Scrapbooking How To

A scrapbook cover for a book of distinction should be one that you will be proud to display on a table in your living room or the area where you spend time with special guests.  Beautiful covers can be totally unique and designed by the scrapbook artist; many are found in very unusual places.

A cover that is very rich and elegant is one that matches the draperies in a formal living room.  The scrapbook designer simply covered an inexpensive front and back of a scrapbook that she purchased from a local craft store with fabric that matched the draperies.  It was accented with hand crocheted bookmarks that had a small frame for a few special photos that coincided with the area containing projects and photos with each family member.

Another unique cover was a light weight antique picture frame from the local second hand store; again, it was applied with glue directly to the front of an inexpensive cover from the craft store.  No picture was in the frame, she applied an assortment of keepsake type trinkets, an earring, the top of one of her fathers cuff links, a rhinestone accented hair clip; all special items that could be found in one of the pictures in the scrapbook.  The bookmarks were made with ribbons that had a picture of the items on the cover and would take you directly to the corresponding picture/page in the scrapbook.

Another elegant cover is one that matches the wood work in the room where the scrapbook is displayed; this one was in a ninetheenth century home that had been recently restored to it’s original beauty and elegance.  The scrapbook was framed in cherry wood and stained exactly the same color as the baseboard, doors and crown molding.  The pictures in the scrapbook included old photos of the home when it was originally built; an elegant modern scrapbook that included a piece of the home’s history.

Unique leather covers on elegant scrapbooks…always go to your local auctions, estate sales and second hand stores to find unusual items that can be used to make your scrapbook cover an inexpensive item of conversation before the scrapbook is ever opened.

Bling and glitz, if you enjoy modern décor that includes lots of color and sparkle consider a cover that is nothing more than a basic cover totally filled with rhinestones, studs and beads.  Tastefully select your colors to coordinate with the colors in the room for your scrapbook and apply all of the fun to the cover.  All sizes, shapes and designs of your glitzy selections will give the cover exactly the personality that you want.  Obviously, these covers are immediate eye catchers and can make a rather plain display table come alive.

The time that is invested in scrapbooking should not be sold short with a ho-hum cover; the ideas are endless.

If you are experienced in scrapbooking or if you are just beginning we would like to offer some ideas that will enhance your projects and make your scrapbooks unique:

Sharing Your Scrapbook

The Special Scrapbook Cover

Seasonal Presentations

Unique and Unusual Scrapbook Bookmarks

The time and effort that is devoted to a scrapbook that you are very proud of deserves to be shared.  Presenting the scrapbook in your living room on a coffee table is an ideal spot for sharing your very special memories that, hopefully, have been tastefully presented in a form that can be enjoyed by family, friends and visitors.

We will be presenting ideas that will enhance your scrapbooking skills with little to no expense; they will be enhancements that will include applications that will lend an inviting and professional appearance to your scrapbook.

Many individuals feel that family pictures and projects are best kept in a closet or your crafting area.  If these pictures are transformed into a project that is tasteful, professional and has an appearance of quality in detail; your scrapbook will give you and all of the contributors to its final presentation a sense of accomplishment.  This enhances the scrapbooking hobby to a level of sharing that can be appreciated by more than the just the “author” of the scrapbook.  You will take pride in presenting your scrapbook in an area of your home where it will become the center of attention; it can be an easy and casual icebreaker for a group where there are new faces in attendance.  If possible, include pictures of some of the guests that will be in attendance for your party or meeting.  Most scrapbook construction designs will allow a page to be added and removed without much difficulty; what fun to have pictures of your guests in the front of your “book of distinction”.  The conversation will start without much prompting; the exchange will usually draw a new guest in to view that topic of conversation that the scrapbook has created and soon the book will begin to circulate.

We hope that this will motivate your thoughts to making a special place for your scrapbook to be shared.  Too many times we begin a project that is never completed; our goal is to stimulate new ideas for your scrapbook that won’t take too much time to do but will allow you, your family and friends to enjoy on an everyday basis; they will enjoy it because it will regularly contain new pictures and commemorate celebrations.

We will be offering ideas to help you add to your scrapbook on a regular basis, ideas that will make the time and effort worth continuing; your scrapbook can become a tradition in its creation and a gift that will keep on giving for years to come.

Assuming you are like I used to be, you have 100s or 1000s of photos from birthdays, vacations, anniversaries, graduations, etc… all shoved into shoe boxes or worse, the cheap photo albums you can buy at the grocery store. You may have seen examples of scrapbooking and thought to yourself, that looks really difficult, I couldn’t possibly do that, I don’t have the patience or the creativity to do that.

The good news is, that’s exactly how I felt almost 7 years ago, but now not only I have I learned the secrets to creating really great looking scrapbooks, but it’s become a passion so I get almost as much enjoyment out of building the books as I had in the first place at the vacation, birthday party, graduation, etc..

So, that all sounds great, but how do I get started you ask!!  Its all about getting organized.

The first thing to do is save what you have from being destroyed. If your photos are in a shoe box that’s probably better than the grocery store bought photo albums, which contain acid and this will slowly eat away at your precious memories. Get them out of those albums NOW!!

I usually have an idea of what types of books I’m going to do, for example, a book of our annual vacations over the past 5 or 10 years, kids’ birthdays, anniversaries or a book for a special vacation or honeymoon. Then I’ll sort all my photos into piles, 1 for each book that I want to do. Once you’ve broken the problem down into smaller chunks, it doesn’t seem so bad after all. You should store the photos in an acid free box until you’re ready to put them into your book.

If you have your photos on computer disc make sure you have multiple backups. Put them on more than 1 computer if you can, and copy them to CD or DVD. You can never have too many copies. For digital photos, you can organize on disc in folders and print out what you need when you need it.

Scrapbooking isn’t just about the photos; I keep everything, ticket stubs to plays, concerts and programs for recitals, graduations. Even plane tickets and coasters from restaurants or bars, anything that can remind you of the event you are going to scrapbook. You should store this memorabilia separately from the photos.

In the next article, I’ll talk about Scrapbooking How To Get Started.

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