Looking for some easy cards to make for Valentine’s Day? These pretty pink Valentine’s Day cards will take you less than an hour to make and your friends and family will love them.

I have designed three different Valentine’s Day cards for you to choose from. They are all based on the same theme so you can prepare and put them together at the same time. It is more cost effective to make them this way…I put together six cards from two 12×12 pieces of scrapbook paper.

Materials:

3 white pre-made greeting cards
1 piece of white 12×12 scrapbook paper
1 piece of pink 12×12 scrapbook paper
Small heart-shaped rubber stamp
Black ink pad
Pink colored pencil
Narrow white ribbon
Hole punch
Scissors
Paper cutter
Glue stick

Before you get started on the actual cards, you can create the hearts that will decorate each of the three cards.

Use the paper cutter to cut six 2×2″ pieces of white scrapbook paper. Using the heart rubber stamp and the black ink pad, stamp a heart in the center of each piece of white scrapbook paper.

After the ink dries for a few minutes, color in the hearts with the pink colored pencil. Now you are ready to start your first card.

Card #1:

The first card will open horizontally. Using the paper cutter, cut a rectangle from the pink piece of scrapbook paper. The rectangle should take up about three-fourths of the card.

Using the hole punch, punch two holes right next to each other near the top center of the pink piece of paper. Cut a piece of white ribbon approximately 6 inches long. Thread the ribbon through the holes in the pink paper.

Glue the pink paper in the center of the white greeting card. Carefully tie the white ribbon into a bow, cutting the ends of the ribbon to your desired length.

Next space out three white squares with the hearts on them in the center of the pink paper. Glue in place.

Card #2:

The second card will open vertically. It is very similar to the first card, in that you will cut a pink piece of scrapbook paper into the shape of a rectangle that takes up about three-fourths of the card. Attach the white ribbon at the top center of the pink paper, as for the first card.

Glue the piece of pink paper in the center of a white greeting card. On this card, you will center two hearts in the center of the pink paper, one above the other.

Card #3:

The third card will also open vertically. For this one I cut about an inch off the bottom of the white greeting card so it is closer to the shape of a square.

Cut a piece of pink scrapbook paper into the shape of a square that takes up about two-thirds of the card.

Attach the white ribbon at the top center of the pink paper as with the other cards.

Glue the piece of pink paper in the center of the greeting card. Glue one heart onto the center of the card.

These cards are very easy to make. If you don’t want to mess with rubber stamps, you could use heart-shaped stickers in their place. Your friends and family won’t believe how little time you spent making them!

Photos of finished Valentine’s Day cards: http://www.crafty-moms.com/cards/pink-valentines-cards.shtml

Author: Rachel Paxton
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Import duty tariff

Valentine's day

Valentine’s Day is the busiest day for florists and gift shop owners as they spend a lot of time and effort and invest a lot of money to promote their colorful products. People are attracted to a number of interesting-looking items that could become a wonderful gift for the love of their lives.

There is way in which you can not only save some money but also show your dearest one that you care for him or her in a special way. You can make a beautiful gift at home. You do not need any exceptional talent to create a Valentine day gift at home.

Here are some great ideas and methods of creating beautiful, useful Valentine day gifts for your loved ones.

1. Scrapbooks

A scrapbook is among the most thoughtful gifts you could offer your beloved one on Valentine’s Day. It is the easiest gift to make, and your partner will undoubtedly appreciate the gesture. A scrapbook makes the most picturesque Valentine’s Day gift.

The first thing you have to do in order to make a wonderful scrapbook is to select the photographs you want to paste there. You can choose pictures taken of both of you separately or together, pictures taken in places that you have visited, or any other pictures of your choice.

You can then develop a special theme for your scrapbook. Once you have decided on a theme, collect the necessary accessories such as ribbons, stickers, or graphics. The final step is to assemble the scrapbook. This is very easy as you simply have to paste the pictures, ribbons, accessories, and graphics to the pages in an order that makes special sense to your beloved one.

2. Candles

You can make candles and give them to your loved one on Valentine’s Day. It is very easy to make candles. Make-it-yourself candle kits are available in a number of stores along with minute instructions regarding the making of great candles.

The process includes melting the wax, inserting the wick, pouring the wax in molds, and then letting the candle to set before you take it out of its mold. You can also give your candle a romantic scent or color. But, if you are trying to color or perfume your candle, you should take care to add the scent or the dye at the right time in order to get the best results.

