Treasure yourself with Premade Scrapbooks

Hanukkah Mini Scrapbooking for Rainy Days

noreply@blogger.com (Sarit at MyTreasureBox.com) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:06:00 +0000

This morning I woke up to find my hubby left me a note:

Look up the skylight it's raining so hard
There's ice, it snowed, the roads so wet outside
Don't go out if you don't have to
Whatever it is, maybe it's not worth the ride.

I took the kids to school, let the dog out, wiped him off and I'm scrapping my way to a lovely Chanukah 6" mini album with my cheerful Playlist in the background - what fun!

Stay tuned for the photo filled album...
Happy Holidays,
Sarit.

Cute site I found

noreply@blogger.com (Sarit at MyTreasureBox.com) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 02:36:00 +0000

I found this blog and had so much fun visiting I thought I'll share it with you:

Cara's Scrap 'N Stamp Art: Cyber Monday!!

Happy Thursday,

Hanukkah Nights Scrapbooking

noreply@blogger.com (Sarit at MyTreasureBox.com) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:21:00 +0000

Potato latkes, jelly doughnuts, dreidle games, candles, eight nights of celebrating with great food and good friends - just my thing!

For the well prepared scrapbookers, and the ones who'd like to buy a premade Hanukkah scrapbook album, here are some ideas to pre-prepare for the holiday. I'll have some after-Hanukkah scrapbook layouts for you too, with new, fresh photos from Hanukkah 2009!

Visit my blog again next week for some 6x6" premade Hanukkah scrapbook album pages and layouts. In the meantime, happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Family Premade Scrapbooks

noreply@blogger.com (Sarit at MyTreasureBox.com) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:01:00 +0000

It's been roughly 4 months since we moved from sunny California to north New Jersey. We made lots of friends and adopted some family members over in California, some Ron members for life, I know I will forever stay in touch with them. And while I'm honing on the fact that the world globalized a lot since I came into it, I'm sad we're not at that stage where you can just yearn for someone and he or she will show up, like a living hologram. Instead we have a leaving scrapbook album, lots of photos, emails, phone calls and visitors. They pass across the love, but it's not the same as sharing dinner or experiencing them in person.
I'm currently working on this expended family scrapbook album and hope to put in it memories from the past as well as future visits:)

Hug someone you love today,

Sarit.

Prepare your Thanksgiving Scrapbook

noreply@blogger.com (Sarit at MyTreasureBox.com) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:43:00 +0000

I love Thanksgiving. It's a great holiday with a great name, carrying the promise of a family gathering, warmth, fireplace, good food, sharing laughs and love. It's the only American holiday everyone can celebrate, regardless of religious denomination and other differences. The only holiday everyone can add their own thanks to, their own flavours, scents and traditions, without changing it completely.
Here are two ideas from my premade scrapbook albums selection, hope to add more....

Stay warm,

Sarit.

Your Halloween Mini Scrapbook Photo Album in 2hrs!

noreply@blogger.com (Sarit at MyTreasureBox.com) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 03:14:00 +0000

Halloween is coming and with it tons of photos. The problem is, once you ate the candy and took the photos, no one feels like putting them in a decent album, and so you miss on a lot of memories as they stay locked in one of your computer files, never to be seen.

So here are some solutions for you:

Choose your photos carefully. Try to choose ones that are telling the story of this Halloween for your family or, if you're a brave scrapbooker who designs a mini album for each one of your kids, choose the photos that tell the story of each kid.
Go through your scrapbook supplies and get all the purple, orange and black papers out. Get all Halloween embellishments on the work table as well.
Save some candy rappers (not the sticky ones), napkins, pieces of decoration to enhance your mini scrapbook album.
Pick a 6" album (I find them to work well for both wallet AND standard size photos) and decide on a one, common, uniting layout to use through your scrapbook mini album.
Glue glue glue.
Embellish, journal and enjoy!

Below are some ideas for Halloween layouts:

Have a spooky-sweet one...

