Making your own Scrapbooking background paper

I don't know if you remember, but I posted a blog entry about some really colourful stamps I had bought? Link to the post here.

Well I decided to use them as a background for one of the pages in my "hanging concertina (Accordian) Album" that I mentioned in the last post.

After soaking them all off their backings and drying them, I arranged them all on a piece of paper and then placed a sheet of acetate over the top and flipping it all over carefully, scanned it in.

The result is a reusable and very colourful background paper about 6x6" in actual size. Of course you can do this with anything, such as labels, tickets, menus, timetables, etc. Just make a pleasing collage and then scan it in (or just colour photocopy it).

And then you will have a background that is unqie to you. It's helpful to do this if something you want to include in a layout is actually bound into a book that you don't wish to destroy. Just use the same method. Scan it in, or just photocopy it and then make a collage by positioning your other items over the scanned image, then rescan with all your other items in place.

Of course, unless you have a large format printer, these backgrounds will be for A4 (up to 8x8") maximum, but you can always have a border on a 12x12!

Oh and by the way... the little bow embellishment... one of a pair of earrings. I cut off the stem at the back and it makes a lovely "quality" embellishment!!