3. CD or DVD

Giving your loved one a CD or a DVD of his or her favorite music, video clippings, and pictures is another idea for a charming Valentine Day gift. You can also set music to the pictures and arrange it all in a very meaningful way. While this might look as if it requires a lot of technological skill, it can easily be done on your own personal computer at home.

Technology has now advanced to a degree that allows us to prepare a great many professional-looking things, including a CD for our beloved ones, in the comfort of our own homes. In case you have trouble, take the help of a friend or relative.

With a little bit of outside help for the tougher parts of the project, you will still be able to give your loved one a special home made Valentine Day gift.

Author: Abhishek Agarwal
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Pressure cooker

Scrapbooking Your Winter Solstice

Winter scrapbooking themes and layouts are a spectacular way to envelope the spirit of the solstice season into your celebrations. Ever thought about creating your own winter wonderland scrapbook? What does your winter solstice mean to you? Winter brings many wonders, including the rain, bare trees, and sometimes a clear, cold night sky blanketing the earth with heavenly lights.

For astronomers and others, the connection between astronomical events and the season held great importance. Archaeological sites such as New Grange in Ireland and Stonehenge in Britain are two examples of the stories that have grown up around our understandings of the winter season. Similarly, we build our own meanings into the pages of our winter scrapbook of what this winter season means to us.

Winter scrapbooking usually brings on thoughts of the holidays, the most prominent among others, being Christmas, New Years, and Valentines Day. These, of course, are sprinkled with many other celebrations such as Chanukah, Kwanza, Epiphany, President’s Day, and Ash Wednesday. Touching on, for the most part, the three most recognized holidays (or etymologically speaking, “holy days,”) in our winter scrapbooking, will be Christmas, New Years and Valentines Day. The scrapbooking projects ought to be applicable to any given holiday though. Again, as the focus is on creating a winter wonderland scrapbook, consider in what way your own holiday holds meaning for you and how you can show that in your page. Following are some idea sparkers.

Check out these winter scrapbooking projects for Christmas.

Not sure what to do with old Christmas and other holiday cards? Create scrapbooking gifts tags for the next year. Cut out the front of the card in creative shapes, like stars, letters, toys and more. Write to and from on the back. Cut out the main picture on the card (such as Santa or the Nativity), punch a hole in it and tie to your packages.

Not sure how you can afford the stamps for sending cards this season? With some creative scrapbooking, you can make post-cards out of those old cards (whether holiday, birthday, anniversary or other). It can be pretty, humorous, whatever you want it to be.

You can also make gift bags for the following year as well as scrapbooking embellishments, table place cards and tree ornaments for your next holiday party.

Finally, you could donate your cards for scrapbooking and other craft projects to local schools, senior centers, church groups, a local scrapbook club, and various youth centered groups such as the girl and boy scouts of America.

New Years Scrapbooking

New Years winter scrapbooking projects include creating a scrapbooking timeline or what has also been called a time-capsule. Included in this year in review for your scrapbook might be headlines of important news events of the past year, receipts showing the price of various grocery items such as milk and bread, brochures or postcards from family vacations, your children’s drawings and any other type of memorabilia to capture the vintage moment of that present time.

Ideas for your scrapbooking treasures can involve your best and worst memories, a favorite movie, past-time, and major milestones. Scrap your New Year’s resolutions and the hopes and dreams for the coming year. Use photos in your scrapbooking timeline as you photograph your home, car, clothes, furniture pieces and hairstyles.

Valentines Day Scrapbooking Ideas

The month of February brings with it the celebration of Valentines Day. There exist many things about this day to love. Here are a few Valentines Day scrapbooking ideas to consider for your Valentines Day scrapbook or for a valentine gift idea.

Find a photograph. The photo does not have to have been taken on Valentine’s Day. One from another occasion of the both of you will work just fine. For instance, I have a photo of my husband and me at my sister’s wedding reception before we were married. That would be a lovely picture in a Valentines Day scrapbook page.

Choose a page title. Pick something, for example, from a favorite or popular love song, a phrase from a poem or a novel or use common terms like Soul-mates, Sweethearts, I Love You, and Be Mine.

Choose romantic page elements such as hearts or roses. Other scrapbooking elements for a romantic theme would be white lace, satin ribbon, red bows or Victorian-style accents. For an entirely different project I used small dried roses in a layout and it turned out beautiful. These elements work well when you are working with shadowboxes.

