Family Craft Boutique

When it comes to family memories, there’s no better place to showcase your pictures, special letters and heirlooms, than in a family scrapbook. While it may seem a challenging task to organize all these items, it’s well worth the while. Imagine how fun it will be years from now, when you and your family members can discuss old times while perusing through the scrapbook. Before you get started on your project, however, you will need some basic scrapbook supplies. These basic scrapbooking supplies will be a necessity when starting on your new scrapbook:

~ Scrapbook album: Choose one that contains acid free pages, or buy acid-free, PVC-free sheet protectors and slide them into a three-ring binder. The size of your scrapbook will depend on your personal preference.
~ Adhesives: These will be used to secure everything to the album pages. Photo corners, photo tape, double-side adhesive strips, and glue sticks are a few options.
~ Scissors: Pick from the straight edge or decorative edge variety. Scissors can be used to cut your photos into decorative shapes, and to crop out any unwanted areas.
~ Journaling pens: Use acid-free permanent markers and pens for writing down important names, dates, and family memories, and for adding designs and pictures to your scrapbooks edges.

It was a big throw-down for the kids. Our organization finally had enough resources to build playgrounds for three public schools, and within two weeks we will be inaugurating all of them. We planned to have sports-themed parties for the opening, which we all agreed was the right one. I could hardly contain my own excitement when we were picking up the sports party supplies from the store downtown.  As if God was showing us again His blessing, we had the luck of good weather on the days of the inauguration. The sound of the kids’ squeal as they ran to their new playground was just the sweetest music for us. Some of the kids have never been to a playground, and what we gave them was ‘heaven sent,’ says one teacher. It had been a heavenly experience for us as well, because we made these children so happy.

Well, I was all excited this week, as it is spring break from school and I had taken over 100 pictures of scrapbook paper to upload to the website. Then, Thursday and Friday of last week the wind blew like crazy at our house.

So, today I called the internet people and they said my satellite was not showing up. So, my loving husband climbed on the roof in the 26 degree weather and heavy wind and found that my internet hookup had blown over, ripping out part of the roof with it!

Luckily for me, although he wasn’t happy about it, he fixed it for me and I have been able to start uploading a very small taste of our scrapbook paper selection. I should have about 130 uploaded by late this evening and I plan on adding at least 100 more each day this week. Yeah!

So be sure to check out our new section to see what new papers we have uploaded!

http://www.afamilyaffaircraftboutique.com/store/WsDefault.asp?iNew=New

I will keep working hard to get all of our scrapbook supplies uploaded before the baby comes- the due date is June 7th.

Melissa

People turn to a lot of things to relax. I do cross-stitching and embroidery in order to unwind. I find it therapeutic to concentrate on my punch needle embroidery pattern and then feel ecstatic when I finish it. It’s a different feeling to finish a big design all on your own.

Sometimes, though, my needlework projects get sidetracked. Work would pile up, or there would be household emergencies, and the needlework would have to stay in the drawer while life gets to me. But when I have those quiet Sunday afternoons alone I take it out and work on it. That way Sunday afternoons could not be anymore relaxing.

You spent a lot of time and resources to create your beautiful wedding.  The church was perfect and the reception was well attended.  Even the food got raves from your guests.  Now, your gown is in storage in your closet and you are back from a glorious honeymoon.  You are relaxing on your comfortable sofa and reviewing the proceedings of the occasion. Wow! You never really noticed the beautiful tulips in the church or the bouquet of orchids you were carrying as you walked down the aisle.  And your guests, weren’t they the most fashionably dressed lot?  Everything seems to have been just a blur then but all the details are coming back through your pictures.

Fortunately, photographers were working hard that day.  You have a lot of pictures and you decide to keep it all in a wedding scrapbook.  It is really simple.  You can buy a scrapbook kit that will contain an album, pens, punches, stickers, scissors and a collection of wedding scrapbook paper. Scrapbook paper for wedding photos comes in various designs that will coordinate with stickers and embellishments.  Choose your favorite photos and arrange them creatively on a sheet of wedding scrapbook paper.  Add a funny or sentimental note and some stickers.  Do this for all your chosen photos and you will come up with an album of memories that will be fun to review from time to time.

