Scrapbook Extra Resources for Blogger Templates

Did you know that scrapbook resources like post dividers, sidebar menu sets, backgrounds and headers are available for your Blogger scrapbooking blog? It is simple and easy to add scrapbook style post dividers, sidebar menu sets, backgrounds and headers to your existing Blogger template to lend style to your blog.


I have been out on the net again and found a great resource for scrapbook bloggers who want to add extras to their Blogger blog. Shabby Blogs have the following scrapbooking Blogger resources to download free:

• 16 free scrapbook post dividers for Blogger
  
• 18 free scrapbook headers for Blogger
  
• 6 free scrapbook sidebar menu sets for Blogger
  
• 70+ free scrapbook backgrounds for Blogger

Full instructions on how to add a background and how to add a post divider to your Blogger blog (Blogspot blog) are given by Shabby blogs.





Also on offer are sidebar menu title tags like this Everything Collection set:


If you want to replace your blog's header Shabby blogs give you the option of either photo or text headers:


Hope you have fun with these Blogger resources. Enjoy!

Best Friendship Quotes for Scrapbooking

How often do you go hunting for the best friendship quotes for scrapbooking only to find a bunch of trite and overstated ones? That's why I have put together this handy list of some of my all time favorite useable friendship quotes for scrapbooking.

Most of these friendship quotes are contemporary with a few classical friendship quotes thrown in for good measure. While I have numbered this list the friendship quotations themselves are actually in no particular order.

This list of best scrapbook friend quotes is growing all the time as I add to it - now up to 81 best scrapbook friends quotes and counting.

To know someone here or there with whom you can feel there is understanding in spite of distances or thoughts expressed - That can make life a garden.   Goethe

1. Friends are the sunshine of life. John Hay


2. Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow - Don't walk behind me, I may not lead - Just walk beside me and be my friend. Unknown


3. Your friends will know you better in the first minute they meet you than your acquaintances will know you in a thousand years. Richard Bach


4. A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words. Unknown


5. A friend is a gift you give yourself. Robert Louis Stevenson


6. It is the friends that you can call at 4 A.M. that matter. Marlene Dietrich


7. A friend is someone who allows us the space and freedom to be. Debbie Alicen


8. My friend. You never expect too much of me. You are glad when I succeed but failure makes no difference to you. You give me all the help you can - but, more important, you are simply there. Wendy Jean Smith


9. My best friend is the one that brings out the best in me. Henry Ford


10. Oh, the comfort — the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person — having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all right out, just as they are, chaff and grain together; certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then with the breath of kindness blow the rest away. Dinah Maria Mulock Craik


11. A friend by a phone call, a popping in, a chance meeting, a small unexpected surprise, puts a little jam on the day's bread and butter. J.R.C.


12. A friend never says "I told you so" - even when she did. Wendy Jean Smith


13. Silences make the real conversations between friends. Not the saying but the never needing to say is what counts. Margaret Lee Runbeck


14. A friend is someone who arrives when you have the flu with a bag of oranges, the thriller you wanted to read and a bunch of flowers. They put the flowers in a vase, make you a hot drink, do the washing up - and go. Pam Brown


15. Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born. Anais Nin


16. Can miles truly separate us from friends? If we want to be with someone we love, aren't we already there? Richard Bach


17. Hold a true friend with both your hands. In a friend you find a second self. Isabelle Norton


18. "Are we going to be friends forever?" Asked Piglet. "Even longer", Pooh answered. A.A. Milne


19. Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another "What you too? I thought I was the only one. C.S. Lewis


20. Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light. Helen Keller


21. Friendship... is not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything. Muhammad Ali


22. Good friends are like angels, you don't have to see them, to know they are there. Unknown


23. I always felt that the great high privilege, relief and comfort of friendship was that one had to explain nothing. Katherine Mansfield


24. What is a friend? I will tell you...it is someone with whom you dare to be yourself. Frank Crane


25. Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. Marcel Proust


26. A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out. Walter Winchell


27. The only way to have a friend is to be one. Ralph Waldo Emerson


28. A friend is someone who is there for you when he'd rather be somewhere else. Unknown


29. Love is temporary...but friends are forever. Kelly Wheeler


30. A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked. Bernard Meltzer


31. Remember, the greatest gift is not found in a store nor under a tree, but in the hearts of true friends. Cindy Lew


32. Friends are like melons; shall I tell you why? To find one good you must one hundred try. Claude Mermet


33. Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow ripening fruit.
    Aristotle