Add color. Red is a popular color for Valentine’s Day. For something different, try more white and pink using red or even black as an accent. Scenes from Sixteen Candles and Pretty in Pink come to mind for ideas in color and colorful phrases.

Add your Valentines Day cards for decoration. Make a pocket on the page for holding the cards you gave to each other. Include your children’s Valentine Cards and how they feel about the holiday as well. Return to it and read the sentiments inside anytime you want.

This next one is a favorite of mine. Write love letters. Do this through journaling in your Valentine layout. Use title ideas for prompts in your scrapbook journaling. Also include handwritten love letters given at any time of the year or further back. A form of this idea I have on one of my scrapbook pages. During the time my husband and I were dating, we left quick little notes to each other using photos from Webshots in our emails. I saved these and put them on at least a couple pages of my scrapbook. I used the phrase “You’ve Got Mail” from a movie title with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.

Finally, dedicate a page in your winter wonderland scrapbook to your Valentine expressing the reasons why you love him or her.

Again, in your winter scrapbooking quest, whatever you choose to reminisce in your winter wonderland scrapbook, remember that it is your winter solstice you are scrapbooking and journaling about. Let these ideas inspire you this winter season to create a dialogue between you and those you love or at least open awareness to your own thoughts and feelings. Happy Scrapping!

Author: Sharon Olvera
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Canada duty rate

Scrapbookers are originally inclined to the use of “retro” style
or “vintage” to recall previous era’s  in their modern workshops.

Here is a set of vintage style brushes for Photoshop to help you in your effort. (If you dont know how to do this take a look  here)

Tickle Your Scrapbooking Idiosyncrasy 

Scrapbook is an essential haven for timeless memories. It can record your family history, celebrations and other gatherings. It is sometimes accompanied with journalizing. Through the same, additional memories will be recollected. A scrapbook can last a lifetime if you know what materials to use and what not to.

Parents often resort to scrap booking when they wanted to personalize their photos. Aside from that, scrap booking is also resorted by parents to keep the artworks, cards, letters and other vital stuffs that their children are giving them. Hence, they preserve the memories and materials without getting overwhelmed. With a scrapbook around, you can do away with memorabilia boxes and other hefty packages.

If you are not busy on a weekend, why not create a scrapbook with your children. Doing an activity like the one mentioned will make you closer to them. Aside from that, you are also honing their creativity and art potentials.

Here are the steps to do a scrapbook of your children’s keepsakes:

1. Create a reduced version of the keepsakes. Paste them on a textured paper or thin mat.

2. Use ribbons, tassles, paper clips, dried flowers, clippings and other tiny objects to embellish the album.

3. Also paste a small piece of paper beside the keepsakes and make a short note to describe them. You can also make a message board for your children to write on.

4. Cut out some letters to be used for the title of the scrapbook. After that you can show the scrapbook to the entire family and reminisce the past.

Scrap booking is not only entertaining and fun to do but also worthy and advantageous. Individuals who are exposing themselves to scrap booking are honing their artistic capabilities. In fact, their works spell sophisticated scrap booking.

Sophisticated scrap booking is doing the thing with elegance, superiority and cleverness. From color combinations, to design, layout and embellishments – everything must complement and blend.

How do you go about sophisticated scrap booking?

1. Pick materials with classic colors. Examples of which are sepia, black, white, red and navy.

2. Pile or overlap papers to draw an impact and to make elements interact.

3. Use straight lines rather than curves and circles. Straight lines make clean and classic aura. If your scrapbook appears too rigid or linear, soften the lines or make a torn edge.

4. Select photos that will blend naturally with the colors, material and feel of your scrapbook.

5. Shallow dimensions are preferred. Use embellishments that are not that bulky. Moreover, you can use charms, alphabet tiles, foam tape, laces and tassles to emphasize dimension. Nonetheless, do not overdo it so as to distract the photos.

6. If the photos have theme or motif, be sure to dress your scrapbook according to the latter. The theme, color and embellishments must add to the beauty of the scrapbook not the contrary.

Speaking of embellishments, one of the most preferred embellishments that artists use is tassles. Tassles are ornaments consist of loose threads, embroidery floss, yarns, straw, raffia or cords. They are not only best for scrap booking but for knitting projects, scarves, bookmarks, pillows, draperies and afghans as well. You can find tassles ubiquitously. Nonetheless, if you desire to do it personally, tassle-making is pretty much easy.

