But my scrapbook room is not complete without these items. They are the same now as they were 10 years ago and I love that. I appreciate that I can still have the product loyalty after all these years.

My top picks in adhesives and yes they are in order

1. Hermafix Dotto

2. Foam Squares - especially since I love to stamp and cut out images.

3. Glue Dots

Seriously, anyone that has been scrapbooking for a while is laughing right now because we’ve all used these products since they came out. But they are something I can never be without in my scrapbook supplies.

What are your must-have adhesives?

Pressed flowers make beautiful additions to all sorts of crafts. They’re often used to make handmade greeting cards, but there’s so much more that can be done with them. They’re great for plaques and other home décor items, scrapbooking, and even decoupaging onto furniture.

You can purchase a wide variety of pressed flowers in craft stores, from florists or online. But if you want as much control as possible over your finished product, pressing your own flowers is the way to go. You can press flowers that you may not be able to find in stores, and you can create your own unique pressed arrangements.

Pressing flowers is not at all complicated. In fact, it can be done with items you probably have around the house. But you can also purchase tools that will allow you to press your flowers much more quickly.

Pressing Flowers the Cheap Way

All you really need to press flowers is something that will compress them and hold them flat until they dry. An old, thick hardback book works beautifully for this purpose. All you have to do is place the flowers between two sheets of plain paper, insert in the middle of the book and place heavy objects on top of the book to weigh it down. About two weeks later, your flowers will be ready.

Some crafters use the microwave to get their flowers ready faster. If you want to try this, make sure you use a book that you don’t mind losing, just in case. Place the book with the flowers and paper inside in the microwave, and set it for 30 seconds. When the timer goes off, open the book to let out steam and check the flowers. Repeat until the flowers are nearly dry, then leave them in the book for a day or two to finish.

Flower Presses

Those who press a lot of flowers often invest in a flower press. Presses allow air to circulate around the flowers, making it possible for them to dry more quickly. Some are also designed to hold a large number of flowers, so you can press as many as you need in no time.

Many of today’s flower presses are designed for use in the microwave. But you’ll still need to microwave the flowers in short bursts to keep from burning them. For avid flower pressers, there are even presses designed for specific types of flowers.

If you do not use a lot of pressed flowers or are on a budget, using a big book will usually work out just fine. But for those who sell pressed flower crafts or make them frequently, a quality flower press is a good investment. Either way, pressing your own flowers is easy and rewarding.

Greeting card companies make lots of money in the weeks before Valentine’s Day. After all, no one wants to be the one who neglected to give the love of their life a special greeting! But you don’t have to buy the same cards everyone else is giving. Creating your own is so much more special.

You don’t have to be a celebrated artist to make a great Valentine card. Even if you can’t draw, paint or even cut out shapes, you can still create a memorable greeting for your love. Here are some ideas:

* Use greeting card software to design a card and print it out on card stock. You could use a ready-made design and verse, but most programs will also allow you to create a card from scratch. You can include clip art, photos, and your own special message.

* Are you a scrapbooker? Use your scrapping skills to create a beautiful Valentine. Find some pretty card stock, add photos and embellishments, and write a thoughtful message. You could use photos of you and your partner throughout the years, pictures from your honeymoon, or favorite candid snapshots.

* Hearts made out of construction paper add a whimsical touch to a handmade Valentine card, and they’re really easy to make. Just fold a piece of construction paper in half, draw half a heart with the center at the fold, cut out, and unfold. Glue the hearts onto paper doilies before adding to the card for an endearing look with very little effort.

* Are you brimming with design ideas but unsure what words to use on the card? Quote a poem or some song lyrics. You might even want to include a CD single of the song or a recording of someone (perhaps you) reciting the poem.

* Include some coupons. Not grocery or car wash coupons, but coupons that are good for favors and special nights out when presented to you. You could make coupons for backrubs, dinner and a movie on you, a trip to an event of your significant other’s choosing, a walk in the park, and all sorts of other things.

Creating a special Valentine card for the one you love is a sweet and inexpensive way to let him or her know you care. Whether you simply add a special message to a predesigned card made with greeting card software or break out the craft supplies and make something totally unique, the thought you put into it will make your Valentine feel truly special.

These never before seen scrapbook pages cover a wide variety of themes and styles and are a great visualization tool to help spark the imagination. With 224 pages to browse through this is a must have book for every scrapper’s reading collection.

