Think back to your very first scrapbooking project. You were probably very young. You likely pasted newspaper clippings and memorabilia onto the papers you decorated with ribbon and other elements that you had at your disposal. The finished project often presented itself as a stack of pages stapled or glued together to form a book. Often those pages included not only memorabilia, but your own drawings and art work. Those projects introduced you to the basics of the world of scrapbooking.
Now as an adult, scrapbooks are a little more sophisticated with more embellishments and tools such as clear rubber stamps available to help you make scrapbooks that will last your lifetime and beyond. The concept of scrapbooking really hasn't changed since grade school. It still encompasses the process of placing photos, newspaper clippings, and other memorabilia together with images and textures to create an overall aesthetically pleasing work of art. Scrapbooking has also expanded from saving and placing memorabilia into your scrapbooks to also creating your own memorabilia. As such, scrapbooking techniques are used to make gift cards, art work, birth announcements, party invitations, recipe books and much more.
Scrapbooking Tools
Some of the most essential tools you will use in creating your scrapbooks include an x-acto knife which will allow you to cut out almost any shape. As long as you are careful you do not risk ripping or bending the image you are cutting out whether it is a photo or a design you made with your clear rubber stamps. Be sure that the object you wish to cut is first placed upon a cutting mat or an old magazine so you can protect the surface of your work area. Another important scrapbooking tool you will need will be a pair of tweezers. Tweezers make it simple and easy to place tiny pieces of paper or other embellishments without getting your fingers into the glue that will hold them in place.
The Designing Process
The first thing you will need to determine is the theme you wish to carry through your scrapbook art. Be sure to plan your pages in pairs so that when the scrapbook lies open, both pages echo the same theme and colors. Your theme can be built around a birthday, baby shower, wedding or holiday. You may choose themes from nature such as leaves or insects. You may wish to create an artistic theme focusing on the scrapbook recipient's personal interests which include colors, sports, music, outdoors and even cultural influences. As you choose your theme, be sure that you consider the overall purpose of your scrapbook, the recipient of the scrapbook and the subject that the scrapbook will be about. Clear rubber stamps can help develop specialized themes through both image designs as well as sayings stamped as backgrounds or borders of you accent papers.
Next you will want to choose a title that captures the sentiment of your pages. A title defines the whole basis of the scrapbook or page(s) you are working on. It will tell the viewer instantly what they will see on those pages and conveys the purpose of your work. Titles can be as basic as a date or name or even a specific event. However, titles can also be more interesting and exciting by including a quote, a simple phrase or a saying that defines your subject. Clear alphabet rubber stamps are ideal for stamping custom titles or phrases. They allow you to choose the style and size of the text you use and can be added in a number of creative ways.
The next step will be to decide on a color system for your scrapbook design. Highlights and accents will be formed by the color combinations and contrasts that you use in your color scheme. A well-chosen color scheme can define the page more than any other element. Coordinated colors add depth to your scrapbook art. Contrasting colors focus the eye. Adversely, a poorly chosen color combination can weaken and detract from your scrapbook art. It is a good idea to pull colors from the photos, mementos or embellishments you plan to use on your pages. Let the pigment inks you use with your clear rubber stamps reflect those colors on the background papers you create and accent them to enhance your project.
As you choose and select photos to use in your scrapbook art, do not be afraid to cut and crop them to uniform sizes and shapes. Having oversized or off center photographs prevents balance and design elements from working together. If you find your background paper is distracting, try matting the photos in a solid color that complements your color scheme before mounting them to the page. Photos can be placed in any order you desire such as a collage or chronological placement.
Always plan to add journaling and text to your scrapbook pages. Without the text the page is nothing more than an elaborate picture book. It is through the text that you add to your scrapbook art that will define the feelings and activities that the pages celebrate. There are a number of ways to add text to a page. If it is a caption, you may find it fun to use your clear alphabet rubber stamps. If you are writing an activity summary, clear journaling rubber stamps can come in handy making lines as dark or light as you wish that will guide your script. When placing text on your pages, be sure to define the area where the text belongs and do not wander outside that space.
Before you secure the basic elements of your scrapbook page in place be sure to check the spacing. If items are too closely spaced together the viewer may find the page confusing or overwhelming. If elements are too far apart the viewer will likely feel like something is missing or the page wasn't completed. Experiment with the spacing by arranging elements with wider and narrower spaces, clustering 2-3 items together and leaving wider spaces around other items. Determine if you need to simplify your page or add more to it.
Once you have chosen a theme and a color scheme, added a title, selected and cropped your photos and planned for text upon your scrapbook pages you have successfully built a scrapbooking project. You can at this point call it complete or, continue to embellish and elaborate on your theme. If you choose to add more, be sure to evaluate the changes before adhering them to the page. No matter how you choose to finish off your scrapbooking project, by following the basic guidelines of building a successful scrapbook design, you are well on your way to becoming a scrapbooking pro!
I hope this article has helped you plan and design scrapbook pages you will love to show off and share. For a few of my free scrapbooking layout ideas you can visit http://www.clearlyrubberstamping.com/scrapbooking-layouts. To help you further, you can download 1500+ Free Scrapbook Page Toppers from the following link. http://www.clearlyrubberstamping.com/free-stuff
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