The Smart Way to Shop for Supplies

noreply@blogger.com (Sarit at MyTreasureBox.com) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 01:48:00 +0000

Are you a scrapper? Do you like colors, patterns and have lots of ideas? Can you get lost for 2 hours or more at the craft store? I do too.
Whether it's scrapbooking, knitting, paper, fabric, yarn, stamps or any craft, I get lost in it. A good kind of lost, the kind that makes you happy, full of ideas and wanting to get the whole store 'cause you just have a use for everything and anything in it.
I admit right here right now - I over shop, over stock and than am upset I didn't buy more of that...(fill in the blank) when I could.
Having said that, my 5 golden rules for you are:

Go in with a plan.
If you have supplies that you'd like to use and need just this little tiny thing to complete it, BRING THE SUPPLIES YOU ALREADY HAVE WITH YOU.
Need something to start you off (or: went in without a plan?) - buy only for that one project you want to do. DO NOT buy extra stuff for that paper you may (or may not) have in your scrap bin.
It's called scrapbook because we are dealing with SCRAPS. Don't throw them, don't keep them, USE THEM.
One project at a time. Yo can always come back to shop (they'd love to have you any time) and get re-energized for a new project with new colors, patterns and shapes. Your creative juices are there, they WILL flow next time too.

Stay healthy and happy, be creative and seize the day:)

Sarit.

Celebrating The Jewish New Year with Hand Made Cards

noreply@blogger.com (Sarit at MyTreasureBox.com) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:09:00 +0000

Every year I make these. These are 'Shanot Tovot' or Jewish New Year cards. At the beginning of the Jewish New Year we greet each other with 'may you have a sweet new year','may you be healthy and happy', 'may this year be successful' and 'may you be inscribed (by G-D) for good, long life'.

Now days, when most of us find things on the net and send them out with a click of a button, from our comfy homey computer stations, there's a special added value to personalizing your message, hand writing it and sending it the old way, through 'snail mail'.

I love Rosh Hasana and love hand made gifts. They enclose in them some of the giving spirit used to make them, the invested giver's good mood.

Have a great new year, use it for good deeds:)

7 Keepers for Your Child's Kindergarden Scrapbook Album

noreply@blogger.com (Sarit at MyTreasureBox.com) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:42:00 +0000

Take a photo of her, back and front, with her little (or little too big) backpack. You can use it as first and last page of your kindergarten scrapbook.
Save the first day's name tag, stickers and whatever he got at school for later use in your scrapbook.
Save the lunch menu, it can be a cute layout, or make a note of your kid's favorite lunch foods.
Take a picture of her at the school's playground - where is her favorite hang out?
Goes without saying - a picture of him with his buddies.
Take a few photos of her preparing to go to school: waking up, brushing, washing, dressing up, breakfast - print them up in a wallet size format or a film-strip, it'll make a perfect story-by photo -page.
Did they get homework yet? - photo them doing H.W., photocopy the first worksheet/assignment sheet, fold it and add it to your scrapbook layout in a
scrapbook pocket.

School Scrapbook for each child is as easy as 1-2-3!

noreply@blogger.com (Sarit at MyTreasureBox.com) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 22:23:00 +0000

School mornings are tough, trying to stay calm while handling all the morning tasks and various moods. When we are finally on our way, all tucked in the car, my kids sing the following song:

"I love my mom
My mom is cool
and now it's time
to go have fun at school"

Here are some school layouts from my premade school scrapbook album - It's as easy as can be with these layouts:

1. Get a premade school scrapbook for each one of your kids here. It's a good investment as you

will be using this scarpbook for grades K-6 (7 years!)

2. Choose the one most precious photo for each year for each child.

3. Adhere your best memories photo to its corresponding layout.

You now created great K through 6th school keepsake photo album individualized for each one of your kids with minimal effort :)

Enveloped Scrapbook Calendar

noreply@blogger.com (Sarit at MyTreasureBox.com) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 15:00:00 +0000

Hi there memory keepers,
Organizing our memories, I found quite a few gift bags with cards, photos, kids' drawings and keepsakes. It seems I'm always behind with my family's scrapbook! So this year I decided to get organized and create a master plan for the yearly scrapbook items. Since it's almost September and a new school year is about to start (Thank G-d), I made my mini scrapbook for the school year.
This mini scrapbook album is made of 12 9x4" brown envelopes, K and Company Scrap kit patterned paper scraps, a student's name tags I had, 2 office jump rings, some ribbon scraps and the Jennie Bowlin Mini Calendar Card Set. The way it works is small keepsakes, anecdotes and photos can be kept inside the envelope while the main photo, the one that best represent that month, will get pasted next to the month card. Smaller 2x3" wallet photos can be adhered to the back of the envelope.

Hope you are enjoying your summer,
Sarit.

Preparation is Key

noreply@blogger.com (Sarit at MyTreasureBox.com) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 02:42:00 +0000

Ever worked with kids at your side? Gives you a feeling of what ADD is like, doesn't it? Each given moment someone needs your attention/patience/mediation skills/advise. Not that I would like my kids to seek advise elsewhere, I just would like some time to myself every so often, so I can play in MY sand box or, rather, scrap box.

