Crop Corner

Lelik is standing in front of a dragon he carved while holding the head of another one. The decorating team artists use large Styrofoam blocks to carve some of the decorations. As creative artists, we need to stay open and ready for the unexpected. Last year, I was on the ship MS Amsterdam as it cruised around Cape Horn from Santiago, Chile to Rio de Janerio, Brazil. I tried to prepare myself for new experiences, but sometimes special opportunities sneak up on you. I got lucky and found one.

For those that know me - know that I’m always trying out new systems and improving on organizing both my work and home life.  I was delighted when I stumbled across:  Creative Organizing: creative organizing challenge (a quick, easy + fun one!).  It combines one of my favorite organizational tips (writing down EVERYTHING you need to do) with a scrapbooker’s flair.

Well before I started scrapbooking, I got into rubber stamps.  Even though I see more and more scrappers taking their collections of rubber stamps to crops, I still haven’t taken the plunge into using stamps on my layouts.

If you’re like me - I need some inspiration on how to use my old supplies in new ways.  Check out some Stamping Layouts that showcase how to use your rubber stamps for more than just titles.

Maybe the next time I have some time to play, I’ll open up that big drawer of stamps and try to use them.

My home area of northwestern New Jersey has a black bear population estimated at about 2,000. In fact, we have so many bears, and not really enough good habitat for them, that they are becoming a nuisance in many areas. Most folks have to take their bird feeders down every night or the bears will smash them down to get at the bird seed which they love. Am I able to get lots of bear photographs here at home? No way, José! The bears do most of their traveling and depredations under the cover of darkness.

Creating Keepsakes did it again with a mini-album design. This time, the album was inspired by product that the author had in her stash.

I should be so inspired!

What made me laugh about the article was that she tried to recycle a spiral bound notebook binding from a calendar. It sounded like a nightmare. That’s just the type of silly thing I would attempt (and curse myself 23 times over while doing it).

With the click of a mouse, you can explore your family's lineage on online genealogy sites. This site isn't the most user-friendly, but the research and how-to guides are worth a look. World-Wide Genealogy Resources (www.genhomepage.com/world.html) offers genealogy links that are specific to about half the world's countries. Western countries are better represented than Eastern ones (for example, Sri Lanka has one link while Ireland has 50), but there's a surprising depth to the information available. This isn't just for international research, though; each state in the union has liks as well. While you'll likely run into a broken link or two, you'll still find information for just about anywhere your ancestors called home.

Not every photo we take is great. Tricky lighting situations, unavoidable background elements, and camera flash can thwart our best intentions. Thankfully, in the digital imaging world, we can correct these problems, plus add creative touches to put pizzazz in our layouts and other projects. Learn the first and most important steps Anita Matejka takes when she works with a digital image. Use your digital technology to fix a common photo problem - underexposure and overexposure. See how to edit your photos to look like new or take out elements that distract from your subject.

Turn to your computer and scanner to create custom backgrounds and accents from everyday objects. For example, when telling a story about your child's favorite outfit or food, scan the clothing or food labels to create your own patterend paper or embellishments to include on your layout. It's a fun way to help tell your story and can also be a valuable way to preserve items. See how one scrapbooker included her daughter's blankie in her layout by scanning it. Sometimes the best background is the subject of a scrapbook page. Your scanner can make this idea easy.

Discover how rubber stamps can be a great addition to your scrapbook pages. The versatility of rubber-stamping makes it perfect for scrapbooking. You can put rubber stamps to work to create eye-catching titles and one-of-a-kind journaling, or they can take on subtle support roles as unique accents and backgrounds. Once you discover all the ways you can use stamps on your pages, you're sure to fall in love with stamping, too. When you start out, stamping products can be confusing. Use our guide to learn the basics.

I’m always on the lookout for new online sources of inspiration for scrapbooking.

Today, I stumbled upon Scrapbooks etc. from Better Homes and Garden.  I’ve seen the paper magazine before, but never thought to look for their website.

This morning, I found it and was pleasantly surprised at all the great online scrapbooking articles they had.  I’ll be adding some summaries of articles.  As usual, if the summary catches your interest, you’ll be given a link to read the full article at the original website.

If you can’t wait - just go to http://www.bhgscrapbooksetc.com/ and check them out for yourself!