Here are the simple steps in making tassles:

1. Cut a piece of cardboard based on the size of tassle you want to have.

2. Wrap a piece of yarn (or any of your desired material) around the cardboard. Cut the yarn at the untied end.

3. Wrap the long piece of yarn around the tassle. If you are satisfied with the look and style, insert its end (through a needle) to anchor said tassle.

4. Trim excess ends to give the tassle a clean look.

Now, you have your own version of tassle. You can use it in any art project you have including scrap booking.  Just bear in mind that scrap booking represents the individual personality of the creators. Nonetheless, if you want your own version of several things – you can. You can bend the rules. You can even break them. Its all our bringing out the bet of you and the best of what your personality can give – your piece of idiosyncrasy!

Memories are precious. They make you laugh, cry, abstemious, upbeat and more. Simply, memories make you feel. Sweet memories are kept. On the other hand, painful and awful memories are disregarded. Nonetheless, memories are to be cherished, whether they belong to the negative feeling or not.

Memories are not capable of pecuniary estimation. Hence, no amount of money can bring back good old times. Your childhood memories, your memorable gatherings and celebrations and other worth-remembering moments of your life cannot be literally extracted from the future. Moreover, there must be some sort of channels to bridge the gap between the past and the present.

These channels may come in several forms. With today’s advancements in technology, nothing can hinder you to linger on the happiest days of those life as well as those days that have taught you lessons to live by. Memories can stay for a lifetime, if and only if you allow them to hang around.

People use different ways to capture the essence of memories. During special occasions, camera, videos and other sort of gadgets are used to seize the moment. After that, the mementos are saved and kept. In the case of photographs, they are placed in albums to preclude harmful elements and other circumstances from spoiling them.

Photo album is the most common haven for precious memories. Ages ago, photo album was discovered for this purpose. Nonetheless, the passage of time cannot trim down its importance. In today’s time, photo album is still used for the same purpose. However, due to the advances introduced to it. The same has become more functional, stylish and versatile.

One of modifications introduced to photo albums is scrap booking. It is another way of preserving the momentum of memories similar to that of its ancestor – photo album. The only difference is that it is more flexible, artsy and captivating.

Scrap booking is placing photographs into albums and embellishing the later with word, design and style. Scrap booking may also include memorabilia, stories, testimonials and quotations. In fact, embellishments such as beads, yarn, threads, buttons, trimmings and the like can also be incorporated in a scrapbook to make it more stylish. This is done not only to make memories last but to make them more appealing as well.

The scrapbook that has evolved in the 90s is new and different. In this milieu, scientific knowledge about scrap booking was utilized to create longer photo preservation duration. This is to ensure that photos are not just contained in the scrapbook but said scrapbook must prevent the pictures from deteriorating.

Earlier, pictures don’t survive long enough to satisfy their possessors. Nowadays, technology has brought picture preservation to a new level. The pictures’ durability and faηade are now improved. In fact, in today’s generation, cranky, faded and yellowed photos can be spared because of modern methods of storing them. Moreover, the life span of pictures has significantly soared.

Modern scrap booking ideas, methods and products are now in great demand. Said demand has paved way for the spawning of scrap booking businesses. In just a short span, scrap booking has been converted into a million dollar industry.

In fact, scrap booking has not missed the Internet for its haven. There has been hundreds of scrap booking sites that have sprung the online interface. Moreover, you can even find free scrap booking sites to learn some techniques and valuable tips about scrap booking.

Another important advancement in the field of digital photography is the introduction of various hardware and software to manipulate and transfer photos. These advancements resulted to scrap booking online. Electronic scrapbook is deemed a ‘permanent scrapbook’ since it can stay in the World Wide Web for a lifetime depending on the choice of the owner.

Nowadays, photo gathering, sharing and preserving are made easier and more convenient. Moreover, when an individual feel like reminiscing, he can easily get hold of the pictures and videos. Having a quick sojourn to the past is easy nowadays, because of the advances in technology, memories are easily kept and stored at the same time, they are also convenient to pore over or replay.

Scrap booking can be had in the traditional or modern way. The first one speaks of gathering materials and decorating a photo album while the second speaks of utilizing your computer skills plus technology to arrive at a striking scrapbook that every one will enjoy.

