Crop Corner

Whether you're trying to justify purchasing a Sizzix, or just trying to get more use from it now that you have, we're sure you'll find this list of ideas handy!

There's nothing like a Xyron machine for applying adhesive to vellum. Xyron adhesive is just about invisible on vellum, and eliminates "show-through" of adhesive, or dark splotches from uneven glue application. Edge-to-edge application of Xyron adhesive to vellum should make it your first choice when you need to adhere vellum to your project. Apply Xyron to vellum to create interesting vellum patterns. Apply vellum over crinkled paper or cardstock with a weave and the Xyron adhesive on the vellum will replicate the pattern.

Who was it that said the seasons are predictable? Oh yes, it was me, last month! And I have sat here during the intervening month watching persistent rain showers falling whilst listening to the radio giving out drought warnings and hosepipe bans! As I write, the wind is blowing brown leaves from the trees! All over the country, ripe berries are appearing on the bramble bushes and the local fox droppings are decidedly fruity. So, despite a rather poor summer, autumn is descending upon us with a determined rapidity.

Taking pictures of your pages with your digital camera is the quickest and easiest way to share them with friends and loved ones who live far away. Many scrapbook page contests and layout galleries online require you to save digital images of your pages so you can email them for entry. Digital photos are perfect for this. You can also use this technique to save a digital copy of your pages in case of disaster such as fire or flood. Some tips will help you take the very best photos so that they can be digitally cropped to look just like the real things.

Genealogy In Scrapbooks - Preserving Our Past! Many scrapbookers are also genealogists; and no wonder, since scrapbooking is a way of preserving our lives, and the lives our families. With care and consideration genealogy and family history can very easily be incorporated into scrapbooking with or without photos of your ancestors! Recently this has been a major focus of my scrapbooking energies, though I have been compiling my genealogy for more than 10 years. Lets look at ways we can all incorporate family history into our scrapbooking!

Supplies Used: Solid cardstock (Bazzill Basics, Stampin' Up!), photo mats (Die Cuts with a View), handmade paper (Provo Craft Paper Passport, Pearl Arts and Crafts Supply), skeleton leaves (Black Ink), pigment inks (Tsukineko Watermark, Stampin' Up Close to Cocoa), Stamp (Hero Arts), eyelets (Making Memories), fiber (unknown), and fonts (Fairfax Station and unknown).

Here are some ideas to help you take pictures that capture the essence of the current season - winter, spring, summer, or fall. Even if you're in a different latitude and your climate is considerably different from ours in New York, you may still find valuable tips here. Our discussion of a particular picture that we think captures the essence of the current season often involves a photographic technique that is basic to good photography in general. So, whether you live in Australia or Oahu, Beijing or Boston, check out this page for ideas you may be able to use now or later.

"Ah, Krakatoa, now those were sunsets! If only we had color film back then!" We know a photographer who visited Hawaii exactly once, and then only for two hours while changing airplanes for a flight to Japan. He had time to take a few pictures right around the airport, including a photograph of that evening's dramatic sunset with a palm tree in the foreground. He sold that image over and over again through his stock photo agency and made a total of $17,000. Not bad for a two-hour layover in Hawaii. Sunsets sell!

I Want You! What is it you see through your camera lens? Your kids, pets, friends, vacation sights, or the place you call home? If you think about it, though, what youre really seeing is the evidence of this wonderful thing we call life. You are not only behind the camera; you are behind everything you photograph. You make all this happen. Yes, the stories youre telling are about your kids, your pets, the vacations youve taken and the friends you welcome into your home. But your stories are incomplete if you arent pictured in them. And no, its not enough that you take the pictures and create the pages. You need more you in your layouts.

Simple shapes are an easy way to add interest and good graphic design to your scrapbook pages. Concentric square and circle punches allow you to complete these types of layouts quickly. In this layout, squares, circles, and brads were layered to add interesting borders to the page. Step 1: Punch the background squares. In the sample layout, the background squares are 1 3/8" punches. Step 2: Punch the inside squares. For those shown above 1 1/8" punches were used. Step 3: Punch accent circles. Here 7/8" circles were used.