So I came up with the following system:

I need full attention for the initial scrapbook design. I design when I'm alone (school day mornings) or at night.
When I'm happy with the theme, idea, color, size and everything else that will concoct the final look/design of the scrapbook album, I write it down in details. Writing the scrapbook design plan down is essential because it keeps me on track when I get distracted. I write sizes, keep color swatches, ribbon bits etc. The goal is to eliminate complicated thinking processes from now on as much as possible.
Now it's time to cut scraps to size and place them neatly on the space I cleared on my ever-so-crowded scrapbook table.
When everything is cut and counted, I'm ready to paste and place. I try to do this only when a short interval of uninterrupted focused time is at hand. A few mistakes with the glue have proven this to be a mindful task, commanding its respect.
Scrapbook embellishments come next and if you have the design all laid out before you (or sketched) and the embellishments ready at your side, it's a breeze.
Congrats! - you have just finished a scrapbook layout/mini scrapbook album while watching your family grow! You are now a mighty multi tasker:)

Do-not-disturb Scrapbook Hanger

noreply@blogger.com (Sarit at MyTreasureBox.com) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 18:23:00 +0000

Hi there,
Now that the dust has settled and the boxes are out of site, we all need some privet time to relax so I made this door knob mini scrapbook album hanger. The fun part is that each one of us can put his/her own photos of 'privet time/space' in it and so create a very personal do-not-disturb mini album/sign.

Hanging on your door knob

Detach to change the message on your door

Which one will you choose?

Chillin'? Hanging with friends?

Setting your choice back on the hanger,

Enjoy some privet time:)

Mini scrapbook album (3) - in a bag

noreply@blogger.com (Sarit at MyTreasureBox.com) — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 18:43:00 +0000

Hi there,

Inspired by our recent move, I made this mini scrapbook album in a bag. It's all contained in the bag, easy to re-place. See picts below:

Simple paper box-bag was covered with patterned paper, ribbons decorating the handle.

These tags are the 'pages' of this album.

On one side of these tags I placed our California last visit to Seaworld, on the other side our visit to The Rock in New York City, with room for more adventures to come:)

Hope you're all well and seizing the moment!
Sarit.

New location, thanks for your patience:)

noreply@blogger.com (Sarit at MyTreasureBox.com) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:16:00 +0000

Hi there,
Thanks for waiting so long. We were on the move, and now we are in the East Coast! New Jersey to be precise, and I have just finished organizing my new workroom, so here it is:

My computer an little file cabinet

My two desks (with so much stuff I really need two)

Embellishments on the door inside a shoe organizer (never used for shoes, of course) and my shelving unit.

I hereby promise to write regularly now that we're all set:)

Stay well and happy,

Sarit.

Father's Day Mini Album

noreply@blogger.com (Sarit at MyTreasureBox.com) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 02:21:00 +0000

It's hard to find a gift for our father of the house. He is very thorough at what he does, therefor he has only few hobies (about 3) and those race to the top of the list whenever there's a birthday/anniversary/special occasion. They are all very expensive, of course, namely Golf, Photography and food. The food comes with every celebration, so we nailed that one first thing. Than comes Golf, which we all know very little about (after all, it stands for Gentelmen Only Ladies Forbidden). Last but not least is Photography, which we both like but it is SO expensive!
So here comes my answer - I made him a scrapbook, of course. It will contain messages from the kids, cute photos and a gift certificate or kids coupons.

Happy Faher's day!

Sarit.

Mini Scrapbook Albums 2 - Recipe Albums

noreply@blogger.com (Sarit at MyTreasureBox.com) — Sat, 02 May 2009 06:49:00 +0000

Hi there,

I hope you're busily planing your mother's special day (May 10th) -she deserves it!

One idea is to make her favorite recipes into an album. It can be recipes you loved making together when you were a child or dishes she enjoys making with your kids, her grandchildren. Place a recipe card in the pocket and the matching photo opposite it for a great sentimental gift!

I'll be posting more mini album ideas soon. In the meantime do good and stay healthy!

Mini Scrapbook Albums 1

noreply@blogger.com (Sarit at MyTreasureBox.com) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 15:12:00 +0000

Why create mini scrapbook albums?

Because they are fun to make, using lots of your creative gene to fit things, re-purpose boxes, containers or invent your own form of albums.

Why use mini pre-made scrapbook albums?

Mini premade albums make for a fun presentation.

easy to carry around

Mini scrapbooks can help you focus on a specific subject, as in: our vacation in Hawaii, our trip to Washington, a day at the park, etc.

