Scrapbooking - My Tips And Tricks

Hey everyone. So part of my 2016 goals was to write more blog posts about the things that inspire me that I really want to write about. So today, I thought I’d chat to you about one of my greatest loves: scrapbooking. Scrapbooking is no longer a thing for the moms of America and it isn’t a thing just for crafters. I love it and here I will show you how my 2015 scrapbook went, what I learnt and my plan for this year.

Last year I started my first proper scrapbook, and documented my whole year. I talked about it here and there, but in this post I will share with you it all.

So I decided to invest in a new type of scrapbooking last year- Project Life. Project Life by Becky Higgins, is a new kind of scrapbooking that focuses on creating a modern, fuss-free document of memories. This involves a huge 12” d-wring scrapbook, plastic divided page fillers and themed cards. There is a huge variety of different themes and cards on offer, although availability in the UK is far less than in America.

My 2015 scrapbook was from Amazon, and wasn’t actually Project Life but a similar version that worked just fine. The cards I got were one of the Mini kits, in the Dazzle edition.

Project Life offer lots of card options, including mini kits (the cheapest) and then value kits and core kits (rising in price to around £30). I would recommend the mini kit that I used last year, one small kit lasted me a whole year- with cards spare.

So my thoughts on Project Life: it’s great. I love how it opens up scrapbooking and yet there is still so much individuality and creativity in each and every scrapbook. However, it isn’t cheap (I forked out quite a bit last January) and after a bit, it can get a little repetitive with similar layouts in each page.

This year I decided to go my own way and have the best of both worlds. For me, my favourite pages in my 2015 scrapbook where the ones on white pages, similar to normal scrapbooks. So, I asked for a beautiful golden spot scrapbook this year from Paperchase and received it for Christmas. My plan is to combine cards from Project Life with the white-paged scrapbook, on much smaller pages.

Along with the new scrapbook, I also stocked up on some new scrapbooking bits and some old favourites I’ve learnt to trust from my past year of scrapbooking.

1.       New Project Life Cards- This year, I opted for a lovely set of vintage-inspired cards that came in a value kit. As always, I did my research before buying (I’d really recommend flick-through hauls on Youtube if you’re going to buy) and found this set was going to suit both my style and scrapbook for this year. As the value kit is a tad more money, in it you get DIY cuts and cards that each have some gold foil detailing on it. I’d got them from Amazon, but you can get many different sets online.

2.       Paperchase postcards- One of the best tips I got was to explore the Paperchase postcards section. Each one of these are designed beautifully and look lovely along with photos on a scrapbook page. They’re priced at 70p each but are a wonderful deal, my scrapbook will be full of them.

3.       Lettering- In my scrapbook, I use a lot of writing, lettering and numbering. This for me is a combination of written text, letter stickers and the new introduction of stamps (a set that I got really affordably from Tiger).

4.       Other little bits. Along with the bits and bops I mentioned, I also have discovered many different scrapbooking accessories that make it all look even more lovely. This includes my beloved scallop ribbon (from The Range), washi tape and these lovely card and thread sort-of ribbons, in bunting and heart designs (also from the range).

So do you have a scrapbook? If not, why not. In this day and age, it is clear we all love photography, from our endless photo rolls, to the hours we spend on Instagram and the easy of having a camera as an app on our phone. You don’t have to be really creative or artsy- just have a look and get some inspiration- there a long board of pins over on this board on my Pinterest if you want to check it out.

I love my scrapbook and will continue to document my memories and celebrate the small things in everyday life. I hope you enjoyed hearing my thoughts and tips, although if you have any then I’m desperate to know! I hope you all have the most wonderful weeks,

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