Posts Tagged ‘beginner scrapbooking’
In the past, scrapbooking consisted of buying a plain album and attaching photos or post cards with photo corners (which were usually, if not always, black) to plain ugly pages. That was about it! Any information included with the photos was generally, as I recall, written on the back of the photos. All one had to do was slip the pictures out of the photo corners to read the back sides.
Those days are, thankfully, far behind us. Scrapbooking has come a long way since then. There are scrapbook pages of so many colors, designs and themes that I imagine one could spend hours browsing them all. Crafts stores have aisle after aisle of neat embellishments of everything one can imagine along with tools to enhance your scrapbook pages.
All one has to do is browse through all the supplies available to get the creative juices flowing. Even a beginner should have no trouble finding ideas to get started.
It’s a new year! What a great time to start a new scrapbook album if you haven’t done so. The old year has come and gone and hopefully the coming year looks much brighter for you and your loved ones.
If you are a beginner to scrapbooking, the timing is perfect. You can start with your activities from the first minute of 01/01/2010 -( unless you did what I did. I watched the ball drop on TV and went straight to bed.)
If your family is like our family and a lot of others, January is a busy month. We have 3 wedding anniversaries and 3 birthdays to celebrate. Once you get started, you’re sure to find many reasons to scrapbook and many occasions to record.
Choosing The Right Paper For Your Project
There is a variety of scrapbook paper available from scrapbooking supplies stores. Some of the most common varieties of papers for scrapbooking are:
~Cardstock, which is a heavy weight paper, is used primarily for the “backbone” of your page layout. It is also used for photo mats; paper piercing and die cut images too.
~B&T (Background and Texture) paper is used for a decorative background on your scrapbook pages. It can be used for a photo mat backgrounds or to accent your stamps, die cuts, stickers, etc.
~Gingham (patterned paper) paper is a common “checker board” patterned paper that can be used for background accents on your scrapbook pages, greeting cards or other craft projects. It is pleasing to the eye and a popular, versatile pattern.
~Mulberry paper is used for adding a bit of “flair” to your pages. This thick paper can be torn while wet and used for making “tear bears” or other characters. Just tear the paper and the result is chic, fiber-rich edges.
~Vellum is a translucent paper that looks very elegant and it can be used for masking an image, embossing and is great for journaling. It is typically placed over a colored paper and it is used to “dress up” your pages and give them a distinctive appearance.
The most important thing to remember when you are choosing scrapbooking paper to go in your memory books is to choose a paper that is memory-safe, meaning it is acid-free. You want something that is going to preserve your photographs not ruin them.
As you begin your scrapbooking album, think about the event you are scrapbooking about. Think of your page as a story you are telling. You may want to create a title for each page. Use large distinctive lettering to draw attention to it, but not so large as to overwhelm the most important elements of the page – the photos.
Some, if not all, pictures should have a few words as a caption. Of course, you do not want to forget to list the names of all the people in your photos or places that may be seen in the background. While these things may be fresh in your mind now, a few months or years down the road, they may all be forgotten
To make your story complete, you possibly will want to add more text to your page. Consider doing this in your own handwriting. While you may feel that your own handwriting is not good enough, this will give your album a bit of personality and character. However, it is acceptable to add stickers or cut-outs instead if you prefer. You also may use your computer to print out some journaling to add to each page.
When it comes right down to it, you may find that scrapbooking requires a lot of time, space, and dedication. One of the first things a beginner scrapbooker may learn is that it can take quite a bit ot time to finish an album. The next thing a newbie must consider is the amount of supplies (albums, paper, stickers, glue, tape, rubber stamps and pads, scissors, pens and markers) needed to finish an attractive scrapbook, and along with that, the space needed to store these items.
The perfect solution to these problems ( if they are problems to you) is digital scrapbooking. Do not feel intimidated if you are a little lacking in computer skills. Digital scrapbooking is easy to learn, and you’re sure to find that designing pages and creating albums will run much more smoothly for you.
Okay – so you want to start scrapbooking. Learning the ‘ABCs’ of Beginner scrapbooking requires some commitment in time and effort, along with doing research on properly starting this hobby. However, the ultimate results are truly satisfying.
Creative scrapbooking isn’t something one can do on the spur of the moment without some thought. First, focus on a particular theme or special event which you want to commemorate. Gather together your photos and supplies, do the research for ideas and then get scrapping!