did not initially know this was a cutting die! On the foam side, the stamp image is cut into the foam. I'm looking at this thing thinking "what the heck is this, how could this possibly cut paper?".

This is where the instructions are vague, assuming the reader knows what this piece is. It does not say "cutting die" on it, and it does not look like it would cut paper. So I tried it, reading what I could of the instructions (which were not clear on how to arrange the paper, die and plates). Sure enough, it cut the image!

How To Cut With The Cuttlebug

So to cut out a variety of images, you would need to use one die for each image. The same is true for embossing.

With the Cricut, I can cut literally hundreds of images from just one cartridge.

Since the embossing doesn't meet my needs, and I have no desire to purchase dies for cutting since I have the Cricut, I am very happy with my decision to return the Cuttlebug.

I have several friends who love theirs, and they are able to use the cutting plates from other machines (ie Sizzix and QuicKutz). The Cuttlebug instruction booklet does not mention them by brand name, but they clearly describe how to use the plates and materials from other companies.

Summary

Even though the Cuttlebug is not for me, it is a machine that is very easy to use. And I like that there is a huge variety of embossing and cutting options. As I said, everyone I know with a Cuttlebug just loves it, so perhaps you would like it too!

How To Make A Numbers Book Or Counting Book For Baby

2009-08-20T13:58:12Z

There are so many cute board books for little ones.

I recently had a friend who was pregnant and I wanted to make her something very special for herself and the baby. I wanted it to be something unique and elegant, but sturdy enough to withstand little hands.

I decided to make my own counting book as a numbers board book for little Ava.

Here's how I made it...

]]> 6x6 Album

I first took a display album that normally would stand up and be looked at like you would a flip chart.

I cut the back stand off the chipboard cover -- so it only had a front and back square cover.

I purchased mine from Close To My Heart, but have seen them in local scrapbooking stores as well.

Designing The Outside

The next step was to cover the front and back of the album with paper and design the front and inside covers.

I then tied several pieces of coordinating ribbon to the spirals on the side of the book.

Making Fun Pages For The Inside

I made the inside of this numbers book as a little dedication to Ava. It says "May you always "count" those who love you." There are many great scrapbooking quotes that can be added to this part of the project as well.

I then began to design ten 6x6 layouts that would be on each page of this counting book. I wanted to showcase each number 1 through 10 and have a little rhyme at the bottom for Ava to learn, or for her mother to read to her.

On each page, I also stamped or embellished the number of whatever was the subject of the page. So, some pages have texture and some pages have pictures of common childhood objects or toys -- which increases what Ava will learn as she reads this counting book.

Personalize Some Pages With Family Photos

I am very fond of the last page.

Number 10 says "10 people who love me" and I left 10 open spaces for her mom to cut and paste pictures of her immediate family. That way, even if grandma and grandpa live far away (as my friends' parents do), little Ava will grow up recognizing their faces.

A Cherished Gift, That's Practical Too!

Overall, this numbers book was a very fun project. I think it is something Ava and her mom will cherish forever and I am also sure it will get her through many sermons at church!

I hope you will create something sentimental for someone you love today.

Make Your Own Scrapbook Cover

How To Make A Picture Book For Baby

Big Day Books: A Baby Book You Create Online

Make Personalized Baby Books With Shutterfly

How To Make A Cloth Baby Book

5 Unique Handmade Baby Gifts

Make Your Own Baby Book

5 Ways To Choose A Fun Color Palette For Your Scrapbook Layouts

2009-08-11T15:34:01Z

#1 Go online and sign up to receive a scrapbook challenge.

Many of these scrapbook challenges show you a picture or give you names of colors. Then, you get to come up with the exact palette that you want to try to use.

One of my favorite places to get these weekly challenges is Creative Scrappers. They have a wonderful selection. Give it a try, you won't be disappointed.

]]> #2 Work with a scrapbook consultant.

Scrapbook consultants always have the latest colors and know what the current trends are. Sometimes they have free idea books for you to take home, or even a color wheel to show you how to match colors.

One of my favorite scrapbook blogs to read is that of the CEO and President of Close To My Heart, Jeanette Lynton. Every Monday Jeanette posts a blog that challenges her readers to think outside the color box. She calls it Color Me Monday and always shows you her own artwork using the CTMH colors listed. I would encourage you to check out Jeanette's scrapbook blog. There really is some fabulous artwork on her site.

#3 Sometimes the best layouts are monochromatic.

Take your favorite color (mine is green), and go with it! See just how many hues of that color you can use in your scrapbook layout. I use different color inks and different color papers. I even use different textures, so that it doesn't just look like a green glob.

Depending on the color you go with, you will set a certain mood. Are your pictures fun and exciting? Then you should go with one of the warm colors like red, yellow or orange. If your pictures are from a day at the beach or camping, maybe even in the snow, then the cool color family is your best bet: blue, green or purple.

Here are some ideas showing how to scrapbook with color.

#4 Look at the colors that are in your pictures.

Looking at all of the photos that you aspire to use on the layout or cards, see if you notice any similar colors or colors that stand out from all the rest.

For example, let that blue sky and shiny red wagon guide you. If the pictures are outdoor shots, add a neutral color to the main color scheme and that will make your other main colors POP!

#5 Use your imagination.

Look around the house for 3 of your favorite items or pieces. It can be anything that makes you feel a certain mood -- maybe a vase you got at a flea market, your favorite pair of high heels and your great grandmothers quilt.

Those items put together should offer you a great starting place for a color palette that will make your eyes twinkle!

RELATED:

Scrap By Color: Find Perfect Color Schemes For Scrapbooks
Choosing Colors For Digital Scrapbook Layouts
How To Select Color Schemes For Scrapbook Pages
Complementing Photos With Color In Scrapbook Layouts