Because of their varied shapes and sizes, mini premade scrapbooks have the surprise effect, making them a unique creation that draws the eye in, searching for treasures.

Help the environment by re-purposing boxes, containers and other paper (or plastic, or metal) products, re-using them and preventing waste. Below you can see a tin can mini scrapbook album.

Stay green and archival - make sure the materials you use (or, if the album is a pre-made one, materials that were used for you) are archival (acid and lignin free).

Connect shape and subject for a more focused message. For example, if your subject is your love of coffee, why not make the album from paper cups or jackets?

Next time I'll bring more samples of mini scrapbooks albums, premade for your photo fun.

If you'd like to see something in particular or have a question, let me know.

Happy Friday,

Sarit.

About Color

noreply@blogger.com (Sarit at MyTreasureBox.com) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:53:00 +0000

OK, it's time I wrote something about my passion for color. I LOVE color. I can spend forever and a half at the paint isle in hardware stores, collecting the little swatches along with my kids; When it's time for clean up I volunteer to put the crayons away because it's such fun doing it :) I can stand in front of the nail polish stand at the nail salon long minutes, until my friend protests or help me choose one (why pick just one?); and I haven't even got to what happens to my budget at the scrapbook stores, with all those rich, vibrant cradstock variety, the yummy patterned papers and embellishments. I usually spend more than I should and buy more than I need...and that leads to stocks of scraps! Scraps I stash and vow to use one day... That day kept slipping by and the stock of colorful, patterned papers piled up too high for my space so I had to do something. In the layout below I used some of my colorful scraps to create a colorful layout of our trip to Maui, Hawaii.

Sorting through all those Maui photos I suddenly realized the light there is just great and the lushes nature scene colors every photos in vibrant, live colors.
Until next Friday, stay healthy and Happy, seize the day and keep scrapping!

Passover Scrapbook Layouts for you

noreply@blogger.com (Sarit at MyTreasureBox.com) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 23:51:00 +0000

It's Passover. I'm filled with Matzah and extra calories, collecting photos from everyone who took them in the past two nights. I just LOVE Passover. The getting together, the cleaning, the creative cooking (gluten free)...

I used to be envious of the new lines of scrapbook papers and embellishments that came in the market every Christmas, etc. Now I know better - the no-Jewish-themes give me more creative freedom!

So here is a Passover layout for you from the photos I got:

Oddly shaped scrapbooks

noreply@blogger.com (Sarit at MyTreasureBox.com) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 14:12:00 +0000

Even more fun than the usual albums that are book-like, the oddly shaped scrapbook albums are fun to play with! You can have your memories on an accordion fold, in a tin can:

Have your vacation memories pop up at you from a hand made box:

Tie your 'origami' memories with a nice bow in this squash album:

Have you made any fun odd looking scrapbook? Please add a comment to share with us!

Premade Scrapbooks

noreply@blogger.com (Sarit at MyTreasureBox.com) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 22:58:00 +0000

Often times I've been asked how to fill a premade scrapbook album, so here it is:

In every album I produce, I make sure to affix a 'How to' instruction card. You can follow the easy, step by step directions to get a complete, gorgeous scrapbook photo album. First step is to find the photos you want in that album, photos that will tell that specific story. You may choose to print different photos in different sizes, so you can fit more photos or create a 'spot light' on one single photo by printing it larger, making it the focal point of your story.

Choose a premade scrapbook album that fits your needs. If the colors of most of your photos are very vibrant and colorful (often happens with children's photos), better go with a subtle, multi hue color scheme, or a 3 color scheme that fits most, if not all, your photos. Also take note of journaling space if you're about to add that - where and how many words would fit?

In many of My Treasure Box albums we add photo frames you can use. Measure the inside of the window and see which one of your photos would fit best, both size-wise and location(where in the album is it? Does your photo fits front page? middle? last page? Is the size right for that photo?

As you can see, I chose to use Gaby's first brushing session for the window in Gaby's first years album. The focus is on Gaby and her tooth brush, and since it was taken at night, from afar, the small size is just right for this photo. In addition, the vibrant colors of the frame, matting and embellishments work well with the skin tones in the photo.

Some photos fit straight and nice, some need a little twist. Donald enjoyed the brushing and grooming as much as Gaby did!

Inspiration

noreply@blogger.com (Sarit at MyTreasureBox.com) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 19:00:00 +0000

I used to think everything should come from my head. Just pop up in my head whenever I asked it to. I was wrong. Indeed there are days when ideas are manifesting themselves pop corn style in my brain, but there are those other days, when I sit there, commanding my brain to blossom.... with no results. Now, you can either get grumpy about it or go find inspiration elsewhere, outside of your own brain's habitat. I go to the book store, go cruising other Internet sites and blogs, pick on a magazine rack, out to walk the dog (nature is a powerful stimulant) or go through my children's books. Children's books are so much more fun, visually, than ours - don't you think?

