I have found that sometimes it can be really helpful to create the basic organization of my scrapbooks before starting them. For example, for a travel scrapbook I want to make sure I tell the story of the trip. Creating the basic structure first:
- helps me pare down the pictures that I will use and to choose what photos will best support the story
- gives me a chance to see approximately how many pages I will have so I can decide whether it will reasonably fit into one scrapbook, whether I want to split it into two or more scrapbooks, or whether I want to leave out more pictures to keep it to a manageable number of pages
- and it helps to make sure I know how much space I will need to reserve on the page for the journaling.
- In addition, it helps me be more efficient when it comes to actually printing the pictures and creating the album pages. It can go quite quickly when I already know everything I want to have on the page.
Here is the format I've found useful.
I create a table with 3 columns. Each row is a double page spread (or two single pages - except for the lone first and last pages, of course). I will sometimes use color to distinguish between what I want on the first of the two pages, and what goes on the 2nd.
- The first column describes the basic content of the pages.
- The 2nd column lists the titles for the pages and any special papers, embellishments, or moods I want to use on the pages.
- The last column has the journaling or story that goes with the pictures on those pages.
For the journaling:
- When it is a trip I have taken, I try to remember to keep a bit of a diary - perhaps in the form of e-mails that I send to family and friends (and keep a copy for myself). This helps ensure I remember the story I wish to tell.
- When it is someone else's story, I like to sit at my computer, ask them questions, and type as fast as I can to get their story down. Of course, one could always use a tape recorder and then transcribe it if you aren't a fast typist.
I feel the story is VERY important. Without it, the pictures lose their value. With it, you have a fascinating album that all enjoy looking through.
2 comments:
Wow Cheryl,
What an Amazing Co-incidence. I am Shortly wanting to do a Travel Album from a Trip my Sister and I took in 2010.We mainly stayed in England with Family, but did a lot of Traveling as well.An Amazing Highlight was a 10 day stopover in China on the way home. (we live in Australia). WOW. We saw lots of AWESOME things throughout China including Many parts of the WONDER that is THE GREAT WALL. Being a Virgo I am very much a Notekeeper and I think I probably have some form of Journal/s with something written down for every day since I was about Six years old. I came back from that trip with 2 very full Journals. Anyway I LOVE the sound of your Idea as I will have a lot to Pare down so am thinking I might look into that. I do However have one Idea firmly Fixed in my head and that is to do a Double spread which will Involve Stitching the Best Great Wall Photos together and using this as my Focal. I firmly believe that this is the only way to do it Justice. What do you think about the Idea or do you have a Better One? Sorry for getting a bit long winded there. Many Thanks.
Beverley......
Beverly, I'm glad my ideas are helpful to you - not all that surprising since I'm also a Virgo. :)
Your idea about the great wall sounds cool - you'll have to post a link to it when you get it done, so I can see it! (See the top of my blog for link to instructions on how to do that.)
Best wishes on scrapbooking your travels. It can be a lot of fun. One of my favorite travel scrapbooks is actually a set of 5 scrapbooks I made about a very special trip my husband and I took to Australia and New Zealand for our 30th anniversary. I love looking at them to re-live our trip, and I've noticed that others seem to really enjoy looking through them as well.
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