If you're a beginner scrapbooker, it's easy to get overwhelmed by page design. You leaf through the latest magazines or look at some of the online scrapbooking galleries, and you immediately think, "I could never do that!" You see all the little details -- the flowers, the rhinestones, the ribbon, the buttons and brads -- and it seems impossible to reproduce. Where would you even start?
My recommendation is to start with the basics. Scrapbook design doesn't begin with the details; it begins with the big picture. Just as a gorgeous, three-tiered wedding cake must have a strong foundation before you can add the rolled fondant icing and buttercream roses, you need a strong page foundation before you can add all the embellishments and doo-dads. So instead of focusing on the details and embellishments, train your eye to pick out the major page elements including:
-The photo(s)
-The journaling
-The title
Once you get a sense for how these pieces are oriented on the page, you'll see that the rest is icing.
Here's an exercise you can do to strengthen your ability to "read" a scrapbook layout. Pick your favorite page from a magazine or online gallery and ask yourself the following questions:
1. What is the focal point of the page -- the journaling or the photo?
2. How many photos are there, what sizes are they, and how are they oriented on the page?
3. Where is the journaling?
4. Where is the title, and how is it created?
Once you peel back the layers of rub-ons, ribbon, and ric-rac on any scrapbook layout, you'll see that the actual structure is quite basic, just as the standard structure of a house is four walls, a ceiling and a floor. Get those in the right place, and choosing paint and window treatments is easy!
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