7 Steps to an Unforgettable Scrapbooking Layout Page

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You know you have seen them because you haven’t forgot them! Those unforgettable scrapbooking page layouts! Here we will give you seven simple steps to put you on the road to beautiful memories. The first step to remember in any project is organization. Organize your materials in a format that you won’t forget what you have and that is easily accessible when you are sitting down to create your masterpiece. It is easy to get side tracked when you have to get up and down looking for a particular paper or scissors.

Second, decide if this project is going to be an addition to an album that already exists or a new project altogether. Don’t let yourself make more than two pages at a time because then you will feel anxious to get them done and you won’t enjoy the process. This should be a time of relaxation and fun, then the creative juices can flow.

Next, decide on what photos that you would like on a page together. The photos should compliment one another. Do you want to place a larger one in the middle as the centerpiece? Do you want to create a sequence of events or do you want a collage effect?

Once you have decided on the photos, let’s say your daughter’s swim meet, then move on to the color scheme. Ask yourself some questions. What do you want to project to your audience? What mood do you want to convey? What colors would go well or enhance the pictures that you are going to use? What materials do you have readily available? Once decided set your materials in front of you.

Now comes the tough but exciting decisions. Layout the papers, borders, stamps, letters, accessories, or whatever you want to use with this particular page and color scheme. Start from the center outward or top to bottom depending on what your goal is. Let’s say your daughter came in first in her event and you have 5 photos: one of her with her ribbon, and 4 others of her in action (getting psyched up, diving in, swimming, and then the finish). The close up is of her with the ribbon and you want to make that the centerpiece and then place the remaining photos around in a sequence. Well, you have decided on the photo layout and you want to use the team colors (gold and yellow) and blue (water) for the color scheme.

You need to now decide on how much photo and how much framing you want to do. Do you have a great shot of the others diving in also and your daughter is in the lead? Or do you have a lot extra space that you could crop? At this time it is nice to have some plastic templates to frame your photos before you cut them, this way you can get an idea of how if any of the photo you need to trim. If you end up with a bunch of smaller photos from cropping, this is where accessories, stickers, narrative, and hand drawings will come in handy. This can help gel a page together that seems just thrown together. Just remember to place the photos in the sequence that you want them and stand back to picture the final product in your mind.

You should crop the photos first and then cut the paper, border, etc afterwards. You may want to place the photos on overlapping pages or create a nice border for each with a little swimmer swimming to the next photo in your sequence. You are the creator and you decide how you would like your audience’s eyes to flow. You could even take the photo of her diving in and create a splash with droplets taking the viewer to the next photo. You can even use two pages to manage a lot of photos that you don’t want to break up. Always place the border on the photos first and then secure them to the page it makes mistakes less likely to happen.

After you have secured the photos and borders it is time for the narrative, stickers, or accessories. It is important to use a light pencil line if you are concerned that your lettering may be uneven. You may even want to write it in pencil first and then go over it with the permanent pen or marker. When you are deciding on the narrative you want it to flow with the remainder of the album. Are you going to write it in first person or third? Is your daughter going to be telling the story, you as the proud parent, or a third party relaying the exciting event information? There is no right or wrong way but it is important to stay consistent. You can get some ideas about narratives from the subjects themselves, quote books, the internet, or many other places, use your imagination.

Well, you did it! Step back and enjoy your creation. You fashioned the unforgettable scrapbooking page layout! Now your page will dwell in the hearts and memories of your audience and will be enjoyed for many years to come.

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