Posts Tagged ‘Memories’

Making Dolls By Way Of Cloth Doll Patterns

Monday, July 12th, 2010

Most of us consider some of our childhood toys very sentimental because they bring back lots of memories.  We get to remember the days when we were stress-free and live life as if living in a world of fantasy.  The toys that we had before were a lot simpler than the toys that children have now.  We don’t even have to use batteries to make it work.  All we needed was our imagination and creativity.  At present, children do not really know how to value their toys because when something better comes out in the market, they tend to forget the old ones.

I once passed by little children in our neighbourhood playing with a couple of dolls.  I can tell that the dolls were personally made by their mother through cloth doll patterns.  My sister and I also used to own dolls that our mother made all by herself.  She would usually give us a doll or two on our birthdays with different themes.

The dolls that our mom has created can be closely compared to the ones that you see in department stores.  She can make dolls in no time with the use of cloth doll patterns.  After that, she puts in the details like the hair, eyes, nose and eyes.  Our mom sure does have an artistic talent that I wish I had, too.  Many people also admire her for what she does and some would actually ask her to make one for their children.  It should have been a great business opportunity, but she didn’t take advantage of it.

When we grew up as well as her friends’ kids, she stopped making dolls. But when I got married and had two beautiful daughters, she is in full swing with her hobby again.  Just like old times, she still uses cloth doll patterns in making pretty dolls.  She also patterned the dolls with the personality of my kids.  One of daughters is very athletic, so she made a number of dolls having a sports theme.  My kids value the dolls so much and they even have a space dedicated just for them.

There was a time when one of my dear friends asked my mother if she could make a doll for her wife.  He wanted to give something unique for their wedding anniversary.  My mother gladly accepted it.  She chose a perfect pattern from her many cloth doll patterns and created a very chic doll.  My mother is so happy that her crafts are well-appreciated by children and even by adults.  Many have already convinced her to put up a doll store, but she consistently refused.  She said she creates dolls just for fun and not for profit.  She also welcomed people who wanted to learn how to make dolls using cloth doll patterns.

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Creative Memories #21 – Making Christmas Card 10 – Cross and Good News – 2009

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

How to make Card #10 in the Creative Memories Christmas Card Kit. This card has a jewel cross and a quote by Martin Luther. “Good news from heaven the angels bring, Glad tidings to the earth they sing; To us this day a child is given, To crown us with the joy the heaven.” There are 18 cards total in the kit. Limited Edition and Featured Project for 2009. Classic Nativity set. Link to kit (top right button) lovetocreatememories.blogspot.com

Modern Scrapbooking: Preserving Precious Memories With Computers and Digital Graphic Printing

Friday, March 12th, 2010

Moms are usually the experts when it comes to scrapbooking. Years of documentation (according to the number of children, of course) have given them plenty of practice in this addictive craft activity. With the aid of a digital camera and some user-friendly programs on the computer, scrapbooking can be easier yet equally enjoyable for you. Also, there’s digital graphic printing that can help you achieve quality albums with great pictures.

Scrapbooking through the years

Even before Martha Stewart became a household name, a lot of women, particularly mothers, have already been documenting important events in their families’ lives.

Traditionally, this process involves collecting pictures, pasting them on pages, and adding intricate details such as picture borders, cut outs of shapes, and captions.

Some people make scrapbooks for single important events such as birthdays, weddings, reunions and graduations, while others cover an entire life span from birth to each momentous occasion such as first hair cut, first day in school, lead role in a school play, prom and coming-of-age celebrations like Bar mitzvahs and sweet sixteen birthdays. Sometimes, details such as height development, favorite food and favorite cartoons are also added.

While this usual method for scrapbooking is fun and a good opportunity to bond with someone, it may be somewhat labor-intensive.

Now, busy women can still engage in this activity with a modern approach.

Break away from the old ways

Computers and digital printing can help you create great albums with as much details as traditional means. In addition, this tool and method combination allows you to unleash your creativity in less time.

Computer

With the use of a computer, you can do more with your scrapbooks without sweating. You can manipulate photos using software programs that cater to images. Restoring distorted and fading pictures is also made possible by such programs.

