My mom has always been into Scrapbooking ever since me and my brother were young lads, when ever we did any sporting achievements she was always be putting photos and newspaper cuttings in a scrapbook, we had loads of them. Over the years she has developed it by going to monthly Scrapbooking crop party, one particular night it was her turn to host a scrapbook party, but she couldn’t have it at her place so she asked my partner Karen if we could host it ours, which we did.

As we gave out the refreshments I looked at what these women were doing and I was amazed at the layouts they were creating. I thought to myself that it had always really bugged me that when we wanted to look at the holiday photos I’d drop the book all over the floor and they’d all get mixed up and I wanted to see all three components of our holiday memories together and really get into the feeling of the trip again.

This would really be a great way to pull together all my holiday memories into one place that I could browse through and relive those great times. But could I do it? I was convinced that I was not remotely creative so how could I produce layouts that would inspire me like the ones I was saw in the class?

Well nothing venture, nothing gain. That weekend I bought some cardstock, a glue stick, and a paper cutter and started cutting out my photos and putting together my first scrapbook album. I used my travel diary as the framework and copied chunks of it to provide the journaling for the photos. My embellishments were very simple and largely consisted of different arrangements of matts and cardstock strips behind the photos and a row of gold fleur de lys that I stamped on each page.

 

But I was so pleased with how the final album turned out! I couldn’t believe I had managed to produce something like that by myself. When I look at that album now (and I still do browse through it regularly) I still feel good about it, even though I have come a long way in my scrapbooking style since then.

I started a Life Chronicles album of my son (Sean) life. So much more interesting than just a bunch of photos in a photo album. That’s when I realised how photo poor I was. That’s when it hit me that all those years had slipped by and there was no record of the fun and the joy and the great times there had been. Memories slip away so very easily without those triggers to spark them and keep them alive.

 

 

Needless to say I photograph everything that stands still these days and several things that don’t. I try to scrap as much of life as I can because I know that when Sean looks back at life after I am gone he will hunger for the triggers for all those memories.

 

My Personal Thoughts of Scrapbooking.

I think Scrapbooking can give you not only quiet time to listen to that inner voice, but a means to express it, when you may feel otherwise stifled in the midst of daily life. It gives you time to reflect over your photos and memories. I think you can use scrapping time to sink into a reflective state and while gently escaping from the overwhelming duties of your life, focus on the joy of creation. While you work, you may find yourself more focused, more relaxed and more grounded. You will find your inner voice, and maybe feed it through your work.

But if quiet solitude is not your style, scrapping can also give you a wonderful excuse to gather with friends, pool your resources and make contact on a different level. You can reenergize together, leaving your crop-party feeling renewed and refreshed. You can also join a crop party at your local scrapbooking store, meeting new friends and connecting through your common interest of scrapbooking. You’ll find people interested in your talents, and your family life. And you’ll learn a lot about friends (or strangers) simply by working together on your family albums.

Most importantly, whether you prefer to scrap in solitude or company, you’ll have a very real sense of accomplishment, and tangible proof that you did not just waste a day. Rather, you’ll have spent a lot of time and energy towards preserving priceless photographs and memories. Instead of leaving feeling heavy hearted about the chores that you must return to, you can focus on the faces of your family as they leaf through the pages of the scrapbook you have created. You can breathe a happy sigh as you envision the fun it will be for years to come and feel confident that, beyond pictures, you’ve preserved favourite stories and moments that a camera could never capture.

 

 

Planning a Scrapbooking Event

 

If you are planning to have a scrapbooking event.  There are many ways to host a scrapbook event.

 

