Looking For Something?

**DETOUR**

Although this site remains open, I have indeed pushed all these posts onto The Scrapbook Speedway. Please visit The Scrapbook Speedway and leave comments there (I don't visit here very often).

Thank you!

Auto Correct The Lighting In Your Picture

Clicking on the Demo Picture will enlarge it so you can see it more clearly.

Open your picture in PSE (I am using PSE 3.0)
Crop it to your liking
Click on ENHANCE
Then pick AUTO SMART FIX

If the coloring still seems a bit off:
You can click on ENHANCE
Then ADJUST LIGHTING
Then BRIGHTNESS/CONTRAST

(I used brightness/contrast because I took it with too much light – you will use whatever is more fitting to our picture/preference)

Then you will slide the brightness or contrast levels around until you get the effect you want

You can also use this feature to create your own background page with picture intact. Just slide the brightness and contrast to extremes

When you are satisfied with your project, don’t forget to go to FILE and SAVE AS

Make it Yourself!

When wanting shaped papers and or Diecuts I always buy one and trace the pattern on back of the cardstock or paper that I want the shape on then cut it out.Always keep a pattern so when you can't find that certain shape in the pattern or color you want you make your own.
Also If you see a great pattern paper that has pictures you like Cut them out glitter them up and you have a instant Embellishment..


Brought to you by: Scrapbook Deals 4 U

Pens & Markers

Whether you’re labeling a gift, writing a journal entry, or decorating a handcrafted card, using the best writing instrument for the job will give you creative options and polished results. Different types of ink and tip sizes are just some of the variables to consider when working with pens and markers. This guide will help you choose the ones that best suit your purpose.

Information Provided By: Michael's

100+ Ways To Use Your Sizzix

1. Use Sizzix to make fabulous titles on your school projects.

2. Make a scavenger hunt and mark the spots with Sizzix letters or shapes.

3. Label items in your house to help your children with word recognition. (This is also a great way to learn a new language for your upcoming trip to a foreign country.)

4. Make a felt board and die cut felt shapes to tell felt board stories.

5. Make a fishing game for your child's next birthday party.

6. Cut flowers with a hole in the center out of tissue and have kids make Hawaiian leis at a birthday party.

7. Cut geometric shapes and roll them up to make cool paper beads to use on any crafting project.

8. Glue a collage onto your children's furniture to make a one of a kind room.

9. Make dress up dolls for your kids (and the rest of the neighborhood too.)

10. Glue themed die cuts onto colored dowel rods and stick them in a pot or vase to use as a centerpiece.

11. Use the alphabets to make posters for your for sale or yard sale signs.

12. Sew two doll shapes together to make finger puppets.

13. Die cut Shrink Plastic and color to make earrings, necklaces, bracelets and charms. Tie these around the gift of a bottle of wine, or your cocktail glasses to differentiate who's glass is who's.

14. Die cut fabric to make personalized Christmas stockings (complete with names.), tree skirts, and ornaments to decorate your home with for the holidays.

15. Personalize your child's lunchbox or bags.

16. Make seasonal wall hangings, pillows or table runners to decorate your home or give as handmade gifts of the heart.

17. Die cut magnets from all your favorite Sizzix shapes. Fill the center holes with photos.

18. Make magnet birthday frames from any Sizzix frame, and fill it with the birthday boy or girl's photo during the month of their birthday.

19. Iron fusible bonding onto the back side of your fabric, then die cut. Iron these shapes onto your kids' pants, shorts, skirts and tops or t-shirts to make darling, custom clothing. This idea works well to personalize canvas bags and backpacks too.

20. Give the gift of Sizzix. Your friends will LOVE you.

21. Make personalized cards and gift bags for all of your gift giving. People really notice the difference.

22. Die cut your cardstock on the fold to make cute shaped cards and tags.

23. Die cut thin metals and foils. They look embossed.

24. Fold paper several times and place between the cutting blades to create accordion style cards.

25. Cut rubber and mount on wooden blocks to create your own rubber stamps. You can easily make a stamp with your family's name, or a phrase you often use for mass producing your own custom greeting cards.

