Scrapbooking: Where To Begin

Have you ever found a hobby where you're so immersed in what you're doing and time seems to fly by without you even noticing? This is what scrapbooking is for me. I love capturing moments in a photo, so it's fun to think of creative ways to display those photos and show what they mean to me. Scrapbooking is one of my favorite hobbies and it's because the possibilities are endless. If you really think outside the box, anything can be put into a scrapbook or used as embellishment. I saved memorabilia and pictures from my semester in NYC, and since this experience meant so much to me, it inspired me to make another scrapbook.

The first step is starting off with the right kit. Of course, you could make an entire scrapbook from scratch, but it's helpful to have extra decorative materials already provided. Most kits will come with the book, pages, stickers, and paper frames or shapes as the bare minimum. Some kits are themed, which is great if you are scrapbooking for a specific event or season. For example, I made a scrapbook last summer and I found a kit that matched that theme. This one I'm using is for any occasion.

The first thing I do after getting my kit is set out all of the supplies that are included so I can judge what I will use them for and I can think of anything else I would need. It's also important to take note of how big the book is and how many pages are provided. You wouldn't want to gather up all your pictures to find that they won't all fit.

That leads me to the next step: organizing your pictures. Pictures are usually the focal point of the scrapbook, so they should be organized in a way that makes sense, rather than randomly placed. If your scrapbook is covering a month of pictures or more, I would suggest putting them in order of oldest to newest or newest to oldest first. A great way to do this with digital pictures is on your computer in a separate folder before you print them out. Once they are grouped by time, group them together based on events and have each event be a page in your book. For example, my first page is move-in day, then orientation, specific classes and workshops, sight-seeing, and performances.

Once you choose your pictures and print them out, you have to cut them and figure out how you want to arrange them on the page. This is a chance for you to be creative! Cut your pictures in different shapes, use the backgrounds and shapes from your kit, or make your own. You can use construction paper, wrapping paper, colored tissue, card stock, etc. My kit came with a template, which is perfect for making interesting frames.

Your essentials are glue, tape, scissors, and a pen or marker. These purple and blue scissors came with the kit and they are decorative scissors, so they cut the paper in a wavy shape.

As you assemble your pictures and memorabilia, make sure there is some space in between each one so it doesn't look cluttered. I like to paste my pictures first, and leave room for embellishments. You could create borders with ribbon or pipe cleaners, accentuate the page with glitter, or use fuzzies or jewels to fill in the gaps.

I believe that memorabilia make a scrapbook extra special. Memorabilia is any item that is special to you. Find some that are unique and match the theme of your scrapbook. I loved saving small items throughout The Professional Semester and thinking of how they could be incorporated into my scrapbook.

                                                                                                                                                 Pictured: Awards, 3D glasses from The Radio City Christmas Spectacular, a wristband, the cover from my binder, my metro card, the logo from a BDC bag, a piece of a costume, clippings from magazines, playbills and tickets from shows I saw and danced in, one of my BDC class cards, the name tag I got on the first day, and a card from a friend.  

The first page of my new book is themed "move-in day". I was inspired to make this page because of the supplies that came with my kit. There was a page that looked like a road map, a sticker that said travel, and a frame that looks like a postcard. Sometimes what comes in your kit or something you find in your house might spark some ideas, so I made a page about the day we traveled to move to New York City.

Here is an example of some items from a themed scrapbook. I made my first scrapbook last summer and everything on the cover came with the kit.

 Here are some examples of how anything can be used in a scrapbook.

This page is about my recital dance from Cecil Dancenter's recital last June. I used the program, cut out my dance's information from it, my tickets, and even the prop that was used!

Since this page is about my family's beach vacation, I used sandpaper for the title and a real shell from Myrtle Beach. It took a lot of super glue, but I got it to stick :)

Lastly, unless you're a super human, you will not complete your scrapbook all in one day. So, it's less stressful if you keep your materials organized when you're not working. Otherwise, you could lose track of your items and it's simply easier on the mind when they're all in one place. A perfect opportunity for organization (and I love organization) is to use the box that your kit came in. If you didn't buy a kit, specify another box or container for all of your scrapbook supplies.

Happy scrapbooking!