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Here’s something that I never thought I would do – cut up a picture!  I have to say that it adds a lot to a simple layout.  The nice thing about most of us having digital pictures now is that you can easily print another copy.  This one was a professional picture but I made a copy for my scrapbook because I was scared of messing it up and losing the picture forever.  However, I am happy with the result.  Your challenge this week is to try this mosaic techique.  It works great for scenic photos and one thing to remember is that the squares do not need to all be the same size.  (Ex. you could make the first column 1″ wide, the next column 2″ and the last column 1″.

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Mulberry paper is a light-weight, semi-transparent type of handmade style paper.  It used to be quite popular in scrapbooking and has fazed out although there’s no reason why you can’t still use it.  I found this page from the past with mulberry paper and it also includes a tag (yesterday’s topic).  Mulberry paper can be used as a background, as an embellishment, or (my favorite) as a frame.  You can cut it for a straight edge, or you can wet it with a waterbrush or paintbrush and then tear it for a unique look.

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Way back when shipping was more reasonable, I joined all kinds of swaps.  Swaps are when a group of people decide to each individually make a bunch of the same item, then everyone swaps so that each person has a variety of different items.  I still have many swap items that I have not used because they don’t fit with any of the scrapbook pages I have done.  I’ve learned that using them for cards is a great solution.  Simply add a border, or eyelets/brads in the corners – put the tag in the center and you’ve got a card.  I’ve made many, many quick cards this way!

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Ahh, two of my favorite things!!  I did this layout the other day and didn’t have any brown brads for the centers of my flowers.  As an alternative, I used just a drop of acrylic paint for the center.  These are fairly small flowers and I only needed a small drop so when you try this the first time you may need to practice on a couple.  It is an inexpensive way to match your layout perfectly and those acrylic paints we have sitting on our shelves.

Here is the complete layout (made with all scraps too!):

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You know those storage bins that we use for the kid’s toys and stuff?  Why not use them for our scrap supplies?  The one pictured below is a smaller version than what you normally see but the larger ones would work too.  I got tired of the bright colors and wanted something that fit my room better.  I bought some spray paint that is especially for plastics.  There is no prep work, just spray and let dry.  You can find it at your local hardware store.  I used two cans for this project.  I love the new brown color and I have not had any problems with the paint coming off.

Here is a before picture of the bins on my scrapbooking desk (yellow/pink/blue in the center) and it also gives you a better idea of their size:

I use these bins to hold chalks, acrylic blocks, stamps, tags, foam brushes, adhesive, and lots of other things.  Your challenge for this week is to find something in your scrapbook room that needs to be organized and come up with a way that works for you.  Don’t organize all your supplies, just pick one thing.  Once you have that one thing organized, focus on keeping it that way.  Then it will be time to move on….baby steps!!  If you need help with something specific or would like ideas on a organizing a particular supply, leave me a comment and I will post at least one idea for you!