A Random Scrapbook Ideas.

Travel scrapbook ideas. Buy at least one postcard each place you travel (even if it just to a nearby city) and write the date, events of the trip, and who was there. Write quick notes about fun experiences on the trip and then mail it to your home. For long trips try to write yourself a postcard each day.
When you return home put these postcards with your travel photos and memorabilia. Later when you scrapbook the events, not only will you have a great collection of postcards to add to your scrapbook layouts but you will have the details needed to get your journaling done!

I literally, picked up an old shutter at the side of the road and now use it for a photo/memorabilia/reminder board in my scrapbook "area". After salvaging, I sanded, painted and glued strips of thick cardstock to the back and bottom of each slat. This created a hidden ledge to rest a photo, card, or list on. I love it and it is a great conversation starter. (And helps my scrapbook table clutter free when not in use)

If I ever get stumped while scrapping, I sit down with my little boy and a watch a video. It really helps to get the creative juices flowing. Fantasia is nice too. I think it's the combination of classical music and art that helps to inspire me. Scrapbooking really is an art.

Journaling scrapbook ideas. The best way to get past writer's block when journaling is to do what writers do: keep writing. Feel free to jot down drivel on your scrap pad; you have the freedom to write drivel every now and then! The important thing is that by keeping on writing, you will eventually get back on track. You can't write anything good if you're not writing at all!

Cure ho-hum journaling by focussing on action words, a.k.a. verbs. After you've drafted a paragraph, re-read it and replace the blah phrases such as "we went" or "we enjoyed" with more interesting and specific phrases such as "we ambled" or "we giggled." By focussing on strong verbs, you'll infuse your journaling with energy and interest. Verbs rule!

Vacation scrapbook ideas. When my family is on vacation I always mail a post card home addressed to my 3yr. old daughter. I also buy a duplicate post card which I pack away in my luggage. I write about where we went and what my daughter did for fun while on our trip. When we arrive home my daughter has a post card that I put in her scrapbook. I take the duplicate card and have one for the front showing the picture and one with the journaling that has been post marked.

When I go on vacation, I keep a daily journal. At the end of the day, when my husband and son go to sleep, I sit in the hotel room and write myself a letter about our daily excitement. When I get home, my journaling is done! For my last Disney trip, I created my scrapbook pages, numbering each one on a paper punched Mickey head. When the book was completed, I typed up my journaling, referencing the pages showcasing photos on the subject. To "read" my travelogue, you take the journaling booklet, read along, and turn the pages of the scrapbook as indicated. This has enabled me to create the scrapbook without worrying about pulling the correct journaling sections for inclusion on the actual page, and enables me to include journaling without the worry of fitting it on my pages.

Before going on vacation with my husband and boys I purchased three spiral bound notebooks. I gave one to each of the boys and I kept one for myself. We journaled about what we did everyday (what we did, how we liked it, anything of importance about it, etc). This will make it so much easier to scrapbook our vacation and will also allow me to include my sons' (and occasionally husband's) perspective about our trip.
Use these scrapbook ideas if you need a new creative outlet.

Scrapbook Ideas to Add Style to Your Scrapbook.

Scrapbook ideas to add style with serendipity squares - small collage pieces that can be used on virtually any layout. The variety of colors helps pull out the colors in your photos, and the squares serve as visual "bridges" when you're combining two different-colored photo mats.

I make a full sheet of serendipity squares at a time, mat them, then attach them to layouts as needed. Depending on your personal tastes, you can add as much torn paper or rubber stamping as desired.

Scrapbook Supplies. To create serendipity squares, you'll need: solid-colored cardstock, patterned paper that includes colors from your photos that you want to emphasize, adhesive, archival pigment inks (pinwheel pads and rainbow pads that pull apart work the best), rubber stamps, embossing powder and a tool for heat embossing (optional).

Steps. Once you've got the scrapbook supplies needed, follow these steps:
1 Choose the solid cardstock that will serve as the background for your squares.

2 If you plan to emboss any of your stamped images, stamp randomly on your solid paper with pigment ink. (If you don't plan to emboss your images, skip to Step 8.) Sprinkle the stamped images with embossing powder, then melt it with a tool for heat embossing.

3 Starting with the lightest color of ink, daub randomly onto the paper to make small, irregular shapes of color. This type of application is called "direct-to-paper." Don't worry if you cover an embossed image—the ink will wipe off. Cover 10-20% of the page with your first color.

