Dude! That's So Washed Up!

Dude! You're a guy so you don't limit yourself to sterile and dry environments. Don't forget your camera there, too!

Pix from waterproof cameras make great additions to scrapbooks. Shots of your crew in and under water add a dimension that shots from the shore just don't have.



Plus, you're not so vain that you (and everyone else, for that matter) have to look all GQ for a pix, are you? The girls want everyone to look nice. You want to show everyone mid-adventure.

So, next time you're going to a lake or river or pool, be sure to pick up a disposable underwater camera. Just don't forget to take pix or to get them developed.

Dude! Cannonball!

Dude! You Had to BE There!

Dude! If you've taken pix of something cool from a lot of different angles, use that to make a page. Dude! That's all you need!



Anybody can get a postcard kind of pic. Nothing says "I was actually there" and reminds you of your time is to see pix you took from vantage points.

Dude! Break free from those standard boring posed shots that the girls need because of all the distraction the lace and buttons and bows and flowers bring. Prove you were there with bold shots and let them speak for themselves.

Dude! That's too Much!

Dude! There's that place you go all and you've got all those pix from so many different visits. Dude! I know that it's overwhelming and you don't know where to start.

One solution is to mix all the pix together and unify them only with a template cut.



Yes, it's a lot of different memories on one page. But you have a lot of different memories from that one place.

So, dude!, that's kind of the point. Since all those trips there get mushed together in your brain you can mush them together on your same scrapbook page, too. Stop trying to sort the pictures and start making the scrapbook page!

I mean, isn't the fact that you like the place enough to go there over and over one of the places most distinctive features? Let your page reflect it, too.

Dude!

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! Fill'er Up!

Dude! This gets intense!

Go someplace like Gettysburg and you'll have lots for your scrapbook. War heroes, battle plans, and monuments go side by side with time with family and tour groups. These things don't easily blend well.

Sometimes you just have to pick out a couple of pix, clip out some highlights of the site's history, and fill up a page in a way that seems to have some visual appeal.



Dude! Going to to places like this doesn't just fill scrapbook pages -- it give you a fuller life.

Dude! Send a Postcard!

Dude! You don't have to take every single picture -- that's why God made postcards!



You can mix and match your own pix with the ones the pros took and you picked up at the gift shop. It's not cheating and it absolves you of the guilt you felt for not sending the cards to your friends while you were on vacation.

Dude! Slip in a few cards and deal yourself a winning page!

Dude! Be Bold!

Dude! You're life's an adventure. You go manly places doing manly things. Don't water down your life with lots of pastels and hushed tones. You're not afraid of bold colors, are you?



Just as Devils Tower juts out from the Wyoming prairies, let those pix, stickers, and clippings stand out with bold colors like the hunter green trim on the goldenrod background.

Dude! Don't wuss out. Let your memories be as bold as the original experience!

Dude! It's the Pix!

Dude! When it comes to separating the girls from the scrappy dudes it comes down to the pix! The dudes don't let lace and tags and buttons and stamps and all that other stuff bury the pictures. The pix are the reason for the books.



Sometimes, you just need to let the pix do all the work. Arranging them in a clean, crisp way let each of them speak 1000 words each. And when they do the talking you can remain the strong, silent type.

Dude!

Dude! Find the Scissors!

Dude! Not all your pictures need to be the same size. Find a pair of scissors!



The pix in the middle were all much larger before I took out the scissors. Cropping the pix cuts out the clutter, both emphasizing what's important and allowing more pix per page.

Well-cropped pix are the opposite of all girly frills that they try to sell you at the Hobby Lobby. Dude! Don't cave to the establishment. Be your own man!

Dude! Use a Map!

Yes, you're the one who knows how to fold a map back up so that it fits in the glove compartment. Now, unfold it and us it in your scrapbook.



Including a map with a couple of pix helps you remember where you were when you took them. This is especially true of shots that cover broad landscapes.

Maps. A clean and simple way to help preserve the memories of your adventures.

Plus, you won't have to bother to stop and ask directions the next time you're there.

Dude! Use the Paper!

Dude, you can use the paper to create a setting for your pix, especially if you don't have any good ones of the view.



I had lots of pix of things on Assateague Island but they didn't capture the setting very well. I just ripped and cut the paper to create the dunes/sand/water/sky as the background then glued small pix that I took onto it. It put the horses and Jeep in their proper context.

Dude, this is the Home-Depot-Do-It-Yourself men's weekend project scrapbook method. Build your own background like a man!

Dude, mount your pictures!

Dude! Just because you're not using ribbons and bows doesn't mean you just glue your pix on the paper like you did in kindergarten. Mount them on another piece of paper first.



Mounting the pix in this page helps them stand out. Plus, since the pix are of all different sizes and of a variety of things the mounting provides some unity to all the shots.

Clean lines. Strong colors. Pix of hiking the kids up steep cliffs. And a lizard that would scare any cat.

Dude! You're on your way!

Dude, where's the men's aisle?

So I like to take pictures and respect my family's adventures enough that I think their memories deserve something better than a shoebox. Yet, when I went into the local store to find a nice way to capture the essence of our life, I discovered that the stores assumed several things:

1. That I like flowers and ribbons and buttons and bows.
2. That gardening and grandchildren are my two greatest passions.
3. That when I look at a scrapbook I think it's fun to play "Where's Waldo?" trying to find my photos through all the garbage glued on the page.
4. That I own and photograph several cats.

Clearly, none of these things are true.

I figured that there must be a way for a man to plow through this stuff and make something worth the memories. The Scrappy Dude is a blog of that ongoing quest. Are you be man enough to join me?