Help with SIMPLE scrapbooks for a newbie!

Hah, is there even such a thing as a SIMPLE scrapbook? I'm a complete scrapbook newbie and I'm overwhelmed by all the info, options, and "fancy" layouts I've seen on this site! This is my first post, and I could use some help.

I have a 4 year old daughter, and I have all the photos since she was born in a box or on a disk waiting to go somewhere. Her baby book is still empty too (I'm so ashamed!). Well, I'm determined to get these photos in books/albums asap because I'm pregnant with #2. So here are a few newbie questions...

1. Since #2 is on the way, I'm wondering if it's best to have separate sets of books for each child or everything mixed in one set of family books?

2. I have photos, newspaper clippings, drawings, miscellaneous scraps, and my journal entries about my dd. Is it possible for all these to go in the same books? I'd love for everything to be in one place chronologically.

3. I'm not looking to create beautiful art here, like I've seen with the amazing layouts in the gallery. I just want to stick the things in a book as I have them, perhaps on a sheet of lovely background paper, and forget it. My mom used the scrapbooks with the sticky pages and plastic covers and everything just got stuck in there chronologically... it's a near perfect system in my eyes (except that the photos are yellowed now and many are permanently stuck... sigh). What's the easiest kind of book/system to go with to make things simple and archive-safe.

4. Oh, and I took lots of photos, especially daughter's first year. So what books/sizes will hold the most?

Phew, I think that's all for now... any help is so much appreciated!
-Clueless in the Scrapbook Aisle-

Have you looked into digi scrapping?
Honestly, IMO if your goal is to just get all this stuff put in a book chronologically, then buying a bunch of papercrafting stuff is going to be a waste. If you're not doing it to enjoy it and create fun pages, then you'll most likely get bored and stressed out.
You can take photos of the newspaper clippings (they will yellow and crumble with time if you use the real things) and memorabilia and put them on digital pages. You can use digital elements over and over and over again - no need to pay for more than one use. I have put very simple digi books together in just a couple of hours. Whereas with scrapbooking, it takes me 20 plus hours for each book at LEAST>

The basic answer is that you can do whatever you want, there are NO rules of any kind in scrapbooking.

Probably the simplest of all would be to use page protectors like the ones I've linked below. Not much work involved, just fill 'em up. You could intersperse these with more crafty pages containing the journalling, drawings, etc., so you can keep it all in chronological order. And they don't have to be very crafty at all - if you just want to glue them down to a pretty sheet of paper and move on, by all means do so.

The sticky-back pages your mom used (generally called 'magnetic photo albums' I think), are definitely not good for photos.

Whether you do separate books for each child or combine them as family books is up to you. Do you want to hold on to them so you can enjoy them throughout your life, or do you intend to give the books to the children when they graduate from college or get married or something like that?

Thanks... I thought about doing all the photos digitally, but I get hung up on some of the scraps that I'd want to use the originals anyway. I'd probably hand write any journal entries, so they would be in my handwriting. I guess I'm sentimental about a few things.

But on second thought, digital may be a lot easier in the long run, so maybe I should just keep a memory box with some original scraps and keep my journal as a separate book... I don't know if anyone looking through the book would really want to read my journal anyway.

Something to think about... thanks for the suggestion!

• stick Said:

I LOVE this idea! Why have I not seen these before at the craft store?? I was probably too dazed from the aisles and aisles of paper and stickers! I'm going to investigate further...

• stick Said:

Huh, I hadn't thought of it like that before. My immediate thought is: Both! I'd love to hang onto them for life, but I bet my kids will want to take something with them when they move on too. Eek! Is there a solution that can work for both?

There are lots of free printables for journaling cards that fit into those slots.

If you like, you can get some patterned paper to cut into filler for some of the slots. This breaks up the page a little, and also you can start a new "subject" on it's own page without leaving a hole, or the back side of another picture.

I'm with you on simple. My 12 x 12 pages have minimal decoration, I'm all about telling the story!

• Melonhead Said:

Ooh, good ideas! Those photo sleeve pages are looking like a great option. I could put a simple title or something on the filler pages too. Where do you find the free printables? Just google it or is it on this site somewhere?

1.you should do separate books for each and do a family one too
2.yes but save a little for family books
3.try to separate thing into the same category
4.I'm new too so don't know what to say

your welcome

I LOVE those pocket page protectors. I really ought to post pics of what I've done with them while doing a vacation album - included pics, journaling, ticket stubs, itineraries, etc. I did some standard 12x12 pages and slipped them in the album too. I'm a chronological scrapper too (well, I might not do them in order, but I put the book together in order).

