Organize your photos for scrapbooking

Ever feel like you’ve hit a wall when it comes to scrapbooking? The last few months, I have sat in my scrapbook room, looked at all of my supplies, flipped through magazines and the creative juices are just not flowing. I even felt so lost in my room, I started knitting a scarf.  I got pretty far with the scarf too, but  I really wanted to scrap, I just needed some motivation!

Then I remembered why I scrapbook in the first place - pictures!  I love pictures. Taking them, organizing them, showing them to people and ultimately - scrapping them.  As I thought about my scrapbooking block - one thought came to mind. My photos were in disarray.  I hadn’t printed pictures for a while, the ones that were printed were a mess, and a lot of pics were still on my digital camera card.  The thought - ORGANIZE PHOTOS FOR SCRAPBOOKING - flashed through my head.  It was time. This was just what I needed to help my lack of motivation.

Once your photos are organized, it gives you the motivation to make that first page, then another, and another.  Going through a stack of photos also may remind you of some pictures you didn’t know you had.  Sometimes I will see a picture that I took months ago and it will remind me of something else that I wanted to scrap.  I also have been known to snap shots of my son with a scrapbook page already in mind. You might say I am taking the picture to fit the page or layout I have already planned - guilty!  The problem is, if I don’t write these great ideas down when I think of them - they are almost always forgotten until I come across the photo, sometimes months later.

There are many ways to get your photographs organized - you could organize by date, by event, by person, by album, etc. It really depends on what is the best for you.  I tend to sort photos into groups that could or would be in a layout together. They don’t all have to end up in the same layout. Often times I use the same group of photos for my son’s album and our family album - two different layouts for two different albums, similar, if not the same, pics.  I keep a notebook that is comprised of lists of page ideas organized by which album they will go in. I often times journal along with the page ideas because it seems like sometimes the story gets lost or diluted after weeks, months or years of the picture sitting in a box or on a computer.

Once I started going through the stacks of photos, I came up with some great ideas for layouts and was sure to write them down in my scrapping journal.  I can’t wait to get started on my next page, I now have many more ideas and pictures to choose from!

Digital Vs. Traditional Scrapbooking

Although I think I will always be a traditional scrapbooker, I have dabbled in the digital world.  The program I am most familiar with is Creative Memories Story Book Creator Plus.  For Christmas last year I really wanted to make an album for my parents of the highlights of Wyatt’s first two years of life.  The more I thought about it, the more I thought I should make one for the other set of grandparents too.  The thought of making TWO albums by Christmas time haunted me and I procrastinated and never got started. 

I started looking into digital scrapbooking and found that there are many products out there, some of them very easy to use.  I opted to use the Storybook Creator because I loked the options and the finished product looked like pages I would scrapbook traditionally.  I downloaded my pictures to the software, downloaded some free templates, and bought some templates and I was off.  The entire project took me probably a total of 10-12 hours on my computer over the course of 2 and 1/2 weeks.  Once I was done, I ordered a copy for my parents, my in-laws, Wyatt’s god parents, and both great-grandmas.  I now had a big chunk of my Christmas shopping done.  What a relief!

Everyone really enjoyed there albums and I am planning on doing the same next year for gifts - maybe just for the grandparents this time.  Now they have something to show friends and family when they ask for pictures of their grandchild.

Digital scrapbooking is a great alternative to the traditional scrapbooking world, especially if you are just starting out and don’t have all the thousands of dollars of products it can take to scrap.  I have often heard people comment that they “aren’t creative enough to scrapbook.”  I can tell you-that is not usually the case.  One of my best girlfriends was not a scrapper until she had her first baby.  She would look though my books and say, “I could never do this! Don’t even try to talk me into it.”  Well, of course, I did, and she is as addicted as I am. Her product collection is growing at a rapid rate.

There are many digital products out there, some online, some require the purchase of a disc and templates.  All of them provide an alternative to “cut and paste” scrapbooking that could be just what many are looking for. 

Scrapbooking Pregnancy Pages

When I was pregnant with our first baby, this was the time I was really starting to get into scrapbooking.   So, of course, a pregnancy album seemed like the perfect idea.  That’s right, an entire album dedicated to pregnancy.  I am so glad I did it, this is one of my favorite albums to look back at. Probably because it brings me back to a time in our lives that was incredibly special to both my husband and I.  For one, it was some of the last months we would spend as a couple. Alone. No kids.  After 10 years together, we knew we were ready for children, but we had no idea how much our life was about to change….