Planning a Scrapbooking  Home Party -

1. When you’re planning a Scrapbooking Event you want to make sure that you will have a good sized crowd.  In order to ensure that you have a good turnout, you want to touch base with several of your friends to see how their schedules look and to make sure you are planning far enough in advance to get your event on their calendar.  After speaking with several of your friends, set a date for the event and communicate the date with your core group of friends.
2. If you are looking to make this event a big one, you will want to make sure to advertise the event.  You can contact your local scrapbooking store to ask about posting a flyer in their store.
3. Find a sponsor for the event.  If you are hosting the party to show your own products, you will skip this step.  If not, you may want to contact a creative memories rep. or a scrapbook store.  If you are going to have enough guests, most stores would be happy to sponsor your event.  You can request that the sponsor supply the tools and possibly the paper for free and the guest would pay for embellishments.  There are many ways to have them sponsor the event.  Be creative and remember that the store is looking to make a profit and you are looking to create some great scrapbooks and have a good time with your friends.
4. You will definitely want the sponsor to demonstrate any new products that are on the market at the time.
5. Theme up the party.  Talk to your friends to see what type of pages they would like to make.  If everyone at the party is focused on the same type of layouts, the sponsor will be able to bring embellishments that focus on the theme of the day.  Maybe you choose a beach themed party.  Then the sponsor will bring embellishments that primarily focus on summer, sun and beach items.  Don’t limit the crop to one theme but try to keep it focused on a limited number of themes.  It will really make things easy for you and the sponsor.
6. Put together invitations for your event.  Make sure to give your friends plenty of extra invitations to give out to their friends.  You will not know everyone that your friends know.  They will be able to help you make the event big.
7. Have your friends put their phone number on the indentations and ask for RSVP.  Your friends will be able to contact you to let you know how many people to expect from the invitations they gave out.  You will not want everyone contacting you for the RSVP.
8. Setting up for the big day.  Place tables around your house for cropping zones.  Make sure each person has minimum of a 3 x 2.5 ft space to work in.  You don’t want your guests to feel cramped in a small area.  Try your best to set up the tables where everyone can see any demonstrations that you have scheduled.  If you have too small of an area, you may be able to set up a camera to record or broadcast to the other rooms. Maybe you can send copies to people that might be interested in crop classes.
9. Supply finger foods to where your guest can eat while they crop.
10. Make sure you take pictures and get comments from your guest that you can send in to me.  I would be glad to post your crop on the site.  I hope that this page helps you in Planning a Scrapbooking Event at your home.

Have a Great Time.

 

People think Scrapbooking is hard but if you just dive in, and not be “paralyzed by analysis”, your beginner scrapbooking pages can be completed quickly. They may not be perfect pages. But hey, it’s your beginner’s efforts.

 

Sort Your Photos Chronologically?

Well Ahem… Sorting your photos chronologically, starting from year 1925 can be an extremely daunting process! This can be a nightmare and it’s one of the fastest ways to kill off your enthusiasm for beginner scrapbooking.

For chronological sorting, you can sort by decade first, follows by year.

Unless you’ve carefully dated all the photos faithfully throughout the years, you’re likely to have a headache trying to remember the dates, names of persons, locations, etc.

And you are likely to find yourself calling one relative to another for the missing details.

To wither down the high mountain pile of photos, you might like to consider setting aside certain time slots. These are times dedicated solely to just sorting through the photos.

Be prepared to set aside two whole days or more if you have more boxes of photos to work with for your beginner scrapbooking.

On the other hand, at such times, you may find yourself transported back to another time passage. Reliving those long-forgotten memories… or getting acquainted with your ascendants in ways you never thought possible.

Gentle warning: For those ancient photos, besides dates and names (if you’re lucky), more questions will baffle you as you wonder what’s the story behind those precious photos.

Why did your great-grandfather take the career path he took? Did your great-grandparents enjoy a great, romantic love story? What’s their lives like in those olden days?

Ah, those so long ago days…

Frankly, unless you’ve decided to take upon the burden of becoming the family historian and family heritage albums are your cup of tea. Or you’re so taken with the idea of sorting your photos on a chronological order before things make sense to you… If not, there’s other sorting methods.

Scrapbooking for beginners needs not be that tedious, really.

 

Starting With the Most Current

If you’re not ready to shift through all those boxes of very old photos taken decades ago for beginner scrapbooking, don’t despair. Fret not.

Beginner scrapbooking is supposed to be a piece of cake so that it can get you hooked on for more. So how about getting started with other easier ways?

One way is really to start with your latest batch of photos. Sorting them backwards.

Here’s where your memory of details serves you the best. You can safely recall so much more without a hiccup. Moreover, it’s much easier to jot others’ memories too should you need verifications from them.

And it’s not as frightening as starting from the very beginning and digging out from that towering pile of photos. It’s a breeze starting with 2005 rather than 1958.

No countless frustrating hours in playing detective in tracing the history of photos for your beginner scrapbooking… yet.

Actually you might never have to go searching for any clues if you have no intention of doing family heritage scrapbooking in the first place.

Or perhaps you’re a more of those living in the present type who prefers scrapbooking about your current generation?

You can always choose to start everything afresh from your own generation onwards. Or maybe even your parents’ generation so that your children will get to know their grandparents more intimately.

Now, let’s jump ahead to other ways that you can sort your photos for beginner scrapbooking, other than sorting based on long timelines.

 

Other Sorting Methods

Besides sorting your photos chronologically, you can sort by occasions, themes or even individual-related, to get started in beginner scrapbooking.

