You can watch the video by using the player above, or you can right-click here to save the video to your computer.

In this tutorial, you’ll see:

• How to get ideas for handmade backgrounds
• Design principles that make it all work together
• Examples of handmade backgrounds

Also, if you’re not subscribed to the free version of Paperclipping in iTunes, here’s a link that will take you there.

With so many layouts appearing in this episode, I’ll only post the four new ones here but you can see the three that I’ve featured in previous episodes here, here, and here.

He Makes Me Laugh

12×12 layout

Journaling written to my husband reads: She said, “I can stick my tongue up my nose. Watch…” So I watched, and she totally did it. I was in partial shock but I kept a smile on my face. And that’s when you leaned into my neck and said — fairly loudly — “I’m glad you can’t do that.” And you made me laugh. Hard. Just like you always do.

Fiskars Border Punch: Apron Lace

Rhonda & Kelly

8.5×11 layout

Journaling reads: Loved that you did it your own way…a simple wedding with family and your closest friends out in nature. Loved Larry’s talk about having someone to come home to. Loved watching your beautiful happy faces.

Blue Prima Medicci Flower

My Mom

12×12 layout

Journaling directed to my mom reads: This is how I see you in most of my memories as a kid. I actually have hazier visuals from an even younger time when I was two to four years old and we lived in Arizona. At that young age I remember big hands reaching down to me. Big to my small size. Safe hands dropping down from huge heights to pick me up or to give me a gumball from the high closet shelf. I remember how you were so tall, towering over me. And when you held me I was high above the floor.

A few years later we moved to the house where Dad took this picture of you…you standing in our backyard on Lucinda Dr. in Whittier, CA. My memories are a little less hazy at this time with a little more perspective. Your face is a lot more clear, your hands less dominant. I remember you just like this picture. A naturally beautiful mommy.

Suede Glimmer Mist * Sage Glimmer Mist * Time Metal Word Stick * Felt Letters

In Flight

12×12 layout

Journaling reads: You four girls backstage, being young beautiful ballerinas, playing together while you wait your turn. You girls danced together–grew together and performed together–for at least three years (was it more than that?). You all stuck it out with two hard teachers from Russia and did a fab job shining on stage.

S.W.A.K. Glimmer Mist * Tiger Lilly Glimmer Mist * Bird Glimmer Screen (mask from Flights Of Fancy set) * Bling Flourish * In Flight Stamp * Winged Heart Journal Block * Little Bird Chipboard: Tattered Angels Nature Glimmer Chips

Episodes On How To Use Art Mediums

Paperclipping Members who want help with the actual techniques of of using paint, Glimmer Mist, and masks can watch these episodes in the archives…

58 – Glimmer Mist
106 – Mix Your Own Paint Colors
27 – Using Masks And Paint

All links direct to my affiliate store.

This week’s video is for members only.

In this tutorial, you’ll see:

• How to place photos to make many work together
• How to pick patterned paper that works with your photos
• How to add embellishments without them being too much

You can download the trailer, or you can become a member to see the full version of the video.

Also, if you’re not subscribed to the free version of Paperclipping in iTunes, here’s a link that will take you there.

Below is the layout I featured in this week’s tutorial…

Creativity In The Making

2-pg. 12×12 layout

Journaling written to my friend, Dedra Long reads: Shooting our DVD together — that was a blast. It was hard work, definitely. But we had FUN! I remember laughing and laughing with you, even though I can’t remember what was so funny. By looking at the photos, it was clearly something about hair. Clearly. I’m so glad we did these two long days of video shoots. It was one of my favorite Paperclipping memories.

Supplies: Creative Imaginations Die Cut Paper * 7 Gypsies yellow polka dot paper * Tattered Angels Glimmer Glass (Nature) * Tim Holtz Idea-ology Type Charms * Prima Rhinestone Flourish * Basic Grey yellow rub-on’s.

Above is a closeup of the technique part of this episode.

Other Layouts Shown In This Episode:

This week’s episode is the last for 2009! Many thanks to all the Paperclipping Members, whose memberships make it possible for us to produce these tutorials.

