We all know how important first impressions are in the business world, but the phrase is just as relevant in the world of scrapbooking. The cover of a scrapbook speaks volumes for what’s inside the album and the person responsible for crafting it.
Fortunately, there are no hard and fast rules that dictate how you have to put together a scrapbook cover; however, there are a number of popular techniques that make wonderful first impressions. For example, one of my favorite ways to decorate a scrapbook cover is with a photo collage. This is a great option if you are like me and have a difficult time finding just one photo to feature on your album cover. What’s more, collages are excellent ways to use up duplicate or leftover photos that you didn’t get use on the inside of the scrapbook. There is also a certain degree of flexibility that exists when you craft a photo collage on the cover; this is especially true if you crop your pictures with a paper punch. You can turn any photo into a work of art by using square, circle, flower or heart-shaped punches.
If you are into journaling, then you might consider using your passion as the inspiration for your scrapbook cover. A journaling list makes it easy for the reader to identify the album’s contents. For example, if you are creating a Year-in-Review scrapbook, your cover could read: Top 10 Events of 2012. Other ideas include the Top 10 Things I Love About My Family, The ABCs of Motherhood or Hawaii Hot Spots. When you are creating a list for your cover, feel free to exercise your creative muscle. Use decorative brads as bullet points, replace names or places with small photos, or really make your list pop by using the “ransom note” technique whereby you employ various embellishments or alphabet stickers to spell out the words you want featured on the cover.
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