4 With the next lightest color of ink, use the direct-to-paper technique again, making small irregular, color shapes. Partially overlap your second color of ink over your first to make a third color.

5 Use this scrapbook technique with as many colors as you'd like to add. Work from light to dark and add metallic inks last. Leave some areas of your background paper uncolored.

6 If you embossed, use a tissue to wipe off excess pigment ink from those areas.

7 Blot your paper and set it aside to dry. Give it adequate time to dry to avoid smearing.

8 Select your rubber stamps. Good choices include large background stamps that can cover several squares and small images that can fit easily into a single square. I like to choose 4-5 stamps that fit a theme, plus a large background stamp of script.

9 Using permanent black ink, stamp your larger images randomly on your background paper.

10 Rip your patterned paper into strips that are approximately ½" to 1" wide and 6-8" long. Adhere strips randomly all over your background.

11 Restamp if necessary. With black ink, stamp smaller images in any unfilled space. Don't worry about overall composition of the full sheet, but try to have at least one element (ink, stamp, paper) on every square inch of the paper.

12 Use a paper trimmer to cut your large sheet into uniform-sized squares. I like them in 1¼" or 1½" sizes. You'll end up with dozens of delightfully unique squares.

13 Mat each square onto a metallic- or solid-colored background layer that's ¼" larger than the square.

Want to know one of the best scrapbook ideas you can do with chalk? After stamping images with an untinted or slightly tinted ink pad, use chalk to add color to the images. This gives you great versatility with color and a beautifully soft, pastel look.

To create a 3-D sticker, first find a plastic surface that will let you easily remove the sticker once it's assembled. Select three stickers with the same symmetrical design. Sticky side out, fold the first sticker in half and place it on the plastic surface. Fold the second sticker the same way and align the folded edge with the first sticker. Take the third sticker and place it sticky side down on the folded back halves of the first two stickers. Remove the 3-D sticker from the plastic surface and adhere it to your page. Apply chalk to a stamped image with beautiful results.
Use these scrapbook ideas to enjoy your scrapbook creations.

Organizing Scrapbook Ideas.

Here are a great tips for organizing scrapbook ideas. I have the paper carriers, and use those when I am going to a friend's house to scrap. Other than that, I keep my papers (because I have a ton) in a wicker trunk. It came in a pack of 2. Inside of the larger basked I placed two regular letter sized metal file hangers and I put my 12 x 12 papers into letter sized hanging file folders by color scheme. I probably have over 1000 pieces of paper in there. I liked using the regular sized hanging files because the top of the paper sticks out and I can easily see the color and/or pattern I want. Because it has a lid, and the lid is high enough, the papers do not bend (of course, it's completely full so they are supported by each other as well). This did not hold all of my paper so I purchased the flexible plastic 12 x 12 folders for my special papers (i.e., mulberry, themed). Christmas has its own folder, sports has its own, etc... Then I can quickly go through those. The smaller wicker basket is too small for a metal hanging file folder frame so I just keep other items that I don't use that often in there. We had actually purchased these baskets to store my sweaters in our bedroom (not a lot of closet space), but when I found out they fit the file hangers side by side, they quickly found another home in our family room. What makes it great is that the baskets sit in our family room all of the time, and look like decorations.

Scrapbook ideas to organize your stickers, die cuts, etc. I found that I was spending far too much time and energy looking through my stickers and die cuts for each layout. I decided to recycle my old magnetic and pocket page albums by using them as storage. Now, I can easily see everything I have but I don't have to touch it all. Plus - I can organize them by type, holiday or time of year so that I can draw inspiration rather than just trying to fill space.

I subscribe to 2 scrapbooking magazines and have other scrapbook ideas books as well. It is hard for me to remember where I saw pages I want to make or ideas I want to use. I started keeping a notebook topic pages. If I find a page or ideas I want to use, I list the magazine date and page number and maybe a quick sketch of the page in my notebook. When I start a new layout, I look under that topic in my notebook so I can see if there are any pages or magazine ideas to apply to my new layout. For example, if I am making a swimming page, I open my notebook to the swimming topic, I then know where I saw a page I liked. Then I grab my magazine and can easily make a layout from the idea.

I discovered that cleaned, used baby food jars make a great place to store all my little scrapping embellishments. The jars are see-through, stack nicely, and are the perfect size to store eyelet, clips, bead and all sorts of little things.