How to Lengthen the Lifespan of Your Scrapbooking Albums

Among the major materials that you would need to deal with in the scrapbooking world are the albums. They are in fact, the body that builds the bulk of papers, cards and embellishments. They don’t only act as protectors of your memorabilia, they themselves contain and preserve them for you.

There simply are lots of scrapbooking album choices that you can take into consideration. There are hundreds (maybe even thousands!) which make it impossible for us to categorize them into groups rather than basing on their sizes.

Modern scrapbooking normally features albums sizes 8½Χ11″ and 12″Χ12″. However, many scrappers these days prefer smaller sizes such as those of the 8″Χ8″ down to 6″Χ6″. The size of course is a matter of personal preferences.

The albums may provide protection for your memories. However, they sometimes would not be able to cover natural tendencies for depreciation. In this article, we have gathered some fundamental scrapbooking album care that will help lessen the immediate damages that may be brought by a number of harmful elements to your “memory keepers”.

To avoid disasters, it is best that your album is keep away from liquids. Liquids do not only spoil the outside covering of your scrapbook, they may as well cause damage on the photos, memorabilias, negatives and other water non-resistant materials. Also, keep your working area clear from liquids.

Direct sunlight can undoubtedly cause colors to fade. Thus, diminished album quality. This goes side by side with extreme temperatures. Too low temperature will moisten the album itself and the same goes with too hot environment, especially for storage.

Initially the damage of oily hands may not be as apparent. If you need to follow the puritan’s way, you will have to secure your hands with cotton gloves. But you can always choose to frequently wash your hands with acid neutralizing agents or simply refrain from touching the photographs with your entire hand so as to prevent the deterioration caused by skin oils.

Learn to store. Proper storage of negatives, layouts and other materials will not only prevent tears, scratches or bends from occurring, they will also largely affect the lifespan of each. Provide sturdy containers or acid-free envelopes for filing.

Plastics are commonly used as sealers or protectors of memorabilias and photos. However, we must always remember that they are not all created equal. If you are not as keen to details, you may find that you are better off without specific types of plastics as they may cause larger problems in the end as compared with not protection at all.

To be safe, never use vinyl plastics as they contain the destructive material referred to as polyvinyl chloride or PVC. This substance is unstable and will therefore cause corrosion in your precious items. The effects may not be obvious at first though. Look for polyester or acrylic materials instead. They have more stable properties and will help ensure the longevity of your items.

Always look for acid-free papers. Be warned though that many types of acidic papers found in your local scrapbooking shops. Additionally, it does not mean that if the light colored papers of a specific manufacturer are acid-free it does not follow that their darker shades are the same. Often, pigmentation and die will affect the acid level of a specific paper. If you are quite doubtful, always check the label or test any unlabeled papers.

Why the fuss with acids and acid levels? Simply because acids are large contributors to immediate deterioration of quality in your scrapbooking materials. This condition is obviously seen in newspapers where pages turn yellow over time. If you would not want any damage or loss of quality in your scrapbooking album, it is best that you keep watch acidity levels in the materials your are using. After all, scrapbooks are used to preserve memories.

Proper documentation is crucial when making scrapbooks. Years from now, as you look back to your photos, you would be glad that you took time to label them. However, assure to it that you use the appropriate materials in labeling.

Never use ballpoint pens as they tend to require you to write with pressure plus the possibility of ink transfer from one photo to another, especially when they are kept or glued in a photo stack.

All these guidelines are not only intended to cerate better impressions on your work. They would also help lengthen the quality preservation of your memory keepers.

Give it up to an Accordion Album for Scrapbooking

Each one of you has a set of good and bad memories. Usually those good memories paint smiles on your faces while the bad ones sadden your hearts. Whichever kind of memory it is, these things occur in your life when you least expect them.

Keeping pictures of whatever event in your life with whoever the persona is with you is one way of keeping those memories alive. Most people love to take pictures during field trips, holidays, vacations, birthdays, graduations, weddings, and many other occasions. With these photos, the memory is kept to be lingering in the minds of those who get to take a glimpse of those. But would you rather let your photos lie still in plain and traditionally-looking photo albums? Don’t you want to spice them up? Why not work on scrapbooks?

You need not be an expert photographer or an experienced artist to create scrapbooks. All you need is the concept of the design and layout for the scrapbook plus of course the photos which you want to include.