26. Make themed goodie bags for birthday parties.

27. Make name tags for your next baby or bridal shower or mixer.

28. Create monogrammed stationary for yourself or your friends. They'll think of you each time they write a note.

29. Cut double sided tape, and dip into beads or glitter for a 3-D shimmery shape.

30. Make a chore chart, personalized for your child with his or her specific chores.

31. Make a calendar with your children to give to the grandparents for a special end of the year treat.

32. Die cut a shape to use as a tag tied to a gift bag with the recipient's name on it.

33. Decorate all of your letters and envelopes for the appropriate occasion or holiday.

34. Make your own Christmas cards.

35. Make your own baby announcements.

36. Make your own shower or graduation announcements.

37. Decorate your very own gratitude journal to remind you of what you're thankful for every day.

38. Make fabulous scrapbook pages.

39. Cut poly foam to create your own foam shapes. Attach these to visors, sandals and crafting projects.

40. Cut compressed sponge to make tubbie toys for your kids. Teach them their A B C's while you wash the dirt away.

41. Use Sizzix shapes to decorate your picture frames.

42. Use the circles to create tags from any material in any color. Try using metallic paper or thin metal for the outer circle. It'll look exactly like a more expensive, pre-made tag.

43. Cut shapes from white cardstock and let your kids use them to color on instead of a coloring book.

44. Use the negative shapes as photo frames.

45. Layer and rotate 2 or 3 flowers on top of each other to create 3-D flowers.

46. Make custom kitchen towels by appliquéing fabric shapes onto plain towels. Blanket stitch around each image to secure. These make super seasonal gifts, and really celebrate festivity.

47. Use the Sizzix Machine to cut thin cork for dimensional shapes.

48. Cut shapes from clear plastic (like page protectors) and back them with paper cut from the same shape. Sew them together, placing confetti or buttons inside to make your own shaped shaker cards and tags.

49. Cut a jumbo tag (folding before the bottom cutting blade), and fold bottom up and top over to make a cute little purse. Try this using Terrifically Tacky Tape to create little beaded purses.

50. Personalize school binders and book covers.

51. Organize and label your drawers and storage containers. Imagine having all of your boxes labeled in your garage.

52. Use the smaller shapes as confetti that can sprinkle out of your cards and letters.

53. Place shapes inside clear glass ornaments for your Christmas tree. Try tying a few around the top of each ornament with fibers too.

54. Make great borders for cards and scrapbook pages.

55. Decoupage on anything using all your favorite shapes.

56. Teachers, use Sizzix to make personalized welcome signs on your new student's desks.

57. Create fun door decorations to surprise anyone on a special day.

58. Have your kids make their own my room signs for their doors.

59. Make a growth ladder chart to record how fast your kids are growing.

60. Use vellum to make great fairy and dragonfly wings.

61. Use the negative shapes around letters that you cut to create fun, boxed letter titles.

62. Die cut dozens of hearts and stick them to your sweethearts car on Valentine's day.

63. Die cut seasonal greetings and make banners to hang in your window throughout each year.

64. Make a giant calendar and give it as a gift to a coworker going on holidays or retirement. Decorate each day with a different die cut symbolizing fun things to do.

65. Use die cut letters to label storage bins for easy identification.

66. Make a bouquet of die cut flowers and give them as a gift to anyone. For an especially sweet touch, die cut daisies and write she/he loves me on every petal in the bouquet.

67. Die cut your own deck of memory-match cards. Make two cards with each die cut design on them, mix them up, deal them out and see if your memory is able to match all the pairs.

68. Die cut starfish shapes out of Terrifically Tacky Tape and dip them into sand. Hide them in your child's sand box for an afternoon adventure.

69. Die cut different sizes of circles and label them all as different coin values to help your kids learn how to count money.

70. Die cut a birthday or congratulatory greeting and adhere it to a friend's windshield.

71. Cut stars from wood veneer and paint with glow in the dark paint. Adhere to the ceiling of a child's room for a night time constellation.

