About Scrapbooking
HOW TO CREATE A LAYOUT
- Choose
your photos or theme
Your first step is to go through your photos and choose which theme or event-a child's first day at school, your trip to New Zealand or an everyday event like cooking up the Barbie on weekends. Think of each page as part of your life that you would like to record.
A lot of the time, layouts end up being a double-page spread-meaning, when you open your album, the page on the right and the page on the left will match in color and theme. Keep this in mind when you choose your photos. You might choose to have one very special photo on a page, or you might want to fit 3 or 4 photos per page. You will usually use 2-3 photos per 12"x12" page and save single photo portraits for their own page. Remember, that less is more. It will give plenty of space to journal and not look too cluttered.
Single pages are great for when you may have just one or two photos of an event or person. Don't feel you must always do one or the other. Once you have chosen your photos, decide if the layout will be one or two pages then. The most important thing is that it is your album, so whatever you decide to do will be right!
Regardless of the number of photos used, there should be a common link or event or theme that links them together. When you have decided on a theme, cull the photos until you chosen those that complement each other. Keep a photo box for the surplus photos, you may revisit this event another time and they will be safely stored in a photo box until then.
- Choose
your papers
When you are over the hurdle of selecting your photos, a good idea is to choose a patterned paper for your background, this instantly adds color and depth to a page. A patterned paper is a great way to mirror your photo's story-and you can find a paper for practically every look, style and theme.
The paper becomes a natural addition to the page and should help tell the story you are creating. It is better to choose a pattern that enhances your theme, like an elegant paper for a page of black-and-white photos, or a fun print for kids' pictures. Then pick a coordinating plain paper to mat or "frame" the photos. Note: You might make your double-page spread using two background papers that match-or you may choose two papers that coordinate instead. The choice is up to you, but they don't have to be the same. It may be that their only similarity is color.
Then you can arrange or layer your papers. Consider different options when putting your paper together, like tearing paper, cutting it up, layering it or make multiple photo mats. This is called dressing your photos. Keep fiddling with it until you feel that it is the look you are going for, don't forget that all scraps off torn or layered pages can be used in a double-page spread, as journaling mats, or to punch from or make tags with. You'd be surprised how you can use those scraps!
- Time
to matt your photos
A general rule of thumb when matting is to make sure when you are using patterned paper as your background, to use plain paper as your matt. Otherwise, you have the photo, then a patter as your matt, then a pattern as the background. Too busy! You don't want your photo competing with the background and the matt. To mat a photo, just apply your double-sided photo tabs to the photo and adhere it to the plain paper or cardstock that you are going to use as matting paper. Use your straight edge trimmer or ruler and scissors to leave a border of approximately 1/8"-1/2". This will frame your photo beautifully. A mat provides a visual "space" between the photo and the paper. Even if your background paper is a solid colour, matting is still beneficial and gives it a more finished look. Really, it is framing your picture.
Choosing the colour of your mat is important. Take into consideration the primary (dominant) colour and the secondary colours in the background paper, then mat your photos with a solid paper in the secondary colour. For example, if the paper is mostly pink with some white, mat your photos with white. If the pattern is especially large or brightly coloured, give your photo a wider (maybe 1/2") mat. When in doubt, remember that black and white (or off-white) are classics and can be used with nearly everything.
- Deciding
what goes where
Arrange all your ingredients (photos, journaling, embellishments) on the background paper. Before you stick or adhere them down, move them around to make sure you like the placement.
There are dozens of layout ideas you can use for inspiration (or scrap lift!), but the following are good general design rules.
o Each page should have a title of some sort
o A border always looks good
o The human eye travels from the top left, across to the top right and then diagonally down to the bottom left. So keep this in mind when you are putting together you layout. Remember the way the human eye reads the page, and place important articles, photos or journaling in those positions.
- Tell
your story
You can write directly on the page, but sometimes it's easier (and less stressful) to journal onto a separate scrap of paper, then mat this piece and adhere it to the page. If you make a mistake, you just start again. You can also type it up on your computer and print it onto special acid and lignin free paper or vellum. This is great for people who really don't like their handwriting or need to use a spell-check! You need to realize that handwriting is an extremely personal and individual aspect of you and that it becomes precious to the people you are scrapping for. [Future generations] Just think about how you would feel if you happened across a journal written by your great grandmother in her own hand. You certainly would not comment on the neatness of it!
Once completed, you should place your page into your album. Post hinge, top-loading albums are great for moving pages around and rearranging your albums easily. It means you don't have to take apart the entire album to add pages or rearrange them. Sheet protectors are acid-free plastic sleeves that you slip your page into, and then place into the album itself. Post-bound albums come with white paper inside sheet protectors. You can decorate the white page or take it out and replace it with a page created with patterned papers.
So, patterned paper for your background, solid cardstock colours for matting, journaling [the most important thing after your photos] and that's it-you've completed your first page!