Oh, and d-ring (3-ring) albums are super easy to work with. I'm a fan of the post-bound for the nicer "finished" look at the end, but you can't beat d-ring for the ease of use.

I did separate for my kids and have already given them their books. More work for me, so much easier for them. And I have a set of books where everything goes so I'm making some duplicate pages now.

Making a book for granddaughter and it is pictures I've scrapped which they sent me. However, if we are in them or if it is really special, it goes in my chronological book too.

I like paper and scissors layouts, but that is me. I don't strive to be a great scrapbook artist either. That just isn't important to me. I want them to look nice and be something my family can be proud of.

I also want to get my things in a book chronologically and seldom take the time to b really creative because I scrap so much! We travel a lot so I alwyas have a stack of things to scrap to keep current.

But I don't consider it a waste to buy paper and adhesives, that is what I love about the hobby and I love the dimension. Its nice when my pages are nice and creative, but that isn't my goal.

Yes, put all your memorabilia in the same book.

I spray it first with "Make it Acid Free" so it will hopefully last longer.

I hope you will journal - someday your kids will want to read every word you have written. The pictures just don't always tell the story, there is more to it. Some of my pages are nothing but journaling. I love to read and I love to write. Their scrapbooks are where are their amusing stores are growing up.

Even with my husband I journal our funny stories.

I think you might be very interested in Simple Stories (http://simplestories.typepad.com/) products and/or Project Life (http://www.beckyhiggins.com/products/).

Definitely use D-Ring albums.

As for organizing, you may want to look into Library of Memories (Stacy Julian's organizational system). Pretty much the way it's designed is that you have 4 album categories:
All About Us -- includes you and your immediate family (husband and kids)
People We Love -- everybody else
Places We Go -- covers home and travel
Things We Do -- covers holidays, traditions, everyday life, collections, hobbies, etc.
It sounds like you would mostly be doing an ALL ABOUT US album set.

In Stacy's case, in her "All About Us" (family) album, there are 11 subsections. First, 7 subsections for layouts featuring each individual person in her family (herself, husband, each of her 5 children), and then 4 more subsections -- a subsection called "Together Forever" for layouts featuring the whole family together, a subsection called "Oh Brother" for layouts just about her 4 sons, and a subsection called "Just the Girls" for layouts just about her and her daughter. So when one of those "All About Us" albums gets full, she takes the thickest subsection (meaning she scrapbooks that topic the most) and moves into another, identical album (so she has numerous volumes). Thus she will have "All About Us", Vol 3 - and it will contain all layouts about one of her children, or all layouts about "brothers", or whatever.

Definitely journal..... I would so love to have read the thoughts of my ancestors!
Tip.... for those stuck-on photos in the old photo albums, try using dental floss to slide underneath the photo to try and pry it loose.
And if you have a scanner... it would be nice to scan those pics in, so they they can be kept longer.

Have fun

I think a great place to start is in the back of peoples galleries! Just visit the back of some of those fancy layout galleries & you will see how they have changed as they have grown into awesome scrappers with lots of supplies! It takes time to get a style & I love to see where they have started from! The backs of the scrappers gallery is usually a bit more basic, without all the time learned techniques & supplies!!!

i am a simple scrapper. you can check out my gallery. today i did a layout with a background paper, photo mats and 3 pieces of ribbon. i like it.

i have 2 kids (13 mo apart). they each have their own scrapbooks and i have another for the entire family. i print pics every month. if i don't get time to scrap i don't have to worry because the pics are printed for later.

hth

Where can you find "Make It Acid Free"? Is this the real name? How effective is it?
Thanks

A real quickie that I found recently in are mat stacks. Basically, they are themed paper designed to fit a 4x6 photo. Just matting the picture and then putting it onto paper will give a nice effect with little effort. You could use plain mats and stick them on patterned paper or patterned mats and stick them on plain paper. Really cute and quick. I'm a newbie too... I started in October and have just done a few lo's. I don't plan to spend a ton of time on all my photos, just some key ones. The rest, I plan to mat and stick

Better get going, with No. 2 on the way Congratulations and welcome to sbing.

Lunie

Okay, this is so much help! Sounds like I should start with 3-ring books, plan to make a set for each child AND a family set for me, and get some photo sleeve pages, some mat stacks, and some "Make it acid free". That should be a good start!

I opened THE BOX tonight. Scary... everything has just been thrown in there. The scraps are all mixed up and a lot don't have dates on them, the photos are all out of order. I've forgotten the answers to a lot of the questions in the baby book. Oh my. I've got to get organized and get moving.