34. Wherever you may be it is your friends who make your world. Unknown


35. Friends are the chocolate chips in the cookie of life. Unknown


36. A best friend is a sister that destiny forgot to give you. Unknown


37. The real test of friendship is: can you literally do nothing with the other person? Can you enjoy those moments of life that are utterly simple? Eugene Kennedy


38. A circle is round it has no end, that's how long I want to be your friend! Unknown


39. When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. Henri Nouwen


40. Some people come into our lives,leave footprints on our hearts,and we are never the same. Unknown


41. The most beautiful discovery that true friends can make is that they can grow separately without growing apart. Unknown


42. A friend is someone who reaches out for your hand ... and touches your heart. Unknown


43. The language of friendship is not words but meanings. Henry David Thoreau


44. Since there is nothing so well worth having as friends, never lose a chance to make them. Francesco Guicciardini


45. Friends are those rare people who ask how you are and then wait to hear the answer. Unknown


46. A friend hears the song in my heart and sings it to me when my memory fails. Unknown


47. The world is like a mirror, you see? Smile, and your friends smile back. Japanese Zen Proverb


48. A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down. Arnold H. Glasow


49. A joy shared is a joy doubled. Goethe


50. The best mirror is an old friend. Proverb


51. Hold a true friend with both your hands. Nigerian Proverb


52. Of all the things which wisdom provides to make life entirely happy, much the greatest is the possession of friendship. Epicurus


53. Love is blind, but friendship is clairvoyant. Unknown


54. A friend can tell you things you don't want to tell yourself. Frances Ward Weller


55. Things are never quite as scary when you've got a best friend. Bill Watterson


56. A friend is a person before whom I may think aloud. Ralph Waldo Emerson


57. Silence make the real conversations between friends. Not the saying, but the never needing to say that counts. Margaret Lee Runbeck


58. A friend is one of the best things you can be and the greatest things you can have. Sarah Valdez


59. Friends are like quilts: Lives pieced together, stitched with memories, and bound by love. Unknown


60. Friendship begins because even without words we understand how someone feels. Joan Walsh Anglund


61. A friend is one to whom one may pour out all the contents of one's heart, chaff and grain together, knowing that the gentlest of hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away. Arabian Proverb


62. Silences make the real conversations between friends. Not the saying but the never needing to say is what counts. Margaret Lee Runbeck


63. She is a friend of mind. She gather me, man. The pieces I am, she gather them and give them back to me in all the right order. It's good, you know, when you got a woman who is a friend of your mind. Toni Morrison


64. I believe in angels, the kind Heaven sends. I am surrounded by angels, but I call them my best friends. Unknown


65. Friendship needs no words - it is solitude delivered from the anguish of loneliness. Dag Hammarskjold


66. A single rose can be my garden... a single friend, my world. Leo Buscaglia


67. Friendship is the golden thread that ties all hearts together. Unknown


68. Sometimes, talking to your best friend is the only therapy you need.Unknown


69. Some people go to priests; others to poetry; I to my friends.Virginia Woolf


70. We've been friends for so long I can't remember which one is the bad influence.D J Hinton


71. It takes a long time to grow an old friend. John Leonard


72. If I had only one friend left, I'd want it to be you. Dan Seals


73. A best friend is someone who knows all about you and loves you anyway. Elbert Hubbard


74. Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down. Oprah Winfrey


75. One million memories, ten thousand inside jokes, one hundred shared secrets, one reason: best friends. Unknown


76. True friends are like diamonds - bright, beautiful, valuable, and always in style. Nicole Richie


77. How beautiful it is to find someone who asks for nothing but your company. Brigitte Nicole


78. Life without friendship, is like the sky without the sun. Unknown


79. Friendship is the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words. George Eliot


80. Friend - a person known well to another and regarded with liking, affection and loyalty. Collins English Dictionary


81. You are my best friend, my go-to person when life gets wobbly. There is nothing that I'm afraid to tell you because I know you won't judge me. Susan M Lynch

Final Thoughts

Hope you have enjoyed this list of friendship quotations for scrapbookers. I will be adding to this list of scrapbooking friendship quotes as time goes on so please remember to bookmark this page and share it so you can return easily. If you have a favorite friendship quote that isn't on the list but you reckon it ought to be please let me know.

