8.5×11 Two-page Layout. Embellished area at the right side inspired by 2 Peas’ Garden Girl, Lisa McGarvey.
Paperclipping has been focused on scrapbooks for a big vacation, such as my family’s recent Disneyland trip. I’m working on my own album, as you work on yours.
Because many scrapbookers feel this project is overwhelming, I’ve broken up the process into a series of steps. But these steps won’t just make it easier on you. They’ll help you identify the rich stories you want to tell about your trip. If you missed the previous steps, here they are:
Step 5: Assess Your Needs
I know the temptation. The temptation is to find that super cute album you saw last week and to buy it for your vacation, without any idea how much space you actually need. That is a symptom of the number of products and projects in the magazines and online. But what do you really need to tell your story? If we are going to center our scrapbooking around the stories we have to tell, we need to start with the story and let that dictate the products.
How Many Pages Do You Need?
You’ve separated your pictures into individual stories. While you may end up changing this around a little (I have already), you should be able to count the piles for an approximation of how many pages you’ll need. Each story will normally equal one page, or one two-page spread.
What Size Of Pages Do You Need?
Approximately how many photos do you have for each story? The answer will be a major indicator for whether you need a 12×12 album, an 8.5×11 or something smaller, or if you can even use a more traditional photo album.
It will help to ask yourself the following questions:
1. Can you reprint some photos into smaller or larger sizes to better tell your stories?
2. Can you crop your photos manually in order to fit more into a smaller space?
3. How much journaling do you have for each story? Will you want to type and print it or do it by hand?
How did I decide on the size of my album? I had a varied number of photos for each of my stories. This meant I’d need some flexibility, making a traditional photo album more difficult (although, I was tempted to do this). I also wanted to type my journaling (for simplicity), and if I were to use 8.5×11 paper, I’d be able to type if right on my background pages.
I have a lot of experience re-sizing my original photos, so I decided 8.5×11 would be my best solution.
What Colors Will Highlight Your Pictures & Reproduce the Emotions Of Your Event?
If you were on top of Steps 1-3, then you should have a good idea in your mind of what the tone of the overall story is, and what colors will help you express that tone.
Originally, I skipped through this step and decided to go with white, just to make the project easier. But as I began working on my first page, I realized white wasn’t connecting with me, nor my story. I decided to find a collection of muted hues with subtle patterns that would give me the choice of warmth (browns and cream tones) or fun (light blue or red).
What Embellishments Can You Add To Support The Story?
Again, with so many wonderful products available to us, it’s easy let some popular or cute embellishments dictate our design, rather than the actual story we want to tell. I’m not saying we shouldn’t use all those embellishments. Just make sure you know what your stories are, and ask whether the embellishments support them or not.
Reuniting with some of my siblings and our parents to relive a regular childhood memory together and with our children was greater for me than the actual Disney park, itself. I decided to use minimal embellishments and instead, make the bounty of photos the real highlight of the pages.
I also wanted a very classic representative of Disney–one that I relate to all the way back to my childhood, since the story of this album is bringing together the past and the present at Disneyland. I decided to make a Mickey Mouse silhouette the main embellishment (and usually the only one) for each page.
Your Assignment
Are you still on track with me on this? If so, your assignment is to…
1. Count your stories (each pile of pictures and their story topics on notecards) to determine the approximate number of pages you need.
2. Look at the number of photos for each story/page and determine the size that will best work for you.
3. Choose colors based on the tone of the event and how you feel about it.
4. Choose embellishments that will help to tell your story.
You are now ready to play!
By the way, although I am now working on the third page for my scrapbook, I have yet to choose an album cover. It’s the least of my concerns because I know the cover will come eventually. It’s the story I’m most interested in.
