Once you decide that you want to start scrapbooking that first page can be a little intimidating. Choosing an album, gathering supplies, and organizing your photos are just the beginning of a hobby that will preserve your family's most treasured moments for years to come.
There are 3 secrets to Scrapbooking:

1. Organizing your Photos, tips on organizing photos -
   Simple Steps to Making a Scrapbook from Existing Picture:
   
   • Decide on your theme
   • Choose photos
   • Plan your layout
   • Plan and write your journaling on scrap paper
   • Plan your cropping to fit the theme and focus on the photo subject
   • Lay everything out on your page
   • Crop and mount
   • Journal
   • Embellish
   • Done!
2. Planning your layouts, Rember
   KISS Keep It Simple Sweetie
   The scrapbooking magazines are full of scrapbook layouts that look great and take several hours each to complete. And if you'll notice, they often have only one or two photos per page. Most of us have way too many photos we want to include to take that approach. So here is a compromise; why not make an elaborate 'cover' page that only has one or two photos & describes the events and behind it include several very simple pages of many more photos and maybe a sticker or two on compatible or coridnating paper. If you use the same colored background for all these pages it would 'group' them nicely. Or just include plastic sleeves of photos after the cover page if it is a big trip and you have lots of photos.
   
   Generally, I find that I can (crop) alot of boring or repetitive background off of photos without loosing any of the impact of the picture. Good cropping makes a photo look better. This lets me get more photos on my page. Generally photos look best with straight edges and a narrow colored mat that 'picks up' one of the colors in the photo. Save the fancy edged scissors for decorative borders or the mat around the photo. 
   
   I find rectangular photos lend themselves to a page arrangement with the corners of some pictures layering another photo. I can hide clutter (that can of furniture polish you forgot to put away) and give a movement to the layout with a path for the eye to follow.
   
   
3. Claim a workspace.  If these 3 steps go smoothly, you will be able to spend more time making your scrapbooks, and less time trying to track things down.
   

DisneyFamily.com  Creat your own scrapbook with Mickey & Friends. 

Try the Family Learning Center    for free courses on intermediate techniques with digital cameras.

View over 394,000 layouts at    as well as 24,192 digital layouts.

Free scrapbook layouts.   

Free same day shipping on all orders over $25 at ScrapbookPal.com

Try the free stuff at ComputerScrapbook.com printable e-cuts a varity of fonts, e-papers and digital kits to assist in that most important first scrapbook page.

Print this list and take it with you when you go shopping and you will be able to focus on those things that you really need to get started making beautiful scrapbooks!

Must Have's:

1. Scrapbooking Album - select the size album you want to work in and find a color or pattern that works for the theme of your album.
2. Refill pages for your scrapbook album - Refills are not standard sizes, so it is best to pick up a few packs when you purchase your album so that you get the same Manufacturer and size. This way you will not have to hunt for refills later.
3. A nice sharp pair of scissors - My favorites have very fine tips and are comfortable to hold in my hand. You will need a pair of scissors that are dedicated exclusively to your scrapbooking. Always keep youtr scrapbooking tools together and nice and sharp.
4. Adhesive - There are many different styles of adhesives. Whemn getting started look for acid-free adhesive that will work well on both cardstock and photos. A couple of my favorites are: 3L Click 'n' Stick Mounting Squares, Herma Dotto Removable, and Herma Vario Wheel Dispenser.
5. Cardstock and Printed Papers - Select paper to go with the colors you wish to accent in your photos. You may want to purchase paper at your local scrapbook store so that you can select individual sheets for each page but do corridinate the pages of the album.
6. Journal Pens - Look for acid-free, permanant.  You may wish to purchase pens that have a fine tip on one end for hand written journaling and a wider tip on the opposit end for hand writing title pages.
   

Now you are ready to begin your first scrapbook page. Those are the essentials, but as with any craft, there is always more that you may want to add to your supplies.  Here are the ones that I would add next. 

1. A 12" Paper Trimmer
2. Embellishments that coordinate with the pages, such as stickers, 3-D stickers, Buttons, and more.
3. An Idea Book. My favorites are from Becky Higgins collection. take a look at
   Becky Higgins' Creative Sketches for Scrapbooking.

Additional Items to Considere When Budget Allows: 

1. A Die Cut Machine with an Alphabet Set of Dies. QuicKutz, Sizzix
2. Full Set of Journaling Pens.
3. Circle/Oval Cutter.
4. Once you get started it's hard to stop. You will find yourself wanting more paper, more embellishments, and eventually more albums!

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Stamps are a good way to add variety to your scrapbooking techniques.  Rubber Stamps can be an
economical way to add variety in your albums, the same stamp can be used for cards and invitations.
Stamp the images on plain cardstock.  The cut out image can be placed anywhere on your page without  the risk of damaging your page layout.  Add deminstion with a few 3D-dots under the rubber stamp cut out image or emboss with a Clear Embossing Powder from Stampin' Up

There are a variety of options for coloring the rubber stamped image. 

Chalks give a soft look to your art work, I would recommend buying the chalk eraser when you purchase the chalks.  There is another technique, using pens or pencils to create a different effect to your page layout. 

Second generation stamping is a common scrapbooking technique used to add depth to a project. It is also a wonderful way to use many of your layered stamps that have a solid version and an outline version. Here are a few simple steps:

Tips:

1. Let's say that you are doing a background with solid leaves. Ink and stamp a leaf on your paper.

2. Now ink up your stamp again, but this time stamp it on a scrap piece of paper and then on your project
    without re-inking the stamp. The result is a lighter image.

3. You can create even 3rd or 4th generation images if you wish, by simply stamping it multiple times on a scrap
     piece of paper before stamping it on your project.

4. To use this technique with 2-part stamps, stamp the outline version with a first generation stamping.  Then
     stamp the solid fill-in stamp with a lighter, second generation image on top of the outline image.

Quick Coloring with Stencils

Instead of using markers, chalks, colored pencils etc you can use your ink pads to color in stamps or add shading to solid stamps. It will cut your coloring time in half, you can get even more use out of your ink pads, and you will just love the look! Here's how:

Stencils

1. Create a stencil out of glossy cardstock. Always use Glossy Cardstock for stencils because it is sturdier and holds up better for repeated use.
2. Look at your stamp to decide how many colors you will be using. You will need at least one stencil for each color.
3. Always leave at least a 2 inch border around the outside of the paper and between each stencil on your page so that you don’t pull color off the edge or into an adjacent opening.
4. On each stamped image, cut out all of the sections that will be one color with a cutting knife (Z533). Cut just outside of the stamped line so the color will go all the way to the edge.
5. Use a round sponge, make-up wedges, sponge daubers or stipple brush to dab in the color. Just pick up some color from an ink pad and dab it in the opening in the stencil! It's that easy. Start light and then add more color to make it the desired intensity. To get darker colors, rub a makeup wedge across the opening instead of dabbing the color in.

To use this technique to add shading to solid stamps complete the following steps as shown in the following example:

1. Create a stencil as directed above. In this example the flower has 2 stencils to allow for cutting it to the center to create petals. The leaf has 2 stencils also; one for the outside of the leaf and one to add a vein line to the leaf.
2. Stamp the sunflower in Sunflower ink and then pull a little bit of Autumn Terracotta ink just on the edges of the stencil to create petal definition. Stamp the leaves in second generation olive ink. Then add shading (pull just a bit of ink from the edges of the stencil) with olive ink.

It's so easy and makes a dramatic difference to your artwork. Here's an example of with and without shading using quick coloring with stencils.

    Before Shading

 After Shading.