When I first started scrapbooking there wasn’t many Sketches available out there, You had to either be a very creative person or just look thru the Scrapbooking magazines to get inspiration.

Now days The internet has made it a little bit easier,All you have to do is Google the Words : “Free Scrapbooking Sketches” and it should come up with great results!

I love using sketches, specially when I’m in a non-Creative mood! If you are a beginner this is a great way to start scrapbooking, Just find a simple sketch that you like and Create your Layout! When it comes to these the possibilities are Endless!

Here is a couple of Sketches I created and the Finished Layouts:

Enjoy! This should Make your Scrapbooking experience a bit easier. Also,Feel free to use them and if you take photos of your finished scrapbooks I would love to see them! Just post a link on here.

Accordion books are so much fun to make! The possibilities are endless!  I’m going to start by showing you the first one I’ve ever learned!

Material Needed:

3 sheets of Cardstock (12×12)

2 Sheets of Scrapbooking Paper (12×12)

Ribbon (About 18 inches)

X acto knife 

Paper cutter or Scissors

Craft glue

Embellishments (Optional)

Thin piece of cardboard box – I used a shoe box.

(You’ll need to cut 2 6 ½ squares)

Instructions:

Step 1: Using your 12×12 Cardstock Fold in half, Open it up then Fold in half the other way.

Step 2: Flip the paper over and fold in half corner to corner once. Please only fold it one time, or else it won’t work. 

Step 3: Open your paper back up and it should look like this when you are done folding:

Step 4: Fold you paper and press it down a bit so it looks like this:

Step 5: Make however many pages you want (Odd number of pages work best). I used 3 pages. Glue them down, with the folded corners folding in on the first page and on the second with the folded corners folding out, and in then out till you have all your pages together.

Step 6: Using your x acto Knife cut the cardboard, Make sure that your squares measure 6 ½ x 6 ½ inches! You’ll need to cut 2 squares.

Step 7: Using your 2 12×12 pattern paper, fold it on the cardboard squares to cover one side of each square completely and glue the paper down to the cardboard squares. Should have 2 squares like the pictures below.

Step 8: Now glue down your ribbon to the middle of one of the squares, Make sure that they measure the same on both sides.

Step 9: Glue each end of your cardstock down, to your cardboard ends we made with the uncovered side glued to the end of page on each side and about ¼ inch hanging over each edge of the cardstock… The end result should look like this:

Step 10: Now it’s time to embellish your Book, Be creative! Add photos, notes, stickers etc…  Again the possibilities are endless!

The art of scrapbooking can be simplified if you can break down the more complicated layouts into simpler forms.  For this layout, I started with a circle. Then I embellished from there. Remember that your layouts can be as simple or as intricate as you want them to be. It’s your scrapbook. There are variations on this theme below that range from simple to more complex.

How to:
Trace an off set circle to the back of the paper.  I used a large round cake pan to get the sized circle I wanted.

Cut with scissors making sure you keep the corner.  Adhere to a coordinating or contrasting paper.

Decide which corner you want the circle to be in and then embellish.

Add pictures.

Add journaling and title if you want.

The materials I used for this Spring layout:
12×12 lavendar cardstock
8.5×11 coordinating patterned paper
Flower is made with paper, scissors, and a star punch
Pink letter stickers for the title
Hot pink photo safe pen

Variations:
Fun In the Sun. The sun rays were cut with a special wavy edge straight cutter. They are my title boxes and journaling boxes.

Autumn. The leaves were made with photo safe pens and a stencil. The corners of the title box were rounded with a corner rounding punch.

Let it Snow. I used vellum for two of the snowflakes and the ovals for title and journaling boxes. The ovals were cut with an oval cutter and the snowflakes were made by snipping triangles into folded paper like I used to do in elementary school.

Where do I start?

The basics you’ll need for scrapbooking is an album with blank pages, your pictures and mementos, an acid-free pen, and some adhesive.  That’s it you ask?  Yup, that’s really it.  But what about the cardstock, the pens, the beads, ribbons, punches, brads, stickers, scissors, and overlays?  Truthfully, they are all secondary items.  None of them are necessary in scrapbooking.  But I’ll tell you what, they are what make scrapbooking so addictive.

Adding embellishments and dressing up your pages so that each page takes on it’s own feel and characteristic has become a very large part of scrapbooking.  Embellishments are also the #1 thing that intimidate potential scrapbookers.  Don’t let the walls upon walls of stickers and cardstock be the thing that is keeping you from organizing and displaying your much loved and cherished photos and memories.  If you don’t know where to start, start with the basics.  From there, you can develop your own style with color, eyelets, and die cuts.

Quality Counts

Even if you are only out for the basics, there are so many books, pens, and adhesives for you to choose from.  What’s the difference?  Is one better than another?  There are some people who will swear up and down that a certain brand is the only way to go.  I’m actually one of those, but not for quality reasons.

Usually the goal of scrapbooking is to organize and preserve memories.  With this goal in mind, you want materials that will keep your photos adhered to the page and will keep them looking as good as the day you put them in there.  As far as your pictures are concerned, there are a number of factors that age your photos and ultimately ruin them.  Light will fade your photo, acids will dissolve it, dust will scratch it, and lignin will discolor and weaken it.  The elements are against you when it comes to preserving those precious memories.

When looking for materials for scrapbooking, you want things that will not accelerate the aging process that is already happening.  Regular paper, pens, and adhesives contain compounds that will hurt your photos, so when purchasing items you plan on using in your scrapbook (be it pens, cardstock, scrapbooks, stickers, glue, or anything else that will touch or go near your pictures), at the bare minimum you will want to make sure that the items say acid-free and lignin-free.  That will ensure that your photos won’t get eaten by the paper or tape it’s attached to and that it will not become prematurely brittle and discolored.

Other terms used to ensure you are getting good quality materials are archival quality and ISO 18902.  These usually mean that no only is the product acid and lignin free, but the product is made with photo preservation in mind. ISO 18902 indicate the item meets the International Organization for Standardization standards.  These standards include being acid-free, lignin-free, buffered, and bleed-resistant.  Buffered paper ensures that acids don’t travel from non-acid free items (like newspaper clippings) to your pictures and bleed-resistant is just that, that the item will not bleed ink onto your mementos and photographs.

Now what?

So you’ve decided that scrapbooking isn’t as scary as it first seemed and you’re ready to dive in but you want a little more direction.  I would suggest first looking for a local scrapbooking store.  They will usually have resources and knowledge beyond your standard craft store employee (much love to the standard craft store employee).  If you don’t have a scrapbooking store near by, try looking for a local Creative Memories consultant.  They are direct sale consultants who sell Creative Memories products exclusively but they should have a wealth of knowledge, tools and inspiration to get you started in the right direction.  Also, see if there is a local group that gets together weekly or monthly and join them for a night.  Ask your friends if they like to scrapbook.  You might be surprised to find that some of your friends have a secret crop life and crop groups they attend regularly that you would be able to join.

In the end, scrapbooking isn’t about making each page look like something out of a magazine.  It’s about organizing and displaying your precious photos, mementos, and keepsakes in a way that will preserve them so you will be able to cherish them for years upon years.  So take this opportunity, as National Scrapbooking Day is approaching, to pick up a new hobby that can make an impact for generations to come.