Simple Scrapbooking Is Not An Oxymoron

(c)Deborah Smith - All rights reserved

==============================

Simple Scrapbooking may seem like a oxymoron like “almost
exactly” or “old news.”  Pick up almost any scrapbook
magazine and you will find page layouts that you know took
hours to create.  Simple?  How?

I’ve come a long way since my earlier days of scrapbooking.
Having taught scrapbooking classes for four years I learned
a lot of short cuts, tips and techniques along the way. 

Listening to my students, I realized most of them felt
overwhelmed by their backlog of photos.  I knew there had to
be a better and faster way to design page layouts.  But they
still had to look fabulous!

Simple Scrapbooks don’t have to be boring or uninspiring.
Some of the most stunning pages I have ever seen are very
fast and easy to create.

Scrapbook design isn’t about using as many techniques and
scrapbook products on your page as possible.  Good design
focuses on enhancing your precious photos.  The pictures and
the story are what it’s all about right?  That doesn’t mean
you have to settle for boring pages. 

Let the pictures talk.  Let them tell the story.  They will
also tell you what colors to use and what theme (if any)
for your page.  Don’t get caught up in always having to
use a “theme” for every page.  Often the best pages simply
pull in colors that are in the photos using two or three
papers. 

The simplest page of all is a monochromatic one.  If your
pictures scream blue, choose two or three shades of solid or
subtle printed blue paper.

Embellishments are all those wonderful eyelets, brads,
fibers, and doodads on the market.  Of all the
embellishments available (and I love them all!), the most
effective and versatile scrapbook product is paper.
Scrapbook paper can take your page from ho-hum to fabulous
in an instant. 

There is an almost limitless variety of paper available
today. If I had to throw away all of my scrapbook
embellishments except one - you guessed it - I would keep my
scrapbook paper. 

That isn’t to downgrade the importance (or fun!) of other
scrapbook embellishments.  I love using buttons, fibers,
tags, brads, and all the rest.  The key is to use
restraint. Stick to one or two scrapbook embellishments and
don’t plaster your page with them. 
 
Don’t be afraid of some empty space (negative space) on your
pages.  Often the temptation is to fill all the little empty
areas of the page with stickers or some other embellishment.
The negative space serves to focus your eye on the photos. 

In my earliest attempts at scrapbooking I made many
mistakes. Among several other mistakes, like using too many
pictures and chopped-up pictures, I tried to fill up all
the negative space with stickers.  I didn’t even leave room
to journal.

Scrapbooking is so much fun and so rewarding.  Take the
simple path to scrapbooking and find out how fabulous it can
be!

==============================