Need scrapbook/journaling help please!

[HarleyGirl]

In all of the magazines I see pictures of layouts that feature journaling that looks like it is printed on clear paper. Is it vellum? Do you have to have a special printer for that? I have tried to print something on vellum before but I have an inexpensive inkjet printer and with the slick surface of the paper it just smears. Am I using the wrong kind of paper? I love the way those journaling captions look when I see them. I just don't know how to do it! Help! Thanks!

[dsnygrl]

I have printed on Vellum with an ink jet print and the key is to wait until it dries which can take a few hours depending in how juicy the ink was when it went on. Vellum is not pourous like paper so it does not absorb the ink, rather it has to dry like paint. I have also used my ink jet to print on clear acetate sheets but these can take days to completely dry. If you try it again watch the ink and usually I find that when it starts to dry it lightens up a little. I have also heard that you can use a heat gun to speed up the process but I was always afraind I would get too close and melt the papre so I have never tried.

[HarleyGirl]

Thanks for the info! I was hoping I would be able to do this when I start my first cruise scrapbook next month. I guess I didnt wait long enough for the ink to dry on the vellum. Is it transparencies that you can print on and put over a picture---hard to explain, but let's say you've got a sunset picture and you want to put words on top of it so that the writing is on the picture, is it a transparency that you would use? Can I do that with an ink jet? Thanks for your help! Im not too smart with all these techniques. I just admire everyone's work so much!

[dsnygrl]

I have used the clear plastic feeling sheets, I am not sure if they call them transparencies or what the official term is since they were given to me. This would be what you would use to overlay a picture and be able to have a clear view through. Vellum works for this too but you get a softer more frosty look. The plastic sheets can take days to dry though. Might be worth it to pick up a few sheets and do a test run.

[lauren2pink]

Yes, you can get transparencies that work with inkjet. I have never tried to use them in my scrapbooking, but I see no reason that they would not work.

 

I used to buy the inkjet transparencies to make for my overhead projector at school. If you buy the kind designed to be printed on they will dry within a few seconds.

 

They sell them at office depot.

[HarleyGirl]

I will have to go check those out. Boy, new to scrapping AND new to cruising.....I've got soooo much to learn!! (its fun stuff to learn, though):p

[M&MCruisin]

OP - have you already gone on the cruise? If not, one fun way to journal in a scrapbook is to write yourself a message about what you are doing that day on a postcard and mail to your home from each port. This way, your cruise feels extended when for weeks, you keep checking the mailbox to see if you got one of your postcards back yet. I read mine and said, wow, I forgot I was thinking or feeling that, etc. For instance, I wrote to myself that I was going to Stingray City in the Caymans and that I was real nervous. Its fun to see it. Then you will also get the postage stamps from each island displayed in your scrapbook. Postcards are just another fun way to do journal entries, but with an extra something. Also ads interest to your page. Happy scrapbooking.

[Daisy May]

I had the same problem with the ink smearing. The guy at the scrapbook store said to print using the draft mode. It uses less ink. Tried it and it worked great.

 

Sherry

[TheWaywardTraveler]

When printing on inkjet transparencies, make sure you're printing on the rough side.

Regular transparencies will go through a laser printer .

Regular transparenices can also be used on a photocopier. Print out your journaling on plain paper, and then have it copied onto a transparency at Kinko's, CopyMax, etc.

 

Pat

(New cruiser, longtime scrapper)

[HarleyGirl]

I just can't wait to get home to start my book! Only 34 days left til cruise!!

[M&MCruisin]

I just can't wait to get home to start my book! Only 34 days left til cruise!!

 

I know what you mean! I am already collecting (Im the real bad collector type) embellishments, papers, etc. for my next cruise. There is a really neat site I have ordered specialty paper from. Got specific paper for different islands and even some specific excursion paper. Its so exciting! Glad to know someone else shares the passion! have fun and REMEMBER...almost ANYTHING....can be used as an embellishment or help spruce up a page. Keep it all then decide later!

[HarleyGirl]

I use Tropical Scrapbooking and Scrapyourtrip.com. I think Tropical Scrapbooking has more stuff suited to my particular trip, but i like both of them a lot. I started collecting stuff for the scrapbook before I even booked the cruise! Now that is ridiculous! I've spent more on scrapping supplies than I did on my formal gown. I am going back for a land-based trip to Cozumel in March 2007 so I figure that anything that isn't used for the cruise book will be used then. I seem to have developed a tropical fetish over the past couple of years and if it has a palm tree, a dolphin or a margarita on it, I buy it! Sad, isn't it? I guess there are worse addictions, tho.....

[forpaws]

Hi all, I'm also a long-time scrapper. I had the same problem with ink smearing on vellum. I'll try the draft mode next time--my ink smeared even a day or two later, so evidently it really does require extra drying time. Thanks for the advice--I had given up on it.

 

For the newer scrapbookers: Don't forget to make sure anything that will be in contact with your precious photos is acid and lignin free. This is the most important part of making sure that your memories will transcend generations.

 

We also bring back a little bit of sand and some tiny sea shells to go in shaker boxes in our scrapbooks (we only bring back sand and shells from beaches where it's not illegal). It's easy to make a shaker box in your scrapbook with the clear acetate sheets talked about on this thread. Just use a square of backing cardstock or pretty paper, use double sided tape around the perimeter of the square, put the sand in, and seal with a square of acetate. You can decorate the outside edge of the acetate with more colored paper or cardstock to cover up the tape. It's a neat little remembrance of your favorite beach.

[Sashalanda]

Now thats a good idea about the sand adn shells! I was wondering if the clear adhesive paper would work to cover things?then use brads to attach that to paper and trim with whatever. Not sure if that paper stays clear or yellows with time. I just started scrapbooking a few weeks ago. I use to do all types of crafting before I got neuropathy of myhands. A dear friend introduced me to scraping and , for the most part, my hands can do it without extra pain. The tiny detailed cutting my son does for me if I absolutely can't to my satisfaction. I found using tweezers with large grip area make the small embellishments much easier for me to place. I have my cruise book all ready to go with papers, embellishments, brads, and a brand new 12x zoom digital camera hehe. I probably will annoy ppl with this camera lol. I like reading hints at scrapbook.com forum. they have some great hints :).

[gbgalnow]

Im not sure if All the cruise ships offer this but on our RCI Navigator they had an actual scrapbook and kit you could purchase right there in the photo shop!!! The two coordinate and include plenty of Royal Carribean logo stickers so I can place them anywhere throughout the book. I was soo excited to find this!!! Now I just have to get moving on putting the book together! I wished I would've remembered to get sand! :rolleyes:

[ScraPerfect]

The thing to know about printing on slick surfaces is that it's not you that's the problem. There are a number of things to try --like printing in transparency or draft mode but...there are drawbacks...

 

in draft mode the reason it dries quicker is b/c there is a minimum of ink being applied. You want it dark and bold, so you'd rather print on normal settings. If you want to print on a transparency, know that almost all inkjet transparencies are not acid free and therefore not archivally safe.

 

GOOD NEWS!!! There is a product called the Perfect Printing Pouch which solves all these challenges. You just wip[e your paper or transparency with the pouch and then the ink bonds to the vellum and dries almost instantly.

 

You can google PERFECT PRINTING POUCH to get more info. Also in the FAQs on the website, there's a list of other tips to try if you don't have a pouch.