Free Wordpress Theme Green Scrapbook Diary

If you are looking for a great free scrapbooking theme for a Wordpress blog then consider the Green Scrapbook Diary template. Made with scrapbooking bloggers in mind, the Green Scrapbook theme has a nicely styled and visually pleasing layout. The 3 columns which includes 2 right sidebars creates plenty of room for all the widgets you might want to add. The Green Scrapbook Diary template has also been converted into a free Blogger Scrapbooking template if you need this theme in the Blogger (Blogspot) format.

Designed by Kathie and Andrew at SimplyWP

Features
3 column design, right sidebar, post divider



Preview Template | Download Template | Template Support

Please note: This template is released under Creative Commons License. If you decide to use this template please do not remove the credits in the footer.

Related Links
Free Wordpress Scrapbooking Themes
Free Scrapbooking Blogger Templates

List of Scrapbooking Clip Art Online

You can never have enough scrapbooking clip art can you? Here is a list of some websites where you will find graphics and clip art on a variety of themes such as travel, nature, kids, babies, holidays, food all suitable for scrapbooking.

Scrapbookscrapbook
Free downloadable graphics for your album pages. Customisable graphics for your particular layout. Themes include: nature, holidays, school, kids, babies, food.

HP Scrapbooking
Free printable layouts, artwork, and projects for scrapbooking. Travel and general use.

Cute Colors
Free scrapbooking clip art with particular emphasis on babies and kids. Cute and lovable images such as pandas and bunnies.

Free Digital Scrapbooking Kits Online

Whether you are new to digital scrapbooking or a seasoned scrapbooker you will find some great free digital scrapbooking kits online. Many designers give away digital scrapbooking kits to encourage you to buy which is good news if you want a quality kit to play around with and enjoy.

A word of warning about downloading free digital scrapbooking kits. Only download from scrapbooking websites you trust (those below are reputable). Many scrapbooking websites require that you join their mailing list or get a free gift of digital scrapbooking kits if you become a paid member. Watch out for the free offer that isn't really free at all.

Here is a list of websites to go to online to find free digital scrapbooking kits. There is no catch with these free digital scrapbooking kits. These digital kits are absolutely FREE.

Shabby Princess
Offers free "shabby chic" scrapbooking digital kits to download and enjoy. Please note file sizes are quite large and can take a while to download.

Two Peas in a Bucket
More than 70 free sample digital scrapbooking kits to download

Free Digital Scrapbooking
Lots of free mini digital scrapbooking kits to download

Scrapbookers List of Fonts Online

There are literally thousands of true type fonts available to spice up your scrapbooking pages. Whether you are scrapbooking digitally or using traditional methods you will surely find the exact font that will do justice to your pages.

I find it useful to download fonts to my computer so I always have some basic choice of fonts on hand if I need them.

Here is a handy list for scrapbookers of good places to find collections of fonts for scrapbooking online.


dafont.com
A huge collection of fonts for general personal use. Searchable database.

1001 Free Fonts
An assortment of fonts downloadable for personal use.

Simply The Best Fonts
Browse by alphabetical font listing or by font category through a large range of fonts.

Urban Fonts
Preview and download a collection of free fonts in a range of styles

Simple Photo Matting for Scrapbookers

Most photographs can be enhanced by fixing them to coloured cardstock. This process, known as matting, is one of the most simple and effective ways to display your photographs.

Mounting a photograph on cardstock is easy. Begin by choosing a colour which complements or contrasts with the basic colours in the photo. A mat ought to add interest and definition. If you are unsure what colour to pick most photographs work well with strong plain backgrounds. Black can be particularly effective. Once you feel confident in your choice you might like to experiment more with patterns to produce original and eye-catching effects.

