Perfect Scrapbook Layouts

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Before you dive into scrapbooking, it’s important to outline the purpose of your book and stick to an overall theme or feel. Deciding this will help you buy materials, organize photos, and ultimately create awesome layouts.

Checklist

• A Lifetime folding table
• A Lifetime folding chair
• Your album and photos
• Cardstock and patterned papers
• Some time to think creatively

Steps

1. Plan first- Before you start your scrapbook, ask yourself: Who am I making this album for? What do I want to record or document? What time-period does this cover? How many pictures do I want to scrapbook? These answers will help you determine the type of project and the type of album you need to achieve your goal.
2. Determine your page elements- Each page should generally have: Photo/photos of the event or person, A title that describes your layout, Journaling to tell the story, Background papers to use on your page, Embellishments and page accents. These are extras that run the gamut from stickers to ribbons to charms.
3. Create a focal point- Every strong layout has a focal point. This is the image or place where you find your eye naturally drawn. It's usually the main or strongest photo and is usually larger than others on the layout. You can add small embellishments to make your focal photo and focal point stand out. When your page has too many elements or photos the same size, your eye doesn't know where to go. Capture your audience with one standout photo.
4. Use color as a design tool- How do you know which colors to use? Simply look at your photographs! They should be the focus of your layout, so it follows that they should determine which colors you use. When you pull colors from your photos to design your layout, your photographs will leap off the page.
5. Find your Scrapbooking Style- Once you've created a few pages, study them. What is the common thread? Are they clean and sparse, funky and full, montages, artistic and full of media such as paints, markers, textured papers or are they linear? Once you recognize your scrapbook style, you can really explore what it is and follow your own heart to make more defined and expressive pages.