The Cricut machine is an innovative machine that makes projects easier and faster than ever before. For those that are into paper crafting, the Cricut is a must have tool. It can create letters, numbers, and shapes quickly and accurately with just a few button pushes. Nothing is better than seeing your design ideas come to life quickly and with no mistakes. Forget having several pairs of scissors to get the shapes you want, this machine does it all. Just load the cartridge and get to work. There are several Cricut projects that you can do and surprisingly, it’s not just for paper crafts.

Cricut projects can be as varied and original as each user. Traditionally, the Cricut can be used to create custom scrapbook pages. There are several design patterns available, or you can create your own. Since the cartridges come in themes, coordinating fonts and shapes is a breeze. Using cardstock and the Cricut machine you can create a template for your scrapbook page, and then just add them to your album, insert the photographs, and use the Cricut to create messages. Since it does all the cutting the time to create beautiful pages is cut down drastically. The coordinating themes and fonts also allow users to stop driving from store to store looking for supplies that match.

Other projects that you can use the Cricut for include cake decorating. Surprised? Well, it’s easy once you get the hang of it. There are patterns and projects for beginners through advanced on the Cricut website or you can try your own pattern. All you will need is a cake, fondant, gum paste, and shortening. It’s really easy and you can have a professional looking cake in minutes. First, layer the cake tiers and cover with fondant. Using gum paste and the Cricut Cake cut out the borders and attach to the cake using shortening. Then use gum paste and the Cricut Cake to cut out the desired design like a flower or other shape. Attach the shapes to the cake using shortening. You can try your own Cricut project ideas to create many types of cakes for birthdays, anniversaries, retirements, holidays, and even weddings. Just use one of the Cricut Cake cartridges and your Cricut Cake machine to make a one of a kind original.

Another Cricut project can be done to create fantastic throw pillows. Just take the desired fabric and tape it to the cutting board. Select the cartridge and design you want and let the Cricut cut out the fabric. From there the cut outs can be sewn onto a square of cloth to create the cover. When everything is placed as desired, sew the back of the pillow on three sides. Stuff the fabric with polyester fill and then finish sewing the last side. For a quicker project, Use Heat n Bond so that the fabric cut outs can be ironed to the fabric.

Cricut projects are numerous and many ideas, patterns, and directions can be found across the internet. With its versatility and ease of use, the Cricut can be used for many projects for years to come.

The way your photos, memorabilia and other embellishments are laid out in your scrapbook is completely up to you! There’s no right or wrong way. However, you do want your scrapbook to look as nice as it possibly can, so here are some different ideas, suggestions and tips for creating unique layouts and using premade layouts.

Premade Layouts

My Scrapbooking Supplies features several different premade layout designs to choose from, making your scrapbooking experience easy and enjoyable. Choose from themes such as “Twilight”, “Pooh”, “Nemo” and other Disney characters, as well as “Baby Boy” and “Mom”.

My Scrapbooking Supplies also features layouts that are more generic, such as “Butterfly kisses” and “Cute as a bug”.

Using these premade layouts makes scrapbooking a breeze and costs less than purchasing other embellishments. All you have to do is secure your chosen layout to the page or pages in your album; then secure the photos of your choice in the designated area. Your pages will appear complete as they are. However, if you want to give the page your own special touch, you can add other embellishments to the layout design as well.

Designing your own Layouts

You can certainly design your own layouts using background paper, photo corners and frames and other embellishments. Here are some tips to help you get started.

• Before choosing a backdrop for your design, lay it out on the table with your photos to make sure the background and the photos suit each other in color and style. Also, some backgrounds may look better with a landscape photo compared to a portrait photo.
• Add embellishments that will enhance your design as opposed to cluttering it up. If your background paper is busy, adding too many embellishments will take away from the photo instead of drawing attention to it.
• Trim photos so the focus is on the main subject. Be sure to leave important or memorable details and people in the background to help tell the story and that will bring back memories years later.

Combining premade layouts and your unique layouts in an album

Your album will probably be comprised of both premade layouts and your unique layout designs. For an album that flows together in theme, style and design, try to use layouts and backgrounds that complement one another in color, pattern and style. If you use earth tones for one background, use earth tones throughout. If pastels are the primary color in a premade layout, use pastels throughout the album.

Another idea is to build your entire album around the theme of one premade layout. If you choose one of the “Twilight” themes for a couple of pages in your album, go with colors and patterns in your unique designs that will compliment the colors and patterns in the “Twilight” theme.

Of course these are only suggestions. Your album can be designed however you prefer, according to your taste and what you like. That’s the whole point of scrapbooking anyway, isn’t it? Tell your story your way and have fun creating your unique album using premade layouts and your unique designs together.

If you love to collect photos and are now in the planning stage of creating a scrapbook, you might find that you do not have enough pages in your book to fit in all your pictures.  Do not worry, as there are many scrapbook layout ideas that can help you do just the thing you want to do – get them all in there! Here are some hot tips collated from different scrapbook gurus that you might want to consider.

Tip #1: Create a block look

Crop your photos into different rectangular shapes and sizes. Fit these photos onto one page in such manner that they form a block look. The block look is a great way to post several photos in one page, making it easier for you to get more pictures into one scrapbook.

Cropping your photos is a convenient way to get rid of the excess background spaces on your pictures and preserving the important parts of it. It is perfect when you want to give emphasis to a single object in a photo.  By cropping, you are able to chop down photos into the sizes required to lay them out in the scrapbook page easily.

Tip #2: Small equal size photos

Another suggestion for laying out multiple photos in a single page is to first crop each photo into small, equal sizes. This is possible if you have heaps of pictures of smaller subjects.  By cutting them at the right places, you save more space in the pages of your scrapbook for other photos you might want to post. Make sure, though, that the subject of each photo is not harmed when you snip off the unwanted sides.

This grid layout is perfect for tiny photos.  This scrapbook layout idea presents a simple but classic look that anyone will love.

Tip #3: Overlap photos

There are often huge, unnecessary spaces in scenic photos. These spaces are the perfect spots to overlap additional photos. By overlapping photos you are able to post multiple pictures on a single page without diminishing their value.  Overlapping photos creates a continuity of vision. Without actually being able to see a member of a photo that has been overlapped, you leave your viewers with the idea that it does exist.

Tip #4: Filmstrip photo boarder

This layout is a unique layout in scrapbooking which allows the scrapbooker to showcase photos in such a manner that the main picture becomes the focal point while the other smaller photos make up the border design.

The use of this filmstrip photo border design is a great way to lay out photos that are less significant on their own, yet when connected to the main picture make a great story.

Tip # 5: Crop Photos Into Narrow Strips

Using several vertical photos is perfect when you need to lay out many photos on a single page.  By cropping each photo to about the same width and height, and using little bookmarks as little notepads for journal your thoughts, you can create a flow of thought that will make up a perfect storyboard. No doubt this is probably one of the best scrapbook layout ideas.  Not only is it aesthetically appealing, but it also makes perfect artistic sense.

There a lot of scrapbook layout ideas you can find out there that might be helpful to you.  A little research will surely land you the layout that best suits your taste.  Don’t hesitate to create add-ons of your own. If you do it right, you just might be the next scrapbook guru to get published.