Simple Steps to Mat a Photo

1. Apply tape, photo stickers or adhesive to the back of your photograph.


2. Fix photo to your chosen cardstock by placing it on one corner. Line up the edges of the photo with the edges of the cardstock. Ensure that you leave a small border on the bottom and side of the photo.


3. Once the photo is adhered to the cardstock use scissors to cut around the image. Make sure you leave enough of a border of backing card to work with.


4. Finally trim remaining sides of cardstock to the same amount of border all the way around. A guillotine, if you have one, is very useful for this purpose.


5. You are now ready to use your matted photo in your layout.

Handy Scrapbooking Tools for Beginners

Beyond the basic equipment for the beginner there are other handy items that can be added over time to you scrapbooking kit. Here is a list of some useful tools:

Rubber Stamps
There are a variety of rubber stamps on the market for scrapbooking and cardmaking. Stamps can be used to add decoration to the page and for titles and journalling. Inkpads come in different colours. Make sure you only buy inkpads that are acid free and contain permanent ink.

Craft Knife
Craft knifes can be a godsend for cutting out titles. Make sure you use a cutting mat at all times. If you choose a cutting mat with a grid you will find it makes cutting and measuring much easier.

Paper Trimmer
One of my favourite scrapbooking items is my paper trimmer. It cuts paper and card up to 12x12. I use the Kaiser brand which has a variety of interchangeable blades but there are many others on the market to choose from. The beauty of interchangeable blades is that I can easily get the kind of look I want such as scalloping with a flick of a switch.

Eyelet Tool
If you intend to add a lot of embellishments to your pages you might find an eyelet tool useful. You can buy a kit that includes a hole punch with a variety of different hole sizes.

Embellishments
Embellishments add interest and flair to your pages depending on your theme and the look you are hoping for. Try buttons, paper, fabric such as ribbons and twill tape, tags, wire and metal.

Scrapbookers Guide to Cropping Photos

Not every photo that you will want to use in your scrapbooking pages will be perfect. Once processed you might be disappointed to find that your best pictures have distracting backgrounds or other features that detract from the overall quality or effect you are looking for. One very simple way to immediately improve your photos is to crop them.

Cropping is a very easy technique whereby unwanted details of the photo are eliminated leaving only the parts of the image that are desired. Professionals use heavy pieces of black card cut at right angles which are placed on the photograph to help them decide how much of the photograph to crop. Simply by moving the corners closer together different amounts of cropping of the image can be tested. Once the desired result is achieved the corner points are marked and joined on the image with a sharp pencil. Using the pencil lines as guides the image is then cropped with a paper trimmer or guillotine.

You can achieve great effects with cropping too by creating your own "croppers."

How to Make Your Own Pair of Croppers
Using stiff black cardstock and starting in the righthand corner cut out one right angle measuring 10cm x 2.5cm. Then repeat this process using the same dimensions as before but this time starting at the bottom lefthand corner. You will then have two right angles to use with your smaller photographs to help you with your cropping decisions. Croppers can be any size you wish. Another useful size for larger photographs is 15cm x 3cm.

Create a Free Scrapbooking Blog

A great way to showcase your scrapbooking to friends and family is to create a free scrapbooking blog at Blogger.com (Blogspot.com). You can create a blog and your friends and family will be able to read all about your activities and get to see some of your scrapbooking in the process. Blogging is easy with the powerful software provided absolutely free by Blogger.com. Start building your blog today and you will be pleased you took on this creative project.


What is a Blog?
A blog which is short for weblog is an online diary where you can regularly post commentaries, tell stories, describe events and happenings using text, pictures and video. This site is an example of a blog. My object is to inform and share knowledge about scrapbooking to anyone who visits. Your blog may be specifically for invited guests only or open it to the whole world. It's up to you.

Some of the Main Features of Blogger.com

Simple user-friendly interface
No restrictions on bandwidth
Unlimited video storage using YouTube
Photo storage using Picasa Web Album (1 GB)
Support for Mobile blogging
Powerful blogging platform
User advertising banners and Google Adsense allowed

How Do I Get an Account at Blogger.com?
Anyone can sign up at Blogger.com. If you already have a Google account (eg gmail email address) you will find the process of signing up to Blogger.com very easy since Google owns the Blogger platform. The advantage of using your existing Google account is that you can gain instant access to other Google Services such as Picasa Web Albums and Google Reader. If you don't have a Google Account it is easy to apply for one during the sign up process to Blogger.com.

