Stirring Creative Juices: Scrapbooking for Beginners

Lately I meet a lot of people who express a desire to organize their memories via scrapbook but don’t know where to start. The most common reason I hear from them is that they aren’t creative enough. Malarky!, I cry. Some of us may have to dig deeper than others to find the inner artist, but the existing desire is enough for us to seek it.

My favorite part about scrapbooking is that there is no right or wrong; this is true about many art forms. If there is a tendency to be perfect, release that now. If there is a tendency to be the best, release that too. Examine your motive to make a scrapbook, and aim to meet that goal. If the goal is to preserve memories, you’re at a good starting place.

Most people scrapbook photographs, so we will assume for this article that is what is being preserved. Other things often found in scrapbooks are news clippings, ticket stubs, notes, paper awards, etc. Preserve any memory you cherish!

Some basic materials you’ll need to get started are cardstock or decorative papers, adhesive, writing utensil(s), objects being preserved, and scissors. Those are the basic supplies, but many people find other products useful as well, which will be discussed later.

For this spread, I used only patterned scrapbook paper (colored blue to represent sky) and solid scrapbook paper to design my own grass and fence. For the "sales tag" I used a basic shape offered through my own photo processing software. A design for such a tag may easily be downloaded for free. I even made the yard sale sign by my own hand.

It is important to use acid-free, lignin-free materials because this preserves your memories longer by keeping them from fading. Acid and lignin degrade paper because of their pH levels. Even acid-free paper may eventually become acidic.

Keep your priorities in order: know first what size spread you plan to create. A spread is two pages that face each other; a page is a single page facing. The advantage of creating a spread over a page is that you have more room for photographs, embellishments, and creativity. What size are your pages? The most popular sizes are 8x8”, 8.5x11”, and 12x12”. There are other sizes available.

One tip that will prove useful is to lay the page out before you actually begin piecing materials together. Either draw the layout on a blank sheet of notebook or typing paper, or lay out your materials and place them without adhering them. Envision what you want the final spread to look like. Keep this in mind as you “work” but be flexible; it may be that not everything you envisioned will work in your favor, and you may need to make some alterations to the original design.

With the spread on the right (only one page of a two-page spread), I had many non-photo materials that were requested to be included in the spread. Only by laying them on the page and moving them around to various locations was I able to devise a way to fit them all on the spread to highlight the keywords and determine the size I could use for the photos.

Not everyone envisions the layout first. Play it by ear, if you are comfortable with that method. You can still create a wonderful, creative page this way; most people find it easier to design first so they may include and be prepared for all the materials they need.

Many people pack up their scrapbooks here. They cannot think of a layout that is “creative enough.” Let’s reset the bar here: “creative enough” should be according to your own standard. You have seen your friends’ scrapbooks and they overflow with brilliance and nostalgia. Do not compare your scrapbook to theirs! No one is the same, and this is not a competition. Stay focused on the goal: preserving your own memories. This is for no one else but you.

If you stumble over creating a layout for the spread, start simple. Begin by placing the photos on the page, side by side. If there is not enough room to lay them all side by side, place the remaining ones above or below the others. While you do this, think of the other materials you might use or other things you want to include. Lay those things on the page as well. Move the objects around until you come up with a design that best suits you.

Another tip that will really bring the page together is to match the paper and embellishments used to the objects being scrapbooked. You might match colors, or you may consider choosing themed paper. For example, if you are scrapbooking your husband’s softball game, look for paper with baseballs, baseball bats, baseball gloves, etc. You might try to find such unique stickers as a scoreboard or bleachers.

For this spread, I used die patterned vellum and layed it over simple lime green paper. I used game themed stickers to add simple embellishment.

It is at this point that a lot of my contacts that feel less creative lose steam. They cannot think of what embellishments to use to accent the photos and the spread. Though I’ve explained with an example, let me say it this way: think of the common theme in the photos, think of the actual intangible memory you are preserving by scrapbooking the photos, and think of the emotion this brings forth in you.

Emotion is often linked with color. Part of scrapbooking is touching the heart of another through nonverbal communication, and one way of expressing that in art is with color. By focusing on the emotion and the intangible memory, you will be able to visualize what icons correspond with those things. Perhaps baseballs and baseball gloves are too cliché for your taste; maybe what really takes you back to that memorable softball game is the smell and taste of the hot dogs and nachos you ate during the game. Try to find stickers of the hot dogs and nachos! This memory is coming from you, so let the benchmarks of the memory speak for themselves (as hot dogs and nachos usually do!). Match the colors of your embellishments, use colors often associated with softball, or design your own color scheme.

