I have friends who are scrapbookers. Serious scrapbookers! One in particular makes pages that move .... including a roller coaster that goes up and down. There was an article in the July/August 2014 Smithsonian about scrapbooking (first popularized by Mark Twain!) titled Piece of Mind, by Clive Thompson which lead me to Scrapbooks: an American History, by Jessica Helfand. The author traces the practice of keeping a scrapbook from the Renaissance to on-line versions. Starting with just a blank page, the industry has moved to archival quality products and specific instructions on how to preserve your family records. There are books and websites filled with page layout ideas, and a huge selection of design elements.

I love looking at what my friends have done, but I just don't have their skills! Instead, I do a sort of journal type thing about, well, mostly my dogs! I do it on the computer so I can bring in photos or other graphic elements, as well as easily include text. While I learned many of my Photoshop type skills from Pete, I also have a few favorite books: Photo Retouching with Adobe Photoshop, by Gwen Lute is the one I use most often. I especially liked learning how to remove a trash can from an otherwise wonderful photo. :-)

If you want to add some 'artsy' elements to your photos, then Creative Photo-cropping for Scrapbooks, from Memory Makers is the book for you. Add wings to your pets, put your kids onto kites, there's lots of fun stuff here! Also from Memory Makers comes Pet Memories: How to Create Pet Scrapbooks. (They put out really nice books).

Do you want to put an image on an apron? A plate? Lampshade? To carry your photos beyond a scrapbook or journal, take a look at Photo Art and Craft: 50 Projects Using Photographic Imagery.

Feeling creative, but want a break from scrapbooks? Why not design your own puzzle! Puzzle Craft: the Ultimate Guide on How to Construct Every Kind of Puzzle by Mike Selinker & Thomas Snyder has instructions for more puzzles than I knew even existed. (Okay, so maybe that's not such a stretch ... still .... there are lots of puzzles here)!

Reading Hermit With Dog