Mark your Pages with Punctuation

Forget all the so-called rules of punctuation. Just throw them out the window. All those characters and symbols on your keyboard can be used for more than just blocking out profanity or expressing emotion. These little icons of grammar and written text are making a big splash as graphical elements on scrapbook pages. Before we get started with the fun stuff, let's review some basics on the more popular marks:

• ‘ Apostrophe - traditionally used to form contractions or make something possessive. These are also used as a single quote or in place of a letter or number that has been left out of a word.
  
  
• ! Exclamation Mark - used to express a sense of urgency or very strong emotion. One is enough, but more add emphasis.
  
  
• " Quotation marks - used before and after quoted material and dialogue. These are my personal favorite because there are so many neat shapes and different font styles.
  
  
• ()[] Parenthesis - or brackets - add more information to a sentence. These are also wonderful, as there are many styles from which to choose.
  
  
• & Ampersand - represents the word and in writing. I love it when it is bigger than the words it is being used to connect.
  
  
• Asterisk - used for footnotes traditionally, but it now also used to indicate a sound like *gasp* or expression like *wink*.
  
  
• @ Commercial at - used in place of the word at. Common use now is in e-mail addresses such as username@yahoo.com.

On your scrapbook pages, you can add these marks in many different ways. Making them stand out is the key to a great design and there are many products available to help you do so. Some of these items include rubber stamps, die cuts, chipboard, computer fonts and wood shapes. The size and color you use is also a factor in the design. Consider using larger marks than that of your text, using contrasting color to make them stand out or decorating your mark with embellishments.

Now, on to the fun part of using these marks on your own layouts and projects! Here are some of the many ways you can use these marks to jumpstart your own creativity:

• In titles - Titles are usually one of the most prominent items on your layout. Put large quotations around the title, use the ampersand in place of the "and" in a short title, or place a single short word in brackets.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Combined with journaling - Since these marks are part of our written language, it is logical to place them within your journaling. Try putting your entire journaling within brackets or use a stamp to place asterisks as bulleting in your journaling.
  
  
• As embellishments - Some of these marks are so cool that you can't help but to use them as accents. The asterisk is one of my favorites to use as a flower or snowflake.

Of course, no matter how you use them, these characters and symbols will lend graphic interest to your page! Have fun and be sure to share your marked pages in the gallery!

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