I would like to start scrapbooking but it seems so overwhelming with so much out there. Can anyone suggest a good way to start off?

By Kay on Friday, February 3, 2006 - 12:15 pm:

I swore I would never try to undertake this task, until my SIL and I decided to put one together for our in-laws' 50th anniversary. I have since made one for my mom, commemorating her and my late dad's 50th, and I made one for my son's 21st bday.

I started by choosing photos and scanning ones I wanted to use. I organized them in categories: siblings, grandparents, silly, sleeping, christmas, halloween, sports, vacations, parents, etc.

I then divided the photos up so that they would fit onto approximately 20 slide-in 12X12 pages. I then went shopping for 12X12 decorative paper - I watched for sales at Michael's, and using plain old construction paper is great, too. I also got some of the specialty scissors, so I could cut things out imaginatively.

My scrapbooks are far from fancy, but they were enjoyed - my son was really touched. Here are a few pages (as I said, I don't get all fancy or anything - my goal was to put in as many cute photos as I could).





I'm now working on one for my daughter's 21st, and then I'm doing one for our 25th wedding anniversary to replace the way I haphazardly threw things together years ago.

By Kiki on Friday, February 3, 2006 - 05:11 pm:

Thanks for sharing. It's looks great. We are planning to go to Disney in a few months maybe I will attempt to make a scrapbook of the trip.

By Groovepickle on Saturday, February 4, 2006 - 11:28 am:

Another great way to start is to make a practice scrapbook out of cards. I took all the cards from my baby shower and scrapbooked them in a very simple book. Just to get the hang of it. Each page contained 2-3 cards and some decorative paper and plain paper. This way I got some practice trying out different layouts without the panic of "What if it doesn't turn out nice!"
Groove

By Kiki on Monday, February 6, 2006 - 05:25 pm:

Good point Alyssa. That sounds like another good project. Thanks!

By Kaye on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - 02:49 pm:

A disney scrapbook is a great start. It has a definite finish and an end. What I find to be the best way to start scrapbooking is to have a plan and keep it simple.

I scrapbook to preserve photos and make the looking at pictures a little more interactive. I tend to journal a lot, so that if I am not there the same story gets told. I use few embellishments and simple lines and colors. But it took years to develop this style for me.

My suggestion is to look at others albums and find what you like and then copy it! Do you like lots of color and patterns? Then you want drop in pages where you work on designed papers and then drop them in. Do you like white pages with matted photos, or more stickers, then you want to find an album that includes the pages (like creative memories). Picking the album is a great start.

But for your first book, set a goal, this is what you want, and buy acccordingly. I am a very mathmatical person, I do most of my albums chronologically, and color schemed appropriately. My favorite albums have one color pack (10 pages similar tones or themes) and some stickers.

But I have friends who are very creative and they want more fun in their albums than I have They go with a theme and add lots of bling. Both ways are correct, you just have to find your fit.

My overall advice, start small, spend little and then test the waters. It you start out too big it is hard to finish and easy to get overwhelmed. And the ultimate goal here is an end product (at least for most people..lol)

By Kiki on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 - 05:28 pm:

Thanks Kaye!