72. Die cut shapes out of black and adhere them to dowel rods or straws. Use them to have a shadow puppet show.

73. Die cut different themed shapes and play guess what at a party with them. Blindfold the participants and whoever guesses the most correct shapes is the winner.

74. Die cut different themed shapes and play a memory game at a party with them. Show all the participants all of the shapes for 30 seconds and then hide them again. Whoever remembers the most shapes is the winner. Try this game at a baby shower with baby themed shapes.

75. Glue two symmetrical die cut shapes to the top of a pen or pencil. Make themed pencil toppers for a party.

76. Make fake spots for your dog and dress him up as a dalmation at Halloween.

77. Cut several squares, retangles or circles to make your own little mini books. These work great to dangle over the spine of your memory book to differentiate the theme or year of the album.

78. Make shaped bookmarks with dangly tassels to give to a special friend along with a treasured book.

79. Press little reindeer tracks in the snow at Christmas time using the circle with hoof like triangles cut out of them.

80. Decorate inexpensive craft paper to make your own fabulous custom wrapping paper. Just die cut compressed sponge and dip in paint, or stencil inside the negative outer shape.

81. Try making tiny beaded books out of any shape for a miniature keepsake.

82. Cut wood veneer or fine paper to unify a room's decor. For example, die cut lots of lovely hearts from hand made paper to match a romantic decor. Hot glue these to the ends of curtain rods, or cording to be used for tie-backs, or baskets, or even to the wall as a border at the top of the wall or at chair rail height. This works for themed party décor as well.

83. Die cut shapes and titles and make plant markers for your garden. Laminate your shapes to make them extra durable. What a fun way to memorize plant names, and remember what you've planted.

84. Let your kids use die cut shapes to design their own place mat. Laminate when you are finished for a long lasting treasure.

85. Die cut confetti shapes and themed shapes and sprinkle them onto a table to add festivity to any occasion. Cut some shapes out of foil for an even more festive look.

86. Cut large Sizzix shapes from cork board and adhere to the wall in a straight line or in a design, for a cork-board strip to pin up notes or children's art work.

87. Thinly roll out Makin's No Bake Clay using a rolling pin, and let dry for a day or so. Now use Sizzix to cut all sorts of clay shapes for cards, scrapbook pages or crafting projects.

88. Die Cut your own bumper stickers.

89. Make paper dog tags for your stuffed animals.

90. Make your own wine labels for your friends.

91. Create a paper bag luminaria. Just place your paper bag around your replacement cutting mat, and die cut seasonal shapes in the top center of your paper bag. Now the light from your candle will shine out of the shaped hole. Line them up and down your walkway to celebrate the season.

92. Make paper masks for parties and plays.

93. Make kid's games such as pin the tail on the dinosaur or pin the tail on the donkey.

94. Cut out lots of small shapes to use as gift bag filler. This will really add to the theme of your gift.

95. Die cut shapes and use them outside as a pattern for side walk chalk. Your children will make masterpieces.

96. Cut lots of shapes out of vellum and overlap them on your page to make a soft, collage background.

97. Cut lots of little squares and make your own mosaic. (This also works with other small shapes.)

98. Use the negative outline template from your die cut to place over cakes, cookies, cupcakes and other desserts to use as a mask for sprinkling powdered sugar. Gently lift the template and you've got gorgeous desserts with shaped powdered sugar designs.

99. Use the alphabets to create your own word search puzzle for your kids. Use letters to make a cute background for a scrapbook page, or a fun invitation. Place vellum over the words you'd like to highlight.

100. Use shrink plastic and any large frame to shrink into tiny frames. Apply magnet material to the backs and use these as fridge magnets or gifts for family members. (Remember to decorate with color before shrinking.)

101. Use shapes and numbers to create customized clocks to coordinate with your home decor or to give as gifts.

102. Make your own paper buttons using the circle die. Hole punch the desired configuration, thread with string, and you've got flat buttons you can use on your scrapbook pages. Stack several circles on top of one another to create 3-D buttons, or emboss with clear embossing powder for a shiny button.