A few highlights of the book are:

• Sidebars and tip boxes filled with additional information on design, concept, photography, color, and technique from the book’s contributors.
• A CD–Rom with 75 printable page layout sketches comes with the book.
• Short description of the inspiration and construction behind each page.
• Tried and true themes including family, homes, falling in love, babies, toddlers, kids, teens, husbands, travel, sports, and more.

In essence what this book does is take page topic galleries and page layout sketches and combines the two concepts into one book. It makes getting over “scrapper’s block” simple. It’s ability to motivate everyone from the beginner to the seasoned scrapbooker is well worth the cost.

This is a colossal book that not only makes scrapping a simpler process, but it also allows you to dream of the thousands of amazing scrapbooking possibilities.

If you’ve spent any time looking at scrapbook supplies (and it’s hard to believe anyone who does scrapping not doing so), you’ll know that you can buy pre-printed pages. These are the some of the quickest ways to complete a scrapbook layout in ten minutes or less.

You choose the page you would like to create, match the photos that will fit the theme, and then write a little bit of explanation in the journal box. How much easier can it be than this? In fact, if you’re using the pre-printed pages you may be able to complete more than one page in ten minutes.

Scrapbook theme kits are another way to create great pages without a lot of effort. Kits include the themed paper, die cuts, stickers, journal boxes, and even photo boxes. You pick and choose what you want and put your pictures with it. It’s so easy, and so much fun!

What if you have a few minutes while you’re waiting in line at the grocery store? Take along a notebook that you can use to sketch out layout ideas. Instead of having to completely create the page, you’ll be using those few minutes to put some ideas down on paper. That way, when you have more time and all of your supplies with you, you’ll be able to complete that idea that you captured earlier.

Did you just get back from vacation, have a party, or has a holiday passed? Use items from these events to create quick and easy scrapbook layouts. How do you do that? Here are some ideas:

* Vacations – Most likely when you were on vacation you picked up something to remember your time there. Whether it’s postcards or pamphlets from someplace you visited, you can include those on the page with your pictures of you there. These items will take up extra space on your page, so they won’t take as long to complete.

* Parties – Did you have a themed party for someone in your family? If so, you may have napkins or other party goods left. Incorporate those items into the page with pictures you took at the party.

* Holidays – There are so many die cuts and stickers available for the holidays, no matter which one you’ve just celebrated. Take advantage of the supplies that are available to you to make creating your scrapbook pages a snap.

You don’t have to labor over your scrapbook to make it look colorful, fun, and enjoyable. It is possible to create quick and easy scrapbook layouts in less time that are just as good. Use some of these ideas and see what you can create in a short amount of time.

You’ve probably heard of the big scrapbooking companies. It’s nice to know that they didn’t start out at the level they are now. They had to begin someplace and build up to the point where they are nationally recognized. You may not even want the level of success of these types of businesses, but that doesn’t mean you can’t run a successful scrapbooking business.

Perhaps you would like to begin your scrapbooking business by becoming a consultant for one of the well-known scrapbook companies. These companies operate on a direct sales basis. You purchase a kit from them, receive training, and then conduct workshops or home parties. Since so many people are interested in scrapbooking, you may find this route to be a great start.

If doing direct sales doesn’t appeal to you, but you still want to help others, you may consider offering your services at family reunions, birthday parties, or other functions. Let your friends, family, and others know how much you love to scrapbook and see if they would like you to do a scrapbook for them. This is a great way for someone who isn’t interested in learning to scrapbook to still have a beautiful, professional-looking book to share.

Offer to teach your child’s class to create a scrapbook page. This would give you a chance to show off your skills to your child’s teacher, who may be willing to recommend you for other teachers. You can also check with arts and crafts stores or with community education centers to see if they would be interested in your teaching a class. Have all of your instructions well planned and give your students handouts to help them remember what you taught.

Consider opening a scrapbooking store if you know that this is something you’d enjoy. Before opening a store, you need to decide if you have the commitment level to make it succeed. If a brick-and-mortar store isn’t for you, you might want to think about opening a virtual store on the internet.

If you’re brimming with ideas for scrapbook pages and love to share, why not create a scrapbooking newsletter? You can go the traditional route by printing and mailing them out, but it is so much easier to create them and deliver them through email to subscribers. Online is also much cheaper in postage costs. You earn money by getting advertisements for your newsletter.

