1. Wish I Had: Found digital scrapbook software sooner. Many of the mistakes I made, I could have easily fixed if I had used the right program to edit my pages. Many of my mistakes are memorialized for eternity because I worked with paper and glue, as opposed to a mouse and CPU!
2. Glad I Didn’t: Learn to scrapbook with one-of-a-kind photos. Please don’t learn to scrapbook with your heritage or wedding pictures…please! I’m eternally grateful that I started scrapbooking with my newest photos.
3. Sorry That I: Shopped as if there’s no tomorrow. When I first started scrapbooking, I discovered a album and page protectors. I guess I was afraid the album company would discontinue them, or that I would never be able to find them again…so I bought 4 albums and 400 page protectors. I still have some of those page protectors! Just remember, there are lots of supplies out there, and many manufacturers have websites so you can always get more later. And don’t forget, your tastes will change!
4. Glad I Always: Thought the journaling was important. You might look back on your first pages and think, “gee, my style has changed since those early days!” (or “yikes, what was I thinking?”) But I promise you will never regret putting a lot of journaling on your page.
5. Happy I Can Resist: Buying everything that fits a certain theme. Recently I wanted ballet items for a few photos of my daughter. I went to a scrapbooking convention, where the shopping choices are abundant. I had to resist buying ALL the ballet themed things I saw—after all, I only had a few photos. My solution? I used generic background paper that matched my daughter’s clothes, then accented the page with a few ballet-themed stickers. Otherwise, I would have ended up with a lot of leftovers.
6 Sorry I Thought I Had to: Use every photo I had on a page. Now that I’ve been scrapbooking for awhile, I’ve learned to edit my photo useage. Instead of cramming six 4”x6” photos on a page, I’ll pick 2-3 of my favorites. The rest I store in a photo file. Tip: I’ve come to realize that all it takes is one good earthquake and my photo file will be completely disorganized, so I make sure the date written on the back of each picture with an acid-free pen.
7. Wish I Hadn’t: Overused embellishments. I love embellishments like stickers and other accents—and it’s easy to get carried away. When I look back on my albums, I find the pages I really love are very simply done with minimal embellishments, not those using all the stickers on the sheet. All you need to get started is a piece of background paper, some black or white cardstock to mat your photos, and maybe a few embellishments and a pen or computer to add journaling. That’s it.
8. Wish I Hadn’t: Created large, obvious titles for every page. I used to be title-obsessed, and felt every page had to have a title (sort of like a newspaper headline). I put giant titles reading across every page, created with alphabet stickers or template letters…that’s not bad, but I spent a lot of time making them: embellishing the stickers with fancy mats (probably cut with patterned scissors!) or taking forever to cut out lots of letters from a template. Unfortunately, the work wasn’t worth the effort. I ended up with pages that simply state the obvious: “Lauren 2001” or “Beach Trip 2002”. Now I put my energy into telling the story behind the photos.
One thing I always tell new scrappers is this: Don’t feel like you have to create page after page of masterpiece scrapbook pages. Scrapbooking magazines and idea books are great inspiration, but many new scrappers are more intimidated than inspired. You don’t need to create visual masterpieces on your very first try…or even your twentieth try. The people who create those pages have usually been doing it for a very long time, and have access to lots of supplies and techniques. My biggest tip? Find good Digital Scrapbook Software, and do you scrapbooking for fun and personal fulfillment, not as a chore. Enjoy the pages you make, and the things you learn as you practice!