Faboo Stamping Techniques Class

This past Thursday was the last in a series of four monthly Stamping Technique Classes I signed up for in April. I loved this class. Taught by a local Stampin Up! Demonstrator, we learned 14 techniques a month, totaling 56 by the end of the class.

We received a "blank" book with 56 pages secured with two metal rings. Each page had step-by-step instructions for a technique then half the page was left blank so we could adhere our completed, matted example of said technique. Some of the techniques, I had tried before, but most I hadn't even though I've been stamping for a darn, long time!

It was a blast playing with all the inks and stamps Jessica had organized for us. It was like using a "kit" to practice each technique. Even the cardstock was already cut to size.

Who knew baby wipes or marbles made such a cool background papers? My favorite techniques involved watercoloring, re-inkers, or direct-to-paper methods. My head is all a-whirl with ideas I can use, mostly in my cardmaking.

At the end of the class, we had our, fat, little book all done and in living color. I decided I want to protect the pages by laminating each one. This morning, I made the cover shown here using chipboard, pccrafter.com clipArt, my computer, and printer.

Next, I'll buy bigger rings so the book will lie flat as opposed to its current "triangular" shape. I'm hoping I may need even larger rings in the future because Jessica hinted that there may be more techniques to come! Whoo Hoo! Is it time to sign up yet?

Thanks to Leere' Aldrich for the scrapbook page from her "Seasons Spring" collection at pccrafter.com. Fonts used: Angelina & Advantage. Chipboard: Diecuts with A View's "Brights Chipboard Stack"

Why I Scrapbook

When I first began to keep pictures and momentos in scrapbooks it was simply a way for me to keep things that were important to me. Over the years, I've learned that scrapbooks become a person's legacy and future generations' opportunity to know about their family and where they came from.

I've also learned the process of scrapbooking can be just, plain fun. I started traditional or paper scrapping when I was a kid. All the supplies I used were highly acidic and the books didn't last.

Almost 20 years ago, I was introduced to the concept of acid-free, lignin-free albums, papers, and adhesives. I've got quite a few traditional scrapbooks in various stages of completion.

Not long ago, I ventured into digital scrapbooking which is by far the simplest way to collect your photos and stories in one place. No physical storage needed. Simply a hard drive and perhaps an external HD, too, to keep track of the myriad digital papers and elements that are readily available (many for free) all over the Web (plus all your photos).

My most recent project was an album I created for my middle daughter who turned 35 at the end of May. It was so much fun gathering together all the photos of her I wanted to use and organizing them into themes or topics for each double page spread. Check out the page below which I made using a Quick Page. I downloaded the template, then popped the photos behind the openings in the layout. Enjoy!

Thanks to Jenna Robertson for her Quick Page, "Generations," which I got from http://www.digitalscrapbookplace.com.