Here are some of the specific enhancements that you can do to your photos:

1. Pictures taken with bad lighting can be adjusted to make the colors brighter.

2. Red eyes can now be easily remedied with a few clicks on the mouse.

3. Place borders or panoramic effects on the pictures

4. Use design templates and background patterns from the internet

5. Create collages without cutting and pasting your original photos.

6. Instead of adding captions at the bottom, you can put thought bubbles to insert text

7. Use different font types, sizes and colors

8. Convert pictures to black and white, or sepia to create a flashback mood

9. Use different effects such as oil and watercolor sketches, and Gaussian blur for an artistic touch.

Digital graphic printing

• You no longer have to cut pictures and feel bad afterwards because they’re your only copies. With digital graphic printing, you can print a copy for your scrapbook and print some more for other uses.

• Digital printing makes clear images with radiant colors and sharp details. You’re certain that your pictures will come out looking vibrant and rich in colors.

• Another good thing about digital printing is that it allows you to print on different surfaces. You can have your pictures printed on plastic or cloth. This is the perfect way to add variety to your scrapbook entries.

Preserve memories, as well as the quality of your scrapbook. A little help from your computer and digital graphic printing can go a long way.

Carla San Gaspar

To find more related topics on digital printing and digital graphic printing jobs please feel free to visit Digital Brochures and Postcards Printing Company

Cool Scrapbooking Ideas and Free Scrapbooking Software to Use

Saturday, February 13th, 2010

Crafts, especially unique and interesting ones, never go out of style. These also never run out of loyal followers. One very good proof of this is the continuous popularity of both cross stitching and knitting. Up to this day, these types of crafts still count thousands, if not millions, of devoted practitioners all over the world.

These days, another emerging type of craft is gaining ground – scrapbooking. Craft aficionados, especially those who love visually appealing products, have started to promote this. What makes scrapbooking interesting for a lot of aficionados is the fact that you can insert your personal style without any limitations.

Scrapbooking is a hobby wherein a person preserves photographs, cards, tickets and other symbols of memories in a very creative and unique way. A practitioner, usually called a “scrapbooker,” protects and presents these symbols of memories through various themes, which may range from holidays to events to describing how it was like then. For instance, a mother may preserve memories of her newborn by preparing a single scrapbook spread with at least two photographs embellished with cut-outs, stickers and perhaps tags found on the baby’s crib at the hospital. As you can see, the idea is to make the photographs more meaningful and more unique compared to just placing them in regular photo albums.

If you want to start developing your scrapbooking abilities, here are a few tips and ideas you may want to consider for your projects:

1. Use your favorite quotes and perhaps samplings of your diary as embellishments. Give your spread a personal touch by inserting your favorite motto printed in a nice, fancy font.

2. To give emphasis to the name of a person whose photos you want to preserve, you can make one or two letters bigger than all the rest. Alternatively, you can print one or two letters using a different font or a different color.

3. Go for the 3D effect! Arrange pictures in such a way that the end result will be a cool 3 dimensional effect.

4. Scan or insert actual tickets, menus, stubs or tags. If you’re doing a photo diary of your recent travel to the U.S., for instance, saving and inserting the actual train tickets and airplane flight booking papers can add pizzazz to your project.

5. Use personalized templates. If you want to preserve photos of your family’s first ever trip to the beach, you may want to use a background full of seashells, beach balls, slippers and sand.

You can also go to supplies stores or hobby shops to purchase ready-to-assemble scrapbooking kits. These kits usually contain ribbons, craft thickers, vellum quote stacks, rickracks and perhaps buttons and kitchen paper. You can use them based on the instructions based on the kit or add more embellishments. Just don’t overdo it though!

On the other hand, you could first try your hand on scrapbooking via free scrapbooking software programs. Two free scrapbooking softwares which you can use are Picaboo and Scrapbook Flair.

Features of these two are basically the same – you can add personalized backgrounds to your spread, you can frame your digital pictures with stylish corners, you can come up with a photo collage and you can instantly create a 3D effect.

Given these, one can truly see why people are getting hooked with scrapbooking. It’s a hobby where a person can exercise creativity, thought and imagination on meaningful projects.

James Kara Murat

James Kara Murat the contributor of Printer Paper & Photo Printer. A longer version of this article is located at Cool Scrapbooking Ideas and related resources can be found at PrintCountry Photo Printing & Sharing Ideas.