 In the West, style décor is inspired by the rustic, the natural and the rugged.  Influences of American art are evident.  Primitive country décor sits well with this style.  It evokes warmth and casual living closely associated with hospitality and friendliness.  Wood is the material of choice in these decorations.  They may be handcrafted or produced with the help of machines but always they adhere to the natural look.

Many of today’s homes embrace the style of primitive country décor.  These are homes of people who want to connect to the beauty of the great outdoors.  An old bench positioned in the garden is inviting.  Fine antiques are used to adorn distressed open cabinets. Candles and potpourri as well as table runners and window treatments are personal expressions of style.
 

Every summer, I try to look for a new hobby that will develop my creativity and craftsmanship. One that I really enjoyed most is the punch needle embroidery. It was great that punch needle embroidery patterns are easily available now since punch needle embroidery is gaining popularity once again.  Patterns now can be ironed on and can even be used in other applications other than punch needle embroidery.  There are so many patterns you can choose from so you can create many projects that you can even giveaway as gifts.

You can have your creations framed so they don’t just sit in your box or somewhere in your hobby closet.  Your friends can appreciate the work you have put in.  You can spend hours on end and complete a project very quickly.  If you are more experienced and more confident, you may also design your own patterns.  Then you can even sell your designs and make some profit out of your hobby.

Graduation is a very special occasion in every student’s life.  It marks a great academic achievement.  Every parent dreams of seeing their children march on stage and receive their diploma.  And after all the hard work, a party to celebrate the momentous occasion is in order.

You need good food, great music and fantastic graduation party supplies.  Balloons are always a great start.  Apart from the ordinary balloons, you can get balloons with special messages printed on them.  There are messages like “You did it”, “Congratulations” and more.  These balloons can really add to the festive mood.

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Ok, so I’ll admit something that I don’t tell many people, especially since I own a store that sells scrapbook supplies.

I haven’t scrapbooked anything for my self in several years. It seems like every time I want to do something for my myself, the store, or something for some one else gets in the way. I have my husband’s Hunting Scrapbook caught up until October of this year. I had our wedding album pages decorated and done and ready for pictures for over 2 years (almost 3!) , and they have been patiently waiting to be put into the album.

So, since I am on Christmas break from teaching Kindergarten and I think that the nesting bug is starting to kick in, I decided to spend 2 days to finally unpack and organize my scrapbook room and actually get some of my own scrapbooking done!

Here are a few of the scrapbook pages I got completed from our wedding pictures.

Here are my 2 favorite scrapbook pages, which I actually decided to get some 12×12 picture frames for and hang as you go down our stairs along with our other wedding pictures.

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Here are some sites that carry the 12×12 frames:

http://www.pfile.com/prod_detail_list/Scrapbook-Frames

http://www.michaels.com/art/online/displayProductPage?productNum=fr0323

http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/search/processRequest.do?Ntt=12×12+frame&x=0&y=0&requestURI=searchMain&Ntk=all&Ntx=mode%2Bmatchallpartial&N=0

It feels great to get some pictures done and be able to hold my work in my hands. And as always happens, once I start scrapbooking I just can’t stop. I think this will help me get my mind off of the miseries of being pregnant. I have been having all day and most of the night “morning sickness,” insomnia and at other times exhaustion. It seems I can’t find a chair in the house that is comfortable but scrapbooking has helped take my mind off of it and I can’t wait to get started on the baby’s scrapbook. I think I will do like I did with our wedding album and get a few pages done, like coming home from the hospital, etc. That way when I am so tired with the new baby all I will have to do is add the pictures.

Stay tuned for more pages as I get them completed!

One of my favorite blogs! Check it out.

http://antiqueornot.blogspot.com