Tips for Organizing a Scrapbook
You’re toying with the idea of making a scrapbook. Maye you’ve scrapbooked before or maybe you’ve just always thought it would be something you’d like to do. So there you sit with a bag full of photographs, cards, letters and other miscellaneous material that you’ve been saving for “when I get around to it.”
Where do you start? It’s a daunting task, and one that definitely calls for some know-how in the area of scrapbook organization.
It doesn’t have to be complicated. Start by looking through what you have and thinking into terms of categories.
Do you have tons of memorabilia around a certain event? If so, that event could be the focus of a total scrapbook — as in a wedding album, birthday party album, retirement party album, vacation album, etc. Set those items aside in a pile or place them in a bag or box.
Return to the pile of photos. Do you have many photos that fit a certain theme? Perhaps you have plenty of Halloween photographs taken over several years. There are not enough photos of any Halloween in particular, but looking at the total, creating a Halloween themed album would be a possibility. Set these aside in a separate folder or box.
Perhaps you have an array of photographs of the family pets. How about a pet themed album? Or a garden themed album? Or a sports themed album?
Back to your pile of photos once more. Sort again and see what themes or topics come to mind. Perhaps you would like to do a chronological album — Baby’s First year, for example, or A Year in the Life of the Smith Family. Separate these.
What still remains in your bag of photos? Perhaps by now, you are looking at a miscellaneous selection of items that you want to use, but they don’t fit anywhere. In this situation, consider making a “Miscellaneous” album in which individual layouts have themes, but the scrapbook as a whole does not.
Once you have decided on the topics or themes for your memory books, decide how you want to organize this material in the layouts. I always like to start with a title page, then organize the layouts in chronological order from that point on.
It’s not necessary to use every photograph that you have in your collection. Scrapbooking is not like making a photo album — to many scrapbookers, only the best and most significant photos are used. However, the content is an individual choice. There is no right or wrong way to go about it.
Please refer to the following link for plenty more information about scrapbooking and scrapbook video tutorials.
Add comment July 24th, 2008