First of all visit your local scrapbook shop. I like Archivers and its a chain. Ask them what Easy Layout Albums they have. I've seen ones for baby and kids. I personally think the album style to go is "Hybrid" and We R Memory Keepers makes the best pages and albums. I'm doing an album for each of my 3 kids and one for myself. You can scrap a fav pic and the next page can just be related pics on a page of photo sleeves because We R memory keepers makes the pages all different and you can mix them up in the album. One page can be a scrapbook page protector and the page next to it could be a collage of vertical or horizontals pics or a mix. I'm doing my parents 50 years of pics with that system and so thankful to have found it. Also, if you have an Archivers Shop near you they can copy pics really nicely for you and then you can give one to kids album and keep other or whatever. You can also have the big 12X12 pages copied and keep one in each album. Just some tips I've learned that are very helpful! Good luck and Have fun!Cheers!

Also, before you go to your local scrapbook shop you might want to go online and subscribe to their website and see if you get any coupons right away. Gotta have those!

Well, I've got 15 years of 3 kids photos & 50 years of my parents pics to do. Maybe that will make yours seem not so overwhelming! My dining room has become a scrapbooking war zone! I happened upon some awesome photo organizers at my local hobby store and thats helping a lot! The organizing sounds like what you need to start with. Good luck!

• mrgessler2006 Said:

Yikes... you definitely have your hands full then. I counted last night and I have nearly 400 4x6 pics printed of daughter's 1st year. I know I narrowed them down to the best ones too before printing them. Not sure what I'm going to do with all of them!

I first bought "Make It Acid Free" at Archivers in Atlanta. We've moved to Florida and my LSS orders it for me. Got a call a few days ago that they have 2 cans for me to pick up when I get home.

They only way to know if it really works is to keep looking at the older stuff. So far its all holding up great with no yellowing or deteriorating.

• scraprabbit Said:

I was thinking about doing this... using the 3-rings to store pages while I am working on an album, then when I'm done, moving the finished pages to a post-bound album. How does this work? Are the post-bound and the 3-ring page protectors the same/compatible or would you have to buy different protectors for each album?

Archiver's has a easy scrapbooking sheets. Where ou just put it in the pockets, like someone mentioned above. I have not even started my kid's baby books (my son is 16 and daughter soon to be 14), but I have everything seperated and ready to be scrapped. Their first year I have seperate and then it all goes in to a "Remember (and the year) family album. As soon as I am caught up, I will make copies of the lo's and make a book for each kid. Hopefully, I will have this done before they have kids of their own. I highly recommend the 3ring albums. And 12x12 or larger. The 8x8 or smaller are a pain and take forever. They are good for smaller events but not for bigger ones.

For some good free prinables, start here:

http://pinterest.com/trisht/printables-i-l ove/

• shootapear Said:

Hmmm....I know some are, and some are a little different. I wish I had some brand names for you.

For the most part they are compatible. I ditched all my postbounds - 27 of them and went to all 3-ring.

I like the look of the postbound better but I like everything else about the 3-ring better. Sometimes I go back and add a page or move a page.

Also, the 3 rings will hold an entire vacation in one book. ANd the spines actually give you a place to list what is inside each book. I have 19 of the 3-rings completed.

The 27 post bounds made 17 or 18 nice 3-rings.

I thnk the divided page protectors are the way to go for the easiest/simplest scrapbooking. If you have an AC Moore near you, you will find the divided page protectors there. They are made by WRMK. I don't know if Michael's carries them. I've never seen them at my M's. You may be able to order them online, too. Here, of course, or other retailers. Even Amazon.

• shootapear Said:

I store my finished pages in one of the 12x12 plastic tubs, they hold a lot. Albums add up when they are in the $20 -30 range, When I bought my plastic case it was on sale for $8.

Something similar to this.......

I like the 3 ring albums because I mix and match the sizes of my page protectors: 12x12, 8.5x11 and 6x12. And like Henri pointed out, they hold a lot more pages than post bound. And I could never get the outside spine to look nice once I expanded them.
As for free printables, I just saw on the project life website that becky has posted some free printables (I'm sure they've been there a while but I just came across them last night). http://www.beckyhiggins.com/freestuff/
They are 3"x4" journaling cards on the right hand side. One style is plain grid paper but the other one further down matches two of the project life collections.

Mne didn't look right either once I expanded them - I just didn't care for the look of the expanded post bound books.

Plus, i couldn't find anything. Now I can write all the themes or subjects int he scrapbook on the spine! (Actually I type it.)