- Choosing a theme for a scrapbook or a card will help narrow down your choices of materials. Who is the intended audience? Is the card or scrapbook related to a holiday or significant event? If there isn't a specific person or event associated with the project, adopting a color or pattern scheme provides unity and balance. Examples of popular themes include: holidays, baby's first, birthdays, graduation, pets, school years, anniversaries, weddings, romance, awards, favorites (gifts, books, movies, television shows, toys or fashions), gardening, vacations, parties, sports, keepsakes and mementos. After choosing a unified design, find materials that will illustrate your message.
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The most basic materials needed are cardstock, paper, adhesive, cutting tools, pens, and embellishments or photos. Cardstock can be bought individually or in value packs; value packs are useful if you are creating multiple scrapbooks and cards. Cardstock and regular paper is available in solid colors or patterns. Patterned paper can be used as backgrounds, borders, or embellishments. When cutting paper, save the scraps for later projects; you can embellish other projects or use larger scraps as photo mounts. For a textured look, crumple paper; cardstock is easier to crumple if you apply a few drops of water.
Adhesive, cutting tools and pens are widely varied. Basic types include liquid and stick glue, tape, scissors, trimmers, markers and pigment pens. For scrapbooks, always use acid-free materials that will not bleed through pages. To create bordered edges on scrapbook pages or cards, use specialty scissors, like wavy and valley-edge, or shaped punchers.
Embellishments enhance the chosen theme of scrapbooks and cards. Cutouts, stickers, ribbon, papyrus, vellum, stamps and quotes are popular choices; quotes can be used through purchased quote-books, hand-written, or printed from a computer.
Photos personalize any craft project; they can be printed at home, or developed by online print shops and drugstores. Photos are usually organized chronologically, in collages, or categorically. Categories include but are not limited to: events, activities, families, colors, individuals or actions. Although these are the most popular formatting techniques, you should lay out your photos however will best fit the theme of the scrapbook or card.
