Scrapbooking Ideas for Beginners

Scrapbooking – what is it and where to start

Scrapbooking for beginners is a type of manual creativity, which is based on the design and production of photo albums, the original storage of family photographs, personal stories in the form of photographs, drawings, newspaper clippings, and notes. An original wedding and New Year's album, personal diary, invitation card, gift box, picture, book, binding, envelope for money will be very beautiful. Scrapbooking is also suitable for beginners; it is worth choosing simple options, after mastering which it will be possible to move on to complex patterns.

At its core, scrapbooking acts as a unique way of storing stories, using tactile and visual techniques that replace the story. The photo album must be decorated in a special way and consist of separate leaves, each of which will express a complete thought (collage). Such original albums should cover one topic - the birth of a child, a wedding. For beginning craftsmen, there are ready-made diagrams (sketches).

In Russia, demobilization albums are widely popular, containing not only photographs, but also drawings, collages, interesting caricatures, wishes, and addresses of colleagues. The production of such original albums is carried out by soldiers who are novice craftsmen, and everything necessary can be collected during the service.

It simply doesn’t make sense to arrange all the photographs in the house in scrapbooking style, so a specific theme must be chosen, after which photos will be selected to match it. Beginning scrapbookers may find it tiring to spend a long time creating a masterpiece, but after completing a few elements, they will have a desire to continue practicing this art.

What you need for scrapbooking

Scrapbooking for beginners requires patience and preparation of materials. You will immediately want to buy a lot of things for work, but you should not buy too expensive tools. For beginning scrapbooking masters, you need to select a starter set of tools that are not very expensive, and any beginner can purchase them. It is not necessary to buy professional tools that experienced scrapbookers use.

Materials

If you have decided to engage in this type of art, beginning scrapbooking craftsmen will need the following materials:

• scissors (several types);
• Double-sided tape;
• glue;
• paper and pencil;
• sewing machine;
• figured hole punch;
• buttons, ribbons, rhinestones;
• cardboard or cutting mat;
• rubber stamps;
• ruler and scissors.

Tools

Beginner scrapbookers should have the following tools:

• You need to take several types of scissors (small and large).
• Double-sided bulk tape, special adhesive tape for photos.
• Simple PVA is ideal for gluing paper.
• You will need special shaped hole punches, but there is no need for beginner scrapbookers to buy more than 2 pieces.

• For a beautiful and original decoration of a notebook or photo frame, ribbons of various thicknesses, rhinestones, buttons or other decorative materials that are at hand can be used.
• For cutting parts, simple cardboard or thick old magazines are suitable.
• Scrapbooking for beginners does not require too many tools, so it is not necessary to purchase a sewing machine; it is not always needed. Instead, take a simple thick needle or thin awl.
• You will only need a few rubber stamps, which come with stamp pads. Wet wipes can be used to clean dies, but only those that do not contain alcohol; beginner scrapbookers can wash them with warm water and soap.
• Experienced scrapbookers use eyelet installers, and beginners can buy kits for their installation in specialized sewing stores.
• The ruler with scissors will be replaced by a special cutter (a simple metal ruler, a stationery knife).

Scrapbooking materials

The quality of the materials is very important, since albums should last for many years and remind of pleasant events for perhaps more than one generation. An important point for all scrapbooking details is that all materials that come into contact with the photo must be chemically neutral (acid-free and lignin-free).

The basis for everything is paper. Usually they use albums in A4 format (21cmx27cm) or 30cmx30cm. You can take separate sheets of paper and collect them into albums. Paper for scrapbooking should be thick, it comes in different colors, patterned, decorated with various details; tracing paper, cardboard, watercolor paper, etc. are also often used. Cardboard is most often used for covers.

Various cuttings or die-cuts (figures made of thin cardboard), chipboards (figures made of thick cardboard). All this can be either purchased or made independently. Of course, in this type of hobby, you can’t go anywhere without photography. They actively use memorabilia - candy wrappers, labels, tickets, newspapers, etc. Just various household items - buttons, ribbons, threads, beads, laces, bows, shells, stickers of various themes. All these things are used for decoration. Decorations can be either flat or voluminous.

Sketches

Scrapbooking sketches for beginners will help greatly facilitate the step-by-step process of creating original photo albums, postcards, and notebooks. For beginning craftsmen, sketches will be a real lifesaver, because they can give new ideas and inspiration when creating an original photo album, frame, or notepad. If you can’t make a scrapbook page yourself, you should pay attention to ready-made templates (blanks) for scrapbooking.

How to make scrapbooking frames with your own hands

To make an original photo frame with your own hands, novice scrapbookers will need the following materials:

• scrap paper (1 sheet);
• pencil;
• ruler;
• scissors;
• non-writing pen or stick;
• photo;
• stationery knife;
• glue;
• scotch.

A step-by-step plan will help you avoid mistakes and do all the work correctly, and a stencil will help you make a beautiful inscription, which will be simply irreplaceable in the initial stages. To create an original and unusual photo frame, you should use a variety of stencils that help you make various drawings, which will be important for people who do not know how to draw beautifully. Scrapbooking video tutorials for beginners will become an indispensable assistant in creating a real masterpiece.

1. At the initial stage, the sheet of cardboard is divided according to the pattern shown in the photo.
2. Using a stationery knife, carefully cut out the middle. A cardboard frame is glued to the back of the scrap paper.
3. Inside the frame, carefully cut the paper crosswise and use a non-writing pen to make the sides of the bends.