This week’s episode is for members only but anyone can click on the video above to see the trailer. There’s also a Quicktime version of the trailer here. If you are new here, you might want to watch the free tutorials available in the left-hand column. Anyone who would like to see this week’s video, plus the other 130 episodes in the archives, can find out how to become a Paperclipping Member by clicking here.

Supplies for New Years Album: Many thanks to Stampin’ Up for providing their Glassy Glaze Enamel and the Bashful Blue cardstock.
Reminder to Members: watch your emails today or tomorrow for an invitation to sign up for a one-week email course of seven daily lessons for holiday photography.

December Daily: My focus over the last couple workdays has been on the email photography course. I will post pictures of my album over the next few days here on the blog. I just need a little more.

We’re releasing a free episode this week. That means you don’t have to be a Paperclipping Member to watch it. If you like it, you might decide you want to see all the others, in which case, you can hop over here and find out how to do that.

To watch, you can either click on the video above or download the Quicktime version.

Below are the layouts that I featured in this video tutorial…

Drum Drum Drum Drum

12×12 layout

The Prima Venice white flower and Pearls & Crystals flourish mix with the playful paper images and combine elegance with childhood play in just the way I wanted so that I could replicate the feel of my mother’s gorgeous home and the children playing inside of it. Imaginisce gave me the Jolly Jingle and the Warm Woolen Mittens papers.

The Buckland Women

8.5×11

Journaling reads: It’s amazing to realize we’ve never had any real girl time together–not all four of us girls–not with the gap between our ages. It was short, but I’m so glad I got to have a little time to myself to visit my family this year. To watch them in their new homes. To see them mother their children and grandmother their grandchildren. * Lindsay * Mom (Grandma Buckland) * Erin * Noell *

Christmas ‘08 Mini: The Performances
6×7.5 mini book

Christmas ‘08 Mini: The Decorating

6×7.5 mini book

Personal family videos are all over the internet these days. We put such an emphasis on photos in the scrapbook industry, but videos are just as much a part of our stories as pictures are.

We’ve now released this week’s episode to the Paperclipping Members and in it I share some different ways Izzy and I started to incorporate the fun videos we take of our family and friends into our scrapbooking.

If you’re not a member, you can click on the video above or download the Quicktime version. You can also watch the free videos available in the left column. Then, if you want more tutorials, just click your way over here.

Imaginisce give me the paper I used for these two pages. If you click on the link you can purchase it through my affiliate store. The bow is a classic Dedra Long bow which I’m fortunate to have learned from the Altered Books DVD we made.

The cover of the minibook I featured in this episode will appear in one of the January tutorials and I will post pictures of it at that time.

Ali Edwards conceived the December Daily project three years ago. The idea is to create a minibook ahead of time with a page for each day. Then everyday in December you find a way to add your picture(s), journaling, and/or memorabilia to the pre-assembled book. These pictures are my 2009 book:

You can see my entire album (before I add the events of each day) in the December Daily set on my Flickr page. This post only showcases a handful of my pages.

5 Tips For Super-Fast Assembly

Are you worried about finding the time to make your own? I flew through the assembly of mine and when I reached the last page I was sad because I wanted to do more. Here are some tips that made this one of my fastest minibook projects, even though it has the most pages of any I’ve ever made before:

1. Do it mindlessly.

Okay, how often does anybody tell you to do something mindlessly. Never, right? Well, I’m telling you now, don’t think through this one. Don’t ask what you might be doing on what day or how to make the page gorgeous. And if you do the other tips, mindlessness will be no problem.

2. Divide your Christmas supplies into five piles:

a. Whole Sheets
These usually come 12×12 and can be paper, transparencies or fabric
b. Alternative Page Foundations
These can be scraps, envelopes, pocketed page protectors, other minibook pages, and anything else unusual that you might want to use as a page foundation.
c. Numbers
d. Small Spots
These are to place numbers on. Some ideas are circles, very small frames, or tags
e. Embellishments and Ribbon

3. Crop your whole sheets all at once.

Cut your whole sheets down to the size of your album pages. Don’t worry about page placement or embellishing while you do this. Don’t worry about how many you’ll need. Just crop all the papers you want in your album and know that you’ll use the alternative page foundations (that 2nd pile) to make up the difference.

