Burglary and vandalism are crimes of opportunity. Criminals know that boats are frequently left unattended for long periods of time, making them an easy target for burglary and vandalism. Imagine showing up at your boat on a beautiful Saturday morning looking forward to a great day on water only to find out that all possession you stored on your vessel were stolen or that your boat has been seriously damaged, criminally or otherwise. That beautiful day just turned ugly very quickly. This is when you realize that, unlike your home or car, your boat is quite vulnerable without you there to protect it.

Crime prevention is a national crisis for boat owners all across United States. What can boat owners do to alleviate this problem? A neighborhood watch style program would be a great start - fellow boat owners could then practice techniques for observing and reporting malicious activity. Unlike a neighborhood watch program though, concerned citizens can’t just knock on your boat door to inform you of theft or stolen property from your vessel. They can report it to local law enforcement, but there are some unique challenges with that:

Can local law enforcement get in contact with you?

With scrapbooking, not only are you creating artistic arrangements and layers of objects, but you are doing it around an evocative theme. Scrapbook art almost always includes: 1. photos around which theme is developed; and words or “journaling” which evoke, explain and expand on theme.

The words form an integral part of artistic arrangement. Scrapbookers love to play with and combine fonts to give words visual expression. Just as we use tone and volume to add expression to spoken word, scrapbookers use fonts, letter placement and color to express their ideas and form a page that is pleasing to eye. Just as words can be spoken melodically or harshly, softly or loudly, words on a scrapbook page can visually shout, whisper, sing or pray.

I suppose a beginner could “go it alone” artistically, but I found it inspiring and very helpful to view other scrappers’ work in order to appreciate range of possibilities before I began. If you’re fortunate enough to have a friend who scrapbooks, ask if you can look at her work. Also subscribe to a scrapbooking magazine. You get to see all latest and greatest scrapbooking supplies and tools each month, along with examples of beautiful pages submitted by readers and experts.

To begin scrapbooking, it is very valuable to see how varied art can be. No two scrappers will interpret a theme same way. This gave me a sense of artistic license when I started. There is no one right way!

Four artists, given a theme and even a page layout, will invariably provide vastly different interpretations. In fact, such contests are held periodically. The results are omething to behold.

If you still feel overwhelmed after seeing work of experienced scrappers (or maybe due to seeing their work!), start with one of themed kits that are available at craft stores.

For more adventuresome beginner, it’s time to plan your page and make a shopping list!