Finding your Scrapbooking Style

Scrapbooking is such a fun craft because there are a million and one different embellishments, paper stacks, inking techniques, and a whole host of other fun things you can do to your scrapbooks. Literally, you are only confined to your imagination because if you can think it, there is something out there in the scrapbook world that can help you create it:)

However, as great as all that diversity is sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming, especially if you're new to the craft. I started scrapbooking a little over 2 1/2 years ago. When I started I had never even heard of mini interactive albums - I'd only ever seen 12x12 scrapbook pages. And style I had no style! I thought as long as I can match some paper I could scrapbook. But I learned there is so much more you can do with scrapbooking!! I must say it's pretty amusing to look back at my oldest scrapbook pages and it's awesome to see how my own style developed as time progressed.

I wanted to give you a look at a few different styles seen in the scrapbook world and perhaps a few of these will catch your eye and you'll learn ultimately what your style might look like or something new you might like to try:)

This first style I'm calling "paper appreciation"

People who love this style LOVE paper and tend to let the paper speak for itself. There are soooo many great paper lines out there it's certainly not hard to develop this style. Many artists with this style cut the paper in elegant ways to create dimension and interest. These albums are quite clean and the embellishments are usually kept to a minimum - only used to accent the paper.

Shabby Chic

I personally LOVE this style. As I'm sure you can tell there are lots of flowers, layering, and "girly" pinks, purples, and creams. It sort of has a vintage feel with brighter colors. These are probably not the type of layouts you would make to start for scrapbook hobby because it has the potential to be quite complicated but in time scrapbooker learn these types of techniques. Also wouldn't these make some gorgeous wall pictures?! Just throwing that out there lol!

Inker's Delight

Stamping, ink, and scrapbooking really go hand in hand. You can make some really amazing layouts with awesome effects simply by spraying or stamping on a little ink:) And the ink may come in many forms. If you've never experimented with inking techniques I highly recommend going to your local craft store (or good ol' amazon) and picking up some Ranger Tim Holtz gear. You can start off simply with some Tim Holtz distress ink and a blending tool. There are tons of youtube videos that can show you just how many techniques you can do with the ink and paper alone. Put in some stamping and water techniques and you've got a really unique and gorgeous skill you can use in your scrapbook. I honestly don't know what I would do without my distress ink. I use that stuff on everything lol!

Vintage!

The vintage style is super popular in scrapbooking at the moment. In fact some of the coolest brands out there are really trending in this way. Think of all the amazing Tim Holtz gear - vintage delight!! Vintage albums require lots of inking, layering, and all sorts of trinkets. They are so fun to create but they can take some time:)

New School 

After the start of project life this style - which I'm calling new school since I have no idea what the "technical" term is - really started to hit it big. There are tons of fun, fresh embellishments in this style! The brand Me and my big ideas has come out with a lot of cool kits in this style as well as Maggie C. Holmes. I only recently decided to try a quick mini album in this new school style and I have to say I LOVED the colors and the mini came out so awesome. I'll definitely be trying another one soon!:)

Rustic

The Rustic style infuses lots of texture like the use of burlap and canvas with rich, earth toned cardstock and patterned paper. The embellishments used on albums with this style tend to be feathers, pearls, and rush colored findings. Paper is often torn to create some dimension and another layered effect.

Steampunk

As you can see to create steampunk albums like this takes some serious skills!!:) This style intertwines old 19th century gears and industrial elements with vintage european style. I've honestly never attempted a steampunk style album but I have a steampunk paper stack calling my name:) 

Whatever your style is my suggestion, especially when you begin, is to just try out as many as you can. You might find a mixture of a couple of these is your perfect niche or maybe you'll create a new one altogether! There's is no right or wrong as long as you're getting your tools out and actually creating:) Have fun guys!!

New Wedding Mini Album

The newest wedding mini album! I wanted to share this with you guys! It was tricky working on it and I always want to OVER embellish but I think this one turned out just right:) This is a 6x7 mini album with a chipboard cover and pocket pages for the base:) So much fun!

Current project - Once Upon a Time baby girl mini album:)

Hey all, Today I wanted to share with you one of my favorite projects I've ever done - my little girl's first year baby album:) I wanted to use a less traditional paper stack for a baby girl album so I used the DCWV Once Upon A Time stack. It's very girly and rich with great colors and beautiful embossed/glittery papers. Absolutely gorgeous! So with a few more traditional baby girl embellishments this mini album turned out exactly as I was hoping:)

The dimensions measure 9 by 5 with a chipboard cover and black paper bags for the base material. It was a very easy, non-fussy binding of two hole punch with thick, stretchy lace that ties to create the binding. It doesn't hold the album together as perfectly as I was hoping (partially because it's a very, very chunky album) but it's still doing the job pretty well so I'm happy!

