Beginner Scrapbooking: Keep It Simple and Fun!

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Get Started with Beginner Scrapbooking!

Would you like to join in the scrapbooking craze but don't know where to begin? Scrapbooking can be as simple or as complex as you'd like to make it. Don't be intimidated by the scrapbooking magazines. You don't have to be an artist to be a scrapbooker. Some basic scrapbooking supplies and simple techniques are all you need to get started. Here you will learn the basics of beginner scrapbooking and ideas to get started quickly and easily.

 

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Circle Journals and Beginner Scrapbooking 

Gather Your Friends and Make a Scrapbooking Circle Journal

A circle journal is made by a group of scrapbookers, each contributing their own page layout to an album. To start a circle journal group, either join an existing group or gather some of your friends together. They don't need to live near each other because the journals can be sent by mail to each member.

Each member of the group decides on a theme for her circle journal. Some popular circle journal themes are: All About Me, My Favorite Color, A Circle of Friends, Seasons, My Favorite Song, What's Your Scrapbooking Style, or Favorite Quotes and Sayings.

Each scrapbooker in the group creates a circle journal album and prepares the cover, introduction page with instructions for the theme, and usually a sign-in page that can later be a table of contents. She then designs the first page of her circle journal around her theme. After each scrapper in the group has created a first page for her album, she passes it to another scrapper in the group. The journals shift from scrapbooker to scrapbooker until all members of the circle have created a page in each journal. Then the albums are returned to their creators.

Circle journals can be a lot of fun to create and a great way to get to know your scrapbooking friends. You can find active circle journal groups on message boards and scrapbooking forums.

Try these circle journal themes:
My Favorite Things
Seasons
Life Lessons
Comfort Foods
Motivation
Simple Pleasures
Words to Live By
What Makes You Happy
Girl Talk
The 5 Senses
Truth and Dare
Pieces of Me
Gratitude

So Many Album Theme Choices for Beginner Scrapbooking 

What kind of scrapbooking album do you want to make? Just because you are beginner scrapbooking doesn't limit your possibilities for your album themes. Think about the photos you want to scrapbook. Then consider your choices for an album theme.

You could start with a simple chronological album that works its way through your box of photos in date order. You also could choose a more specific type of theme based on an event, like a wedding or vacation album. Some beginner scrapbookers like to make an album on a specific person, like your new baby. Some more unique themes are pet albums and recipe scrapbooks. Whatever you choose, you still need the same basic supplies to get started.

Design Principles for Beginner Scrapbooking 

Scrapbooking for Beginners : Design Principles for Scrapbooking

Learn design principles for scrapbooking and record memories in this free video on arts and crafts. Get scrapbooking and journaling ideas. Expert: Stephanie Ovak Bio: Stephanie Ovak has always been interested in genealogy and family history and has been a true scrapbooker for the last eight years. Filmmaker: Christian Munoz-Donoso

curated content from YouTube

Beginner Scrapbooking Supplies Don't Have to Be Expensive 

One of the great things about scrapbooking is how inexpensive it is to get started. All you need are a few basic scrapbooking supplies.

First, you will need an album. Albums come in many different sizes, but the two standard sizes are 81/2x11 and 12x12. You could go with 11x14 for those larger photos.

You'll need something to cut and trim the paper. A sharp pair of scissors and an Xacto knife are inexpensive options. A sturdy paper trimmer is always helpful for those who aren't very steady with scissors or a knife.

Journaling the details of an event or your thoughts on the page layouts requires an acid-free pen. You could buy an assortment of colors, or just a basic black pen to save on your beginner scrapbooking budget.

Acid-free adhesive is an essential beginner scrapbooking tool. You'll need lots of it to attach photos and embellishments to your page. Adhesives come in many varieties. Rubber cement is available in an acid-free formula. You can buy double-sided tape or a glue stick made especially for scrapbooking. Glue dots also come in handy for textured embellishments like ribbon and buttons.

Paper and embellishments are the final purchases on your beginner scrapbooking supply list. You really can never have enough paper. However, be careful buying embellishments. This is one area that can break your budget. Limit your page accents to what you know you will use and keep your pages simple as you first start scrapbooking.

A Beginner Scrapbooking Cutter Anyone Can Use 

EK Success 12x12 CUTTERPEDE 5 PIECE PAPER TRIMMER VALUE KIT

EK Success 12x12 CUTTERPEDE 5 PIECE PAPER TRIMMER VALUE KIT

Amazon Price: (as of 12/01/2009)Buy Now

"My favorite!! I only use this trimmer. It travels with me to every scrapbooking crop and class I attend. I'm never without it!"

Try a Few Simple Beginner Scrapbooking Techniques 

1. Matting: Double or triple mat your focal point photo to place more emphasis on it.

2. Paper Tearing: Hold the top of a piece of cardstock with both hands and pull towards you with your right hand. Paper tearing adds texture to your pages.

3. Journaling: Use bullets and lists for journaling instead of long paragraphs.

4. Borders: Create top, bottom or side borders on your page. A coordinating strip of paper and just a few embellishments are all it takes.

5. Brads and Staples: These are inexpensive ways to creatively adhere elements to your page. Brads and staples work especially well with ribbons and vellum.

Go Beyond Beginner Scrapbooking!

Mastering the Art of Scrapbooking

Valentine's Day Page Ideas for Beginner Scrapbooking 

Valentine's Day Is Right Around the Corner

You can easily scrapbook all the love, romance and friendship of Valentine's Day with these ideas for beginner scrapbooking.

1. Use red as an accent only. Too much red on your page can detract from your page focal point. Pink and white will brighten the page and add highlights to your photo.

2. Think outside the roses and hearts. Try other romantic embellishments like lace, ribbon and bows.

3. Love letters and cards make great page elements for your Valentine's Day scrapbooking pages.

4. Don't have a photo from Valentine's Day? Just use a photo of you and your loved one from another occasion.

5. When you add Valentine's Day cards to your scrapbook pages, put them in a pocket so you can still remove them to read the inside of the cards.

Want More Tips on Beginner Scrapbooking? 

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