Just because January is coming to a close doesn’t mean time has run out on making New Year’s scrapbooking resolutions.
Now that the hectic holiday period is over, you likely have more time to evaluate your scrapbooking style and consider incorporating new techniques into designs. For those of you who haven’t completed your holiday scrapbooks, you could try new trends to pep up your pages. For example, if you have photos of your family and friends partying it up at a New Year’s Eve celebration; consider choosing a colorful background using non-traditional materials, such as mylar rather than plain cardstock. Then, scatter the images on the page to make it look as though the festivities were really raucous. Remember to leave some space for journaling, especially if you made a new commitment to include notes on your pages.
Many busy scrapbookers shy away from writing down their feelings on paper and showcasing them in a memory book. Time is only a factor if you let it. Once you get the hang of journaling on a daily basis, you won’t have to worry about it sucking up precious minutes. What’s more, you could even turn your resolution to journal more into a page design. Jot down the steps you want to take to reach your goal, outline them as part of the page design, and then look for materials that will help illustrate your journey. For instance, you could include a few encouraging words from friends as part of your scrapbook layout or simply list the benefits of journaling; both will go a long way to keep you motivated.
If your New Year’s scrapbooking goal is to break out your rut of making the same type of layouts book after book, consider attending a convention or participate in some local scrapbooking retreats. Years ago, I attended a scrapbook convention and learned how to design an eye-popping time capsule layout. It required having family and friends jot down resolutions and attaching each promise to their individual photos. Next, I embellished the page with colorful borders and added a large acid-free envelope which I used to house the photos and resolutions. Finally, I printed “Do not open until 2014” on the envelope and finished off the page by decorating the envelope.