Scrapbooking can be a great way to show the moments of your friends and family history by making use of a creative medium and organizing them in an aesthetically satisfying way. For a lot of us crafty people, we are disorganized at heart and so the problem is getting organized to begin with!

A scrapbook is like an album of pictures on crack (or steroids, if you prefer to go with something less illegal. Or Red Bull, if less illicit). With a scrapbook, you’re not limited to photographs; anything you have that you want to save and/or display, as long as it will fit reasonably, can be included. All of your favorite knick-nacks, trinkets, and other memorabilia can make great additions to a scrapbook.

1. You Need Help (Or Could Use Some)
It might take hours to go through the items you want to include, but this can be one of the most fun parts of the process. You can make it even more fun if you manage to convince your significant other, spouse, parents or kids to help you.

2. Theme It!
The next step in scrapbooking (or “scrapping,” as some like to call it) is to design a theme or layout - there could be a recurring theme throughout the book with a different layout for each page, or you could theme every new page independently of the others - the beauty is that it’s completely up to you how you organize your scrapbooking ideas. Your theme can be as simple or as involved as you want it, but remember not to be overzealous; less is more in many cases.

3. Use Your Tools
Grab anything and everything you can think of that might be of help. Odd shapes make good stencils or borders, and trying several types of adhesives and writing implements will allow you to get the best results with your materials. You can never have too much colored paper, either!

4. Get A Second Opinion
This isn’t medical plan 101, I’m talking about actually asking for input from your friends on what they think. It’s hard sometimes to have tough skin and deal with any critiques or criticism someone might have, but I’m sorry to say that it’s part of being a designer! The visual appeal you are trying to create can always benefit from a second set of eyes, no matter what the application. The ‘net is a great place for this, and there are many scrapbooking ideas websites that will let you post your scrapbook pages for others to view and comment on.

How you do your scrapbook layouts should depend on the goal you are trying to achieve. It’s always a good idea to think about the contents of the page and the tone you are setting by creating it. What is your purpose in making this page? Who is it for, what is it about, and how does it relate to your life? Answer these questions and you will probably come up with some more focused scrapbooking ideas to incorporate into your layout.

Next think about the visual style of your scrapbook layouts. Do you want to do something unique and innovative? Spark an emotional reaction in yourself or other friends and relatives who see it? You could be going for an inspiring page or one that gives the viewer that warm and fuzzy feeling. Sentimentality plays a big role, as does comedy. It’s quite possible that you simply want to create a page that makes people laugh!

One major thing to consider in your scrapbook layouts is called composition. That just means the organization of the way things are laid out on the page. If you want a single picture with some other decorative items around it, your first instinct might be to put it right smack dab in the center of your page, aligned both horizontally and vertically in the middle. But scrapbooking ideas should be just like any other art form, and you should try to think outside the box in order to make your scrapbooks and pages unique.

This can definitely work, but wouldn’t it add some visual interest to the layout if you placed the photo off to one side and slightly down beneath the imaginary halfway line? What about keeping it in the center, but skewing it off kilter/balance and using corner brackets or decorative corner pieces to accentuate the look? Go as far as you need to go in order to increase the “wow” factor that people will experience the first time they see your page. When it comes to scrapping, first impressions are everything if you can make the right one!

There are limitless possibilities, and your final look will depend on your own style, the materials you are using and what you have to work with. You can really do some amazing things with your scrapbook layouts if you take the time to not only learn as you go along but also to take the advice of others and look at as many scrapbook layouts as you can get your eyes on!

Digital scrapbooking is all the rage nowadays. It’s no big deal to declare the old cliche; computers have changed our lives drastically. Thanks to the technology available to us, we can now store photos and image scans of some of our favorite memorabilia in a digital format. With digital scrapbooking, we can use accents and animations that would never be possible to use when we are doing things the traditional way.

I have been scrapbooking for a long time, so I’m used to doing it the “real” way, by hand. There’s something visceral and honest about doing things this way. There’s nothing like spending an afternoon in my craft room with scraps of paper and flecks of glitter everywhere, knicknacks and photos spread out on the table in front of me. It’s therapeutic to just be sitting on the floor going through boxes of old pictures to add to my scrapbook pages. There is a tangible result that you can feel in your hands; each part has its own weight and texture and smell. The scrapbooking ideas that flow forth during these times are some of the best.

Needless to say, I’m personally not a huge fan of digital scrapbooking, although I do utilize the technique sometimes. I believe it has its benefits (like the fact that it doesn’t take up any extra space in the house!) but to date I’ve only used it in a limited capacity. The times I’ve found it most useful are when I’m trying to organize or present photos of our family vacation or get-togethers around the holidays. Most of the time I receive emails with digital pictures taken by relatives or friends and I feel like I should preserve them in some way without having to use my photo printer to make copies of fifty or sixty images at a time.

That being said, one of my favorite places to find digital scrapbooking kits and pages is computer scrapbook.com. They have some really impressive looking templates that I have taken advantage of many times in the past. I’d like to think that I have at least some graphic design skill, but these kits just make it so easy to lay things out and get them looking sharp. Many of the designs are so beautiful and just need minor artistic tweaks to get them just the way I want them.

But hey, who am I kidding here. The best thing about getting my digital scrapbooking stuff from this site is that they are cheap! The prices at computer scrapbook are very reasonable and you can find some great deals there. There is also a great e-book called The Secret Guide To Digital Scrapbooking that is one of the few e-Books I’ve found that is worth something. It goes over everything step by step in a way that’s easy to understand. If you are looking into digital scrapbooking I highly recommend this resource. More on other digital scrapbooking resources is forthcoming!