I need Scrap booking help?

Question

I'm trying to make a collage of pictures for my boyfriend. i'm not very artistic. i've never scrap booked in my life. how do i make it look cute? i was thinking of using a frame.

Answer 1

If you want to do a frame, the craft store, Michael's has what's called scrapbooking frames.  They are 12x12 in size, which fits the standard paper for scrapbooking.  You can even paint the frame and decorate it as it comes in a plain wood finish.  I've made plenty of them!  What you do is make the scrapbook page anyway you want, and then just place it in the frame, then if you choose, you can decorate the frame, or not.  It looks just like a regular picture frame, only 12x12.  

You can find the frame with the other frames in the store at any Michael's, where they sell their other frames.  They usually have them in stock all the time.  You can even ask a salesperson, but I would also look for them and the paper inside the glass of the frame says scrapbooking frame.  

You can then go to the scrapbooking aisle and get some cardstock which is the paper that is used for scrapbooking, it's acid free and comes in every color you can think of and do you collage on that, acid free is better because it won't yellow the pictures.  You can buy the paper separately or in packs and then decorate it with your pictures, stickers, writing what you want on it, anything!  

Being you said you don't have enough for an album, I just wanted to let you know that there are 8x8, 6x6, and even 4x4 sized albums out now, so if you want to do an album for him, there are smaller sizes which may help you with that.  This way you can put less on a page, and still fill an album!  You can find these sizes in Michael's, AC Moore, JoAnn's, or your local scrapbook store.  Usually scrapbook stores will have them, or even check Target and Walmart for the smaller sizes.  You can also buy them online at online scrapbooking stores.  some of them are:

twopeasinabucket.com

paperaddict.com

lifetimemoments.com

gonescrappin.com

addictedtoscrapbooking.com

scrapbooking.com

acherryontop.com

These are all VERY reliable sites that I've dealt with for a LONG time!  They're great and all you have to do is search under albums and you can find the smaller sizes.

Make sure you use acid free products, this will keep everything longer and not turn the pictures yellow, it will preserve your work longer.

I hope I didn't confuse or overwhelm you.  There is SO much out there in scrapbooking and SO much that's acid free, it's easier and easier to find these things these days.  Even dollar stores are selling supplies!  

I hope some of these ideas helped and that you have fun putting it together.  Just go to one of the crafts stores and walk down the scrapbooking aisles, there is SO much out there, you will find tons of accents to add to the pictures, but don't forget, what you write and the pictures are the most important things!  You can add your feelings and just doodling which is HOT right now in scrapbooking, you can make lists why you fell for him,  what you love about him, etc.  You can then find accents to match the pictures and words etc and add them to the pages.  

You can always make more albums in the future and remember, not every page has to have pictures!  The writing is more important sometimes then the pictures, and you can write things and then buy the accents to decorate that page with.  You can make pages in an album with lists of things and then decorate them with the stickers and rub ones, and then later on add the pictures.  Or don't add any and have the lists be the page.

You can also do a he said she said and have you write out about the first time you met and first date, then he write it and put it on a page, then decorate it, those are the things you're going to want to remember, and even if you don't have a picture for that, you can just put a picture of you under She says, and a picture of him under He says.  

You can do the lists, like songs that remind you of him, or your favorite songs together and then leave a small space for when you have a picture of you and him dancing.  You can then decorate the page with musical things.

You can do favorite places to go and things to do and decorate it with stickers that match, there's even stickers that are burgers, pizza, etc.  You can do that, and if you have pictures, great, if not, don't worry!  That's not the point of the page!  It's to get it all down.

You can even take pictures of the places and put them in there!  You can take pictures of flowers he sends, put ticket stubs in there, anything YOU want, this is YOUR book and your boyfriend's book, this is about you two!

The major rule in scrapbooking is that there are NO rules you do what makes YOU happy and if YOU ARE happy, then you've done it the right way!

I hope some of these ideas help!  Have fun with it and don't sweat it, just enjoy it and I would also make a book for yourself, chances are, once you make him something, you're going to want one for you too!  

Answer 2

I do all my scrapbooking online at www.ScraplessBooks.com

It's way better than doing it by hand--cheaper, and less messy too. And, there are tons of templates too--so you don't have to be ultra artistic!

It's all done online with no software to download.

You create an account, then begin your project. It could be a book (they have ALL different sizes), a poster, a single 12 x 12 page, a deck of cards, a card or postcard, or a calendar. Once you begin the project and upload your pictures from your computer to the website, you can design it--again, from scratch, OR, use a template. When you're done, click to have it published, and you receive it on the mail in about a week.

If you make a poster, canvas, or 12 x 12 page, you could also frame it!

Good luck!

Answer 3

If you are thinking of a frame a shadow box will do nicely.  Also if you want to do a frame, take piece of scrapbooking paper and cut it to fill your frame and using stencils, trace his name and use a razor knife cut out his name then place the photos to show through the letters.