Have you ever heard of the term accordion albums? You may have encountered these things or you likely keep one in your bedroom. An accordion album is not that standard photo album size. It is smaller. Accordion albums are also best for keeping alive those memories of your loved ones. Love relationship accordion albums are the most common of all. As lovers, you have certainly spent several good times together and you would want such memory to live on forever. In this way, creating an accordion album for scrapbooking will work out just perfect!

The number of photos to be included in the scrapbook determines the size and layout to be employed in your accordion album for scrapbooking. To keep the memories more alive, you can make use of poems, quotes, love songs, or simple statements expressing your love to the person as captions for the photos. In this way, the intimate feeling will be manifested in your work of art.

When writing down the journal, you can recall some funny or memorable incidents about the photo in order to make the caption more expressive and alive. The colors will also have to play a great role in the journal. Softer colors such as cream and blue or silver and gold are mostly used. These colors make the pages of the scrapbook more attractive and lively.

Worthy Topics for the Accordion Album

Among the topics which you can employ for your accordion album include the “Ten Things I Love about You” or “The History of Our Relationship”. Whichever more personal topic you would want to employ can be as long as it will make an intimate impression on your scrapbook.

More so, the accordion album for scrapbooking may also serve as a memorabilia of the items such as cards, love letters, restaurant menu dined at, concerts attended, dried flowers, and many other things which both of you have given for each other. You may likewise have a question and answer portion that both of you will answer. The questions may revolve around your favorite food, pet peeves, traditions, future goals, favorite pastimes, and the things which you mostly agree and disagree on.

The Importance of the Accordion Album for Scrapbooking

The accordion album for scrapbooking is one quick and easy way of recording special memories that you and your lover share. Doing it entails a lot of fun too. You can even laugh by yourself as you remember particular incidents associated with the pictures. As you show it to your partner, rest assured that he or she would also be very happy with your output.

Some Valuable Steps to Follow

Before finally starting with the scrapbooking, first get all the pictures that you will include in the craft. Sort them out according to events and according to chronology. Before pasting the photos, make sure that you’ve already conceptualized the sequence of those as they will appear in the pages. Once in a while, put in artistic embellishments to the pages. Never fail to include the captions too. Do this all throughout the pages of the scrapbook. By carefully following the ins and outs of the steps, you are on your way to a desirable accordion album for scrapbooking!

Hugz For Scrapbooking
Qualities that Determine the Right Hugz for Scrapbooking
Scrapbooking nowadays involves so many materials. In the past, scrapbooking took on a distinctive look as each person was relied on his or her resourcefulness in order to get the right look and the proper details into his or her scrapbook. Nowadays, however, there are different add-ons for sale that the only reason why people achieve distinct looks with their scrapbooks is the fact that each person arranges the scrapbook differently.

Hugz for scrapbooking is one type of the little bits and pieces that companies sell in order to make your creations more attractive. Hugz for scrapbooking aren’t really necessary, but they add a distinctive look and make your scrapbook into something special.

What determines the right Hugz for scrapbooking?

1) Color – People sometimes choose the right hugz based on their color. But how do these people determine the right color of hugz for scrapbooking?

a) Theme – Going with the overall theme or template of the scrapbook can be pretty crucial factor. Depending on what color, object, event, person, place, or emotion you choose to base your scrapbook on, you need hugz for scrapbooking that will either complement the color of the theme or contrast it for a brilliant effect.    

b) Emotion – The color of hugz for scrapbooking can also be used to reflect the emotion of the memory being portrayed. Remember that there different interpretations for different colors. Here are the different interpretations of colors.

b.1) Red – This color can stand for courage, honor and loyalty to family. The red is the color of blood meaning it can also stand for passion and violence. Red can also be associated with communism, and revolution.

b.2) Black – This is often associated with mystery and inner peace. Black is also associated with non-conformism, evil and the night. Black can also stand for sorrow and pain and you can use this color of hugz when you are putting together a scrapbooking page of a very sorrowful time in your life.

b.3) Purple – This stands for royalty and wisdom. The emotion commonly associated with purple is nobility. Purple hugz for scrapbooking can be used in pages signifying victory over the odds.

b.4) Pink – The color pink stands for innocence and love. This is because in eastern philosophy, pink is often the visualized color of the love energy which flows from one of the chakras of the human body. A person with a pink aura is often seen as covered in the power of love.

b.5) White – White stands for purity, glory and peace. It can also signify a new beginning, meaning you can use it on pages where you want to show a rebirth of your life.

