Scrapbooking is a great hobby wherein you can preserve your precious memories in your own creative way. For some, a scrapbook is just like an ordinary photo album, filled with pictures but in fact, a scrapbook is similar to a time capsule, where you put all the fondest recollections from your past.

If you are looking for ideas and information about scrapbooking, it is best to go online. For a more attractive project, choose different kinds of styles and supplies. Furthermore, many websites provide helpful techniques and tips about scrapbooking that can be useful for you.

Scrapbooking is great for people who are artistic and looking for a hobby that does not cost too much and does not require the use your muscle. Scrapbooking is also a great method to convey your feelings, your thoughts and tell others about your experiences.

For beginners, it is necessary to learn the basic techniques while for those who have been scrapbooking for quite some time, it is still recommended to learn new styles. You can always go online to find websites that provide guides on how to manage photographs in your scrapbook properly, plan your project carefully, choose an appropriate album and make your creative pages as well as keep your supplies.

For those who are new to scrapbooking, it can be quite overwhelming when you think about managing your photos as well as your supplies. It is recommended to break the task down into smaller elements. For instance, you must place pictures from your closets, shoeboxes and drawers on a large space such as a working table, then sort the pictures by event and by date. It is a good idea to put labels at the back of the photographs so that you can easily identify them.

Remember that it is important to plan what you want to do in your scrapbook. The planning begins once you have finished organizing your pictures. Recent photographs must be used in order to remember them effortlessly. Selecting a specific event should also be a part of your planning process so that you can work efficiently rather than work with tons of pictures you have accumulated for a year. Using pictures in which you are part of can make your project more personalized.

Your next step after planning your first scrapbook project is choosing an appropriate album. It is important to think about the style and size of your album. Make sure to choose a theme you wish to create so that you will not have a hard time choosing a design of the album. Albums for your scrapbook are available in different textures, colors and patterns, which can suit the themes you have in mind.

Crafting the pages is the most favorite part of every scrapbooking enthusiast. Creating different kinds of designs is best if you want to create an artistic project. You can use stickers, stamps, buttons and other embellishments in doing your borders and backgrounds, which must be compatible with the entire theme.

Another important element in scrapbooking is journaling, aside from crafting each pages and gathering pictures together. It is a great idea to write descriptions of people, the place and the event when the picture was taken. In writing captions, use acid-free pens and colored pens.

One of the funnest things about owning the Cricut Design Studio is the ability to share your work with other users. Anyone who designs a file is able to save the file on their computer. A lot of talented users post the file on the internet and allow others to use their designs. Once you start browsing their creations, you will be amazed at the incredible work of these generous and talented Cricut users. Keep reading for a step-by-step guide to downloading and cutting using other people’s files.

There are numerous blogs and sites that have projects posted and the cutting files as well. Each person may store and share their files in a different way. Most use a third party file sharing site, while some have the files hosted right there on their website. Many of the files on the Cricut.com message board are saved as a text file and must be changed before using.

When you have found a file you want, you need to download it.

1. When you click on the link that they have provided it should take you to the file. If it is hosted on their website, it will ask you have the option to open, save or cancel. If the file is on a file sharing site you need to wait for the download or select “click here to download file” . After you select that link, it will take you to the screen that asks if you want to open, save, or cancel.

2. Once you are on the open or save screen, you will need to choose save. Before you do, make sure that the file directory is showing the place that you want the file to be saved. You may want to create a folder specifically for Cricut files. If you want to change the file name, do it at this point. Click save to begin saving the file to your computer.

Now the file is on your computer and you can open it from inside the Cricut Design Studio program. Next you need to follow these easy steps to cut a saved design.

1. Start the Cricut Design Studio program. Choose the “file” drop down menu in the left corner and then choose “open”.

2. After you select “open” a screen will come up that will show all the cut files that you have saved in the “my projects” folder. These are files that you have created on your own. To find the file that was downloaded and saved, locate the folder you saved it in by selecting it in the “look in” area.

3. Find the file you want to open and click the open button. It will bring up the file that you downloaded and open it inside of your software. If you want to cut it as it is, load the paper and select the scissors to cut. You can also change the file and add to it if you would like, but make sure you always give credit where credit is due and never claim a design unless you designed the file from the beginning.

If you are looking for some great ideas, just spend some time browsing other people’s designs and projects and you will soon have more ideas and files than you have time to cut. Make sure you leave a comment or a thank you when you download someone else’s files, and share what you have made from it if you can. Look for an upcoming article to learn how to download files from the Cricut message board and change them from text files into cut files.

The other day I was using a search engine to find some coloring pages with which to make paper piecing patterns for my scrapbook.  I came across an interesting site called thedollpalace.com.

The site contained cartoon dolls and dress-up games with which to create avatars.  I started playing with these highly amusing little people.  You should see the one I did of my dad.  It was roll-on-the-floor, laugh out loud funny.  

I got a little bit carried away because I realized I had been sitting at the computer, playing on a "childrens" website for over an hour.  I thought I had better get back to the task at hand.  I looked into their coloring pages and was again pleasantly surprised.  There were pictures of just about everything imagineable.  I knew I had hit the jackpot for my scrapbooking paper piecing patterns.  I proceeded to print what I needed and bookmarked the site.  

The only downfall I see in the future is time management while on the site.  Time gets away when you are playing.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you.  But be sure to check out thedollpalace.com.