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GETTING STARTED

Choosing your scrapbook theme

Start by carefully organising all of your photos. Choose a theme or a date to start with. For example, birthdays, wedding, new birth or family holidays are all good theme ideas.

Start with your current photos

Select your most current photos rather than starting at the beginning so you won't feel like you'll never be able to catch up. It will be inspiring to see your most recent photos  placed in an album and it may give you the motivation to quickly finish past years.

Constructing your page layout

Select 2 or 3 photos that best illustrate your theme. If some photo's are blurry, poorly lit or very similar, consider leaving them out. There is no rule that says every photo needs to be included on your scrapbook page. Think about which photo you want to be your focal point and highlight it with a special frame or background matting.

Cropping

Many photos have lots of unnecessary space around the subject that can be disposed of. By cropping (cutting) your photos down, you will be able to include more photos on your page and accentuate the subject of the photo. However, don't cut everything, especially photos with historical or special meaning or an original print that you don't have negatives for.

Matting

Select complimentary colour card stock by choosing colours already found within your pictures. Matting creates a simple border around the photo and accentuates the photos on your page layout. Also, when using patterned paper, be sure the patterns aren't too busy and don't detract from the main focus of your page - your photos.

Journaling

Be sure to leave ample space for writing including who, what, where and when on your photo layout. Recording the events through words are just as important as the story told with pictures.