How to Find Scrapbooking Clipart

SCRAPBOOKING NEWSLETTER – ISSUE 20

OCTOBER 2014

The Scrapbooking Newsletter “How to Find Scrapbooking Clipart” Issue 20 SAMPLES OF COLORED CLIPART WHERE YOU COULD FIND ON THE INTERNET!

OCTOBER 2014

How to Find Scrapbooking Clipart by SCRAPBOOK 24/7

UPDATE

Many people have difficulty in finding art to include in their scrapbook layout. If you know the right places to look, free scrapbook clip art can be a great way to add some creativity and flair to your themes. This article will discuss several different possible places for you to find this art. The internet is an invaluable resource for any scrapbook maker. You can find information on how to create different themes and effects, where to locate different materials needed, and also find a wealth of printable images. You can do a search on any of the popular search engines, such as Google, Bing or Yahoo for

free scrapbook clip art and find endless sites offering assistance. On search engines that allow you to do so, you can find specific images by doing an image search. Google allows this type of search and it is most helpful in narrowing down the results to the ones relative to your actual needs.

Today one of the best places to find clipart, icons and beautiful images for your digital scrapbooks is Pinterest.com. Another terrific place to find free scrapbook clip art is children’s books. Coloring books can prove particularly

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helpful. If you have a scanner, you don’t even have to cut the image from the book, you can just scan it and print it as you please. If you have an image editor, you can even introduce a little color to a blank coloring page graphic with the click of a button using the ‘paint bucket’ selection, which is readily available in most common graphic editors. Free scrapbook clip art that is seasonally themed is very popular among scrapbook makers. There are even websites that are dedicated specifically to free seasonal clip art that offer hundreds of image selections in tune with each of the holiday themes. Keep in mind that if you’re looking for free scrapbook clip art that is related to a holiday theme that the holidays are a time during which many people, especially children create

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small crafts and keepsakes. Using these crafts as part of your layout’s clip art is a good way to add something new to your scrapbook while preserving the craft piece at the same time. If you can’t find what you’re looking for online or in books, you would be surprised how easy it is to create your own clip art. Clip art is typically composed of simple line structure and is fairly easy to draw. Try penciling in your lines first and then going over them once you have the image complete. When coloring or shading, colored pencils are an excellent erasable alternative to other more permanent coloring methods if you are not comfortable with using markers. Pastels are another appealing tool for adding some color to your free scrapbook clip art drawings. Always coat pastels and other mediums that might smear or bleed with a light mist of clear polyurethane in order to preserve them. You might not need to use this method if you use the newer generation of oil pastels.

They offer more of a crayon appeal rather than the chalkiness of regular pastels. If you aren’t able to find what you’re looking for online or in coloring books, magazines are a good place to scavenge next. When using magazine or newspapers to find free scrapbook clip art, a collage layout is a good way to economize and use your household conveniences in your design. Glue recipes for collages vary. I generally pick up a bottle of Mod Podge to use with my collage work because it dries clear and you don’t have to be concerned with overuse or spillover. An old paintbrush makes an excellent applicator and a warm, wet rag will clean up any mess (as long as it is gotten to before it dries). 2


Free scrapbook clip art can be found in obscure places as well as well-known ones. From nicely designed napkins to image searches online, there is an unlimited supply of free scrapbook art as long as you are willing to be creative and diligent in

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your search. Many times, if you keep your eyes open during everyday tasks, you will not have to search at allyou will find yourself surrounded by art and items to include in your scrapbooking layouts.

Using Your Computer for Scrapbooking Do not be intimidated about using your computer to assist you in the creation of your scrapbook pages. A computer can be used to manipulate photographs, and can perhaps save a photo that you wouldn't otherwise be able to use because it's blurry, or too dark or light in appearance. Journaling and page titles also gets an impressive, professional appearance when you create them using word processing or graphical software programs. Once you mastered these techniques, you could even try to create full-page, computer generated scrapbook pages- called Digital Scrapbooking. Believe it or not, there are some people who make all of their scrapbooks digitally! So how do you get started making your computer work for you as one of your scrapbooking supplies? If you're looking to alter and manipulate photographs, whether it's to improve their appearance or make them more artistically pleasing by adding effects or changing their shape, you'll want to invest in a photo-editing program. There are several available on the market, with

prices ranging from about $30 to several hundred dollars, but download trial versions from their web sites before buying any so you can decide if you like the program or not. An easy to use program for fixing photographs and adding simple effects, is Microsoft Picture It! Photo. Once you've installed the program of your choice, find

the online tutorial and help documents that will walk you through processes like changing color photos to black and white, and removing red eye, step by step. Learning the basics first is the best way to use a photo-editing program, and as you get more familiar with the program you can expand and start using it to completely alter your photos or add fantastic special 3


effects to add another element of uniqueness to your scrapbooking layouts. If you want to create computer generated page titles, and journaling, chances are you have everything you need on your computer already! You can use any word processing software, such as Microsoft Word or Word Perfect to create beautiful text in the size you need (use their built in rulers!) and print on the paper of your choice. You can get creative and learn how to use textboxes to position letters exactly where you want them, and use different fonts within the same word. Try printing directly on cardstock, or change the settings of your print options to transparency, and print on

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vellum or transparencies to layer your journaling and titles over your background paper, or even over photographs! When you're fully comfortable with photoediting and creating journaling and page titles on your computer, you may decide to try making a digital layout- where everything from the background paper to the photographs are created, altered, and printed right from your computer. You'll want to have a high quality graphics program, such as Adobe Photoshop or Microsoft Digital Image Pro 10. Take some time to go through the programs tutorials to get a feel for how the program works if you have never used it before, and most programs allow

you to select what you want to learn in the tutorials. Then, for your first few digital layouts, consider downloading "page kits" from a web site, such as www.scrapbook-bytes.com that specialize in digital scrapbooking. The page kits offer ready-made templates that you just add your photos and journaling to, or they are the individual elements like background paper, and paper made to look like vellum, that you can arrange and layer on your digital layout to create the look you want. Once you've learned the basics of digital scrapbooking with help from templates and pre-made pieces, you'll be able to apply your own creative techniques and create your own page elements on your own pages! Traditional scrapbooking is limited to the products you can buy or make yourself, using paper and other supplies that can be adhered to your pages. When you add your computer and printer into your list of supplies for scrapbooking, you are inviting unlimited creativity to grace the pages of your layouts!

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