Simple yet effective

I'm by no means a digital scrapper, but I was able to find a copy of Adobe Photoshop Elements on e-bay for less than $30. I've been playing with it and learning new things. There are lots of free digital elements you can get from places like Scrapbook.com and two peas. I have been able to use these free kits to make pages.

However, my favorite pages use my own photos as back grounds, things like flowers or in the case of my Joey quote album, a photo of Joey. It is super simple and all I need to add is a journalling block.
Also there are lots of digital savy scrappers out there. Renee Pearson is one. Check her blog for tips and tricks. I learn something new every day!

BPS favorite class

Okay, my all time FAVORITE class from BPS is without a doubt 52 Card Pick Up... when they re-run it, TAKE IT! Tena did a fabulous job. You can also check out her books: Lifelines & Artful Memories to get some of the techniques we learned in class. Well done Tena!

Not Too Serious

Okay, found this blog, Scrap Smack 2 not so sure why I like it so much... maybe cuz it's not so over the top cheerful and although a bit obnoxious has enough truth to it to make it funny.

Journaling

One of the smartest things I did was start a journal before Joey was born. And although I'm not the most consistent journaler, I have jotted things down often enough that this little book has come in VERY handy!

Even a one or two liner about something silly he said, cute he did or other memories I cherished have turned into some fun (and easy) scrapbook pages. Gotta love Adobe Photoshop!

Brayer & Best Friend

Okay, Tena Sprenger totally got me addicted to my brayer. My FAVORITE use for this multipurpose tool is to firmly adhere my photos to my layouts. I love that using my brayer prevents me from getting fingerprints all over my photos! The use of the brayer also ensures that there is a solid adhesion between my page and the photo (or any item) I'm trying to adhere to my page.

Your brayer can be used for many other things including inking, painting, as a roll stamp when you wrap things around it (like rubber bands or bubble wrap). This tool has so many uses!

Chip Board

Recognition goes out to my dear friend Beth, who turned me on to chipboard-for-cheap at e-bay.

Chipboard is great to use on LO's as well as other projects. It's far more sturdy than regular cardstock and will hold heavier embellisments and is great for covers on homemade albums or backing for wall art. Bookboard is very similar to chipboard but is thicker. It can also be used for similar types of projects.

A quick search for chipboard in google will lead you to numerous vendors who supply both chipboard and bookboard.

Add some cheap bling!

I found this package of 100 (50 each color) individual crystals backed with adhesive for less than $9.00 at Target. They come in oodles of colors and are the cheapest I've found some bling for my pages!

Silk Flowers for a fraction of the price

Silk Flowers on LO's are all the rage. I've found purchasing a "bunch" of flowers on clearance from a craft store like Michael's is an economical way to refresh your supply.

All you need to do is pull the flowers from the green stems and pull out the plastic centers. From there you can insert a brad or eyelet through the hole to adhere to your page.

Want to keep the center? Just trim the back of the flower and adhere with a glue dot.