Here are journaling scrapbook ideas about annual cheat sheet. We all have good intentions of writing the who/what/when information on the back of all pictures. But when it comes to "what year was this picture taken, what age was this child at that time and what grade was he in" I can go crazy sometimes. Therefore, I have created for myself my own laminated "Annual Cheat Sheet". Mothers don't usually forget the WHO question but after a few kids and a few years we don't have “total recall” on the WHEN question. In the first column I list the years. The 2nd column is child #1 and his age and grade. The 3rd column is child #3 and his age and grade etc. In theory, if I have any one of those pieces of information I can go to my 'cheat sheet' and conclude, for example, that in, “2010, Suzie was 7 years old in 3rd grade, and her sister was 10 in the 7th grade.” I've discovered, however, if I don't have one of those pieces of information then I'm beyond help!

Here's an easy scrapbook idea to add journaling to your scrapbook pages. After you've planned your layout and are ready to start journaling, just imagine that someone is looking over your shoulder and asking what the pictures are all about. Then simply write down what you would tell them! I put blank, lined pages at the back of each completed scrapbook. When I'm leafing through an album and remember a detail or story that didn't get journaled, I write the information in. I also journal pages describing momentous occasions, e.g. my children's births, and special things about their childhoods, and include them in the album.

To make birthday memories stay alive, I have the guests sign the "birthday page" with a saying or just their signature. It has been wonderful for the kids to go back and see what grandma or their cousins had to say. It's especially special to have a lasting momentum of family members who have passed. I always put a picture of my child on their birthday in the middle! It’s a great scrapbook idea!

I am working on an ongoing scrapbook for my 17 month old son. After his first year, I went from journaling milestones to a calendar page for each month. I have recently found that by placing a blank calendar on my nightstand that I can quickly jot down notes regarding his accomplishments or special things that we did for the day. By keeping it by the bed, I never forget to make a quick note that I can transfer later to his scrapbook.

What to do with those endless class pictures your kids bring home every year? Sit down with your children, and have them say or write one sentence about every student, and teacher, in their class. Organize the list in the same order as the students are in the photo, then create a layout with the class photo and the list.

I love to jazz up my pages with unique journaling scrapbook ideas. When I created a page of my daughter enjoying her kiddie car one spring day, I created my own "driver's license" using my computer to capture the details. Journaling doesn't have to be limited to ordinary sentences. With a little creativity, you can adorn your scrapbook pages with a variety of new looks while presenting the important details in a fun way.

I do all the scrapping and journaling in my daughter's scrapbook. In order to add some of Daddy's feelings to her book, I began to print out the emails he sends to his mom and add them to her scrapbook. He writes her often and always writes about the baby. This is nice because he has no pressure to take out the gel pens and write "on the spot" but he is happy he can add his feelings to our daughter's scrapbook.

Often, I want to use a computer font on a small tag or journaling block that has already been cut. While many others change the settings on their computers to do this, I choose the easy way. I simply create a text box that is a little smaller than the item I wish to print on. I type my journaling up using MS Word. After making sure that the text box lines are turned off, I print the journaling on a regular piece of paper. Then, I adhere my tag over the printing with repositionable tape. I run the paper through the printer again, and voila! The tag come out printed very neatly without a whole lot of fiddling with the computer settings.
I hope these journaling scrapbook ideas will help you to spark your imagination!

Here are some photo scrapbook ideas. I love to take pictures of my kids when they're sleeping. Regardless of the mischief they've gotten into during the day, that look of innocence returns to their faces when they're asleep. I discovered that grouping these photos on a layout is a terrific way to finish off my scrapbooks without having to say "the end." Now I use a "sleeping" layout to finish each of my albums!

I have a lot of scenic panoramic photos from our vacation that I do not want to cut, so I have been using them as a border. They are the same shape as the pre-made photo borders at stores but are cheaper and they always go with the theme of the page. It is a great idea to use them in the scrapbook!

For a fun addition to your scrapbook page, print smaller versions of your focal picture directly on to the background page. In the layout that I have included, I reduced the size of the original picture and changed the photo to black and white. I then opened a blank document in Word and placed the pictures where I wanted them on the page. Just a fun idea to add focus to the subject of your layout!

When taking pictures, I usually like to zoom in close so the image takes up most of the frame. However, for scrapbooking purposes I've found that taking some pictures without zooming too much gives me smaller pictures that are great scrapbook ideas for tags, borders, or other small spaces.

Don't worry if you didn't get photos of a particular event or if your photos turned out awful. (ie can't be fixed by clever cropping, totally washed out or in the dark, etc.) Instead, use the opportunity to develop your creative lettering and paper-piecing skills to record your memories.

When having events such as kid's birthday, Christmas, or other special occasion, remember to take pictures of everyone there. You will be happy you have these in the future. Such as grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. These people may not always be with you, so take the time now to snap some shots and scrapbook them.

