One Christmas Eve long ago I received a printer. We always get to open one present on Christmas Eve. Turns out this printer came with my very first scrapbook. I got to work printing and pasting. I've always been sticker obsessed so I put this to use. My first scrapbook only had about 5 pages.
Turns out my mom scrapbooked back in her day. I got to look at some of them recently.
I started my new version of scrapbooking the summer after my freshman year of high school. I didn't like how much space 4×6 photos take so I experimented with ways to fit more paper on one sheet. I didn't like how strict standard scrapbooks felt so I switched to using a binder. If you want to move sheets around in a regular scrapbook you have to take all the papers out to reorder. You can take the sheet out of a binder and put it somewhere else. I used a hole puncher to punch the paper for my binder. In the last 2 years, I've switched to putting my designs into plastic binder film sheets. This way the pages will be safer. The disadvantage of this is it dulls the color of the pictures and I can't include pop-out features. My sophomore year binder has pop-out features such as a foldable setlist for the Jonas Brothers concert. These 2 disadvantages don't make or break the book, so I've accepted them.
Preparation Step 1:
Take photos!
The first step is just to live life, make memories, and document them! The more pictures you have, the more you have the choose from and the more you create a picture for the viewer.
Create a List:
I have a Google document titled the year (ex. Scrapbook 2022-2023). I write down every significant event that happens and the date. At the bottom of the document, I have other lists. One for TV shows and movies I watched. If it came out that year I add the date. I have a list of books I read, games I played or that came out, and my class schedule.
Collect Things!
I keep lots of little papers and receipts from over the year. I can decide whether to make use of them or throw them away when I scrapbook. Keeping things like this allows the spread to be more diverse than just pictures. I tend to keep all these items in one place (supplies bag or plastic bag).
Preparation Step 2:
Pick Photos!
I use Google Photos to make an album where I collect all the photos that I want to scrapbook. This way they are all in one place.
Preparation Step 3:
Collage!
I print 4 pictures on one 4×6 piece of paper to save paper. In order to do this I use a collage app to put them all together. The one I use is called Collage Maker - Grid Art (not sponsored). Through the app, I can take photos straight from my Google Photos album. I pick 4 and pick the standard layout where they are all the same size. In the app, I change the ratio to 2:3 or 3:2 so that it perfectly fits on the 4×6 paper. I put portrait photos together and landscape pictures together so that nothing gets cut off by mixing them. I save this Collage to Google Photos and add it to a slightly differently titled album that has all my collages.
On a Google document, I collect pictures that will be printed out on standard letter paper. This tends to be media I consumed over the year and screenshots from the album mentioned in the previous step. I go through said album and drag screenshots into my Google doc. I use google image search to find images of tv, movie, book, or game posters. In the document, I can crop or resize the pictures.
Preparation Step 4:
Printing!
I print straight from the Google Photos app to my printer. I print my letter paper from the Google doc
Cutting!
I use my paper cutter to cut my 4×6 photos into the 4 separate photos.
Preparation Step 5:
Organizing!
I label my photos with dates and sort them into groups. These groups could be one day, one trip, or a month (depending on the amount of photos and context). I use paper clips and binder clips to put these grouped photos together so that they can't get mixed up
Scrapbooking Step 1:
Place the photos!
Now I finally get to stick the photos. Based on the photos and spread I'm going for I pick a piece of paper. I have lots of colors and a few floral designs. I use cardstock since it's stronger and is likely to last longer. I've used standard paper too but I definitely prefer cardstock. I line up all my photos on the page. If the group of photos needs more than 1 page then I line them up on as many papers as needed until I've used the whole group. This way I can visualize what this section will look like. I make sure I include the trinkets I've kept over the year. Once I'm happy with the look. I start taping my photos to the paper. I use a glue tape dispenser but I've also used double-sided tape in the past. Sometimes I add colorful tape to the page before taping the photos. Once the page is finished I slip it into plastic film inside the binder.
Scrapbooking Step 2:
Finishing touches!
After all my photos are taped in, I go back through the pages to add titles, subtitles, and stickers.
My favorite Spread (I love the colors):
Scrapbooking is my summer passion project and has been for the last 4 summers. Sometimes I do a bit of scrapbooking during the year (winter break most likely), but summer is when I have the most time to dedicate to it. It allows me to put my passion for taking photos and crafting together. My scrapbooks are very detailed, probably more than your standard scrapbook. I want to remember as much as I can about my high school and college years. I've put hours and hours and a good chunk of money into my scrapbooks but it's worth it cause I'll keep them forever.
Supplies:
-sticker books (Michaels)
-themed sticker sheets (Michaels)
-2" binder (amazon)
-colored paper (Michael's/amazon)
-pretty tape (Michaels/amazon/target)
-plastic film inserts (amazon)
-scissors
-glue tape dispenser
-paper cutter
-printer
-photo paper
-paper clips
-binder clips
-pens
-stencils
-supplies pouches
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