So here are my findings for today.

Modish has a great top banner. Jena, the blog writer, also have Flower for your Friday on her Flickr bit - such a great idea, so thankful you shared it, Jena!

Design*Sponge site is so clean and easy on the eye, it's just one of the most pleasant sites I've seen lately and the design elements keep accompanying you, creating a familiar 'neighbourhood' with each page you open. Their posts are interesting and so nicely put together it's always a joy to visit:)

Weeds and Wildflowers are on the happy side. Everything is colorful and jumpy and their layouts are gorgeous!

I hope to add pictures for you later this weekend:)

Have a great weekend and keep happy!

5 steps to creating the right scrapbook layout for you.

noreply@blogger.com (Sarit at MyTreasureBox.com) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 20:44:00 +0000

1. Choose photos. Not every photo you took has to wind up in an album. You may choose to place photos in your album by theme (holidays, the great outdoors, vacations we took); timeline (infancy, early childhood, grade school, middle and high school, higher ed., professional life); milestones in one’s life (birth, growing up, achievements, family); repeating subject (Christmas throughout the years, our Hanukkah traditions), etc.

You may choose photos by viewing them on your desktop and printing only the ones you like (less expensive), or you can print out a 'contact sheet' to better see which photos are the ones you want. That way, you can cut out photos and play with the actual images on your table, matching them with various papers and embellishments.

2. Tell/show a story. Treat your album as if it was your personal magazine or book. What would you like to know about? What would be tedious and should be left out? What’s important to the story?

In this example, I knew already I had many photos I wanted to use to tell my story and wanted to keep it at one layout of 12x12", so I printed all my photos out at 2x3" sizes (wallet size).

Here I chose 8 photos that tell my story. There are still too many of them and I know already they won't fit into my layout, so I ordered them in the order of the story to look for duplicates or unnecessary photos. Those will eventually come out and I'll be left with only the most important photos, the ones that 'move the plot'.

3. The layout should upstage your photo. It should help your photo stand out, be the center of attention. If there’s too much glitz and glory

around, the eye gets tired and wonders off the page.

On the left are the photos paired with the various materials I'll use the make the final layout. I chose 'earthy', natural papers as the scene is our visit to the farm.

4. Use color to emphasize your photo. Use the color of attention in the photo - in your layout. Or, if the layout is very colorful, consider presenting the photo in black and white or sepia tones. In this case I used red for background as my daughter is weaing, and dark green to match my son's coat.

5. Use shape to focus. By repeating the same shape or angle in your photo, you will help viewers focus on the goings-on of the photo.

Here the bars of the cow's habitat are repeat in the corrugated cardboard to the left, the hey shapes are repeated on the background paper on the right and the roundness of the cow, plus the cow's eyes are repeated with the bicycle wheels and the matting patterned paper of the cow's photo, as well as the 'farming' title to the right.

Materials credits: Background cardstock 'birthday' by MME; dotted cardstock princess by MME; Glitter cardstock by DCWV; Sticker letters by Memories Complete;Font: Calibri.

Which scrapbook album should I choose and why?

noreply@blogger.com (Sarit at MyTreasureBox.com) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 05:45:00 +0000

Choose your photo album cover design in accordance with the purpose of the photo album and the personality of its owner (example: school days - in the photo to the left, baby theme, photo in window or embellished cover).

Three ringed and post bound photo albums allow for page addition. Your family photo album will expend as your family memories accumulate.

Book-like binding are attractive, photo albums with sheet protectors are attractive and durable. On the right you can see the photos of the exposed posts that bind and keep the pages of this album together and a side view of the pages held together.

All photo album materials, pages, layouts and embellishments should be archival (both acid and lignin free) to keep photos from fading or yellowing with time.

Archival (non PVC) sheet protectors are recommended, to protect photographs from environmental damage and oils from human skin. When adhering photos to the layout, make sure to use only acid free (archival) adhesive to keep photos from discoloring and deteriorating with time.

In summery, choose a cover that works with your theme, choose album size that will work best with your subject and desired photo sizes. Use materials that are archival safe (acid and lignin free) to keep your photos from discoloring and use sheet protectors so viewers can point at their favorite photo without leaving their fingerprint on it. If your theme or subject is a growing/developing one (school years, baby, holidays through the years), start with an album that can expand later. Good luck!