Scrappers loves to hold onto scrapbooking memorabilia and mementos. Envelopes and scrapbooking - what a beautiful union. It's no surprise that scrappers are using envelopes in their layouts. Not only are they made of paper - a main staple of scrappers - but they also hold "stuff". We scrappers like things that hold stuff. Have you ever visited an online scrapbook community or read one of the several scrapbook magazines? I have and I see two common factors: scrappers have a lot of stuff and scrappers want ways to hold their stuff.
These little pieces of our lives help us to remember a certain time, place, and feeling. There are many ways of storing all that stuff in your layouts. Read on to find some great ways of using and creating envelopes in your scrapbooking.
As you probably know, there are dozens of varieties of envelopes. I enjoy using envelopes in my layouts, but I usually prefer to make my own. To make my own envelopes, I take an existing envelope - even one that was sent in the mail to me - and I carefully open it up. I then take the envelope and trace it on pattern paper or cardstock that fits the design of my layout. I cut out my new envelope and fold it in the same manner as the one you traced. Glue flaps as necessary.
Most of the envelopes I use in my scrapbooking are smaller than what is usually sent through the mail. Luckily, taking a standard mailing envelope and reducing it in size is easy with the use of a copy machine or scanner and printer. This way, you are able to create just about any size of envelope you wish.
My favorite paper for creating envelopes is vellum. I like the look of vellum and have made envelopes from just about every color there is. Another favorite is any paper that is double-sided. If a paper is double-sided, it will show both patterns or colors once I finish folding my envelope. Almost any paper will work for creating envelopes; choose one that will work best for your page.
Over time, I have accumulated several different envelope templates. If you keep your eyes open, you can also find a variety of envelopes to use. I have found that envelopes from friends in other countries and greeting card envelopes tend to provide you with the most variety. The next time you are sorting your mail, look at it with a new perspective - could that envelope look charming on one of your layouts?
Envelopes hold just about anything you want them to hold. Here are just a few ideas:
-Journaling that you wish to have slightly hidden
-Journaling that you want to dress up a bit
-A tag - either as an accent or with journaling on it
-Lock of hair
-Jewelry
-An actual letter someone sent you
-Important documents
-Notes to be opened at a later date
-A card you received
-Photos
-Money, such as a child's first dollar
-Any page accent
Here are some great ways to use envelopes and how you can make yours unique.
    Create an envelope and let only the very top of your journaling show. This method is best when you aren't hiding the journaling.
    Create a clear (white) vellum envelope and place your journaling inside, so that it shows through the envelope, without your reader having to pull out the paper.
    Don't feel limited to just one envelope. Add several small ones to a page, with each holding different items.
    Rather than gluing your envelope together, sew it.
    Don't glue your envelope together - trace it, cut it, and fold it. Unfold it and add your journaling to the "inside" of the envelope. Fold it back up and secure with ribbon, a paper clip, or other closure.
    Be on the lookout for other materials that you can make envelopes with such as tissue paper, old greeting cards and calendars, fabric, and more.
    Create an envelope and mat your photo directly on it. The envelope behind the photo now saves space on your page.
    Envelopes don't have to hold stuff -- create an envelope and embellish it for a stunning page accent.
    Creating a unique look - once you've assembled your envelope, tear off a top or side portion of the envelope. Then use the envelope to hold a tag or scrapbook journaling.
    To give your envelope an aged look, chalk or ink the edges before folding and gluing it.
I hope these ideas will help you to create your own ways to store your scrapbooking memorabilia.

If you are looking for a creative scrapbook ideas you should read this article. If "a picture's worth a thousand words", then imagine the power of a thousand pictured words. Sometimes pictures keep secrets. They don't always tell the whole story. Complementing pictures with the written word can shed some light on these secrets, a light unique to you and your experience. The lens of a camera can't catch everything. Wielding words can add feeling and flavor to your scrapbook like nothing else.
  
Once you have an experience to scrapbook, picture it in your mind. What do you see? What ideas come in? Now picture it with words. What words best describe the experience? What aspects need embellishing? What hidden things do you wish to expose? What words will help others to see your subject and ideas the way you see it? Try this exercise, even if that other person is just you.

Start the flow to generate some scrapbook ideas .

