Scrapbooking Albums - 6 Tips for Beginners

I had a conversation with a lady recently, and it is not the first time I have heard this...

But she mentioned that she had started into the world of scrapbooking because she wanted to make an album for her 2 sons. She found the first album really hard going, and like many people, started with the oldest photos first.

Luckily, she was advised that the best way was not to try to do it all in chronological order, but to scrap the big events first. This helped and on putting the pages together (12x12 album - which I always think is a very difficult thing for beginners to do anyway) the pages dovetailed into one another nicely.

Unfortunately, the person who gave her the advice was a consultant of one particular company and so this lady had the constraints of only really being able to use one company's designs. Again a difficult thing for a beginner to do.

However, my advice to all beginners is:

1. DON'T attempt a whole album - start by laying out a single page, then another and then another.


2. Start with your most recent photographs - these memories are fresh in your mind and journaling comes much more easily.


3. If you are doing older photos, then concentrate on the layout leaving space for journaling - or even put your notes/journaling on the back (if only for posterity's sake)


4. Try to start on an 8x8 layout - there isn't so much blank space to cover than 12x12 and the picture takes up more space and has more impact - it's just not so daunting.


5. If you really want to make an album - start by making a paper bag book or a 6x6 album bound with book rings or even ribbon, pages are filled a lot quicker and subsequently your album is finished a lot quicker - this gives you enthusiasm to do more and bigger albums.


6. If you get stuck in a rut when doing an album on a specific theme (like a particular person's album), stop trying and create a layout about something completely different, this will free you from the constraints of your album and let your creativity flow, it should jump start your album pages again.

I love doing paper bag albums of a specific event, I scrapped my last holiday which was a week in Majorca. I will upload the photos of it shortly. But you only need about 12 photos you can make more journaling for the pockets and store other photos inside these pockets too, just add some papers and embellishments, keeping it simple and there you have it.

There are so many ways of creating little mini albums with which I always recommend beginners start.

When I have given a demonstration and the attendees have then made a mini album in a matter of hours, they are always so pleased with what they have achieved and that always makes me happy!

Let me leave you with this question...

Do you really have to make the whole album look the same - why not create layouts of all different styles and colours and then put them in the album?