Note in the spread on the right, the candy stickers pertain to trick-or-treating, and the sparkly lettering stickers correlate to the "mystery" of Halloween. I used orange and black paper, as these colors are the colors most commonly associated with Halloween.

The basic objects of every spread are a title, a journal, and photos. You don’t have to journal. You don’t have to title. These are things that simply link one part of the spread to the next and keep the eye moving over the contents. Lead the viewer’s mind by placing key objects at “points” on the spread and connect those points. Anything not along the roadmap of the spread may be overlooked, but can often enhance the spread by standing alone.

If you feel you’ve hit the “Writer’s Block” of scrapbooking and all creative juices have been used, simply sit back for a moment, even a day. Allow your subconscious to continue working on the spread while you do other things. Come back to it refreshed.

This spread of the horse and rider is a good example of raised layering. To raise the subject of the photo, I required two of the same photo. One photo I cropped the height at top and bottom so it would be just smaller than the central focus. The other photo I cropped the width to focus on the horse and rider. You may create your own lifts as described in the next paragraph or purchase adhesive squares, which are already thick enough to raise the photo.

One final tip: layer! Layering is very simple: take an object, apply it to paper, cut that out, and apply that to the spread. You might also consider raising an object or two on the page to add depth by using thick adhesive squares. If this product is unavailable to you, cut a thin strip of paper and fan fold it until it is a small square. Glue all folds until you have a solidified unit of folded paper. Now just use this as a spacer by applying glue to both sides.

Notice the simplicity of this spread of the groom. As this spread was part of an album, the word "groom" was able to serve as both the title and the journal since other spreads clarified information about the groom. Not every spread requires complexity as is often seen in modern scrapbooking. The frame was made by marking on a template first, using a punch for the circles, and cutting the square with an exacto knife. I adhered the letters and photo to a sheet of pink cardstock, sized perfectly to rest behind the frame. The black frame was then adhered to the pink paper. This is a great example of layering. When making frames, I recommend creating a template first so changes can be made as necessary prior to using the paper meant for the spread (rather than for waste).

Now that you have some basic guidelines and tips, I hope you have the inspiration to think of creative ideas for displaying your photos and memories. Think outside the box, try new things, and above all, have fun!

Washcloth Storage

In the name of sharing good ideas, I thought I'd pass along this idea I used in a bathroom a few years ago. The concept is really what I wish to share: store your washcloths on the back of the toilet for easy access and organization. Rolling them is pleasing to the eye (for me), and I have heard it saves space, though I can neither confirm nor deny this theory.


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Ornament Chandelier

Pin It Materials Needed:
16 Christmas ball ornaments
String or fishing line
Scissors



Step 1
For each ornament:
Tie a knot to the eye of the ornament. Measure approximately # inches of line and cut. Set aside.


Step 2
Select one ornament as the base. Gather six ornaments with it and align the tops of the lines. Holding all the lines together between your index finger and thumb, approximately midway between the ends, use your other hand to pull the base ornament down slightly. When you hold it up and let them hang, the bottom half of the base ornament should be visible while the other six rest atop it.



Step 3
Still holding all lines in place, grip the lines just above the group of six and knot.

Step 4
Add to this the next group of five ornaments. If you prefer, you might add more ornaments depending on the size you prefer your arrangement to be. This will affect the overall quantity needed. When you have made the adjustments necessary so they hang appropriately, grip near the top of the group and knot.


Step 5
If following the original template of this design, you should now have four ornaments left. Follow the same instructions: align, grip, knot.

Step 6
To close the arrangement and make it "hangable," allow the length of hang of your preference at the top (just a few inches should do it) and wrap over your finger. Keeping the loop in place, you will now tie a knot pulling that loop through so it remains at the top.



Step 7
Featured in my picture of materials you see I have ribbon and tinsel. If you choose, you may adorn with a bow on top and tinsel throughout. I chose to use only a bow for this particular chandelier.


Here is another I did:


I hope you've enjoyed this project. This is an original design of mine. I have seen it nowhere else, so I do not intend to be stealing designs. I just enjoy crafts and sharing my ideas with those who share and appreciate similar interests. I'm interested in hearing of any improvements or twists on the idea. Let the creativity roam free!

The Mag Bowl

More pics to come!
This catch-all bowl is made of magazine pages and Mod Podge. It can be somewhat challenging and messy, but it is lots of fun and worth the effort. If you have any questions, feel free to post them here or e-mail me.

Materials needed:
Magazine pages
Mod Podge
Wooden handle foam brush

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Step 1
Clear a workspace that it is okay to get glue on. You'll need at least enough room to open a magazine fully. Begin by tearing out magazine pages. When you have enough to get started (you can make more if you need to), begin by folding each page in half vertically until you have a strip of paper the width you desire. I believe I folded four times. It is easier to work with the strips in the next step when they have already been crisply folded.


