How to make a scrapbook
Assembly
steps
1. Develop a plan for your family
history scrapbook—chronological order or sectioned much like chapters in a
book. A section could cover the life of an individual or a national/world
event, family business, etc.
2. Sort photos and memorabilia
into small thematic groups, suitable for a 1 or 2 page layout.
3. Choose a color scheme and
theme. Each section could be a different theme tied together with the same
color scheme or vice versa.
4, Refer to the free download, Rules of Graphic Design, to help you
pick out a color scheme. Don’t overload the pages with too many colors, 2 3 is best. Find a background you like and pick a secondary color from
it for your colored mats.
5. Layer each page from the
bottom up with a base page—theme paper—bottom mat—white top
mat—photo—journaling—decorative embellishments (stickers, die-cuts, etc.).
6, Crop photos (when using
copies) using rule of thirds as a guide.
7. Photos and memorabilia are
used as related elements of a picture on a page. That usually means the
number of photos per page are fewer than a traditional photo album. Often
one picture is dominant and thus larger.
8. Double mat photos by mounting
them onto white cardstock. Trim the cardstock close to the edge of the
photo so that it creates a 1/8” – 1/2” border. Mount a photo on the mat. Make a second mat of colored paper that
is slightly larger than the white cardstock mat. Glue the mounted photo to
the colored mat.
9. Using marking pens, colored
pencils, or crayons, draw background elements for your mounted photos.
10. Prepare journaling—typed or
scripted text about the photo. Add interest to the text by including
family stories and historic matrix to the text. Don’t write directly on the base sheet. Make your journals
separate sheets that you can move around on the page to find a good
arrangement. Mount journals on a mat.
11. Affix the mounted photos and journals to the page with acid-free glue.
12. Add decorative embellishments to pages and mats- stickers, die cuts, and stamps. Put them on the base pages, mats and journals.
You can put protective sheets of
polypropylene, polyester, or Mylar between the pages. However, protective
sheets made of these plastics tend to create static when in contact with chalk,
colored pencils, pencils, charcoal, or pastels. Instead use acid and lignin
free, unbuffered paper interleaf pages between your scrapbook pages.
Don’t put too many pages in the
book. The covers should lay flat when closed. Albums you can add and rearrange
pages work best. Don’t use too much glue and make sure it is dry before closing
the pages.
How
to make folded corners
You can buy folded corners, but custom corners of your theme
paper is a nice touch
1 Cut a 2” square of the paper and fold in half to form a
rectangle.
2 Fold the short ends together to form a square (like a
greeting card).Turn it so the corner with all 4 unfolded edges faces you.
3 Fold the top 3 layers up to within about 1/16” from the top point.
4. Repeat these steps for 3 more
corners.
5. Put small amount of adhesive on back of corner and tuck photo into
the corners.
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Copyright September 2009 Family History Coach All rights reserved Last update April 27, 2010