103. Cut the entire Paper Doll Set to use with shrink plastic to make your own tiny doll sets. (Be sure to include all the animals, accessories and toys.) You could even poke holes in them before drying to create a My friends and Me charm bracelet. What a fabulous gift for children to make and give to a friend on their birthday.

104. Cut smaller shapes from thin metals to create your own charms.

105. Accessorize the Jumbo Traditional Tag into a shirt and tie for a Father's Day card.

106. Make shoe toppers by using leather or poly foam to cut out decorations. PaddlePunch with the Lace punch for laces to go through.

107. Make your own coasters: Use cork for bottom, and foam for top (punch two and adhere together).

108. Let your kids make their own holiday placemats using Sizzix shapes. Let them color with markers or chalks. It'll keep 'em busy while you finish that fabulous dinner, and make a fun and memorable table setting as well. Be sure to laminate before using for durable treasures you can use again and again.

109. Bath fun decals: Use with poly foam to make clings for the bathtub. When wet, these will temporarily stick to the sides of the tub/walls.

110. Cutting shapes out of compressed sponge and using them as little washcloths makes bath time cleaning fun.

111. Make your own hand-made air fresheners: Use thick cardstock or tag board to cut shape out. Place in baggie with scented oil dabbed on cotton balls and let sit for 24 hours. Punch hole in top and add cute ribbon. Hang these anywhere, and use them as gifts as well.

112. Make custom hair accessories to go with any outfit by using leather, fun foam, etc. to cut shapes out of and attach to scrunchies, elastics, barrettes, etc. Try cutting the center of the flower out, and looping your ponytail through it.

113. Magnetic letters: Punch alphabet out of magnetic sheets for great refrigerator letters for school or home.

114. Candle decorations: You can use heavy tissue paper to make cutouts for candles. Decoupage on candles for beautiful decorations and centerpieces. These also make wonderful hostess gifts.

115. Create easily identifiable luggage by die-cutting your name from a Sizzix alphabet and attaching it to your suitcase with packing tape. Try using smaller letters and Sizzix Jumbo Tags to make your own custom luggage tags. Laminate for durability.

116. Teachers can use Sizzix for letter association, calendar pieces, math skills, bulletin boards, etc.

117. Die cut shapes from Terrifically Tacky Tape and attach them to a candle votive. Use microfine glitter and micro mosaic beads to cover the candle, creating a spectacular beaded centerpiece or gift.

118. Die Cut shapes out of fun foam and piece them together to make fun summer glasses or headbands.

119. Make your own special deck of cards.

120. Create custom recipe cards containing your special family recipes. Print your recipe onto your choice of die cuts, and tie onto a package of homemade cookies.



121. Create themed place cards for your next dinner, party, baby shower or bridal shower. These would be perfect for holidays, too.

122. Send look-alike paper doll thank you cards that your friends will never forget.

123. Cut out Sizzix shapes from wallpaper and apply to walls in intervals to create a lovely and unique border.

124. Use the Sizzix foot die to create a trail through the house leading to a surprise. Try using green feet leading to a pot of gold (your child's favorite cereal), or tiny pink or blue feet to lead your husband to a positive home pregnancy test.

125. Create paper appliques on cards and scrapbook pages by stuffing die cut shapes with cotton batting, then stitching around the shape with a 1/4" seam allowance to create a quilted look.

126. Use paper that is sticky on one side (sticker paper or adhesive sheets), to cut out with Sizzix. Sprinkle with embossing power and heat with an embossing gun. You'll have a shiny embossed shape.

127. Cut a sheet of the squares, hearts, or circles, then layer them starting with the largest and ending with the smallest shape. Add a foam adhesive in between for a 3-D accent.

128. Die cut a square or circle and add an Alphabitty to the middle of it. Emboss with clear embossing powder to create a shiny alphabet tile.

129. Use photos of flowers, grass or rocks to cut Sizzix flowers, grass and rocks to create interesting realistic accents on projects.

