the rain song

quite some years ago i made scrapbooks for two of my nearest and dearest.  my cut and paste game wasn’t so strong then but i was really motivated to do something special for them at important points in our friendship.  the work paid off and i felt really good the end products.

i’ll be attacking some shelved scrapbooks this year with renewed energy.  hi-ho silver and all that jazz.  i’ve definitely taken the creativity up a few notches since 2008.  practice makes perfect, as they say.

here are a few pages from the two books in-progress, without giving too much away.

there are a few things you should know about scrapbooking before you’re knee-deep in die-cuts and glue tape.

decide on a concept, or not.  are you going to touch on a little bit of everything or stick to one or two particular events or relationships?  my books tend to feature pictures of family or close friends that the giftee and i hang out with more frequently and over many years.  make sure to include photos of their fondest memories from a particular experience - say, the family beach trip.

include a variety of pictures.  in my opinion, that hilarious candid photo of you and the giftee or a large is way cooler to see in a scrapbook than a posed shot of you all on a holiday, unless that’s the only way you’re photographed together.  yeah, it’s nice to have one or two of those posey “smile for the camera” photos because you probably look pretty spiffy for once, but don’t rely on them.  feature the little moments that the giftee might have forgotten about because she or he was having too much fun at the time.

one of my favorite pictures of us, just because it wasn't planned.

not sure about layout?  don’t be afraid to buck the symmetry of a gallery look and go for something off the wall.  if my pages start to look kind of cookie-cutter, i know that i’m running out of steam.  there are so many ideas on pinterest.

accessorize!  i’ve used everything from buttons to tape to aluminum foil to enhance pages - it all depends on the color scheme and theme.  ribbons and washi tape make for colorful borders, and you can find plenty of freebie frames, fonts, and clip art online, too. so much nice stuff.

i love picking out little odds and ends in michaels but, let’s face it, that gets expensive fast.  i’m dying to try this crazycool scalloped page decor but i don’t know if i have the patience this week. a to-be-tried project, though, for sure.

not so cut and pastey?  give the digital assembly process a chance.  you can minimize waste if you know what materials you want to print or create beforehand.  this website has a great video tutorial for laying out pages.

i’m also a huge fan of picaboo. you can customize your own photobooks in a scrapbook-like fashion (even the front and back covers), but you’ve got other options, too.  canvas prints, mini-books, cards, calendars, phone cases galore.

here are some shots from the scrapbook i made for juan for our second anniversary.

two of my favorite pages: seasonally-themed.

and i tried something different by "placing" our photo over a portion of the bare brick wall at an angle (left).

ultimately, a scrapbook is a truly unique gift. putting together a book usually requires a lot of time, planning, and (potentially) cash.  unless you’ve got the actual book, the paper, and all of the accessories ready, you’re going to do a lot of groundwork in getting it all together. still, assembling something so thoughtful is a labor of love, one that your giftee is sure to appreciate.

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this week: MAKE-UUUUUUUUUUP!  can you tell that i'm excited?

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