Here is how the contents of my pregnancy album went:

Title page - “The First Nine Months”

Pages 2-3 - “The Story of Us” - On this 2 page spread I told the story of how Chris and I met, and splashed the pages with pictures of us from the past 10 years (including old prom pics-yikes!)

Page 4 - “Mom in Training?” - Some pics of me holding my newborn godchildren (twins) when I was only about 4 months pregnant. I remember thinking, “Am I ready for this?”

Page 5 - A poem my grandmother sent me that was sent to her during her pregnancy. 

Pages 6-7 - “Baby’s First Photos” - Of course - the ultrasound pics.  I also journaled about an entire page how these pics made me feel.  I was definately emotional during this pregnancy!

Pages 8-11 - Baby shower pics. A record of all the gifts and guests!

Pages 12-13 - “Creating the Nursery”

Page 14 - “Belly Love” - I sure am brave putting these pics on the internet!

Page 15 - “Chrisisms” - This page I dedicated to my husband’s lack of baby knowledge. Some of the things that came out of his mouth during my pregnancy we so funny - I started journaling them at night. I picked my favorite and created this layout.

Pages 16-17 “Waiting for baby” - This was a page about our puppies waiting for the new baby. (See “Scrapbooking Pet Pages” blog)

Pages 18-19 - Another baby shower, thrown by my coworkers

Page 20 - “Pros and Cons of my Pregnancy” - I loved complaining on the cons side of this page, but I also liked getting teared up while writing the pros!!! Again - pregnancy emotions are wonderful!

Page 21 - “Bed Rest” - the story of how and why the doctors told me to STOP WORKING!  REST!

Page 22 - Final Ultrasound at 37 weeks to be sure they could safely take the baby out early

Creating a pregnancy album is a rewarding experience that you can start creating during your pregnancy or afterwards.  If you are too tired to scrap at all (not likely), start by journaling experiences, funny happenings or emotions and feelings that you are going through.  Trust me, you will love looking back at this special time in your life!

Scrapbooking Pregnancy Pages

Scrapbooking Pet Pages

Scrapbooking pet pages about your beloved animal is a great way to show this part of your family. If your family is anything like ours, our two shelties are like our first children. My husband fondly refers to them as “our daughters”. In fact, before we had our son, I had entire scrapbooks devoted to our animals! Now that Wyatt came along, things have changed, but I always do at least one or two pages about the puppies in our yearly family album, and a couple in Wyatt’s yearly album. I’ve posted some ideas for some cute pet pages for all you animal lovers!

This one is a 2 page layout I did in my pregnancy album about “the girls” waiting for their new brother (a little crazy, but I was pregnant remember).

Our youngest Sheltie, Sophia, is the cutest pup ever, but boy can she be a devil. I made this page to reflect on our perfect puppy’s attitude!

This page is about our puppies affection towards our new baby. I couldn’t believe how gentle and protective the girls were when we brought Wyatt home. I was fortunate enough to catch some of these great moments on film.

As I was looking through my albums, I realized just how many dog pages I have made over the years! Some of the other pages included - Sophie’s knee surgery, Mia eating “poochie sushi”, Mia and Chris cleaning geese, and halloween pages - costumes and all. So maybe I’m a little crazy about our puppies, but we truely feel like they are part of our family and I want my children to be able to look back and feel how much we loved our animals many years down the road. Just like scrapbooking people and places, scrapbooking pet pages can be an important addition to your family albums. Don’t forget about the 4-footed friends in your home!!

Pet Pages

Free Card Making Templates

I have recently become addicted to a new craft - a smaller version of scrapbooking. Card making!! Making cards can take as little as 15 minutes, if you have a good idea - or free card making templates! I’ve been collecting card making magazines recently and they have some really great templates that you can put your own spin on. In fact, I made a few that once I finished “card lifting” they looked nothing like the original. The most recent I made, was a card for a baby shower I went to. I actually whipped this out 30 minutes before I had to leave. Here’s how I created this baby shower card.

1. Cut a 12×12 or 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper down to 11″x5″. Fold it the long way so the inside of the card is showing when you close the card (about 1 inch).

2. Use a scrap from the let over paper and stamp or emboss “welcome” on it

3. i used my cricut to cut out the word “baby” - but you could use any left over letters, stickers, etc.

4. I found a fun striped scrap and cut this to fit the front of the card, leaving room at the top.

5. After attaching the striped paper, I used a corner rounder to round the bottom of the front of the card.

6. I used my creative memories wavy trimmer to trim a piece of paper to put above the striped accent paper.

7. I found a leftover felt flower and attached it with a brad.

8. I used 2 brads to attach a thin strip of paper I cut out from the base paper.

This next card I used for a bridal shower, but could be given for many occasions…

1.  Cut a cute piece of paper (I used a flower pattern) for the base of the card.  Fold in half (dimensions are flexible!)

