Believe it or not, the hobby of scrapbooking is now more popular than golf! A scrapbook used to be a simple collection of newspaper articles, cut-outs from magazines, or a group of related photographs. In the old days, you wouldn't see nice borders and designs in a scrapbook.
Today, scrapbooking is an art form and a billion-dollar industry. Where once it was hard to find scrapbooking materials and accessories, an overwhelming variety of albums, papers, designs, and embellishments is available to scrapbookers. And the community of collectors and vendors continues to grow.
As the craze grows, more and more websites devoted to scrapbooking are popping up on the Internet. They offer free advice and items for purchase. Some sites make free page templates available and contain many great suggestions for theme-based scrapbooks.
If you're new to scrapbooking, the Internet offers all the information you need to build a beautiful container for your precious memories. And whether through a local retail or the web, you can find an endless variety of supplies to accent your personal photos, decorations, and embellishments.
In fact, the range of products is amazing. You can find anything from scrapbooking software to help you create your own pages electronically to stick-ons that add sparkle to your scrapbook pages.
One basic step in scrapbooking is deciding on your layout - the basic design or format for your presentation. A good layout helps you carry your theme throughout the scrapbook and brings your bits and pieces together to tell a story. Your layout expresses your personality and style and helps you organize every page.
Here are some popular layout plans that you may want to try for your first scrapbooking adventure. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination, so review these descriptions for ideas. You may come up with some original layout plans of your own.
1. Newspaper Style. Newspapers have worked on efficient layout for hundreds of years. The layout is a great way to tie pictures and text together. The layout creates the impression of a newsy journal, and it's a wonderful format for events like birthdays, weddings, and anniversaries. The basic layout is columns. Depending on the size of your pages, you can use from two to four columns to create an interesting newspaper-like impression. You can choose fonts resembling those in the news for further effect. Times New Roman is an accepted and easy-to-read font, and Old English is wonderful for bold titles and headings.
2. Handprint Approach. Best in albums about your children, you trace their hand or foot to use on every page. You can use the outline on the pages as a background. You can use it as a frame for photos and mementos. Or you can use it to make a stick-on for your pages to frame your favorite pieces.
3. Rub-on Transfer Technique. Rub-ons have long been a favorite of scrapbookers. They create a textured effect that make your page layouts special. You can apply them to card stock and a variety of papers. Whether patterned or solid, the rub-ons add a special flare to your pages. Be aware that it takes some time to get good at making rub-ons. You'll want to practice the technique before using it in your scrapbook. But once you've mastered the technique, you can incorporate other media like ribbons, mesh, and glass. A tip: rub-ons need to be adhesive enough to create a lasting effect.
4. Chalk for Texture. Chalks add a nice texture to your paper. They give color and dimension, and they adhere well to most surfaces. You can use soft colors for your baby's scrapbook and deeper dark colors for your memorial scrapbooks. Chalks add a unique effect you can't duplicate with any other medium, but they can be messy. You'll need to use a fixative spray to be sure they don't rub off your page onto your treasures or your hands!
These are just a few of many layout approaches. You can combine layouts to make the scrapbook more interesting, but be sure that you use your final layout plan consistently throughout your scrapbook to maintain your theme. Layout design can be as simple as a page border or as fancy as you can imagine. They bring unity to your photos and mementos and add your personality to your pages.
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