Scrapbooking is such a great way to help keep memories alive. If you’d like to share your love of the craft, as well as make some money in the process, try using these ideas for turning your passion into profit.

Look down the aisles at a crafts store and you’ll see shelves filled with scrapbooking goodies. Papers galore, stickers to die for, craft scissors with various edges, and oh, the books themselves are something to drool over. It’s no wonder people get easily overwhelmed. And that’s not even the beginning of what’s available.

Taking a look online, you’ll find millions of websites that have information about scrapbooking as a hobby. Some have various scrapbook page templates, or page examples, and tips of the trade for creating the perfect scrapbook. Others give step-by-step instructions of how to create pages.

While it’s easy to become overwhelmed with the vast amount of scrapbooking supplies available, take a deep breath and get ready to find what you’re looking for. To begin with, you’ll need to have photographs that you’ll place into your scrapbook. Organize them into what you’d like to include in one book, then you’ll be better able to go out and find the supplies you want.

Be sure that no matter what supplies you purchase, they are acid and lignin free so your precious photographs and memories will be protected. Choose which pages you would like to keep together on one page and then look for things they have in common besides the subject matter.

For instance, if you have pictures of your first child having their first bubble bath, you may want to find paper that has a bathroom design on it. Or you could choose stickers that resemble bubbles or rubber ducks. Be sure to choose some pens for writing on your pages or use stickers with fun sayings.

As you can tell, your scrapbooks don’t have to be elaborate. There’s no need to go out and buy one of everything on the scrapbooking aisle, although you could if your pocket book wouldn’t suffer too much and your spouse didn’t complain about the money you’d spent.

Pick up a few items that you know you’ll use right away. If you plan out your pages ahead of time, you’ll have an idea of what supplies you’ll need.

You probably have many photos of your children when they were babies. Most likely you’ll like to work on those albums first. Will you work on one child’s scrapbook, or more than one, at a time? If you have boys and girls, you may need to pick up coordinating paper for both sexes. Deciding to work on one book at a time will help you from being so overwhelmed when looking for supplies.

Being new to any craft or skill may be overwhelming. This is especially true of scrapbooking with the amount of items for sale for the craft. Are you having a scrap attack? It’s quite possible, but you don’t have to. Take some time to decide what you want, plan it out, and then get just what you need to make your scrapbook great!

The invention of digital photography has made scrapbooking more popular than ever. Anyone can take as many shots as necessary to get the perfect photo, and develop it at home with a photo printer. This has made it much easier for us to capture our memories. And it has led to new methods of scrapbooking. Here are some of the newest twists on an old hobby.

With easy-to-use photo editing software such as Adobe Photoshop, it’s a cinch to do all sorts of things with our photos. We can simply crop and adjust the contrast to make the photos look their best, we can add new backgrounds and text, and we can add elements from one photo to another. Whether you want to enhance your scrapbook photos, give them an antique look, modernize them, or make them look silly or outrageous, you can do it with photo editing software.

Digital Scrapbooking

One of the newest twists on the hobby is digital scrapbooking. This involves creating scrapbook pages using only computer software. You can purchase software in CD-ROM or download form, or you can purchase a membership to use web-based scrapbooking software.

Scrapbooking software usually includes or allows you to add on layouts and digital embellishments. Some options are intended to create scrapbooks that only exist online, while others allow you to easily print pages to create a physical scrapbook. Some services even offer the option to have your digital scrapbook professionally printed and bound.

Hybrid Scrapbooking

For those who like the convenience of digital scrapbooking but prefer the authenticity of physical embellishments, there’s hybrid scrapbooking. Hybrid scrapbooking is defined as any combination of digital and traditional scrapbooking.

There are an infinite number of ways one could create a hybrid scrapbook. You could create and print your layouts using software and add photos and embellishments. You could print the photos directly on the page and add frames, lettering and embellishments. Or you could simply do the entire page traditionally and type your journaling instead of writing it by hand. These are just a few of the endless possibilities.

Scrapbooking has evolved a great deal over the past several years. The new twists on an old pastime have increased its fan base and made it accessible to virtually everyone. Whether you prefer the creative challenge of doing it all by hand, the convenience of creating your pages using only your computer, or something in between, there’s no denying that technology has added a new dimension to scrapbooking.

If journaling is your problem, there are a number of things you can do to get over the blockage.

1. Get up from your chair and take a walk. That’s right. You need a fresh perspective. Go outside and enjoy the great outdoors. Breathe in the clean air and feel the sunshine on your face.

