How to Scrapbook Using a Free Scrapbook Page Sketch

You can find many, many free scrapbook page sketches here on About.com scrapbooking. This one is a classic example of a simple scrapbook page sketch. It features room for three photos, journaling, and plenty of embellishments. The following steps will guide you through the process of using a scrapbook page sketch to direct your scrapbooking and help you get more pages done. To begin, save this sketch to your computer by clicking on the image to view the full-size image. Then, right click on the full-size image and select "save as." When you get started scrapbooking with sketches, you will need to find one that works with the number of photos that you want to include on that page. Since, I have three photos of one event that I want to scrapbook, this sketch will work perfectly.

The first step in scrapbooking with a sketch is to select the papers that will compliment your photos. The patterned papers that I selected were all from the same collection by BasicGrey - "Wander." Selecting papers by the same manufacturer from the same collection is by far the easiest way to chose papers that will coordinate well on a scrapbook page layout. Since the sketch that I have selected uses two layered background papers, I made sure that I had enough choices of papers to accomodate that. For more help on uses patterned papers you can read 6 Tips for Mixing Patterned Papers on Scrapbook Pages.

To create the background, I trimmed 3/4" off of the top and one side edge of the red patterned cardstock and then centered it over the green piece. I also decided to round the corners on the red piece as shown in the sketch. I then, cut more pieces of patterned paper to roughly match the design shown in the sketch. Since I have no idea how long each piece of paper in this sketch is (because the retangles for the photos covers much of them) I made simply guessed and made my page look like the sketch. I cut a piece of orange patterned paper 2 1/4 inches wide by 12 inches long. Then I cut that piece so that one part of 7 inches long leaving the other 5 inches long. I repeated this process with the light blue patterned paper. I made a strip that was 1 inch by 12 inches and again cut that piece into a 7 inch strip and a 5 inche strip. These pieces are layered to create the look shown here. I rounded a couple more corners just to continue the theme. Finally, I cut a light blue strip that was 1 inch wide by 3 inches tall and slid that underneath an orange patterned photo mat that was 6 1/4 inches by 4 1/4 inches. I did use my photos to decided exactly where to adhere these pieces to my layout. I am a big fan of dry fitting each piece in place before the final gluing.

Now that the background was complete, it was a simple matter to adhere my photos. The focal point picture is centered on the photo mat and the other two supporting photos are layered over the patterned paper strips. These visual patterned paper lines help "anchor" the photos on the scrapbook page. Read more ideas for creating a focal point on your scrapbook pages in the article 5 Tips for Creating a Focal Point on Your Scrapbook Pages.

Scrapbook pages are usually not complete without journaling. The pictures tell a lot of the story, however without words, many memories can be lost. For this page, I did not really need a page title since one of the photos served as the title of the page. But, I did need some journaling to remember what my son said that day and how old he was at the time. I used my Brother P-Touch label printer to print the journaling and the date. I added these to the scrapbook page layout.

Finally it was time to add the embellishments. I had made some fun felt fall leaves and acorns ahead of time by following the steps in the Make Your Own Felt Embellishments for Fall article. These scrapbook page decorations cost pennies to make and add not only style but also texture and dimension to the page. To attach the felt embellishments you can use GlueDots, Zots, or Terrifically Tacky Tape.

The completed page is perfect for my photos and was easy to make by following the sketch. To see this page and sketch in a larger size, you can visit the Free Fall Scrapbook Page Sketch Using Felt Leaves Embellishments.