Give yourself one minute. On a sheet of paper begin writing about your subject. Write down anything and everything about it that pops into your head. Don't stop until the minute is up. You may be surprised at the outcome.
Consider the photographs you will use. Use words which state the obvious to embellish certain features.

Go beyond the picture and reveal the rest of the story. Details only you know. Your story. Your scrapbook ideas.
It may take only a few vivid words. Sometimes concise phrases can express your train of thought better than a long series of sentences with correct grammar. However, your story might require such lengthy descriptions, or journaling.
Explore the parts of speech.

Use action verbs to give your experience hands and feet and heart.
Vary them in tense, past or present. embarked - pushed - climbing - flying
Use adjectives to describe. bright - breezy - fresh - exciting - exhausting

Adjectives can also illustrate emotion. eager - driven - free - fulfilled
Use adverbs to embellish action. They can tell how things happened. Your picture may show a girl swinging. How did she swing? high - far - gently - independently - alone

Phrases can also act as adjectives (describing things) and adverbs (describing action). with a gentle push - all by herself - into the air - toward the shining clouds - giggling all the way down
Keep in mind the importance of nouns. Nouns tell who is pictured and how they are related to others. niece - seven-year-old - second grader - future aviator
Common nouns name a thing. swing - girl - park - trees - sunshine - springtime

You may want to get more specific with proper nouns. Erica - Uncle John's Face Plant Park - Monday, March 8, 2011
Pronouns rename the noun. These words can be vaguely personal. she - herself - I - someone - many
Prepositions can be the springboard for phrases. up - above - with - toward - into

Conjunctions connect and may prove especially significant to your experience. she and I - so close yet so far away - not only my niece, but also a mirror of me
Interject expressions or exclamations. Wheeee! - hee-hee-he-he
Take this farther to include a soundbyte of the experience. Shwoooosh! - Errrreek, errrreek.
Use the list of prepositions, pronouns, interjections, and verbs. Use them as springboards.
Write the spoken word.

As you picture your experience, don't forget to write down what you've heard as well as what you've seen.
What sounds fill the background? bird chirping - children yelling and playing - breeze rustling the leaves in the trees
What things were said? Look how high I'm going! - I see over the trees! - Can you give me another push?

You don't necessarily need to record the whole conversation. The parts of it you remember are probably the most important. In fact, sprinkling only bits of the conversation throughout your writing can be very effective.
Who said it? Erica: Can you take me to the park to swing? Pleeeease? - Me: (smiling) Oh, all right!
The only words you use may be an entire conversation in script form (like above).
How did they say it? "I just felt my tummy jump!" She shouted down to me, between the giggles.

What potential words of wisdom can you glean? Everything looks better when you're swinging above it. -- Erica
Dig through a dictionary or thesaurus. Once you find a word, define it.
Make up your own definitions of real words or words that may not even be found in a dictionary: inside jokes, made up words, mispronunciations, names, etc.

Be redundant and say the same thing several different ways. carefree - lighthearted - blithe - untroubled - content
Utilize on-line dictionaries and thesauruses.
Utilize your ABC's for scrapbook ideas.

Find a word for each letter of the alphabet that define you or the experience you're scrapping. This is a good exercise whether or not you incorporate each word.
Go farther and define each word you choose.
Go even farther and journal about why that word fits.

Incorporate these words into your journaling and accentuate them (in bold, italics, bigger font, etc.). For an added challenge, incorporate them in alphabetical order.
Don't forget your 123's. Try Roman numerals and spelling them out.
Incorporate time. Not only the 24 hours in a day. Go beyond into the minutes and seconds that were lived.

Be poetic (even if you can't rhyme).
Summarize your experience in one word. Then create an acrostic.
Acrostics can be composed in practically limitless ways...
Each line can contain one word (Jaunts / Outings / Yesterdays) related or unrelated to the others.
You can include the word's definition on each line.

They can express one thought, or many, each thought begun with the appropriate letter of your main word.
Create phrase poetry. The only rule is that the words beginning each line have the same endings.
Try haikus to create anusual scrapbook ideas.
Pick descriptive words that rhyme. Can't rhyme? Make WriteExpress Online Rhyming Dictionary your new best friend.
Go beyond yourself and delve into another's related experience.

