scrapbook layout ideas?

Question

im starting with my first book and its about me and my bestfriend. i saw lot of good layout ideas in the internet. i have my materials ready but i dont know how to start. i tried making the outline first of what i want to put in my book (e.g. the birth of our friendship, our adventures, etc.). but what confuses me is the theme i will use. do i have to use one theme per book or every page can be different? or can i follow my outline and use one theme per part? can you give me good sites that i can visit? thanks in advance

Answer 1

Hi there! it sounds like you're off to a great start! You already have a plan in your mind of the order things should go. From here, you're only limited by your imagination, but I'll give you a couple tips to simplify. One of the easiest things to do is to pick a color theme for the whole book, or some sort of other recurring theme throughout the book. When you do that, you're not trying to go shopping for every individual page, and that cuts back on time, both in shopping and in trying to remember what you bought for each page, and in money. Having a theme (say, color) helps make the whole book more cohesive.

Considering this is a first try, it's probably best for me to remind you that you don't need to use EVERY available technique in your book - that's a big mistake beginners make. It makes your book look jumbled, and your brain will feel the same by the time you're done. Keep it simple, sweetie, and if you'd like to chat more, drop me a line at [e-mail].

Answer 2

It's a good idea to carry your theme throughout your first scrapbook to help save on paper, time, and money. When I say theme, I mean color scheme. Many scrapbook stores will have paper packs that use one theme and make it pretty simple to coordinate all the pages. One thing that helped me a LOT with scrapbooking was template or page layouts. Becky Higgins is a famous scrapbook layout artist. You can look through her layouts and select one based on how many photos you have. That way you can spend a LOT less time trying to figure out how to arrange the photos on the page. I listed two sites below that I use a lot! For splitcoast, you can go to the forums and look under challenges. They have a weekly scrapbook sketch challenge that is terrific for giving ideas. Simple scrapbooks actually has a whole section on their site devoted to layout sketches. They can be really helpful. Another important aspect of scrapbooking is journalling. I strongly recommend you use the same 5 w's for scrapbooking that newspapers use. (Who, what, where, when, why) so that when you look at your scrapbook many years from now that the pages tell a story and arne't just a collection of photos on pretty paper. It's much more appealing to read "Mary and I met in 5th grade. It was the first day of school in Mrs. Smith's class. Mrs. Smith told us to find a seat partner, and we were the only two new girls in class. I am so glad we decided to sit together. That was the first day of a friendship that has lasted many years." Than to have "First day we met in 5th grade" as your journaling. Make sense? Anyway, best of luck to you. Scrapbooking can be a very rewarding hobby.

Answer 3

I like to use Simple Scrapbooks Magazine for most of my ideas. I have only been scrapbooking for a couple of years and they have great layouts.

Answer 4

Select a couple pictures and lay them out on different backgrounds to get an idea if you want to use that photo there or not at all. You could have a theme on the first page, like Forever Friends, but you can have any theme on the following pages. It's your page, so whatever comes to your mind is fine. I don't think there are any rules, just whatever looks good and tells the story the way you want it to.

Answer 5

Hi.

It sounds like you already have a theme for your album, which is the friendship you have between you and your friend.

Each page can therefore have it's own sub-theme, or can carry on with the friendship theme.

Most of the scrapbooking stores I shop at have an online store and gallery, so maybe you can check with you local stores too.

Here are some that I like to check out every so often:

http://www.scrapperswarehouse.com.au/
http://www.scraptacular.com.au/
http://www.littlescrapbookshop.com.au/
http://www.scrapbookmegastore.com.au/index.htm

Some of these stores also have a forum, which is very handy for learning things and asking questions.

Good luck!

Answer 6

you might want to try using scrapbook sketches to create different layouts. I would use the same color family or line of papers (KI Memories, Daisy D's, GinX, etc). There are various sites with online galleries that might show you something or give you ideas. Have fun with it!

try:
http://www.memorycreators.com/sketches.htm
http://www.creatingkeepsakes.com
http://www.scrap-maps.com
http://www.rockymountainhobbies.com

Answer 7

each page can be different, but you want the entire book to be cohesive, so instead of just skipping around from topic to topic, you should make sure that there are some transitional pages to make sure that the book flows well.

Answer 8

Try looking through scrapbook magazines for inspiration. there are a lot of great ideas there...try Creating Keepsakes