Mybookinonline.com - scrapbooking - memories - scrap book forum

I’ve had this eyelet setter for several years. Before this I had the regular tool kit that had the small hammer and eyelet setter tool that you had to bang on….loudly… several times to make a hole and then bag again…..even louder…. to set the eyelet. It just didn’t work for me. For one thing, even though I mostly do all my bookin’ outside of my home, I’m with a group, and would have to remember to call out “hammering!” every time I wanted to set an eyelet, or else I would either upset the lady sitting at the same table with me as she’s trying to do her handwritten journaling and I’m hammering away, or startling nearly everyone else in the room! If I try to do my bookin’ at home, it’s nearly always after my daughter has gone to bed, and I don’t want to wake her up with the hammering. So, I invested in the Instant Setter by Making Memories. While not “silent” it is quieter than hammering. One (slightly loud) click to make your hole and one (at the most two) clicks to set the eyelet. It usually doesn’t result in an eyelet back that is “perfectly” spread, but one usually hides the back of an eyelet anyway, so no biggie to me. You can adjust the tension on it, so if you have an especially soft eyelet, make it hit less hard and just do it a couple of times to get it as flat as you like. It’s easy to change setter heads, just slip in a new one and it’s magnetically held in place until you take it out. It’s a little on the hard side to clean out the puncher tool as you can’t stick a needle straight in, but there is a hole on the side to do the job, it just takes a bit of doing.

All in all, a great tool for eyelet setting.

Do you have a favorite tool? Let us know over at the Bookin’ Forums!

Happy Bookin’!

For this days bookin’ tips I will direct your attention to 50 Fabulous Scrapbooking Tips.  There are actually more than 50, probably more like 200 with all 4 pages, but I took the time to read just the first 50. I will be going back to that website though and reading through all the tips. I really liked tip #35 that has a unique use for soda can tabs.

Don’t forget, if you have a great bookin tip or technique, jump on over to the Bookin Forums, register and leave your tip or technique in the tips forum. Your tip could be the featured tip of the week!

I played around with scrapblog this evening, bookin some pictures I took the other night when my little darling should have been sleeping, but she wasn’t! Lady of the Clips is the title to it. Enjoy!

Thought I would get away from the summer theme (even as we are getting the hottest weather of the year this past week, UGH!) and move into Back to School mode. I picked up all the elements at craftpinktoque. Let me know what you think of the new look!

From a blog I’ve been frequenting, she’s had a whole week of fun freebies that are beach themed. The whole project was a collaborative effort between her and some other bloggers. They are all super cute and while I’m not “technically” a digital booker, it seems this summer I’ve been trying my hand at it more and more.  So, check out Cen’s Loft and get the CT collab kit pieces and make those beautiful beach pages!

I’ve owned the xyron 500 create a sticker for almost a year. This machine applies adhesive to your scrapbook items. You put in your picture, die cut, ribbon… whatever up to about 5 inches, and turn the handle. It comes out the other side attached to a white paper. All you do is peel your item off the paper and stick it to your page or card! Super easy.. and just like you see them do on QVC when they are demonstrating products!

My hubby bought this fantastic product for me for Christmas. I’ve said many times that it’s one of the best presents he has gotten for me. I love it because it makes creating cards or scrapbook pages super fast (after I’ve figured out what I want it to look like, of course!). It’s wide enough to put a 4×6 picture in, but you don’t usually need to coat a picture with adhesive. I usually run several smaller things through it, even my 5 year old can do it….. kids even younger could use it with help. My daughter loves turning the handle and then peeling off the papers she picked and sticking them to her project. I also want to get a smaller xyron because sometimes I just have a piece of ribbon and it doesn’t make sense to run just that through and waste a lot of adhesive.. but xyron makes several sizes of these machines. It’s really great for those items that are hard to use your adhesive runner on, just send your laser cut die cut through this baby and out it comes, perfectly coated with adhesive, ready to peel and stick!

You can find this machine at most craft stores. Joann’s Fabric and Craft online is have a sale on them!

By Jay Moncliff

Looking for a simple, versatile scrapbooking idea that can make your pages interesting and great looking? Try using the color wheel that you learned about in grade school to design well-coordinated eye-pleasing pages that really shine. The simple color theories that you learned in grade school can serve you very well in scrapbooking today, and after reviewing the basics you’ll be ready to create an unlimited number of great looking pages.

Remember the color wheel? Colors arranged in a circle, similar to a rainbow, and all of the colors related? Red combines with yellow to make orange, yellow and blue combine to make green, and red and blue make purple, remember? Visit your local craft store and invest in a simple color wheel to get you going. Most of the art departments will have one, and EK Success makes a fancy one just for scrapbooking. Any color wheel will allow you to use these simple ideas.

Let your picture be your guide in choosing a color scheme for your page. Choose one color from the photograph to be your “key” color. It may be a color from a flower in the foreground, or the color of the shirt your child is wearing. Whatever you choose, it will be the starting point for your color themed page design.

The first color scheme is monochromatic. Say you’ve chosen the blue of your son’s eyes. Since every color comes in many values, choose two or three additional values of the blue color you want to use. You may choose one lighter value and one darker value, or two lighter or darker values, it’s up to you. Now do all of your work on the page in these three colors. The result will be restful, calming and cohesive. Your page will be pleasing to the eye and stylish, no matter how you accessorize.

Choosing two or three adjoining colors is called an analogous color scheme. These combinations tend to be either warm (from the red side of the color wheel) or cool (from the blue side of the color wheel). They are pleasing to the eye, restful and attractive. Certain combinations lend themselves very well to different themes as well. Consider a combination of red, orange yellow and orange for a striking fall layout, or a combination of icy blues and purples for a frosty winter page.

The third basic type of color scheme is complimentary. Choosing colors across the wheel from each other creates contrast and is a good way to make the items on your page stand out. On a blue page, mat the photos in orange and use orange toned accents and your details will really stand out. Red and green are also complimentary, another reason that those Christmas pages are usually so striking. Every color on the color wheel has a compliment. Consider basing your page on one color and accent with its compliment for a striking, impressive effect.

The basics of color theory that we learned in grade school are worth reviewing when you’re looking for ideas to get started on your next scrapbook page. Invest in a color wheel and put those great papers to work for you!

Article gotten here

Reading through my emails tonight, I opened my Simple Scrapbook Times newsletter and saw there is a new Cricut out! Apparently it’s exclusive to Michael’s Craft Stores.

Exclusive to Michaels, the Cricut Create™ Personal Electronic Cutter combines the portability of the original Cricut® machine with the functionality of the Cricut Expression™ machine. The Cricut Create machine is the same size as the original Cricut machine, yet it allows cuts from 0.25-inch up to 11.5-inch on a 6-inch x 12-inch cutting mat. The machine also includes an eight-way directional blade, Portrait mode (to cut taller images), Fit to Page mode (to cut the largest cut possible), Auto Fill mode (to mass produce cuts), Center Point function, and Flip function. An improved display screen and sleek design add greater style and convenience.

The machine includes the DonJuan™ font and shape cartridge, one 6-inch x 12-inch cutting mat, and necessary cords and manuals.

I added a new tip to the “Ideas and Tips” page. Check it out!

I finally got the August Bookin’ Challenge up at the forums. Come on over and check it out! August Challenge