1. The corners are cut off, approximately 5 cm is removed from the edge of the cardboard. The upper and lower parts of the future frame are determined. Not very large cuts are made at the top, which should be slightly larger than the photograph. Scotch tape is glued around the perimeter of the frame, with the exception of the top part.
2. A piece of cardboard is glued to the back to prevent the photo from falling out. The corners of the frame are bent on all sides; it is necessary to cut out all excess.
3. A footrest is made from the remaining cardboard and attached to the frame.

1. Almost any decoration can be used to decorate a photo frame - flowers, letters, beads, rhinestones, any available material. A digital camera will help you take beautiful photos for an entire showroom of original photo frames.

Creativity for girls

Little girls especially like crafts, but girls are also delighted with such things. To make such a product for a girl, you need to use as many bright ribbons, beads, and beautiful pictures as possible. And to make scrapbooking even more enjoyable, you can create it together with your child, selecting photographs and clippings together.

In this master class we will make scrapbooking panels for photos. The child will definitely like this idea and the creation process will be exciting and memorable.

What we need to prepare:

• colored sheets of paper for scrapbooking, maybe take wallpaper;
• brown roll of paper;
• shoe box;
• glue;
• cardboard;
• lace;
• scissors;
• paper knife.

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We take a shoe box, but in the middle we cover it with colored scrapbooking paper, then we start gluing the outer parts with brown paper. Now you need to make partitions inside using cardboard, as shown in the photo below. Next, make decorations on the sides using lace. You can take ribbons, beads, make any decoration using wire, butterflies, insects, bows, flowers. Now that the box is covered and decorated, all that remains is to attach the selected photographs.

You and your child need to choose in advance those photos that will be on this impromptu shelf of memories.

Now take the paper with the drawings and cut out a circle, and then cut out a spiral, as shown in the photo below. Wrap the spiral around a pencil and form a rose. When the flower is ready, glue it to the edge of the box. And now our product is ready.

Notepad scrapbooking technique

To make a beautiful notebook with your own hands, a novice crafter will need the following materials:

• Super glue;
• thin felt;
• scissors;
• double-sided tape (sticky film);
• notebook and paint;
• decorative elements for decoration.

1. Thin felt is laid out on the table, after which a notepad is laid out in the center, about 10 cm is left for hemming the material around the perimeter, all excess is cut off (it is necessary to cut out the shape of the notebook).
2. Double-sided tape is glued to the inside of the cover, the notebook is folded together with the felt, and all the lines are carefully smoothed by hand (the binding should be evenly covered with the material). Corners need to be cut.
3. All edges of the felt cover are glued, each bend is pressed well so that the glue has time to set. The notepad is closed and pressed down on top with any hard object.
4. At the very end, the notebook cover is decorated - a pre-prepared blank or template and colored paint are used (colors can be very diverse - black, scarlet, gold, green, yellow, blue). The most important thing is that the paint is completely dry.

Basic Scrapbooking Techniques

In addition to the direct creation of compositions, the scrapbooking technique involves several basic decorative techniques. Mastering them will allow you to bring a variety of ideas to life.

• Stamping. It is for this technique that rubber and silicone stamps are used. They are indispensable for those who create a composition with many small drawings. Working with them is quite simple. To obtain a clear print, you need to apply ink evenly to the stamp.
• Distressing is used to artificially age paper. This effect can be achieved by creating torn edges, scuffs and scratches, changing the tone with special ink. In addition, using craquelure you can achieve cracking of varnish and paint.

How to create a distress effect

• Embossing is used to create convex patterns. With cold stamping, the design is extruded using stencils. With hot embossing, a special powder is applied to the ink, which is then heated and melted. For this you will need a special hairdryer.

Embossing in scrapbooking

Video tutorials for scrapbooking postcards

Things that were made with your own hands, and this is scrapbooking for beginners, are in a real trend and are becoming more and more popular every day. It is possible to buy ready-made exclusive items or be patient to create a work of art. Having made just one card for Christmas or a birthday, you may not even notice how scrapbooking will become a favorite hobby and very soon not only at home, but also at friends’ houses there will be beautiful souvenirs. The children's theme will interest schoolchildren, because it is ideal for beginning young craftsmen.

Children's Birthday Card

Children's Card / Scrapbooking for Beginners / The Workshop

Photo album

Using the scrapbooking technique, you can make not only shelves, but also a photo album. You can decorate it with special paper with different patterns and geometric shapes. Recently, paper with stripes or polka dots has been very popular. You can make such albums for your loved ones - mom, dad, brother or even sister. It is precisely these drawings that will look elegant and will not convey anything childish. Stripes can be used for men, and polka dots for women.

What is needed to create a photo album:

• canvas;
• thick paper with markings in millimeters;
• padding polyester;
• glue;
• scissors;
• eyelets;
• ring.

We take the album and calculate its dimensions, our album measures 30 by 30 cm. Now we transfer these measurements to cardboard and padding polyester. Using glue, glue the padding polyester fabric onto thick paper. Next, take canvas and cut out a square, but so that on each side it is one centimeter larger than the main size. We glue this fabric onto the padding polyester, we wrap the inside side, and to cover the ugly pieces, we glue white paper on top. The back of the album is ready.

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Now let's start making the front part of the album. We take thick paper again and cut out a square of the same size - 30 by 30, but with one difference - we cut out a small square inside. Next, we glue padding polyester and canvas to the back, but do not cut out the window. Only when everything is glued, we carefully cut out the window, but so that a little more fabric remains from the canvas, and glue the edges to the cardboard. We take a photograph and glue it into the window, and then we begin to cover the entire side with thick paper. At a distance of 2 cm from the edge, we make holes, you can use an awl, and insert eyelets, and then rings. The album is ready, you can decorate it with any decorative elements. And if you use paper with Christmas trees, New Year's attributes, you will get a New Year's craft.