When I began gathering photos for my scrapbook, I found several old shots with people I didn't recognize. In most cases, I had only the original photo and needed assistance from relatives to identify missing names. To help, I scanned the photos into my computer and e-mailed them to family members. They helped me identify the photos' subjects and even contributed interesting stories for journaling. If the person you're seeking information from doesn't have a computer or e-mail, send him or her a printed copy of the scanned photo with a self-addressed, stamped envelope. The person can write the names and stories on the page and drop it in the mail.

Ask your photo processor if they offer the option of a white border around your photos. It's one less layer of paper on your layout, free with processing, and if you don't want it on a specific photo, you can just trim it off!

I often take pictures of 'things' like a section of the stone wall of the Alamo, the layers of dirt from where our pool was dug or the sky the day we went to the beach. I scan them, enlarge them, crop them and use them just as like a background for scrapbooking page. Much less expensive and much more personal.

How do you scrapbook one-of-a-kind or once-in-a-lifetime photos that are of poor quality? One tip -- I put too-dark photos from my honeymoon onto dark paper, and it made the photos look lighter and brighter. I also cut tropical fish out of underwater photos that were mostly green, and they looked much better. (And learned how to shoot better underwater photos!)
So use these scrapbook ideas to save your precious memories.

The one of a great scrapbook ideas is to create a mini scrapbooks. Whenever I have leftover reprints of photos of my children, I use them to create gifts for family and friends. Last Christmas I gave my kids' grandparents 4" x 6" albums. When I get reprints, I just create mini scrapbook pages and send them off to Grandma and Grandpa. I also create smaller pages that fit inside acrylic frames. I simply attach a magnet to the back of the frame for a special keepsake to display on a refrigerator.

Trace around your daughter's hands and cut them out of flesh colored paper adding rings,etc.if normally worn.Place them at bottom of a two page spread. Pick a polish shade of metallic paper and cut and paste"fingernails" on her hands. Next take photos of her getting her nails done and the finished outcome as well.I also chose to use photos of mine in the bubble bath and after all dressed up. Across the top of the 2 pages I used the same metallic paper and cut out of templates the title "one polished little lady". I used more metallic paper to matte some of the photos and glitter stickers in nail polish and make-up themes to embellish and finish the page.Not only is it a reminder of how small her hands were at the time but it describes my little one to a tee!

When you have "scrapers block" don't forget to look back in your own albums for inspiration. The pages that you've meticulously created yourself "ages ago" can be just enough to jump start your productivity and remind you that your own work is good too.

I find myself getting into ruts with my scrapbooking and I notice that I rarely scrapbook myself. Sometimes this is unavoidable as I don't take pictures of myself. However, I am finding that it is good to scrap without pictures. One page I am doing is using the new metal plates designs. I am taking the one lighthouse on it and using it as a beacon. Then taking a page out of dictionary for the word "BEACON" highlighting the definition, while also making that page look older (soaked in tea). Then scrapping and journaling items that are beacons in my life. This makes me realize that I am just as important in my scrapbooks as everyone else.

My best friend Pam was turning 40 this year and I just couldn't figure out what to give her for her 40th birthday. We have been best friends for over 20 years but for whatever reason, we don't have that many pictures of us together. So I decided to do the "40 reasons Pam is my best friend". It was so fun to come up with the reasons both serious and lighthearted. Her comment upon reading the entire album (through a few tears) was that it truly captured our years of friendship. She also said it was one of the best gifts she had ever received.

A great scrapbook ideas that will personalize your child's scrapbook are to write them a letter every year on their birthday. Include memories, favorite stories and accomplishments from the past year and how they made you feel. Thishttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif way you won't forget those little special things over a long period of time. Include these letters in your scrapbook and give a very special gift to your child!

Movie scrapbooking ideas: We rarely see movies, but our family knew the Tolkien story “Lord of the Rings” backwards and forwards since we had read it together. When the movie came out we ended up seeing it 6 times in the theater. Since this was such a fun thing for us I wanted to do a page in my scrapbook but all I had were ticket stubs and memories. Finally I used my daughters book and made colored copies of some of our favorite characters. Along with my ticket stubs and some journaling I ended up with a two page layout. You can try to use these scrapbook ideas too!

Here are some scrapbook ideas you can come up with to create new, fun pages for your scrapbooks. Using a circle cutter, cut your picture in the shape of a circle. Using your personal trimmer, take brown or brownish colored paper and cut it into ice cream cones. Tape down your cones and then use your pictures for the ice cream. I use all lower case letters for my title and I sort a scramble the letters, just so that they are not in a straight line. For the ice cream dripping down the cone affect, I took colored paper and used my wavy scissors and cut very little pieces of the colored paper and taped just a couple on the cone.


We've all seen scanned or color-copied items used to create backgrounds for page layouts. I found a great way to achieve the same look without the mess. Purchase a picture frame (preferably one with deep sides) and remove the cardboard back, leaving just the glass in the frame. Fill the frame with the items you'd like for your background and place it on the scanner or copier. Just be sure to drape a towel or blanket over the top of the frame to block the light, since the lid will not close tightly.

