Scrapbook Page Inspiration

Something all four of these scrapbook pages have in common is there is only one spotlight photo or even no photos.  I think the “Twenty Quotes I Like” page could showcase a special favorite photo as well.  Also unique about these examples is how journal inspiring they are.  I have a personal journal of favorite quotes and it would be so awesome to include a page devoted solely to my love of special quotes.  A page devoted to meaningful quotes would reveal much about the scrapper’s personality and character.

“10 Things I Love About Being a Mom” is not only a touching tribute, but also a wonderful journal prompt.  I could see even longer responses being given with more details.  Or this could be a recurring theme in successive albums.  The spotlight photo would show changes in the scrapbooker from album to album and create a timeline theme that is consistent throughout the family albums as the years go by.

Sometimes I only have that one great shot that I want to scrapbook so the page has to be extra special--extra creative.  That’s why I love the “Seaside” page with its simplicity and minimalist beauty, yet the page is filled with a lovely memory.  This is a mostly wordless journal page with only a short caption to capture the moment concisely.

A Pinterest album page layout idea just makes me smile.  Where would I be without Pinterest?  I remember having to use bookmarks to help me relocate all the amazing stuff and things I found on the Internet.  I usually would just give up in the end.  I also had an Idea Book that had years of clippings from magazines carefully filed away.  But when I found Pinterest, “the world became my oyster.” 

Of course I would want to create a fabulous (yet simple in design) album page devoted to one of my favorite and helpful past times. This can also be a wordless journal page with just a Pinterest Board title to say it all.  As with the real Pinterest Board, choosing a catchy board cover photo is very important and draws the viewer to click on for more.

  

   

These Pinspirational album page layouts have made my priority list when I sit down to get creative with my family photos.  I hope they inspire you as well.  Please visit my “Cuttin Up” Pinterest Board to see all the wonderful ideas I have come across so far.

Family History Albums

Cartoon by Cathy Guisewite

More than ever, we are OBSESSED with getting that "great shot" of ourselves for today's photo albums--Facebook and Selfies! With all these great photos floating around, hopefully we're doing a good job of providing the story behind the photo...the who, what, where, when and how of the person pictured. "Our posterity has a right to know their roots without scrounging for them" (Elaine Cannon)

Providing "the rest of the story" is keeping our genealogy up-to-date!  As Ethel Jackson Price once explained, "Anyone can leave money to their children, grandchildren, etc.  But we are the only ones who can leave them our memories, and they are truly worth more than money."

I have scrapbooked for the last twenty years and the following scrapbook resources have remained on my shelf:

Scrapbooking with Memory Makers
This is literally the best scrapbooking book that I have found and I have looked at a lot of them. I have gotten so many good ideas for pages in my albums, such as creative ideas for all the leftover photos. (ISBN 0883639289) 

Family History Scrapbooking by Becky Higgins

Everything you need to know to get started (and be really organized) with family history scrapping. (ISBN 1933516623)

Timeless Treasures by Emilie Barnes
This is a charming little book that I kept (and I don't keep many) because of all the great family history ideas such as having everyone outline their hands on a sheet used as a Thanksgiving or Christmas Day tablecloth and then later embroidering this or turning it into a one-of-a-kind quilt. (ISBN 1565074289)

I found most of these books at my local used bookstore and I'm sure they can be purchased online for even less!  Remember to take time to do something meaningful with all of those photos, even if it's just a caption to go with each photograph on your phone.  And remember to leave your phone's password with someone you trust so the phone can be opened and pictures retrieved in the event of your passing.

If you are going to write about your days, you had better be doing something to write about. ~Caroline Eyring Miner

Scrapbook Layout: The Balance Game

I really struggled so much when I began creating layout pages for my Creative Memory albums.  This was before Idea Books, before the internet, before scrapbooking really caught on.  I can't tell you how many pages have been disassembled and put back together again--sometimes over and over!  That is when I learned you really have to have a plan (or copy someone else's idea!).  I'm sharing information from a handout I received when I first started scrapbooking with Creative Memories in the early 1990's.  It has helped me so much in planning my layout pages so that I get it right the first time.

"When you are laying out your photo's for your page, remember that it is your balancing game and you balance according to your visual likes.  Some people like a symmetrical look--same sizes, same spacing.  Other people like a more abstract design with flowing patterns and color."

Put your visually heavy picture down first, then start balancing.

...it's just like hanging pictures on the wall.

You can balance with stickers or colors...You can balance with words.

Work with your page in 1/2's or 1/3's.

(Layouts by Homemaker's Journal.  "The Balance Game" source unknown--circa early 1990's)

15 Photo Preservation Tips

Here are 15 tips every scrapper should know:

1. A shoe box is safer than many photo albums.
2. Albums that are not acid free, cause yellowing and crumbling. 
3. The safest albums will say acid free or archivally safe, and are more expensive.
4. Bindings on albums should allow pages to lie flat, to keep photos from bending or cracking.
5. Start with most recent photographs and keep them up to date.  Then take older photos and sort them by decades, then approximate years. 
6. Make one "family album" and one for each child.
7. Document your photos with names, dates, events, feelings, humorous captions, appropriate quotes and family stories.
8. Trim pictures that include too much sky or background, a thumb or camera strap.  Use phot trimmers or templates to trim photos into shapes--a heart, circle or oval for example.
9. Do not cut Polaroid prints!!!
10. Be selective--mount only well-focused, varied shots.
11. Include special mementos with your photos:  lock of hair, post cards.
12. Take at least one roll of black and white film per year--they outlast color prints (or black and white digital prints). 
13. Store albums in an upright position, and at temperatures you could tolerate.
14. Either photo copy newspaper articles on acid-free paper or deacidify by spraying them with a product called Wei T'o (at craft stores).
15. Keep negatives in acid-free office envelopes (office supply stores), and label with the approximate months and years, and make a note about the pictures, such as Grandpa's birthday.