Sponsored Links

Getting Started

Sort through photographs and memorabilia.

You can do this in chronological order or by theme. I have made albums for babies, weddings, honeymoon and travel, family, Christmas, ABC (each two-page spread has a letter theme: "A is for Airplane," etc.), with specific colors, and fill-in-the-pictures gift albums.

Group the photos.

I can fit 4-10 photos per 12x12 two-page spread. When working with 8.5x11 pages, I use about 2-6 photos per two-page spread. I prefer to do fewer photos, just choosing the ones I like best. This is also a great time to crop the photos, if they need it. Be sure not to cut out any important background details! I actually limit the amount of cropping I do, just because I like the dimensions of a natural photograph. If you spend a little time and money on some photography books, you can save a lot in tools and also in time spent cropping photos to how you want to see them.

A great book (short, sweet and to the point) I can recommend is by Lisa Bearnson of Creating Keepsakes.

Gather page decorations.

Decide what kinds of die cuts, stickers, paper, and other accessories you'd like to use with the grouped photos. Always choose embellishments based on the colors in your photos for the best effect! Store all items in acid-free storage. I store mine in page protectors in the album. When I'm ready, I just choose the pages I want to work on and get scrapping. Sometimes I also use Highsmith's Corruboard Page Keeper for my layouts in progress. If you want more recommendations about storage, check out my Product Reviews!

Put it all together!

This is the fun part! Arrange them on the page in a fun way (you can check out my Layouts Section for ideas) and paste them down using acid-free adhesive. My favorite dry adhesive is the Hermafix (dots for repositionable or tabs for more permanent fixtures), and I love the Sailor glue pen for a liquid adhesive.

When you're scrapping with dimensional embellishments, you'll want to be mindful of photo handling. If you use buttons, wire or eyelets, keep the opposite page in consideration when mounting photos. Ideally, try not to mount photos opposite dimensional embellishments (even if there are two page protectors in between) for best photo handling and safety. This will keep your photos from getting scratched and worn.

Questions or problems?

You can find lots of on-line resources. My favorite question and answer site is Rebecca Luden's Scrapbook Forum. I've never had a problem go unsolved here. Also, Creating Keepsakes and Simple Scrapbooks magazines have some amazing online tools and layout ideas at their sites. For more great links, check out my Links page.

More Techniques...