It's not all about the vintage

When it comes to scrapbooking I think that creating a theme for your book or page is crucial to elaborating on the story that the photo is already telling. Sometimes the photo may be telling an old story that lends itself to a vintage shabby background with old bits of lace and buttons decorating its edge. However some photos can be young and full of life and that should be illustrated with the background colours and embellishments. Recently a friend came to me in a dilemma. After having completed two sessions with us on how to make a vintage scrapbook she couldn't then think of any other ideas for creating a scrapbook album that was more modern with a fresh twist. As a present for her daughter's birthday it needed to be a little bit more upbeat and funky. So over the past day I have been hunting through magazines and books to gain inspiration for her dilemma and also rekindle my love for scrapbooking and have realised it is something that I definitely want to do more of.

I have managed to find quite a few examples of different things about scrapbooking that I love and what can make your page more modern. I have even thrown in a few examples of my own!
What I found through most of the examples was a great deal of layering and I think this is very crucial for a younger appeal to your page or book. With a vintage theme you could get away with leaving the background very plain and simply placing a photo on top with a bit of lace or buttons. However to create a more youthful appearance a lot of designers layer several backgrounds and then use mountains of embellishments, layering each piece to create something soooo yummy to look at.

'Summer of 68' by Sheena Rowlands featured in Scrapbook Inspirations Issue 46

'1962' by Sandie Vincent featured in Scrapbook Inspirations Issue 46

'Easter Fun' by Cindy Russell featured in Rusty Pickle Idea Book Vol. 3

'About Me' by Anne Parry featured in Scrapbook Inspirations Issue 46

 However achieving the layered look can take a lot of time and practice and also a lot of patience to get each piece the way you want it. So if you're not feeling that creative a good way to achive similar results is to choose a very busy background so that you only need a few layers on top to make it look fabulous. A lot of papers these days have more elaborate designs and therefore make it easier for you to place a photo on a page and add embellishments. This is a quick and easy way to scrapbook, here are a few of my own examples.

This paper background by K and Company was perfect for framing my picture and all I had to do was add to the background using some buttons and flowers.

Once again the background paper framed my panoramic picture perfectly and let me add letters and embellishments very easily.

 

This background paper was soo busy that I just extended the patterns and swirls with a few embellishments and some foam letters. Obviously adding the birthday badge as well which was the centre of the theme of my scrapbook. The colours and embellishments also illustrate how I was feeling that day which was a lot of excitement!

If bright colours and a modern twist are still not your cup of tea when it comes to scrapbooking and you still don't want to settle for the same vintage look then you could mix and match the two. I found examples of using bits of lace and material as a background which combines elements of both old and shabby with a layered modern twist.

'Grandmother' by Robyn Lantz featured in Rusty Pickle Idea Book Vol. 3

'Audrey' by Tasha Anderson featured in Rusty Pickle Idea Book Vol. 3

'HKS' by Lisa Sanders featured in Rusty Pickle Idea Book Vol. 3

Another way to add plenty of interest to a page is by using letters and numbers. You could do this by adding a title to your page, elaborating on significant numbers or by journalling around the page. After all, scrapbooking is all about journalling and telling a story. This can help fill the background of the page and add lots of interest for people to read as they look through the book.

'Live life with abandon' by Chris Baker featured in Rusty Pickle Idea Book Vol. 3

'Just Me' by Diane Lyn McGraw featured in Rusty Pickle Idea Book Vol. 3

'Pure Joy' by Annette Waisner featured in Rusty Pickle Idea Book Vol. 3

'Peace' by Courtney DeLaura featured in Rusty Pickle Idea Book Vol. 3

If you're making a fairly small book and find that there isn't much room to embellish or layer then you could come up with a colour theme and also use similar embellisments on most of the pages. This makes the story consistent throughout the book with a photo on each page with a simple accoutrement to finish it off.

Created by Pete Hughes featured in Scrapbook Inspirations Issue 46

This book uses the same letters and flowers on each page which keeps it modern and fresh without the hardship of layering and over embellishing.

There are so many ideas and inspiration for anyone who wants to scrapbook these days. Just remember that each photo is unique and tells a different story so don't be afraid to let yourself run away with ideas and creative flair.

Until next time...........

Sue & Sarah