I am obsessed...

Lately I am obsessed with scrapbooking. It occupies my thoughts nearly constantly and I am always thinking of new tricks I can try and fun stuff I can do with paint. (Used a lot of paint on this page.) Just wanted to share a recent layout of Malia. Philip thinks this photo looks like Mally is mad or something, but for some reason I love it. Maybe because anytime I ask her something this is the 'huh?' face I get from her. :)

I also wanted to share a little trick that I thought everyone knew about, but apparently doesn't. When I want to type on a 12x12 paper or other large paper that won't fit in my printer I cheat and create my own rub-on. I did it on the layout pictured and it's really easy. All you need is a sheet of transparency (this can be picked up at any office supply store), a printer (with ink in it of course), and something to say. Also you will need Microsoft Word or another similar word processing software. This won't work in WordPad or Notepad that comes standard on most computers.

Step 1: Type your journaling, title, or whatever.

Step 2: In your 'Printer Properties', you need to choose for it to print a MIRROR IMAGE. This is VERY IMPORTANT!!! You may have to go to the 'Advanced' tab to find this. I do.

Step 3: Still in 'Printer Properties' make sure that the 'Print Quality' is NOT set to 'Best'. This will result in blurry letters because there will be too much ink and it will just want to squish around. The 'Normal' setting usually works pretty well. If you want a kind of distressed look, you could probably choose 'Fast Draft'. This will print less ink onto the transparency.

Step 4: Put your transparency in the printer and print! It will, if you chose Mirror Image, print backwards. You can then flip the transparency over and place it wherever you like on the page. Just rub on with a craft stick or your fingernail, or whatever is handy. Ta dah!

*If you don't get it all the way rubbed on, just place it right back on and rub the areas that didn't get transferred the first go round. If you notice certain parts are not rubbing off as easily, it may be because the ink has dried up. You can just 'huff' or breathe on it to get the ink a little wet and retry.

I love this trick because I can put my journaling anywhere. You can do it on fabric, ribbon, small journaling tags, etc. Anything you don't want to stick in your printer. You can also print out digital elements, embellishments, or other images. You can do photos and rub them on for a really cool distressed, old photo look. The possiblities are endless!

Good luck and have fun making your own rub-ons!

*Disclaimer - please realize that the image/writing will not be as sharp as it would be if you printed it directly onto the surface. You are transferring ink. But I love the way it looks.