I hope you guys enjoy and thanks for checking out my album!:)

Top 10 Paper Stacks

Paper, paper, paper everywhere!! There are all types of great scrapbook stacks out there, way too many to count and certainly an endless amount of projects you can make! If you've been scrapbooking a little while you may have honed in on what your style is and if you have you've also probably found a paper brand that you tend to like a bit more then the others.

I've been very lucky to have used and own many paper stacks so I thought it would be a fun idea to share with you my favorites:)!

1. "Once upon a time" by DCWV

I've actually made 2 mini albums out of these papers and they are absolutely gorgeous! These papers feature a lot of rich browns, golds, purples, and of course pink. There are papers that are embossed, glossy, glittery, and textured. It has a very whimsical feel and is easy to embellish. This stack is so much fun to work with! The hardest part is the urge not to cover the paper with photos lol! 

2. "Tattered Time" by DCWV

This is another winner from DCWV. This stack has a very industrial feel while still maintaining beautiful elements. Many of these papers are glossy and embossed giving these papers just the right flair without taking away from the theme of the paper line.

3. "Autumn Song" by Bo Bunny

I recently got finished working on a project with this paper stack and I have to tell you I was really bummed when I completed the album - I just wanted to keep going! We all know that the colors of autumn are absolutely stunning and bo bunny managed to really capture the feel of autumn without using actual pictures but by allowing the colors and patterns speak for themselves. It's definitely a stack that I will be getting again!:)

4. "Romance Novel" by Prima

Can Prima ever go wrong?! Prima has a long history of producing absolutely gorgeous products and this one is no different! This pad adds a nice mixture of vintage and romance. The colors are very vibrant and yet is still has a distressed feel. Very fun paper to play with:) 

5. "Nightfall" by Memory Box

This paper line is pretty dark and I believe was meant to be a halloween paper pad. However you can play with this pad and create beautiful albums that don't center halloween and it would still fit very well:) I honestly can't tell which paper is my favorite from this stack, there are just so many! I very highly recommend this stack if you want something fun and different.

6. "Sun Kissed" by Heartfelt Creations

Heartfelt Creations is another amazing company and I tend to love every product they make! This stack features a lot of bright blues and rich browns that complement each other so well. The designs are just brilliant and you actually get quite a few papers in this pad. Very well worth the money in my opinion!

7. "Botanical Garden" by Graphic 45

I have seen so many mini albums using this paper line and each one is simply stunning. This paper line is incredibly easy to work with because you can add a whole host of different colors to it. The quality is very good and it's even double sided so they make great tags. Beautiful!

8. "Altitude" by Bo Bunny 

In this stacks it seems Bo Bunny took a unique approach to Christmas/winter albums. The colors and detailed designs make for just a gorgeous base to any card or album. It's so fun to play off of the blues and purples in this album to truly make a unique album.

9. "The Chateau Lavender" by DCWV

In true DCWV form this stack features lots of embossed and glittery elements was bring these paper to life. It's extremely easy to match different colors with it. I recently made a family mini album out of this paper and it was just the perfect paper for displaying a wide range of pictures! 

10."Fairy Fiona" by Prima

I mean look at these gorgeous papers... need I say more lol?! Absolutely Stunning!

Current Project Pictures!

Hey all! I've recently have been playing a lot with different distress techniques and I've been extremely inspired by all the many beautiful and unique designs you can make using the Tim Holtz distress ink. There is so much versatility with this ink that I was creating tag after tag after tag of different designs so finally I decided, shoot, I should just make a whole mini album using as much ink and different techniques as possible.

So today I wanted to show you my progress with this very colorful, stamped, embossed, and inked up mini! It's a 6x6 album using chipboard as the base. Because I wanted to highlight the distressed element of the mini, I used a lot of white cardstock, white glossy paper, and white tags (which of course aren't white anymore! lol) However, I did use We Are Memory Keepers Anthrologie paper pad for the base which I altered with a lot of distress inks to match the colors I wanted. It is soooo FUN!

Here are some of the pictures of my progress and if you'd like to see the video on this album explaining a few of the different techniques - here is the link:)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ovc2_MM-y6M&feature=youtu.be