I think of scrap booking as an art form. Like a designer you have your own flair. It would be what makes someone want you as their decorator. When scrap booking you have your style(at first you may not know what it is), the picture , the colors that would turn the picture on, and the taste of the person the scrapbook page is for and about, when you bring all of that together you get something unique to you. You may find that you like a certain company's papers, or embellishments, etc.... Whatever it is when you bring together, It is special because of you. After a while you will see that you have a tendency towards your own look, don't follow the magazines because right now this is what's "IN" . Just look to them for some inspiration, be your own designer, don't rush it, it is a journey, you get to relive the moment and record it for the future, let it flow, and you will find ,you will look at your books years later and see yourself in them, and love them. Also if you give them as gifts the receiver will treasure them also. Don't forget to journal, even when it is difficult. You want someone to pick up your book and see who the people are, where they are, it definelty adds to the pages. MOST OF ALL HAVE FUN !!!! Return to Home Page.

Use things that make you happy. Don't fret about using the colour wheel, or whether all of you paper coordinates. If you love to put tons of pictures on every layout, do it. The best part of scrapbooking is that there are no rules, you may be preserving a portion of history and all that stuff but most of all you are capturing a portion of yourself so make your pages an expression of yourself. The other important thing is remember to journal, it doesn't have to be a lot, but do at least the who, when and where in a sentence or 2. It doesn't even have to be on the front of the page, put it on the back if you don't want to add lots of words to your layout. I find that journalling is easiest when I choose the pictures I am in the mood to scrap the words just flow out. Everyone has stacks of pictures, so spend some time arranging them so you can find the ones you want when inspiration strikes.

Scraplift - any time I have scrapper's block, I go through a magazine or an on line gallery and copy what someone else did - that way I can still scrap but don't have to worry about too much thinking!

Just do it!!! So many get hung up on the perceived rules of scrapbooking (such as scrapping in order, using all photos or using only one manufacturer) that they take all of the fun out of it. Just get out those photos, glue and paper and have fun!

Look at past pages you are especially fond of for inspiration. Simply changing the paper and embellishments will give you new ideas and pretty soon you have a whole new layout in front of you.

Share the joy of scrapbooking with everyone you know. Plant a seed that will grow into something meaningful and beautiful. You'll be so glad you did when you see how much a scrapbook means to a child in years to come. ~Stacy Armstrong.

Have a special place wher you always have your things ready to "PLAY".. give yourself permission to spend some time everyday here... if it needs to be in a closet, so be it.. but its your place.. no rules here, just do what you love,create,let yourself be..and ENJOY!!! Michelle

Remember...if you make an error, no one is going to know but you. I was at a scrapbook convention and accidentally cut through the page of my layout while trimming my photo. I just cut out a fancy piece of cardstock and positioned it to cover my boo-boo. I received so many compliments on that particular LO page. DON'T stress over the error. No one knows and usually they think your coverup was what you had originally intended. Kiethann

I always buy 2 sheets of every 12" x 12" kind of paper. Also, I tape my 2 background sheets of paper together underneath. This helps me to plan out my 2 page spread. I can see how much space I have to cover and helps me line up pictures or words that start on one page and continue to the next. When I've finished my 2 page spread, I just take off the tape.

If you are into sharing and loaning out your scrapbooking magazines and idea books be sure and place an return address label on the first inside page. I was glad I did this as I wen to a scrapbook convention and left one of my idea books there. Luckily, someone had picked the book up and noticed my return address label. About one week later my idea book came back to me in the mail. I was so lucky and glad to have that book back. Save yourself some heartache right now and label all of your magazines and idea books. Kiethann

Something that my aunt has always done is when she is organizing her pictures, and getting ready to scrapbook she separates the pictures into pages or spreads and puts them each in an envelopes. So when she comes to a new page she has all the pictures already read and in order in envelopes. Just an idea!

Just make each scrapbook from your heart, what I usually do is gather all the cutouts,designs and put each group into a zip lock baggy- labeled for what page in the book etc, I will be using them on,I also add special chosen poems etc, to go with the story line of the pages in each marked baggy and then I put all the background papers into each page,so when I start my colors are organized for me, I just made 17 scrapbooks in a month and this saved so much time once this is done your ready to go. Have a special spot to work and just enjoy believe me when you give a gift like this no one will ever find something wrong with it you can believe this I have 17 who has asked for version 2 of their scrapbooks :)

Ever get that feeling like you just don't LIKE anything about a page you're working on? Like no matter how much you move things around, and swap things out, you still just can't bring yourself to enjoy it? Do what I do and get those inexpensive "folders" that are meant for 12x12-sized pages (you can find those in any craft store/section) and stash your page and any embellishments that are with it and just step back for a few hours--or better yet, a day or two. You would be surprised how much more pleasing your pages will be if you just get away from it for a little bit. If you wait a few days, you can find inspiration somewhere or see a product you'd like more for your page and be able to incorporate that. Try it...you'll know what I mean.

Quick and Simple, that's my new rule for my scrapping. I needed to do a quick scrapbook for Christmas pictures, I had family coming and I knew they would want to see the pics from Christmas. I didn' t have a lot of time so I just got some pages and decorated the corners or edges. I did two pages for each "event" ( family time, food, presents, babies, etc.) by then I was on a roll and did the title page and a couple of pictures just cried out for special treatment. It was the fastest album I have done and I got some interesting comments. The one that surprised me the most is "These pages are great - the embellishments don't overpower the pictures." Hmmm kind of makes you think huh? I have some of the pages in the gallery under Holiday/ Christmas - The first page showing is "Babies"

Hole Punch Alignment Trick: I accidently bought index cards for my kids that were blank on one side and a graph paper grid on the other. The grid is great for aligning holes for adding brads, eyelets or punching holes when making a mini album. Just punch the holes evenly spaced on the index card. The ones I bought were 6 squares to an inch. I wanted the holes in my mini album to be 1 inche apart so I punched a hole in the 7th hole from the edge of the card and the 13th hole. I hold the card against my pages and punch away lining up the card with the last hole I punched. No more using a ruler and pen to make sure I punch the holes in a straight line or evenly spaced.

To add more rows, click "EasyEdit," place your cursor in the row above where you want to add and right click with your mouse. Pull down on the menu and click "Add row."