Lynda's Den

Can you tell I like to read?    All kinds of books from self help books, craft books, love stories, and school books…I love to read! For me, I started to read when I was just a little girl, going to the library with the “twins”! I would go home with a ton of books to read, going back to the library for more.  This sparked a love for reading that now, has sparked a love for writing!  This layout is also the first time I actually wrote on my photos! I don’t normally do things like that, but in this layout, it turned out wonderfully! I wanted to showcase the different types of books that I read! The colors I used also are pleasing to the eye, blue, wheat and cream! I love how the titled turned out, with the words, and the hearts for the “love” part spreading across the two pages! The bottom layer is a wheat color, paired with the blue and cream, which makes a beautiful color choice.  (One that is in My Creative Companion book in my own section!) This ty...

My Creative Companion 2 is one of my favorite books that Creating Keepsakes put out.    I love Becky Higgins anyway, but this book really has it all.  I never did get the first book, but if she ever does a 3rd MCC, I would be the first in line to buy it!  The first thing I like about this book is the fact it is smaller and well organized for you to use.  By using this book, you are able to really get a kick start on the items you want to create, simply grab your photos and start to go through the book to get a few ideas for your own project. The second thing about this book is everything is color coordinated, tabbed, and with layout examples included in each section.  The chapters included are accents, borders, journaling and titles, layout design, photo mats, odds & ends, my ideas and then color coordinated stickies to flag certain items you are working on.   This book is currently on sale at    http://www...

Cards are easy to do, and can be customized by using favorite colors or a favorite saying even.  They can be made with scraps of paper oftentimes, making it a cheap card.   With the card you see here, the colors match from the saying and heart to the pinks in the card.  I added a bit of ribbon and lace, with a handmade buckle embossed to match.  You can change the colors, use birthday background paper, with a Happy Birthday saying and an image stamp to match!     Look for small saying stamps with small image stamps to match, the squares are all the same size to make it easier when putting it together.  The fun part of this card was the buckle made out of a soda pop top and embossing powder to match!  This can be done with just about any color of embossing powder you have that can match the paper you are using.  Supplies needed:   Card back Background paper in 2 coordinating colors Button Image and saying stam...

Scrapbooking can be expensive....the album, papers, embellishments for the album, and then the adhesive to finish it up.     Since I started scrapbooking, I wanted all the same things everyone else had, but I couldn't afford, so I had to do my own thing.   I try to look for things that are cost effective, that will allow me to finish up a project in little time, and maybe have extras left over to do a card or two.  For those of you who have Wal-Mart stores close to you that still have the craft area in them, look for what they have available to you!  Colorbok has put together kits, the one I purchased was $19.99, it has the 12 x 12 album, 16 sheets of paper, punch out accent pieces, photo matts, stickers, border strips, buttons and ribbon...all ready to finish up the album.  The greatest part of this album is the instruction booklet that comes with, to show you how to finish up the album itself.    http://www.colorbok.com/DeptFil...

This layout was made very quickly, wanting to showcase the photos, not anything else.  Since I didn't have a lot of embellishments to use for this one, in the colors I wanted to use, I chose to use a simple star punch to accent things.  This is a 30 minute or less layout for sure!  When I started scrapbooking, I chose to scrapbook the photos that were more recent, instead of choosing photos from long ago.  The problem for me was trying to come up with journaling, or remembering things from that long ago to put on my layouts.  I worked on my younger childrens albums, while leaving my oldest sons album alone.  Now I regret that, as my memory about that time isn't as good as it is now...I can't remember the little things as much as I can now!     This layout can be recreated in many different ways, with a child, or change the title and do a layout about the love between you and your spouse, or a birthd...

  This layout was a very simple layout to do, using 4 photos, stickers and a bit of color in the ribbon and buttons!   Simple to recreate using any type of themed stickers and photos that match!  In this layout, I wanted to showcase the photos more than the embellishments I used.  The colors were girlish, more to match the stickers, than anything in the photos.  If you look at the flowers, I used buttons in the middle of the flowers, this is especially good if you have a certain color in the sticker that might clash with what you are doing.  I am all for handwritten journaling on your pages instead of computer generated.  Yes, computer generated might "look" better, but you want to have some of your pages have your own words, your own handwriting on them.  This way, future generations can see how you wrote, and what you had to say, instead of reading something from the computer.  I also added a few stickers that were sayings, inst...

My mom sews... and I mean designs Blessing Dresses (Christening gowns, depending on the religion you are in.....) like you wouldn't believe!  My daughter Terra's dress is one of a kind...but she does that with everything she does, changes some aspect of the dress to make it unique.   I get that from her...being able to take things and create it on paper instead!  Sometimes when you scrapbook, you find photos that you want to showcase...it should be about the photos, not the embellishments you use.  I've said it before, and I will say it again...after you are gone, and your family has your pages and albums...they are not going to look down at a special page and say "Oh, this paper wasn't a new style when she created this"!  The reason I say this is because it's truly about the memories, the feelings you felt when those photos were taken in the first place, not the embellishments you use on the layout.  When I decided to make this layout, I wanted ...

  I was told from someone that the "first children should be throw away children", because we screw them up so much!  In some aspects I have to agree, especially in my oldests' case.  I was a single mother at 21, raising a premature son on my own.  I didn't really know "how" to be a mother really, so this poor kid really has had it rough!  He is now 24...in college, and trying to do the best job he possibly can, so I guess I didn't screw him up too much!  This 2 page layout was made with each of my three kids in mind.  I wanted a place to put into words how I feel about each of my kids!    I wanted a layout that showed them how much I love them all, and how each of them changed me in one way or another.  When designing this layout I designed it with this in mind: The photos used are my favorite photos of my kids. Embellishments are my own design on the tags, in a monochromatic color scheme.  Under each photo is hid...

You would never think scrapbooking could be a therapy tool, but trust me...it was for me!   Life for me hasn't been the easist, from one bad decision to another.   Scrapbooking helped me  to be able to dig through the issues in my life that I needed to...and come out ok in the end!  This layout was sparked by just the title...one simple picture, and then the journaling.  The picture was one taken at a time in my life where I was starting to rebuild... without my children, and without any emotional support from family.  I see now how far I truly have came, in just the short 3.5 years since then!   Scrapbooking helped me to keep things going, and keep things in perspective.  I won't promise you that it is easy, but I will promise you scrapbooking will help you "deal" with things in a positive way.   What I realize, almost 10 years later, that scrapbooking only made me realize that I am different...in every capacity....