2. I used a coordinating scrap I found a cut a strip to use of the bottom of the card .

3. I found some extra “bling” gems and used them as centers to the flowers.

4. The “congratulations” was embossed, matted, and then adhered to the card with those dots that make it stick out from the rest of the card.

5. I used a light blue ribbon across the card.

The best part about card making is that you don’t need a lot of special materials. You can use leftovers, scraps and thing you never thought you would use again. Card making can sometimes be the inspiration you need to start up on scrapbooking again when you’ve hit a slump. It makes you take a new look at all those supplies that sit on you shelf. After making a card, I usually think to myself, “that would make a cute layout for a scrapbook page!”

Card Templates

2008 CK Scrapbooking Events

Registration starts April 30th 2008!! The next big CKU event will be hosted in Provo, UT at the Provo Marriott. Address is as follows:

Organize scrapbooking room

I recently reorganized all of my scrapbooking supplies. All of my stuff used to be in cupboards -somewhat organized, but hidden. It drove me nuts not having everything at my fingertips. I was constantly forgetting what I had and where it was located. Creating a scrapbook room that allows me to work without frustration was really important to me. So, I came up with a few ideas to solve my frustrations….

I found 6 foot laminate counter tops at Home Depot for around $35 each. I bought hickory base cabinets at Lowes - two for each counter top. These were the most expensive purchase, but worth it in my opinion. If you have the time or patience to put cabinets together yourself, it can save quite a bit of money. Also, there are other woods available (oak, etc.) less expensive than hickory. Under each “table” I fit drawers and paper racks that I picked up at a local scrapbook store that was going out of business. On the racks I organized coordinating paper, a lot of them Basic Grey packs - I hate separating those papers they work so good together!

In one of my craft tables, I have an entire top drawer for adhesives, and on the opposite side, the whole drawer is filled with pens I frequently use, scissors, stitching equipment, eyelet setters, etc. I found the wood drawer organizers at Lowes also. The drawers below contain punches, eyelets, and much more.

I used an existing bookshelf from my scrapbook room and filled it with my magazines, paper, and unused albums. I picked up magazine holders from Staples, and the Cropper Hopper vertical 12 x 12 paper holders from Hobby Lobby. In the vertical storage, I put all the loose leaf paper I impulse buy all the time. I plan to go through and organize by color eventually.

I hung decorative shelves above one of my tables. I found them at Lowes, these were a little spendy also, so I decided to use less expensive shelving above the second table. This actually worked out well because on the second set of shelving, I packed them so full, you can’t see the shelves anyway. On the decorative shelves I wanted to display my flowers because I use them so much. I got the colorful storage boxes from Hobby Lobby also - watch for their sales ads, these go 50% off frequently making them a reasonable $1.50 each. On the larger, not as pretty shelving, I stacked white plastic drawers from Walmart. In these drawers I organized my foam stamps ( I got 3 alphabet sets into each drawer, separating them by cutting a piece of cardstock to fit, and scotch taping it in the drawer), my paints, cipboard letters and accents, metal accents, etc. I then stacked some more plastic bins and filled them with things I commonly use (rub on letters, bling, etc.)

My ribbon organization has always frustrated me. I went to Menards and found white plastic hooks that fit over a door to hang clothes, and screwed them right into the bottom of the shelf. I then put a wooden 36″ dowel in the hook and strung my ribbon on it. I put another wood dowel through the brackets on the decorative shelving and viola! another ribbon rack. I plan on putting up anther one of these also.

For my tons and tons of paper packs I love to pick up when they are 50% off at Hobby Lobby, I purchased a wire rack on Ebay to slide each pack into without having to take them apart. The only bad thing about it is that you have to put it together yourself. I have seen them at a lot of the craft stores also. Ebay was cheaper for me.

I found these cute little jars that come in all different sizes at Hobby Lobby - also frequently on sale - look in the glass container section. I haven’t decided what to do with them yet, but it won’t take long to fill them. Also, I picked up a single ceramic tile from Menards, attached four rubber bumpers on the bottom, and use this when I use my embossing heat gun so I don’t warp the laminate counter tops. All of my stamping stuff went into a set of clear plastic drawers that sits next to one of my table tops.

How to set up a scrapbook room

Custom Scrapbook Maker

Please be patient with us as we update CustomScrapbookMaker.com - we’re looking forward to publishing about the scrapbooking industry!