An Idiots Guide To Scrapbooking Part 1 By Ian Rump-Smith
- Ian Rump-Smith
- Jul 22, 2023
- 4 min read
Hey Crafters,
Thanks for joining me on this journey with a different style of post..... 'never tried before,' but challenged myself - Idiots Guide To Scrapbooking!
As you know I love card making; it's something I do nearly everyday as my craft room is my haven away from the world :-)
It's very hard to steer away from your passion sometimes and try something new and for years scrapbooking has been one of those things that I've never ventured into - until now.
Had to give it a go as this was my time!
Day One
How do you start?
I've no clue, but like many Architects you have to draw up a plan of what it may look like, where to place photos or journaling, what decorations you might want, and of course the wording....
I'm no artist, but hey this didn't come out too badly.....did it? Who am I kidding!
Recently a lovely lady told me that you had to remember 3 important things with Scrapbooking.... but honestly for the life of me, I really can't remember ha ha!! However, it was along the lines of Who, When and Where.
📸 Who is in the Photos
⏰ When did it happen
📍Where did it take place
This is for anyone, years later down the line, who can look or show family and identify the information from just the page. A bit like a photo album, but we always go "who was that again?" "Am I related to them?" or "Where was this photo taken?"
Anyway.. lets get back to my Da Vinci drawing...
So even though you have a plan drawn out, you can always change it as you're going along, so bear in mind it's just a guide.
The page is a 12"x12" white card so nice and clean. That's a challenge in itself for me to keep clean throughout the process!!
I think I will take a break.
Day Two
I'm back to do some more and feeling creative.
Let's do some stencilling and get the party started on the page.
I love using stencils, and this one by Creative Expressions is called Timeless Florals.
It's ideal as it has a corner design as well as a central one.
I'm not delicate crafter when using stencils, so I had to mask off the areas I didn't want to use. Remember, I'm using white card and don't need mess!
I used my Make Art Stay-tion, Blending Brushes and Oxide Inks.
This is my result and it's better than I expected!
I think I'm actually enjoying this scrapbooking marlarkee...
Day Three
Bring on the next stage!!
Relate back to my drawing as I have no clue!
Oh yes, I need to do the other corners.
Search through my dies and see what I can find! Voila the perfect thing!
That craft guy from the TV designed this die and it's BIG! 2 die cuts needed for my project.
I can see my page slowly turning into a masterpiece (and I'm my own worst judge), but I'm smiling and nodding.
Do you smile and nod when you are happy with your work? No just me... ok.
Now, I'm at a no clue stage of what this page will be for, however as I stare at it I suddenly think, white, floral, pink.......Wedding, Anniversary or even Prom?
Right I'm on a roll (not sausage)
We all have flower dies, so I check through mine saying in my mind "no not those," and "definitely not them" until I find the perfect ones! I felt like Goldilocks testing the porridge lol.
Tim Holtz's Distress Oxide Inks are great for adding colour to your flowers!
I did the same with some leaves as needed to match the colours of the stencil image.
I played around with them on my page, until I was happy about where they would live...
Day Four
Today I'm back for the final stage of my journey.... and looking back I'm now wondering why it's taken me this long to try out scrapbooking? I love it, and it's addictive seeing your pages come to life (so to speak).
Now my page could be for using photos, or even a journal! This theme would be perfect for a Wedding / Celebration but as I've never been married, I've opted to go for a journal style page.
I realised it could be one page of a double spread, and one of each could be made?
Just a thought!
So this is what I came up with for my journaling....
It's coming together nicely and I'm just about done!
After moving the mats and layers around until I was happy, I had some available space, so I made a small mat which could be used for a date of the day the page is made for?
I also glued on some finishing touches..... butterflies as we all love those!
If you have not tried this craft before, and always wanted to, then don't hold out for as long as I did!!
I might have to make another one soon so watch this space :-)
I'd love to know you're thoughts, and tell me where you are on your scrapbooking journey!!
If you're a seasoned 'Scrapbooker" then share with us your memories of your first pages with us. Or maybe this is your first attempt too? Let us know how you get on if this spurs you on to try it..
Thank you and bows out.....
Ian x
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I enjoyed reading through this soo much! I Can't wait for the next diary entry :)
This really made me smile. I’ve recently got into mini albums and now I’m hooked! I must try using stencils on my pages next. Loved your thought process too. Thanks for the inspiration