Dude! Cut it Out!

Dude! When you're at the barber shop you might just need a trim. When you arrive at boot camp the cut is a little more thorough.

Welcome to the Ft. Leonard Wood of scrapbooking, soldier!

Sometimes you need to crop a pic. Sometimes you need to cut off everything except the essential element. Get out those scissors and start cutting!



Some pix are filled with clutter and distractions. Dude! Cut them out and throw them away. Glue down only what you want to see and remember. Plus, if the sky was gray all day, why waste valuable space with all that bland?

Dude! It's time to separate the men from the boys!

Dude! It's in the Bag!

Dude! The perfect scraps are often just sitting in the gift shop for free. Dude! Look at the bag!

I know that you don't even want to get a bag when you shop. You just want to get those new power tools home from the hardware store without all the fuss and bother. But when you're out someplace you're going to scrapbook, lay claim to that bag. The treasures aren't just in it, they're on it.



All but one of the scraps on the above page were simply clipped from the design on the bag from the gift shop. Perfect elements are all around you.

Dude! Open your eyes!

Dude! Get in Shape!

Dude! Your scrapbook needs to get in shape!

Sometimes a shape other than a rectangle can tell a lot about where you were. If it does, use it!

For example, the President is naturally associated with the stars and stripes. In this page, I used a star punch to shape the elements in invoke that association.



I used the star on the pix I took and the items from the brochures that I wanted to include. Keeping the family pic in a rectangle separated what was presidential and what was family.

Getting things to work in a particular shape can be quite a challenge. But it's nothing a real man can't conquer!

Dude! Shape up!

Dude! Get with the Program!

Dude! The women are better at this than you and you need to not let them win here. When you go to an event that you know you'll be scrapbooking, keep the program!

Now, once you do you don't need to use it the same way the girls do. But including it shows that what you witnessed was important and it provides both some key information and a little class to your page.



Now, she's got a real advantage here because she can slip the program in her purse and I know that you don't carry a bag like that with you. But, dude!, keeping this scrap not that hard so just do it.

Dude! Get with the program!

Dude! Just a Little off the Side!

Dude! Don't let the size and shape of the page rule your life!

You can line up your pix and scraps not just to the edge but over the edge! Then trim things to make them fit in your book.



You have many memories of the place beyond what the pix and scraps will allow. Having the elements spilling over the edge shows that you've squeezed in as much as you can but that there's soooo much more. You'll be called to look beyond the pages to let the memories live.

Dude! Go Overboard!