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Why do beginners love scrapbooking tips? Because tips save you money, make you more efficient and even make you grasp, “Wow, I never thought of that!”. And it’s fun trying and experimenting with something new.
This series of tips and ideas will spotlight easy-to-apply scrapbooking techniques even beginners can apply. It also highlights must-try scrapbooking ideas you might have overlooked.
Run through this list of scrapbook tips. Pick up a few or many ideas or techniques you can use right away on your next scrapbook layout.
Tip No. 1
Choose a focal-point photo. Treat other photos as “accessories” that help you to tell the rest of the story. As we read from left to right, the top left-hand corner is an excellent point for your focal-point photo when you have several photos you want to use on your layout.
Tip No. 2
You don’t have to mat every single photo on your scrapbook layout unless you want it to stand out from the background. Mat your focal-point photo though or enlarge its size for emphasis.
Tip No. 3
Wrap ribbons around your focal-point photo to add emphasis.
Tip No. 4
Want to draw the eyes to the focal-point photo? Use colored photo corners to spotlight your focal-point photo instead of matting it.
Tip No. 5
Don’t have any ribbons to add to your scrapbook layouts? Cut out strips from your lined patterned papers and adhere these faux ribbons to your pages.
Tip No. 6
Don’t throw away your soda tabs! Save them and use them as the “buckle” on your ribbons. If you want, you can sand the rough edge down a bit. I’ve used this tip several times and I really like the look. The “buckle” works with paper strips too.
Tip No. 7
Run out of adhesive dots to hold down your ribbon to the page? Fret not, tack down the ribbons using brads at both ends.
Tip No. 8
Lace a strip of ribbon through punched holes along one side of the background page to create a pretty-looking page border.
Tip No. 9
Use fabric as your background design or cut it up in strips and use them as ribbons for your layouts.
Tip No. 10
To add a fun twist to your handmade accent, adhere a piece of string or ribbon to frame around your page accent.
Tip No. 11
Do you love the stitched look but can’t sew? Use rub-on stitches or here’s what I would normally do, use a fine-tip pen and draw the dashes to resemble the stitched look without needle and thread! Not perfect, but it saves me plenty of time.
Tip No. 12
Don’t have an ink stamp pad to add emphasis to your edges? Use a fine-tip black pen and draw lightly on the edges to create an inked look.
Tip No. 13
Tips on choosing pens: pick a fine-tipped pen for a simple look; pick a bolder pen for a more casual look. Have a few sizes on hand and experiment with different ones.
Tip No. 14
Personalize your layout with your handwritten journaling. Lightly draw some straight lines with a pencil, sketch in your words, then go over them with a pigment-ink pen. Erase off the pencil marks and you’ll have almost perfect handwriting.
Tip No. 15
Handwrite your journaling and break them up into lines on cardstock. Cut it into strips and adhere them in order to your layout with adhesive tape. Give your page a random, fun look.
Tip No. 16
Add a premade envelope to your layout to tuck in the extra journaling. Give your envelope a unique look by customizing it to your preference. You can also use the library pocket to tuck in your extra journaling too.
Tip No. 17
No place to write out your journaling? Journal on a tag or a piece of cardstock and tuck it neatly behind a photo by making sure to adhere only three edges of the photo and leave an opening to slot in your tag. Here’s where you can write more heartfelt words without others looking at them too.
Tip No. 18
Want to create a unique handwritten title? Handwrite with wide enough space between each letter. Cut out each handwritten letter and mat it on a cardstock. Be amazed by how your handwritten title will look just like a unique font!
Tip No. 19
Give your layout an edgy or casual look by using staples to fasten journaling blocks, page titles or page accents.
Tip No. 20
Using journaling strips on your page? Ink around the edges of the journaling strips for emphasis.
Tip No. 21
For another great background, cut out tall triangles from patterned paper. Ink the edges of the cut triangles to add emphasis. Then adhere these triangles to your cardstock and you got an edgy-looking background.
Tip No. 22
To add more visual interest to your flower accents, add a brad to the flower center; brads can help you fasten the flower to the page.
Tip No. 23
Besides brads, you can add a button to the flower center. If you’re using buttons, you can even tie a knot with embroidery floss. Then add an adhesive dot to the back of the button to adhere it to your layout.
Tip No. 24
For an interesting way to adhere word definition stickers or word accents to your page, use paper clips. Your office stationery can come in handy.
Tip No. 25
To make your photos pop, just add a white mat. To save time, ask your photo lab to print your photos with a white border.
Tip No. 26
For interesting contrasts to your page, pair colored photos with black & white photos.
Tip No. 27
Use washi tapes as page accents. Depending on the designs of the washi tapes, you can create fun, cute looks or sweet and pretty looks for your layouts.
Tip No. 28
Use chipboard letters for an outstanding page title that will add a layer of dimension to the page.