Let’s take it the easy way with your first scrapbooking project. Shall we?

You can sort by special occasions like New Year 2000. Bobbie’s high school graduation ceremony, Grand mama’s 70th birthday or Julies bridal shower.

Sorting by Occasions -

 This method is a great way to organize your photos for beginner scrapbooking. It also spurs you on to your next scrapbooking idea.

Personally, I find sorting by occasions get me started swiftly. It’s smaller-scale, easier and tends to inspire me to create something better, though not necessarily bigger, the next time. And there’s always enough occasions to go around throughout the year. Scrapbooking for beginners should be fun, shouldn’t it?

Sorting by Themes -

 Here’s another easy way to getting started in scrapbooking. Themes need not only evolved around important stuff. Themes can as simple as highlighting the daily occurrences, or everyday lives of an individual. People tend to forget to scrapbook about their daily lives which make up majority of their time.

An all-time favourite is scrapbooking baby’s “firsts”. It could also be around events that stretch a timeline like John’s 1st to 21st birthdays, Lily’s and Sue’s changing fashion sense and hairstyles, Jill’s favourite toys, etc.

The possibilities can be endless as anyone or any event can be a potential theme, if you just let your imagination run loose!

Of course, themes don’t have to take up a big chunk of your time as you can decide on a timeline. But themes spreading across different timelines also offer interesting ideas for beginner scrapbooking.

Sorting by Individuals -

 This can be a little more challenging as it’s likely to involve a longer timeline, especially if the person is in his advanced years. Or to make things a lot easier, you can choose to cover a more crucial period of that person’s life instead. It’s actually a scale-down version as compared to chronological sorting for the whole family.

So, how about starting small with an occasion or a theme?

Later on when you are all pro and more experienced, you can always advance to the next level and kick start the more challenging scrapbooking project of family heritage or a tribute to an individual.

Starting Small

For now, starting small might prevent you from being frozen into inaction. Especially if the enormity of chronological scrapbooking sent shivers down your spine. Shudder… Beginner scrapbooking doesn’t have to be like that at all.

Perhaps by now you’re getting the impression that I am an advocate for instant scrapbooking gratification. Well, I am.

In whatever way you choose to sort your photos, the key is to follow your heart’s desires. Whatever that catches your fancy is more likely to set your creativity on fire. And keep the fire burning during your beginner scrapbooking days and the rest of the days!

Cropping of Photos

For beginner scrapbooking, just three things to take note of whenever you are cropping:

1) Do keep details that identify historical references, people, dates, locations, occasions, etc. These little details could mean a lot in years to come.

2) Please leave your Polaroid alone. Cutting them will release chemicals, possibly ruining the photos and damaging your pages! If you really can’t stand certain portions, create a frame around the Polaroid to conceal those annoying bits.

3) For each layout, limit the number of photo shapes. You don’t have to apply square, oval, round, rectangular shapes all on one page. Try using square-shaped photos to a square-shaped album, it adds elegance and simplicity.

Supplies to Get You Started

Without a clue of what to buy for beginner scrapbooking, stepping into a local scrapbook store or ordering from an online scrapbook store can be overwhelming. It just feels like a lost child crying out for mommy in a huge departmental store.

So exactly what basic supplies will get you started on beginner scrapbooking?

You may want to have these items ready on hand before you start.

The essentials are:

Acid-free album -   What size do you want to work with? What colour-album will go with your theme?

Album refills -  If you are getting some non-standard sizes, maybe consider getting a few packs of refills at the same time. Just in case the manufacturer stops producing that size, as a precaution.

Acid-free printed papers or cardstock -    What colours will complement your photo colours? Feel the texture, look at the prints, and see in your mind eye if the paper will blend well with your photo.

Archival-safe adhesive/glue -   That can be used for both papers and photos.

Straight-cut scissors -    Check that it trims neatly and save this pair for your scrapbooking needs only. Those that’s designed for detailed cutting is recommended.

Black pens -    For journaling purposes. Preferably pigment-based, permanent ink.

Extras -   Embellishments like paper punches, rubber stamping, flowers, stickers, eyelets, brads, etc.

 

 

9 Simple Steps to Beginner Scrapbooking

This is the minimal barebones of it all. Absorb it all in if you’re into beginner scrapbooking.

 

1) Select a set of photos to work on. For a start, select your photos based on a theme or occasion.

It’s much easier to digest rather than a family heritage project based on chronological order.

 

2) Decide on a central photo. Make this the main focus of your set of photos.