Glean quotes from scrapbook sites.
Incorporate related Bible verses or proverbs. Look up Bible verses from several different translations at BibleGateway.com.
Excerpt a part of a book: your favorite, travel books, magazines, how-to's, used, outdated, etc.

Use lyrics from your favorite song, or lines from your favorite movie or TV show.
Try saying the same thing in another language. Use translation tool. Works well as backgrounds or hidden journaling. Don't forget to archive an original translation as well.
Interview those who shared the experience with you.

When scrapbook an ideal, like faith or joy, get your friend's and family's view.
Pass on the things your mother always told you.
Record things that you or those you know say often.
Archive family anecdotes (like the ones your uncle always told whenever the family would get together).

Write down things other people have told you that have impacted your life.
File notes you've taken at an event.
Write what's significant to you. Once you have, set the photos aside for a moment and re-read your own words to savor the picture you have painted.

Now that you've added words to your picture, think of in terms of your scrapbook layout idea or design. Which words should be featured in the foreground? Which ones will you fade into the background? Will you snap a close-up (a few accentuated words) or go for a landscape shot (words tied together with journaling)? What do you wish to expose? What aspects do you want to keep hidden? Choose your angle and get your pictured words ready for exposure.

Cast the characters. It's can be a great source for new scrapbook ideas.

The way you picture your words depends on how they relate to your experience.
What parts of the picture are most important to you?
Which words best describe those parts?
What is characteristic about those words?
Do they stand out? Or do they play more like background music?
Can you sum it all up on a few significant words? Or do you need to elaborate through journaling?

Set the scene.

Once you've picked your words, consider how you will picture them. What scrapbook ideas you can realise? You may already have a picture in your mind - how do those words fit into it? Words, having their own definitions, almost design themselves, based on the font you choose.
What design comes to mind when consider the meaning of those words in light of your experience?
Say your words out loud. They way they sound can contribute to the design.
What do you have to work with? What materials do you still need?
And most importantly ...what font will you use? Haven't a clue? Check out web-sites.

The best cure for design block is to surround yourself with designs. Peruse design galleries and see how others have pictured their words. Think of ways you could incorporate their scrapbook ideas.
Your picture is set. You've found your angle and your focus. Everything looks perfect through the "viewfinder". All that's left is to snap the shot. The words you've fashioned wait to be designed and incorporated into your layout. Expose your scrapbook to your pictured words.
Other scrapbook ideas include:

Handwrite your own journaling, to make it personal.
Design your own style of lettering and use it in your layouts.
Visit your local scrapbooking or craft store and you'll discover a variety of pens, pencils, and markers: classic colors, fluorescent, metallic, thin, thick, super-thick, paint, gel, watercolor, and so much more.

Every scrapbooker loves their fonts, so design your words on the computer. You can print your words on all different colors and patterns of paper, cardstock, vellum, transparencies, and even fabric.
Once printed, cut out whole words to use as headers or embellishments, or take some more time to cut out each letter and adhere in place on your page.
Print your words on your background, pre-designed to fit your layout, and leave the page as is.

If you look hard enough you'll find word stamps for any scrapbook layout. Stamped words can be heat embossed. Words fresh from your printer can also be heat embossed.
Incorporate die cut words or cut outs.
You can find stickers with all kinds of alphabet fonts and design.

Try hidden journaling.
Add your words to tags.
Visit a used bookstore and purchase some old books and sheet music. Use their pages as backgrounds.
Explore resale shops for old clothes with logos, labels, and fabric you can use.

Purchase a spare dictionary and thesaurus and clip out definitions or synonyms for more ideas.
When writing about a location, add a map of the place to the picture. Search Internet for several different kinds of maps you can print off for your word pictures.
Incorporate scanned or photocopied pages from a family Bible, your diary, or other documents.
Rub your words onto bottlecaps, metal tags, and mica.

Frame your words with bookplates, slide mounts, and specimen slides.
Visit scrapbooking manufacturers' websites and you'll find dozens more products and ideas to help you picture your words.
What ideas and experiences in your life are waiting to be exposed? Capture them in your scrapbook. The scrapbook ideas are endless when it comes to picturing your words.