I often use my scrapbook ideas books and mags for inspiration; but it took up to much desk space and I was always rearranging to see my LO. I purchased a clear acrylic cookbook holder (very inexpensive) and now place the mag or ideas book in the holder and place the book holder at the far end of the desk. It holds the book in place and doesn’t interfere with my desk space, but I can clearly see the book for reference purposes without a cluttered desktop.

I was always frustrated with the ever-growing pile of photos and momentos to scrapbook that I kept filed away in a box. Now I enjoy them by keeping them in a regular photo album until I get to scrapbook them. I slide them into the slots (of course I don't use the sticky magnetic paged album!!) and then put a post-it note on the outside with the details (date, place, memories). I also sketch a possible layout idea or put possible titles while the topic is still fresh in my mind. This is also a great way to pull out photos for a specific topic that cover a wide time span (i.e. my son's personality, my daughter's smile). Now I can enjoy the pictures as they wait to be scrapbooked and easily pull out my next project! So when you need an idea for a page layout just turn to these scrapbook ideas for fun scrapbooking.

Paper Piecing Scrapbook Ideas.

Here are scrapbook ideas for using paper. Use a tiny amount of clear embossing powder to add dimension to the buttons, stitches, and lace-holes of your paper dolls, and to give life to your dolls' eyes! When adding detail to little paper piecing parts, I use a temporary adhesive to hold the piece to a scrap piece of paper so it doesn't move around, then peel it up and place it where it belongs.

Class pictures scrapbook ideas. Create a fun, interactive layout for your child's class photo by placing it behind the doors of a paper-pieced schoolhouse design.

If you want to have the right color to accent your latest page you can use your computer to print out a swatch of the color you require on any light-colored sheet of cardstock, such as white or ivory. This is perfect for those paper piecing that require only a little piece of a particular color. It works great with vellum, too, and saves you from having to purchase each vellum color. Then you can punch or cut out the shape you need. Another helpful scrapbook idea – use your computer to print out textures, too. I used a wood grain pattern to print out a fence that I used in a backyard paper piecing. I added a little chalk for dimension, and it looked quite realistic.

I have made quilt templates for years and the material sold to make these with is great for making a copy of the pieces. It doesn't fray and you can place it on top of the pattern and trace it and cut it out. Then you have a permanent pattern that can be put in a bag and loaned without worry. I also make a copy of the uncut pattern (just in case). You can also make a copy of the colored finished picture (just in case). It’s a nice scrapbook idea.

When paper piecing, instead of cutting out your pattern pieces two times (once from the original, then transferred on your paper), cut out the original in a chunky square, adhere with glue dots, place the pattern on your cardstock or whatever you are piecing together, and then cut in the details. This eliminates having to detail cut twice and makes the final cut easier because there is an edge to follow instead of a black line.

For quick paper-piecing patterns, check your children's clothing. I scanned one of my baby's shirt designs into the computer, then printed the scan as a pattern. After cutting out each animal in the design, I pieced them together and adhered them to my layout. I included two photos of my baby in the same shirt and added a title to finish the layout. I ended up with a great page without the cost of buying a paper-piecing pattern.

I used to cut up my paper piecing patterns and inevitably lose some pieces. So I started tracing my patterns with my embossing stylus right on to the desired color/pattern of paper. I kept my pattern in one piece and only cut out the finished product. Best of all, I scanned all of my patterns onto my computer, so if they become too ragged, I can just print out another. It's easy and saves time and money.

Inexpensive paper piecing scrapbook ideas. For my son's Birthday, he wanted a Dalmatian themed party. While we were shopping for party supplies, I came across a coloring book full of pictures of dalmatians. I made copies of the pages and transferred the images onto white acid free cardstock. I cut out the images and pasted them onto the Birthday Party pages of my son. It is the perfect accent and cost only pennies.

I had collected so many frame ups and other pre-made diecuts. They are darling to look at, but when it came time to use them, they were never the right color. I finally decided to change that. By using a piece of tracing paper, I paperpiece the wrong color such as the clothes on the frame up friend. I then can color co-ordinate it to match my photos. Titles and other premade embellishments can easily be covered with just the "right" color to match your layout perfectly. In the attached layout, I was able to change the frame up friends pajamas to match the ones in my photo! These ideas help you to develop new scrapbook ideas!