THE SECRETS TO CREATING A SCRAPBOOK

LAYOUT THAT’S EYE CATCHING!

Sometimes it’s hard to keep the inspiration when you are creating a scrapbook. You might feel that you have run out of ideas or just starting out and really don’t know where to begin. Either way the following chapters will help you.

To get started on your scrapbook layout ideas you need to have in mind what you want to create and for what purpose.

For example, you may want to create a full book, just a page, or even a poster. Don’t let a full book overwhelm you it’s better to start off small than not start at all! Traditionally scrapbooking pages are 8 X 8 which maybe a good place to start. A lot of the scrapbooking paper, borders etc. are based on 8 X 8.

However if you are experienced in scrapbooking try something new that compliments your theme.

For office memories create a Rolodex scrapbook with your pages on each Rolodex page. Or if you are creating a family scrapbook present your pages as a family tree theme. To take that idea further each page could be a leaf of the tree. You could choose colours that compliment this such as greens, browns and pressed leaves and flowers as decoration.

GET IDEAS THE RIGHT WAY (DON’T DO THIS PROPERLY AND YOU’LL REGRET IT!)

There are two ways to gather your ideas and thoughts on your scrapbooking layout

1) Collect photos keepsakes, magazine cuttings, colour cards, ribbons, buttons that are relevant to your topic and design a layout around that. e.g. From your holiday you might have the tickets, photos, receipts and menus.

Put these all together and work out what works best for the page size you have chosen. Then you can begin to see what colours you would like to use, what sort of border etc.

2) Decide on your colour and theme from the start e.g. take the colours from your wedding or blue for a baby boy and then gather all relevant pieces, photos, borders, colour card that relates to this colour. For example use a shabby chic slipcover.

Deciding which way works best for you will depend on your topic and stage you are currently in. You may be about to have a baby and want to capture all of your memories in a scarp book or find yourself with loads of photos, cards and keepsakes and want to present them in a scrap book. For the latter choose number 1.

Either way map out your layout or design first. It is critical to the overall look and feel of your book. You need to know how much space you have got and how many photos you can include.

TOP TIPS THAT MAKE ANY PAGE LOOK PERFECT

1) Colour -choose a colour relevant to your topic, or better style enhance your content – blue for baby boy, oranges/yellows/reds for holiday in fall. Warning – too many colours can be over powering.

Stick to a few colours and stay with that theme to get a uniformed look. You may be thinking that you want an eclectic look rather than uniformed. This may work for certain topics but can look very messy very quickly. It can be hard to really make something stand out if there’s a lot going on. If you have an abundance of photos, keepsakes and memories that do not go with the colours you have chosen you can do one of two things:

1. A) Include inside an envelope stuck to the page
2. B) Choose a different theme and colour for each page. Move your photos to the page that has matching colours.

2) Background – find a background that compliments the content not swamps it. It also helps to have a plain background if you have a lot to fit on the page. Use topical backgrounds. For example for a university memories scrap book you might use your old essays printed on colour paper with a pale colour font.

3) Presentation style/format– this will depend on the way it’s to be presented – in a book, poster or card etc. Consider your topic and choose a presentation style that enhances it. For example if it’s a holiday you want to scrapbook make the cover a passport cover each page could have a traditional passport page as background, or suitcase with luggage tags attached.

4) Text and how it’s presented – you may want to frame this, use your own handwriting or stencils. Choosing what to write is just as important as the way it’s presented. There’s nothing worse than too much text that you can’t be bothered to read or too little that you don’t know what you are looking at.

Capture your memories in a short and punchy way. 1-2 sentences at most. Include information that in future would be interesting to you. Don’t include the obvious as the photo will tell a thousand words. Including the date may seem irrelevant at the time but in years to come when the lives in the book have moved those left behind can piece together so much with a date.