Step 2
Now you have several crisply folded pages. Open up the Mod Podge and apply with your foam brush to the insides of the folds. It is not necessary to use a lot of adhesive here because you want a strip flexible enough to mold its shape, but firm enough to be a sturdy element in the structure of the bowl. Hold in place for a few seconds so the paper doesn't try to come apart from its fold. Place each one aside to dry.

Step 3
Now you can begin the fun part: start shaping that bowl! You will begin by rolling a strip into a flat spiral. Do this once first without the MP so the strip can "remember" the shape to take when it does have MP. The spiral will not be perfect--remember, we're using thick strips of paper stuck together with glue. There will be small holes and gaps, but that's okay. It's part of the look. Apply MP to the side of the strip that will face inside as you roll, and then roll into a flat spiral. While you only had to hold the drying strips for a few seconds, shaping the bowl requires you hold each strip a little longer. When the strip doesn't start to unroll, you have allowed it to dry enough and can set it aside. While you are waiting for it to dry and have hands free, you might go ahead and repeat steps 1 & 2 so you have plenty of strips for the project.

Step 4
Continue to enlarge the flat spiral until the base is the width you desire. I did not use a wide base on my bowl. When the base is the width you like, you can begin going up with the strips to give the bowl depth. Beginning where the last strip left off, wrap the strip just slightly higher than the base. I only went about half a strip higher. Again, hold each strip in place to get it secure, then allow it to dry for a couple minutes before adding the next one. Continue this until the bowl is the depth you desire. With each strip added, the diameter of the bowl increases, and so you will begin to need more strips to make it all the way around the bowl. You might consider using clothespins or binder clips to hold the strips in place while you work on something else.

Step 5
When the bowl is the depth you like, you can even out the top by bringing the top corner of the strip even with the top of the bowl. You might consider a final coat of MP all over the bowl for extra hold.

Step 6
You now have a catch-all bowl made of magazine strips and MP. I also made stands for mine: an hourglass stand and three separate legs.




Step Seven
To make an hourglass stand, follow the same steps to form the strips. Make a flat spiral for the middle and build up. Then turn it over and build the new up. They don't have to be the same height on both sides.

To make spiral leg stands, take one dry strip and swirl it into a spiral. You might use your finger or a pen or something to get the shape, but then you will remove it from what you use to shape it. Then barely push the edges inside each other so that the smallest part is inner to the helix before it. Holding it in one hand, apply MP to the whole thing. Hold this for a few minutes. It will lose shape easily if you do not hold it long enough. When you have three, you have enough for the bowl. You can attach them or not; you can have the wide part of the leg at the bottom or top. Be creative with your project; let your creative spirit roam free :)

Playing Card Serving Tray

This is an easy project for artists at any level. If you have any questions, feel free to post them here or e-mail me.

Materials needed:
Wooden serving tray
Playing cards
Acrylic Paints
Sandpaper
Wooden handle foam brush
Paintbrush
Mod Podge



Step 1
Gather your materials. Ensure tray is clear of debris. The wooden tray can be purchased at almost any craft store; I purchased mine at Michael's for $4 (learn from my mistakes: don't forget your coupon!). The first step is to paint the undercoat (I recommend two undercoats). I used white, but you should choose whichever color you want to show through after sanding. I used the paintbrush to apply the paints, but the foam brush would also be an appropriate tool.


Step 2
When the undercoat has dried, apply the topcoat. I used blue, as seen in the picture. Again, either the foam brush or paintbrush would be appropriate tools for application.


Step 3
The next step is to sand the tray so the undercoat roughly shows through the topcoat. Sand to your taste; I recommend a fine to mid-grade sandpaper. The finer the paper, the more elbow grease you'll need, but it's easier to sand more than to put back when you've sanded too much with a more coarse grain.


Step 4
Now is the time to add words to the side if you like. As mine serves as a souvenir from the beach, I used scrapbook stickers to label the side "South Carolina". Other ideas might be to use rub-on transfers or to paint the letters. There are several methods of applying words to wood.

Step 5
Next, decide how you will arrange the playing cards. Since mine features unique cards with special pictures and facts, I wanted the details to be seen. I didn't want to overlap the cards very much. Apply Mod Podge (available at Craft Stores or Wal-mart) with either the paint brush or foam brush to the face of the tray. I recommend doing this in small sections and placing the cards as you apply the adhesive. Continue doing this until the cards have been adhered in the design desired.


Step 6
When the cards have been placed as desired and adhered, apply Mod Podge on top of the cards. For a finishing coat, you might consider a clear acrylic or lacquer paint. These photos do not show that finish as I did not apply that technique.

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