Scrapbook, Stamping and Craft Tips from Laura Childs

A Different Kind of Stamping

Colorful postage stamps also look great on scrapbook pages. The U.S. Post Office has issued thousands of coloful and sometimes crazy stamps. Check out Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elvis, sea turtles, sports stars, even big-eyed cartoon pets.

Scrapbook the Holidays

Why not create a special Holiday Scrapbook every year? Gather cards, photos, bits of gift wrap, menus from holiday dinners, and favorite recipes for party treats. And be sure to have family and guests pen a few lines or recall a favored tradition!

Takin' Care of Business Scrapbooks

If you or someone in your family has a small business that could benefit from a scrabook, why not create a "commercial scrapbook" just like Carmela does? Florists, caterers, wedding planners, interior designs, landscapers, restaurants, and lots more businesses could benefit from displaying their talents and finished products in a beautifully done scrapbook.

Design your own Gift Coupons

The same papers, press type,stamps, and stencils you use to create scrapbook pages and cards can be used to create special "gift coupons." Give your husband or special fella a coupon that entitles him to One Free Foot-Rub or a Game Day Snack Extravaganza! Kids love Zoo Day or Pizza Party coupons.

Designer Candles

It's easy to turn ordinary, inexpensive pillar candles into designer candles. To decorate a six-inch pillar candle, cut a two-inch high strip of aper or card stock to wrap completely around it. Gold emboss the edges and stamp designs in the center of the strip. Wrap the strip around the candle and glue the ends together, then tie a gold cord or ribbon around the candle to finish it off. Crinkle paper also looks surprisingly elegant when wrapped around candles and embellished!

Creativity Cubed

You can use your rubber stamps and colored pens to turn ordinary white cubes of note paper into fun desk items. Wrap paper cube with a rubber band to keep paper together, then stamp your favorite motifs on the sides and fill in with colored pens. Four beads hot-glued to the bottom as feet complete your memo cube.

Jump-start Creativity

Ever get "creative block when it comes to designing new scrapbook pages? You can find fresh ideas in all sorts of places. Art books, graphic design books, and fashion magazines all offer fresh takes on typography and layout.

More about Bound for Murder
Laura Childs

New Orleans scrap-booking shop owner Carmela Bertrand’s pre-wedding party is overshadowed when a friend’s intended groom is murdered. Asked by the heartbroken bride to look into the case, Carmela must help her friend pick up the pieces while wrapping up a murder that has more than one lethal loose end.

(A Scrapbooking Mystery)
Berkley (Prime Crime) , November 2004
Featuring: Carmela Bertrand
256 pages ISBN: 0425199231
Paperback
$5.99

Also by Laura Childs:
The Jasmine Moon Murder , September 2004
Photo Finished , January 2004
The English Breakfast Murder , August 2003
Keepsake Crimes , May 2003
Shades of Earl Grey , January 2003
Gunpowder Green , March 2002
Death by Darjeeling , May 2001

(Notify me via e-mail when Laura Childs releases a new book.)