DIY Thickers Alphabet Stickers 6×11 Sheets 2/Pkg-Eric/Burlap Chipboard
Tip No. 29
How to spread liquid adhesive quickly over a large surface area? Instead of dumping those phony plastic credit cards you received in the mail, save them. Then you can simply use these wasted plastic cards as glue spreaders. Use the plastic card to swipe and spread the liquid glue into a thin, even layer over a big surface area. What’s more? You can just wipe the card clean and reuse them again and again.
Tip No. 30
Tone down the look of your bright patterned paper by layering a piece of vellum over it.
Tip No. 31
For a cutting-edge look, print your page title on a piece of vellum and place the printed vellum over a piece of photo.
Tip No. 32
For an elegant look, write your journaling on a piece of cardstock then place a piece of vellum over the journaling block.
Tip No. 33
Is your background competing with your photos? Lay a piece of vellum over the background to mute the strong background colors.
Tip No. 34
Want to position your text perfectly on your layout? Print your text on transparency and you can easily position it wherever you want it to go.
Tip No. 35
You can also add visual interest to your background by using punches. Punch out using cardstock and add these page accents to help you create an interesting background design.
Tip No. 36
For fast page accents, simply cut out designs from patterned papers. Adhere glue dots to these cutouts to your page for added height and you’re done! Saves money too.
Tip No. 37
Create your very own handmade accents by using ordinary cut-out shapes like flowers, hearts, stars, suns and trees to decorate your layout.
Tip No. 38
Want an eye-catching background? Cut a piece of patterned paper into a large curved shape and attach it to your cardstock. It instantly creates visual interest in your background. You can use freehand, bowls, plates and anything round to help you draw the curved shape.
Tip No. 39
Want to add decorative elements to your photo mat? Then keep the mat quite thick, at least 1/2″ so that the mat won’t look cluttered up when decorated.
Tip No. 40
Do like to mat your letters and yet you don’t have the time to do so much cutting? A shortcut is to trace around each letter with a fine-tipped pen in your desired color and leave some space along the edges for you to color in with the same colored pen.
Tip No. 41
Save time by matting a few photos on the same piece of cardstock to create a “filmstrip” effect. Just place and space the photos evenly and cut. A time-saving technique I enjoy using.
Tip No. 42
Find it a challenge to coordinate papers? Keep a lookout for companies that offer lines of coordinating papers. These coordinating papers can easily match one another on a layout. Reduce your coordinating time and spend more time scrapbooking instead.
Tip No. 43
Be bold with your fonts. Mix fonts in your page title to create a dynamic, fun and random look to your layout!
Tip No. 44
For a great page title, cut out letters from patterned paper to form your title.
Tip No. 45
You don’t always need a page title. Sometimes your journaling is sufficient for the page. Sometimes, simply writing one or two words in your journaling in capitals might be enough to convey the main story of the page. So save your title.
Tip No. 46
For another quick page accent, print or handwrite a favorite quote on a strip of cardstock and adhere it to your page.
Tip No. 47
Want a more energetic look to your page? Tilt your photos slightly to create “movement” on your page.
Tip No. 48
Enjoy tearing pages? Now you can give a more textured look to your scrapbook page by tearing off one side of your patterned paper and adhering it on top of a piece of cardstock. Fast and easy way to add more visual interest to a layout.
Tip No. 49
Add more texture to your cardstock by crumbling it. Cardstock can be quite stiff, so runs it under a drizzle of water to soften it. Then start crumpling the cardstock. To dry it, flatten it out and use a towel to absorb the moisture. Let it dry completely before using it.
Tip No. 50
Scraplift (copy) a scrapbook layout to quickly achieve a fantastic-looking layout! I love looking at others’ layouts and I love scraplifiting those designs that caught my eye. Even with scraplifting, you can create very different looks. So you’ll still retain your unique look. Look through others’ scrapbook layouts. See any inspiring layouts that you really like? Scraplift that page.
I hope this series of 50 scrapbooking tips will let you think out of the box and come up with creative uses for your existing scrapbooking supplies!
Thanks for the many tips. They sound fun, and they are inexpensive and save time.
Hi Sally, try out some of these tips and see how they work out for you. Have fun! :)
Thanks for the tips! Gave me lots of ideas. :)
Where can I find this book because it takes me a long time to do one page. I would like to learn faster techniques.
Hi Lori,
Which book are you referring to? I don’t have a physical book or a digital book containing my scrapbooking information. My scrapbooking articles are only available on this website for readers to learn about scrapping.
Was asked to make a scrapbook for our camping club. I have never done a scrapbook, but you have given me some good tips. Now I need to get to work. Thanks
You’re welcome, LaRayne!
Hello!!
As a Screen Printer by profession I was thrilled to read the vellum transparency tips!! I am always looking for ways to reduce my quantity, reuse the retired pieces & recycle it when possible! This gives me loads of ideas! Thank you!
Hi Kim,
Glad to hear that you find these scrapbooking tips helpful! :)