Information Provided By: Michael's

Alphabet Stickers Used Twice

When you buy a sheet of alphabet stickers, be very careful when removing them so as not to damage the area around the sticker. When the letter stickers are removed, there is a color border left over that matches the sticker used. Once you have used the most popular letters, cut the background into small squares, or various shapes, leaving the colored outline of the letter in each block. Now you have a whole new set of alphabet stickers!

Journaling on Small Vellum

Here's a nifty trick for successfully printing on smaller pieces of vellum or scraps of cardstock. Print your text onto a sheet of plain letter-size paper. Now adhere a small piece of vellum or transparency over the text with removable tape, adhering only edges that will feed into the printer first. Return the paper to the printer and print the text again. You're guaranteed to have perfectly lined up text on a small piece of vellum or transparency.

Using Your Eyelets

1. Map out your vacation route with fiber threaded through eyelets.
2. Use as laces on paper pieced-shoes.
3. Make a frame around a matted photo or journal box.
4. Tie through the hole of a tag.
5. Use in a sports scene as a basketball hoop, soccer net or fishing pole.
6. Create grass or trees.
7. Spell out a title using fibers to stitch out the letters.
8. Wrap around a border, nugget, tag or corner accent several times.
9. Make hair or other features on paper dolls.
10. Use as a string for balloon die cuts or eyelets.
11. Tie lassos for western pages.
12. Create seaweed on an ocean or vacation page.
13. Attach a tail to a kite.
14. Build a mountain/water outline.
15. Use a rope for a tug of war scene.
16. Fringe on animals.
17. Wrap fibers around letters.
18. Create a shadow for die cut letters.
19. Use fibers to tie 2 or more elements together.
20. Create bows.
21. Scarf on a paper pieced snowman.
22. Attach to a brad and use it as a yoyo.
23. Fiber piecing. See http://www.fiberscraps.com
24. Used to stitch pieces together to form a pocket.
25. As embroidery stitching.
26. Attach tire (swing) to tree.
27. Wrapping presents.
28. Crossing corners of a photo mat or journal box.
29. Clothesline for hanging mittens with wooden clothespins.
30. Stitching a template design.
31. Thread punchies on fiber and create a bracelet around a photo/mat.
32. Down the length of the page, photo mat or journal box as a border.
33. To hang/attach buttons or charms.
34. Used to hang signs or metal-rimmed tags from buttons, brad and eyelets.
35. Decorations on a Christmas tree.
36. Decorations on an Easter Egg.
37. Create a spider web.
38. Lacing 2 pieces together.
39. Ends of a hammock.
40. Wind fibers tightly to form the center of a flower or leaves.
41. To knit or crochet page accents.
42. As a blanket stitch around a border, or mat.
43. Tassels.
44. Braiding the fibers together to create borders, page breaks etc.
45. As needlepoint stitches on your page elements.
46. Hanging header letter squares or mini tags.
47. Enhancing die cuts
48. Accent on Serendipity Squares.
49. Weave through mesh.

Dress Up Your Title

I found myself doing the same thing over and over again. I found I kept putting 3 little dots on every letter. Now, I like that concept, but I realized I did it on just about every layout I was doing. So, I asked the gals on Have Your Way With Paper and here are those ideas:

1. Try leaving them be, using two (or more) different sets of thickers, using some thickers, some flat stickers/cricut cut alphas...I've inked the edges of thickers before - Lisa

2. I love mixing fonts, colors, and textures in my titles. :) It's fun to use rub-ons or something for most of the words and then pick one key word to be chipboard of foam or something that really stands out - Jenny

3. I like to tie a little ribbon around a chipboard letter on a title - Elaine

4. Use your ribbons and fibers especially around chipboard - Krissy

5. Stickles, glitter, paint, alchohol inks (only works if the letters are shiny). - Cheryl

Save A Buck or Two!

In this economy we are all trying to get the most out of what we have on hand. I love getting a kit in the mail for this reason. But sometimes the color of an embellishment is not what I am looking for. Don't be afraid to alter your embellishments so that they work with your project. It can be something simple such as a light sanding. Don't be afraid to use your markers, glitter pens, stickles, etc.

Brought to you by: Scrapbook Deals 4 U