Scrapbooking for Beginners

SCRAPBOOKING FOR BEGINNERS

So you have finally decided to have a go at this ever growing hobby. Good on YOU!

Having spent many years in the art field in various roles I used to think scrapbooking was pretty elementary. Very arrogant of me, wasn’t it!

Well, I am now on my second scrapbook and I tell you it has really been an uplifting experience. I found when I was working I never seemed to get time to pull out the canvas and paints and then ‘get in the moment’ and feel satisfied with what I had ‘time’ to paint!

Scrapbooking has really filled that void for me, because I have all my papers, stickers, pens, stamps, etc etc organised I can quickly pull them out and in even an hour can produce something that I am happy with. It may not be a finished page, but at least I can see some results. Then pack it all up quickly and put it away til next time.

Well, you want to start scrapbooking, is that right?

I am going to give you some good basic beginners scrapbooking tips for starting and I can expand on that when you visit my website.

One important point to remember that this is not a race, unless of course, you do have a deadline. The WORK IN PROGRESS can be just as enjoyable as the finished product.

First off get a notebook. Sketch any scrapbooking ideas you see and note down products you may want to buy at a later date.

1. Decide on the topic of your book: wedding, anniversary, baby book, flowers, holiday or whatever it is that you want to focus on.
2. Choose your photos – it is better to have less very good photos rather than a lot of average photos – the reason being is that it is better to have one memorable photo highlighted on a page than several not so good.
3. Decide on your color scheme. There are several schools of thought here – depending on your topic some prefer to have a blended background and others prefer to have a contrasting background.
4. At this stage you should choose your book so that it matches the color tonings of your pages.
5. Start collecting tools that you will need: exacto knife, metal ruler, sharp sissors and more depending on your budget (see our website)
6. Keep a look out for:
colored papers for decorating (some magazines include lovely ones)
colored card
double sided tapes (it is good to have several types)
lettering
sayings, quotes and verses (amazing how the mind goes blank at times!)
stickers and other embellishments (ribbon, buttons, etc)
stamps

Other items to look out for, which are not needed straight away, are:
1. Spare insert pages for your book. Make sure you get the right size as not all books are the same.
2. Different coloured pens. Gel pens are great as are gold and silver.
3. Further embellishments. It seems you can never have enough of these because they help bring the pages alive. These can be bought at sales, cheap shops, cut from cards, calendars, magazines and the like.
4. More lettering. These too, can never go astray.
5. Stensils can be very handy.
6. Strings and wools to add on.

Remember, you don’t have to complete each page as you go. If you feel you can’t decide what to put on it, you can always go back at a later stage and a saying or other embellishment. That’s why it is called a Work in Progress.

Being Aware!
Once you start looking at scrapbooks it is amazing how you will start focusing on layouts. I found this so interesting because all of a sudden I would see advertising on TV or brochures and realise that the layout on them would make a great scrapbooking layout.

If you wish to use your own imagination for layouts you can get guides from the internet, from hobby shops and magazines, or you can simply purchase them.

Digital layouts are now very popular too, so it depends on what you are wanting from this hobby.

Hope you have an enjoyable start to your hobby, don’t be afraid. As is often quoted “if you make a mistake, you can just cover it up”. I have done this and it is better to get rid of a page that annoys you than keep it in and always be a ‘bug bear’ that you feel you have to explain away to people.

There are many scrapbooking techniques, but like anything you have to start somewhere and the beauty of it is that you can always go back and add things.