2. Start collecting sayings that are meaningful to you - witty phrases from commercials, cute things that your children say, quotes from famous and not-so-famous people. Keep them in a notebook for those times you need some inspiration.

3. Create a journal jar. This is really good for writers who get stuck. Find a nice looking jar and write down sentences that will get you thinking. Cut the sentences off the page and put them in the jar. The next time you have scrapper’s block, you can draw one out and see where it takes you. Here are a few to get your jar started:

* Explain a family tradition from when you were a child.
* Who do you most admire and why?
* What is your dream vacation?
* Which holiday is your favorite?

What if the problem isn’t journaling, but trying to come up with actual pages for your scrapbook to go along with the photos you have? Maybe it will help to know you’re not alone. Even professional scrapbookers have this problem from time to time.

1. It’s okay to “break the rules” in scrapbooking. You may feel you have to work with the most recent pictures you have, but it’s alright to go through them until you find some that you’d rather work with.

2. If you can’t actually make yourself work on a page, perhaps you can plan out pages you’d like to do but may not have the photos or supplies for. Think about how you could get photos to match those ideas.

3. Look through magazines or online to get inspiration. Perhaps you’ll see something that would be perfect with some of your photos.

4. Go back through your completed pages and realize that you’re really good at scrapbooking. There may be a layout in there that can be adapted or updated with some of the new supplies that are out.

Here are some ideas that you may be able to use to help get you past scrapper’s block:

* My first helium balloon
* Playing with my friends
* Taking a bubble bath
* First tooth lost
* Dirty faces
* First day of . . . school, camp, spending the night with Grandma . . .
* All dressed up and no place to go
* Splashing in puddles
* First haircut (be sure to save a lock of hair to include)
* Family reunions

There are endless possibilities when you’re creating scrapbook pages. Take some time away from your pages to give you a fresh perspective. Look through others’ pages, magazines, or your child’s baby book to get inspiration. When scrapper’s block has passed, you’ll have so many new great ideas you won’t be able to get to them quick enough!

Many scrappers, however, find it difficult to dedicate as much time as they would like to their craft. Sometimes it just seems that there are not enough hours in the day to get the basics done, much less create a scrapbook page. Yet we feel mournful when we see all of our treasured photos sitting in a box, just waiting to be displayed in a manner befitting of them.

If you love scrapbooking, there are ways to find the time to get it done. Here are a few suggestions:

* Keep all of your supplies well organized. That way, when you are able to scrapbook, you won’t spend half your time looking for that green striped paper or those cute teddy bear stickers.

* Schedule time to scrapbook. Whether it’s an hour every evening or half a day each Saturday, setting aside a time specifically for scrapbooking can help you get more done. But it only works if you stick with it.

* If you have friends who scrapbook, set a time each week to get together and work on your craft. This will give you a chance to socialize, share ideas and swap materials, as well as the motivation to get more scrapping done.

* Multitask. Work on your scrapbook pages while you’re watching the news, helping the kids with their homework, or talking on the phone. There’s nothing like getting two things done at once! You can even fill a tote bag with some of your basic and most used scrap items so that you can scrap on the go.

* Keep your layouts simple. There’s no sense in insisting upon making your pages really elaborate, only to end up frustrated because it takes too long to complete them. A minimalist approach will allow you to get more done in less time while not overwhelming your photos. This is probably the best scrapbooking tip ever. I can’t even count the number of crafters that have abandoned scrapping out of pure frustration. A K.I.S.S. approach makes things much more enjoyable.

* Consider digital scrapbooking. It can be much less time-consuming. You don’t have to go completely digital if you don’t want to, either. You could use software to create your layouts and do the rest by hand, or even just type your journaling. Using digital aspects in your scrapbooking, make things easier, and stress free. It’s important to keep your hobby light and fun for YOU, it’s not abut what other people think you should be doing.

* Subscribe to a monthly scrapbooking auto-ship program. You’ll receive things like embellishments and layout ideas each month that are appropriate for the season. This will save you loads of time because you won’t have to shop for supplies as much. Getting a new package of goodies in the mail each month is both fun and motivating. You’ll be surprised how many ideas come flooding to you when you open up each month’s supply.

In our busy lives, it’s sometimes hard to find time to do the things that make us happy. But if you have a passion for scrapbooking, you owe it to yourself to make time to do it. These simple ideas should get you well on your way to scrapbook happiness.