4. Mix cropped whole sheets with your alternative page foundations.

Remember, we’re still working mindlessly here. Just start interspersing them with the alternative page foundations. The only thing to think about is variety. That’s it.

5. Add numbers and trimming all at once.

Are you starting to see the pattern here? We’re doing this in assembly line fashion, which you probably learned in elementary school is the fastest way to make a stuff, right? Now that you’ve mindlessly put your pages in order, you can add the smaller details.

If your page is from a scrap that is smaller than the regular minibook, you can give it a decorative edge, or some trimming. Don’t think hard about what to do, just know that you have these options and choose the first one that comes to mind. If your ribbon is in your embellishment & ribbon pile, you can grab it quickly and add it to a page edge without thinking or searching. Then add the next number to the page.

If your page is the size of your minibook, give yourself a break and just add a number (perhaps on a circular spot) and move on to the next page.

Two keys here: MINDLESS WORK & ASSEMBLY LINE.

Oh, and don’t forget to have fun basking in all that Christmas-color goodness.

Click here to see my entire book.

Edited To Add: Someone requested links to supplies I used. I have not bought any Xmas items this year (Imaginisce items are the only brand new ones because they gave them to me). I’ll link the items I can still find available below. Note that I’ll receive a commission if you click and buy.

Poinsetta on cover * red polka dot transparency * 8×8 book covers * polar bear paper * frosted forest paper * flower-shaped transparent and chipboard page.

If you’re not a Paperclipping Member, you can click on the video above or download the Quicktime version to get a look at my two holiday tables for this year. The full tutorial has already been released to our members.

Because I get so many emails asking where to get the supplies I use, I am trying an experiment. I just signed up as an affiliate with Scrapbook.com and I will try posting links to many of the supplies I use. If you click on the links and purchase any of the products, I will receive a commission. The price of the products remain the same for you. I’m concerned about having the time to do this regularly, but we’ll give it a try…

Place Tags

Imaginisce I-Top tool
Many of you saw me experimenting with the iTop Tool during Paperclipping Live using two pieces of fabric and the large-sized brads. The bulkiness of two fabrics made it a little more tricky to put the brad together the traditional way. In today’s episode you’ll see that I figured out a different way to put these together using the iTop Tool. It was so easy I was able to make my last 8 brads in less than ten minutes.

Other Place Tag Items:

iTop Tool Templates
7 Gypsies Vintage Tags
Stickles in Diamond
Sakura Glitter Pen
Gold Gems

Winter Napkin Decor

Prima Glitter Sprays

Snow-covered Pine Cones

Embossing Powder
Versamark Ink Pad
Re-inker of any kind in white

(disclaimer: Imaginisce sent me the iTop Tool and all of the related pieces for free so I could review it).

A Question For You

If you’ll take a minute to leave a comment, I’m curious to know: Do you decorate your table for holiday meals? If so, do you decorate your holiday tables pretty much the same way every year, or do you like to change it up and design a new table every time?

This week’s episode for the Paperclipping Members demonstrates tips and principles for turning a boring and symmetrical multi-photo layout into a much more interesting page with asymmetry. Watch the page come together and see the difference design know-how can make!

If you’re not a Paperclipping Member you can click on the player above for the trailer to this tutorial, or click here to watch the Quicktime version. You can also watch the free videos we have in the column to the left (you’ll probably need to scroll down a little to see those). If you like what you see, you may want to head over to this page to learn how you can watch the rest of our tutorials.

Below is the scrapbook page I featured in this episode…

Actors

2-pg. 12×12 layout

Making Memories was definitely my manufacture of choice for Halloween products this year. They made the witch boots paper and the charms you see in the layout above. The gorgeous laser cut paper at the bottom (Basic Grey) and the black-on-black flocked damask design that stretches across the page toward the top (Doodle Bug) are not Halloween-specific but definitely contribute the style I was going for.

These black flowers that hug the photo series (a tiny one layered on top of a larger one), plus the framed boots with small flower, are variations of two of the Halloween ornaments I designed for the tutorial here and here.