Once you have a Google account you are ready to sign on at Blogger.com. Simply direct your browser to Blogger.com and click on the "Create an Account" button.

Setting Up an Account at Blogger.com
Setting up your blog is a 3 step process: creating an account, naming your blog and choosing a template. You will be prompted for a name which you will use to sign all of your blog posts. As you will see your email address becomes your account name. Once you have created an account you will be free to create as many blogs as you wish using the one account.


Naming your blog requires some thought. Choose a name that is short, memorable and is associated with your blog theme. Long names are difficult to remember and are therefore best avoided. If possible use a keyword or phrase for your blog in the blog title.

The next choice you will be asked to make is to select a template. This can be changed at a later date so don't worry if you are uncertain about your choice at this stage. Choose the template that most closely resembles the look and feel of the site you wish to create. There are a few scrapbooking templates available free on the internet like the one I am using so don't worry too much about the look at this stage. On this site I blog about scrapbooking templates as they are released so check back here often for updates.

Configuring Blogger.com Settings

Basic Settings
Before launching into your first post you will need to set up a few blog settings. From the "Settings" tab click on the "Basic" link and enter the blog title you wish to use and a short description of your site on the page which appears. Make sure you select no to the questions let search engines find your blog and list your blog in blogger if you want your blog to be private. Save these settings by clicking on the button at the bottom of the page.

Formatting
Under the "Formatting" link you will need to adjust the date format and time for your blog according to your geographical location. Don't forget to save these changes.

Commenting
In the "Comments" section you can control how people can comment on your blog. If you want your blog to be private then set comments to members only otherwise set to Anyone. Set the Moderate Comments option to always if you are allowing your blog to be viewed by everyone otherwise you will receive unwelcome spam.



Permissions
You can choose to keep your blog private, invite readers to visit your blog or open your blog up to anyone and everyone.

Once these basic settings are configured you will be in a position to start making posts to your blog. Use the preview button often to help you confirm your changes are successful.

For more information on customising your blog refer to Blog Know How

Essential Supplies for Scrapbooking Beginners

Many people think that they need a lot of equipment to scrapbook but a beginner can get by with only a few essential items. Here's a list to get you on your way at very little expense.

Essential Supplies for Beginner Scrapbooking

Scissors

Ensure that whatever scissors you buy are sharp and easy to use.  I find a small sharp pair for cutting around lettering and small shapes useful.  Also it is handy to have a larger pair for general cutting.

Not essential but kind of useful is to have some fancy scissors with unique patterns to cut out edges and make decorative frames. These can be bought in pack containing various design patterns at very low cost.

Adhesive

Choose eiither double-sided tape or photo stickers.  Photo stickers are easy use and are suitable for photographs.  They come on a runner which makes them easy to handle. Glue dots can be useful for sticking down heavy card. What ever adhesive you choose make sure it is acid free and archive safe.

Pens

Acid free permanent scrapbooking pens are readily available and relatively cheap. A fine tip and a thicker tip for journalling and decorating pages will be enough to get you started. There a range of colours available but black is probably the most useful colour.

Trimmer or Guillotine

A guillotine is useful for trimming card and cropping photographs.  You will get much straighter edges than what can be achieved with scissors.

Card and Paper

Make sure that any card you buy is acid and lignin free to prevent deterioration of your precious photographs.  If you don't you will find your photographs turning yellow and fading as the chemicals in the card and paper eat away at them.

Albums

Albums are available in different sizes.  For a beginner the standard 12x12 album size is a good choice. Scrapbooking albums are acid free, photo-safe and are usually marked archival quality. They are a bit more expensive than other kinds of photo albums but it is worth paying a little more to get an album which will protect your photographs from premature aging. Don't try to economise on this.  It really is not worth it.

Related Links
Start a Scrapbook Tutorial for Beginners to Create First Page
Handy Scrapbooking Tools for Beginners