 

3) Have an overall layout image in your mind. Where to place your photos? Where to write? Where to add little extras? Your layout is not a fixture. Feel free to change it as you deem fit. Whatever that pleases you works, even for beginner scrapbooking.

 

4) Choose 2 or 3 colours of acid-free papers. Choose papers that complement your photos. Too many colours will drain attention away from your “star” photo. Colours are to enhance, not distract.

 

5) Crop your photo if needed. Though not always necessary. It’s a good idea to leave in as many details as you can. But crop away those distracting background.

 

6) Mat your photos. A photo mat makes a picture stands out. Best of all, it’s so easy to mat a photo. Some advised that neutral colours like black, white, beige are great to mat your photos with, as it won’t clash with your patterned paper or colours of your photos.

But it’s really up to your own preference. Occasionally, I do mat my photos with bright, bold colours. And that worked out well too.

 

7) Write something. Journaling brings meaning to your pages. Your written words would bring out the emotions of the photos and let a story unfold. Words will add a strong personal touch to your scrapbook.

 

8) Add a few little extras. Like rubber stamping, paper punches, stickers or embellishments can add on to the charm of your beginning scrapbooking efforts. But nothing too much. Simplicity has its beauty.

 

9) Then start laying everything down on your pages. Does it appeal to you visually? Shift them here and there. Cut, then adhere. And you’re done with your beginner scrapbooking page!

That doesn’t sound too tough, does it?

 

 

 

How about taking a look at a step-by-step picture guide to constructing a scrapbook page?

 

You’ll quickly notice that most scrapbook layouts will contain most of the elements listed below. These are the “standard” elements.

But of course, you don’t have to use all the elements at the same time. Usually, it’s a matter of picking and choosing elements that best help you convey the story you’ve visualized in your mind.

Get to know these standard elements and then go about experimenting with using as many or as little of them.

 

 

  The Basic Makeup of Scrapbooking Layouts

 

 1) Photo
Photos are the essence of scrapbook layouts.

Most scrapbooking pages will have at least one or multiple photos on them.

That said, occasionally you can create an effective layout without a stitch of photo where the emphasis is mainly on the journaling.

2) Page Title

The words that highlight summarize or suggest the page theme on scrapbooking layouts. You can use famous sayings, names, or simple phrases as page titles.

A title doesn’t always have to be at the top of the layout. It can be placed anywhere as long as it catches the viewer’s attention. Usually the viewer’s eyes will scan the layout for the title when looking at a layout. Then again, a scrapbook layout doesn’t always need a page title.

There’s many ways to creating page titles. You can handwrite, use computer-generated fonts, and use stencils to draw out your titles, use scrapbooking stickers or use acrylic paint to write out your titles.

3) Journaling

Text that expands or explains the story of the photos. But the journaling doesn’t have to be related to the event of the photos all the time.

You can write out short descriptions including names and dates, heartfelt letters, captions, basic information, quotes, lyrics and even poems.

You can write directly on the background paper, in journaling boxes using cardstock, patterned papers, vellum or other textured papers.

Your journaling can also slide into a pocket or be hidden safely away from privy eyes.

4) Page Accent

Any embellishment used to dress up a scrapbook page.

Include stickers, silk flowers, slide mounts, buttons, ribbons, brads, eyelets, and such to enhance the attractiveness of the layout.

Page accents should support the page theme and not overwhelm and take away attention from the photos.

5) Mat

The layer underneath a photo which leaves an all-around border that helps the photo to stand out more.

A mat can be made of cardstock, patterned paper, acrylic paint and other decorative elements. A mat can also be thin, thick, dimensional, flat, plain or elaborate depending on the effect you want to create.

You don’t have to mat all the photos. You can just mat your focal-point photo. If you want a “boxy” look to your layout, you can choose to mat all the photos and then double or triple-mat the focal-point photo for extra attention.

6) Photo Corners

OK, the traditional photo corners are used as anchors to affix photos to a page with ease of removing them later.

In scrapbooking layouts, photo corners are mainly decorative elements to draw the eye to the photo.

Ribbons, brads, page turner and flowers can all be used as photo corners to embellish a photo and call attention to it and make it outstanding.

7) Border

Borders add visual interest to along the side of the layout.

There’s many ways to create interesting borders. Decorative borders can be created from a variety of materials. You can even embellish the borders with photos and text. You can also design them with cardstock, patterned papers, fabric, tags, charms, metal and many more.

Now that you’re armed with the ABC’s of scrapbooking layouts, you’re ready to have fun and get creative with your scrapbooking projects!

For suggestions on beginner scrapbook supplies, try EBAY they have a large range on there site and also Amazon.

 

Happy scrapping!