Journaling reads:

Trinity – You made up the “Freaky Doll” idea when Nana said you could borrow her purple wig (something she usually wears Halloween night) and that very bizarre mask. That pink girlie dress and the striped tights were perfect final additions to complete the look. Great idea, girlie.

Blake – You got some good 1-on-1 time with Dad while he painted Zombie makeup on you, You love being a monster and really getting into character. Usually you’re done that with masks but this year you were excited to finally get costume makeup on your monster face. Something you’ve wanted for a while.

For those of you who don’t have a Membership, we are pulling a Quick-Tip video from the archives. The idea I present is a great way to go back to all those past Halloweens you never got around to scrapbooking, while adding a little decorating (storytelling-style) to your home.

In this video you’ll see a fast and simple idea you can use for Thanksgiving, Hannukah, or Christmas. You’ll also get a design tip for mixing patterns. Just click on the player above to watch.

Want more videos like the one you see today? There are free examples of our tutorials in the left column. If you still want more, check out our Membership Information Page. Members get access to our archive of over 125 episodes plus two new episodes every month.

Download the Quicktime video here.

This week’s episode has been released for the Paperclipping Members. If you’re not a member, you can watch a trailer of the tutorial by clicking on the video above.

In this in-depth video I show you step-by-step in Photoshop Elements how to…

1. Isolate a subject in your photo so you can give it/him/her special attention.
2. Boost the color of your subject while making everything else black and white.
3. Make your subject stand out more by darkening your background and boosting the highlights in your subject.
4. Make your subject stand out by blurring the background.
5. Smooth the edges of your isolated subject so it doesn’t have that yucky “cut-out” look.

You’ll be able to do the above with your own Halloween zombies, their bloody sores, or with cute little girls at tea parties (below)–whatever you think needs special attention above its background. Check out this Before/After example where I left Blake’s sores and tongue a subtle red and brought him forward from his background, then see the layouts below for two examples:

To see what it takes to become a Paperclipping Member so you can watch episodes like this one, please visit the Membership Information Page.

Below are the layouts I featured in the episode…

The Making Of A Zombie

Journaling to Blake reads: Your makeup is on and you have no problem getting your act together, getting into character. I love how you love playing the part.

Girly Tea Time

Journaling to Trinity reads: I had such a fun day with you at this tea party. We looked at art on the street, shopped a cute gift shop and tried hats and teas. Fun girly day.

Want to try it? Once you do it you’ll want to do it all the time. It’s fun. Enjoy!

Today’s episode, for the Paperclipping Members, is a fun way to use up your extra three-dimensional flowers to make some really cool ornaments (or embellishments if you choose to scrap with them instead!).

This is part of a four-part series. Part 1 and Part 3 are free and don’t require membership to watch. If you’re not a member, you can click on the window above to get a preview of this tutorial. You could also watch the Quicktime version of the trailer here. And of course, there are several free videos which we have available in the left-hand column. If you like what you see and you want more, please click here to see how you can get access to 125 tutorials plus on-going members-only episodes as we continue to release them.

The rest of the posts in this series…

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Note: Thanks to Nancy Horkey, designer of the Tree Of Life featured in this episode, who gave me my own tree. You can find these trees at www.my-treeoflife.com or in many local craft and scrapbook stores.

We’re celebrating three years of Paperclipping with an extra episode this week for the Paperclipping Members. If you’re not a member, you can watch the intro to this video by clicking on the image above. Part 1 is free, so make sure you see if it you missed it. Also, you can also watch any of the free episodes located in the left-hand column (scroll down a little). For access to all of our tutorials, please click here to learn more.

Here’s the Quicktime version of the trailer.

Links to the rest of the series…

Part 1
Part 3
Part 4

Note: The Tree Of Life that holds many of my ornaments was given to me by Nancy, the designer (thanks, Nancy). You can find them at www.my-treeoflife.com.

Want some ideas? This is the first of a series of 4 tutorials on handmade Halloween decorations. You can click on the player above to watch it or download the Quicktime version by clicking here.

For instructions on the other decorations you saw on my tree and garland, please click on the following links…

Part 2
Part 3 (this one is free; doesn’t require a membership)
Part 4