Scraplog

Scrapbooking: The Garden Party

You probably remember this recent post about my wonderful friend Martha who threw me a flowerbed makeover party for my birthday. I took a bunch of pictures not only so I could blog about it but so I could also make a little scrapbook for Martha as a thank you gift.

I finished the book a few weeks ago and here are a few of the finished pages:

As I’ve said before, I love to make mini books. I especially love to make them for other people. But, as you know, they can take a while. This particular mini book I made pretty quickly and I thought I would share with you a few tips on how to make a mini book fast. This is especially handy when you are making it to give away!

1. Don’t crop your pictures. I didn’t crop my pictures before or after I printed them. Which means I printed them the exact size I wanted to use and how they were straight out of the camera. When you make photos custom sizes it takes longer. It also takes longer to crop them when you are scrapping. If you use them just as they are, you will save time.

2. Put your pictures in order before you start scrapping. When i sat down, I put all of my pictures into order of how I was going to scrap them. Then I decided what would go on which page. When I started scrapping, I didn’t have to try and sort through every time to make sure I was going in the right order or worry if I was forgetting something. Plus, you can keep yourself limited to a certain number of pages if you need to. Organization does help!

3. Don’t use clever titles. Whenever I try to think of a clever title, I spend way too much time just sitting there thinking. Before I started this book I decided to make all the titles basic. They just explain simply what’s going on. For example: the before pictures, the mulch, the gang, etc… It made it so much easier to not have to think!

4. Don’t use letter stickers. Don’t get me wrong, letter stickers are my favorite! But I realized I spend a lot of time going through them to make sure I have the right letters for what I am trying to spell. And then when I don’t, I have to start over with another set. If you simply write your titles and journaling by hand or use something like a typewriter, computer, or dymo tape, you always have what you need.

5. Use the same page elements. Keep it simple. Instead of trying to find the perfect embellishment for each page, I simply had a couple sheets of embellishments that worked with my color scheme and added them as needed. Instead of digging through every rub on, sticker, and embellishment you have for every page, have what you need out and things will move along quickly.

6. Use paper from a set. I usually like to mix and match paper from different companies. I think it adds more depth and variety. But, if you are trying to scrap fast, it can take up a chunk of time trying to match different companies together. For this album, I chose a pack of paper from My Mind’s Eye and pretty much used them exclusively. I also grabbed a few papers from my scrap drawer at the beginning that worked well and used them too. Then I just used them over and over. It makes the book feel like it flows well and it saves time!

7. Keep your book and journal boxes small. The more space you have to fill, the longer it takes. Keep it small and you can whip it out in no time. Keep your journaling to a minimum and you don’t have to sit there and think of something to write. Just simply write what happened and that’s it.

I hope these little tips help! I know they are nothing earth shattering but I stuck to them when I made this little book and it only took me a few hours which is really fast for me! I also made another mini as a gift (which I will reveal later) and I was able to fly through that one as well. Now go get scrapping!!!