2) Size – Hugz for scrapbooking also come in different sizes. These sizes can actually signify anything. However, it is always up to the crafter to choose its specific meaning. Small hugz are often used for memories and pictures with significance usually only known to the crafter. Small hugz are often used to mark special memories that have a particular sweetness to the crafter, yet may not be understood by any other readers.

Medium sized hugz may be used to mark any significant objects which a few people may be able to relate to. These hugz may be used to mark certain events in a family’s life that bears a certain joy to the different people involved.

Large hugz are used to mark very significant events. These hugz can mark certain turning points in a person’s life or milestones in their history. It may also be used to mark important events which every person can relate to as being emotionally intense.

3) Shape – Of course, Hugz usually take the form of circles, since they got their name from the marks XOXO in a letter, signifying hugs and kisses. The circle signifies a hug and the X symbolizes a kiss. However, manufacturers nowadays have decided to include a variety of shapes.

Today, the circle shape can signify love. This means that you may use this type of hugz for romantic memories or especially sweet moments. It also signifies magic or reincarnation. The cycle of life also is shown by the circle. Triangles can signify intelligence or heavenly powers, as this is often the symbol for the trinity.

The Virtues of Firefighter Scrapbooking

Scrapbooking is one of those activities that, while relying around a central theme, allow the person freedom to express him or her self. What does this signify? Well, scrapbooking revolves around one principle: organized chaos. This means that while you can practically put anything in a scrapbook, you should do it in a way that lets the objects relate to one another.

However, inanimate objects cannot really relate can they? What you need to do is build bridges between these objects as to let the viewer experience the bigger picture. You need to have a central theme upon which the chaos is based. For chaos that revolves around chaos is just plain, dare I say it, chaotic.

One popular theme among young boys is the firefighter. You see, these true to life heroes are admired by many people. Young boys are not the only ones fascinated by the idea of being a firefighter. In fact, many adults still find themselves wishing that they achieve their childhood dreams of being a firefighter.

Firefighter scrapbooking is probably the closest you can get to the real thing. What does one need to keep in mind when firefighter scrapbooking? Well, you have different factors to consider, and these factors need thorough thinking in order to come together in a scrapbook.

Here are the factors that affect firefighter scrapbooking:

• 1) Color  There are different types of colors that you can use for firefighter scrapbooking. There is, of course, the standard combination of brilliant red with white. This is the most recognizable, thanks to its being the standard color of fire trucks everywhere. In using this color combination, you need to take care to make the red very distinct and the white should not dominate the theme because doing coloring it so would turn your theme into an ambulance.

• Another popular color combination for firefighter scrapbooking would be a red, coupled with spotted white. This actually honors the Dalmatian, since it is known as the traditional dog of the firefighter. People really have little idea why the Dalmatian was chosen as a mascot for such work, but hey, it works.

• You may also think of choosing a color combination of red and orange, signifying the flames that the firefighter puts out. However, in order to keep up with the theme of firefighter scrapbooking, you may try to do different colors for different pages, beginning with the colors of the flame and ending with the color blue for water. This would not only be a great firefighter scrapbooking idea, but it can also signify the yin and the yang. Balance is shown by the different colors and the different elements, and if thereÆs one thing every person needs in his or her memories, it is balance.
  

  2) Imagery û You might also like to be more straightforward with your theme and use different pictures and images for your firefighter scrapbooking. This means you can use popular symbol associated with firefighting.

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Here are some symbols you might want to think about using:

• a) Fire engine  This popular vehicle enjoys immense popularity in different types of crafting media. What makes this image so popular is the fact that it is easily recognizable. It is also of a very distinct shade of red which is aptly labeled ôfire engine redö. The basic construction of this vehicle is so familiar that even children recognize it.

• b) Firefighter  The firefighter is also one of the most recognizable images you can use for firefighter scrapbooking. Ideally, since the scrapbook is actually based on the character, this should be the logical choice. Given the popularity of the vehicle, however, you can understand why most people prefer it.

The firefighter also gains its popularity because of the distinctive look of the uniform. In fact, that protective hat of the firefighter is distinctive enough to stand as a symbol on its own.

• c) Hydrant  This is also one of the distinct images that people associate with firefighting. Despite the fact that many people actually use fire hydrants for personal purposes the hydrant still remains to be a distinctive symbol of firefighting. Be careful, however, as the hydrant is also associated with dogs mainly because of the fact that many people think that hydrants are dogsÆ comfort rooms.