Lipstick works great as embossing ink! Simply "kiss" the mirrors and quickly pour the clear embossing powder on the prints. Use a small paintbrush to wipe off the excess powder from the rest of the mirror. Next, use an embossing tool to heat the powder until it melts. Let the mirrors cool for a while, as they retain the heat from the embossing tool and will be very hot. Embossing with lipstick also works well on paper and shrink plastic. If you choose to emboss lipstick on paper for a scrapbook page, use duplicate photos on it. Lipstick contains oil, which can migrate to your photos over time.

I wanted a crumpled newspaper pattern to cut out letters for a title, but I wanted it to be acid free and on cardstock. I took a newspaper and tore some sections, and cut some sections, crumpled them, then placed them all different directions on the color copier bed. I made a color copy onto cream colored cardstock to age it a little. Now I have a beautiful newspaper pattern to cut out letters, to punch, to use with tags, or any number of embellishments.

Looking for the perfect paper? Why not create it yourself with two simple ingredients…stamp pad refill ink (food color works, too) and shaving cream. I've been a stamper for years and converted to scrapbooking when I had my first daughter. This is a great technique I learned for making cards, so why not paper for background?! Spread a 1/2" layer of shaving cream in a big enough pan to hold your paper. Then add a few drops of stamp pad ink refill.

One of a good scrapbook ideas are to use one, two, or even three colors. The more ink you use, the deeper your colors. Next, take a toothpick and swirl the shaving cream and ink around. You can make some pretty unique patterns. One thing is guaranteed, no two papers will ever turn out exactly alike. Next, lay your piece of paper in the shaving cream, applying gentle but firm pressure. Pick the piece of paper up and wipe off the excess shaving cream with a spatula. Allow to dry. You can use the same pan of shaving cream and dip more pieces of paper. The more you dip, the lighter the paper tint will become.

Have fun making a collection of mat techniques to turn to for inspiration. I use the 2"x3" photos that often come in professional photo packets. (You know the type, you get about 103 pictures - and, hey, most of us run out of relatives and friends way before those pictures give out.) With scraps, I can actually make a mini replica of a new matting technique. So not only am I using up my scraps, I can tell myself, hey, I did that technique. (Alright, so I wouldn't have used it in my scrapbook at this point, - but that wouldn't be the only thing. C'mon, it's like your own little make-n-take. It keeps you busy and adds to your repertoire.)

The little matted photos can then be filed right in your organizer (alphabetically they would go before stickers and after die cuts) or put on a ring. Now for the big bonus, perhaps the best part - the finished product is 50% of the size had you used a 4"x6" photo. So...you can take a piece of regular paper and cut it down or draw on it a 6"x6" square - 50% of a 12"x12" paper - and actually play around with the photos and mats to see how they would look on a page. Did you ever play with little furniture replicas on grid paper to say how a new arrangement might look? You may find yourself discovering some scrapbook ideas too.

The great scrapbook ideas are to capture all of your memories. When I first began to scrap, I captured only the happy moments. These included holidays, vacations, major events and "firsts". I realize that this is only a part of my story. I have since begun to keep a "Book of Sorrows". This is not a book for the casual observer, but will give my family a fuller picture of who I am and what affects me.

In this book I capture major events such as the September 11 crisis, and journaling about how I spent the day.
I include old photos of friends and relatives who have since passed on and how their lives affected mine.

I include the photos and stories of friends and family who have received medical results that weren't good, and how their struggles gave me hope and strength.
Although I try to make all of my scrapbooks meaningful and visually appealing, I find that this book is truly a labor of love.

One of a great scrapbook ideas is a calendar theme scrapbook. I took care of my grandfather who had Cancer Disease for the last 3 years.
For the New Year, I started a calendar album. I decorated each calendar page and placed photos, cards, etc. on the adjoining page.
Each night, I journaled the days events into the coordinating date.
Now that he is gone, I can look back at how he spent his last year with us.

Like so many families, each year we receive Christmas card "photos" from family and friends. This year I decided to scrap them into an album -dividing it by family. I've gone back and taken out all the old cards and even the family "letters" with the hope of putting them into one large album.
Next year when the holiday rolls around and family members come over, I'll leave it out on the coffee table so everyone can see "what difference a year makes" (or many years in some cases!).

I took extra die cuts that were purchased, but never used, and put them into an album for my nephew. One page showed an ark. The lettering was done with stencils (to save $). On this particular page it said: "One red ark". I continued this up to ten. Some pages were crowded but it worked nicely. On the unused pages of the album I placed shapes of paper and continued naming the shapes. He enjoys books so much, I knew he would love this one too.

A great scrapbook idea for a loved one in your life who has lost a loved one in their life. Create an album showing their life together using pictures of their wedding day, birth of their children, holidays and vacations spent together etc. At the end of the album place a picture of the loved one who has deceased with a poem dedicating the scrapbook to them and the life they have lived. It is a beautiful way to show someone how much they have touched your life and the lives of many others. And these scrapbook ideas will help you.