I’m scrapbooking photos of my sweet little baby girl making her very first visit to Santa for her First Christmas. I’ve chosen these traditional Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas papers from Craft Sensations. This is a super quick and easy scrapbook with a sketch that you can copy and make your own scrapbook pages.
Designer Scrapbook Papers
The photo is very Christmas red heavy with Santa’s red suit, his red chair and my daughter’s red Christmas dress. So of course I went with a Christmas red colour scheme for this scrapbooking layout. With a little Christmas green to complement the deep red.
I love the designer papers from Craft Sensations. There are loads and loads of different designs to choose from. I’m literally spoilt for choice. The quality is great, they don’t feel thin or flimsy but they are fantastically good value.
I get them from the Range and typically pay just £3.99 a pack. Even on a tight budget I can afford to have a whole stack to choose from.
Matting Photos
Matting means to layer a photo or piece of paper onto top of a larger piece of paper to create a border. This helps to anchor the image onto your scrapbook page and makes it stand out form the background.
Follow these simple steps to mat your photos:
Pick a contrasting or complementary cardstock or patterned paper to form the base. Solid colours that pull a tone directly out of your photo work great. You can also try using a piece of patterned paper.
Choose the size of your mat. A quarter of an inch or 3mm is great for a small border. Play around with your papers until you get a border width that you like.
Measure your photo then add the size of border you want multiplied by 2. For example if your photo measures 4 x 6 inches and you want an eighth of an inch border you would cut your mat to measure 4.25 x 6.25 inches.
Use an acid free adhesive such as double sided tape to stick your photo onto the mat. Carefully align one corner of your photo with the corresponding corner of the mat before lowering the rest of the photo into place.
You can create a bolder effect by double matting. Place your photo on a mat with a narrow border then place this mat onto a larger mat with a wider border.
Inking Paper Edges with Distress Inks
Once you have cut your papers to the size and shape you want you can add a little hint of colour to the edges using distress inks.
I start by laying my paper onto a piece of acetate. You can buy acetate in sheets or you can cut it from packaging which is just as good. You do need a flat sheet ideally bigger than the edge of your paper or card.
After choosing my ink colour I dab the ink blending tool onto the ink pad and sweep it from the acetate onto the edge of my paper. I always use a smooth sweeping motion starting and finishing on the acetate sheet.
There are lots of blending tool availible. I have the Ranger one and I’ve been happy with it so I haven’t tried any of the other brands. I use one ink pad for each colour.
On this scrapbook layout I’ve used
Take a look at this page for more ways to make your scrapbook papers and photos stand out.
Scrapbook Embellishments
I did think about putting more embellishments on this scrapbook page but everything I tried just detracted from the main image. So this is a very clean and simple layout. Of course I couldn’t resist adding a few gems in the corners.
Here’s lots more embellishment ideas for your scrapbook layouts.
Scrapbook Page Title
In keeping with the clean and simple style I’ve chosen a title panel from the Craft Sensations paper pack. It co-ordinates perfectly with the rest of the papers so it was super easy. The title reads “My favourite colour is Christmas lights”. I thought it was a sweet little phrase, like something a baby might say if they could talk.
I’ve got lot’s more scrapbook title ideas for you to try.
How to Make Your Own Scrapbook Layouts
Follow these step by step instructions to recreate this scrapbook layout with your own photos.
- Choose Your Photos and Memorabilia
- Choose Your Papers
- Choose Your Embellishments
- Design Your Layout
- Add a Title
- Stick it All Together
For more in depth instructions take a look at my Scrapbooking Course for Beginners.
Copy This Scrapbook Layout
Here’s a sketch of my scrapbook layout if you’d like to copy it.
I’ve got loads more scrapbook layout sketches that you can use to get started with your own scrapbook pages.
Follow me on your favourite social media channel for more scrapbooking inspiration and ideas.
Shop This Scrapbook Layout
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Pin It Now, Scrapbook It Later
I do hope you have enjoyed having a peak at my latest scrapbooking layout. Please feel free to use my scrapbook pages to inspire your own creations, pin it to your Scrapbooking Pinterest board so you can find it later.
A Little Bit About Me . . .
Hey there I’m Bridie, a busy mum to two amazing humans, a spirited border collie puppy and a pair of sweet guinea pigs. We homestead in a cherished Edwardian terrace in not so sunny Lancashire, England.
When I’m not spending time with my children and menagerie, I’m usually to be found in my craft room creating and blogging or in the kitchen cooking up a big batch of something tasty. I’m always looking for thrifty hacks to save money on my crafts and recipes. Crafting doesn’t have to cost a fortune!
I scrapbook to preserve precious memories of my kids childhoods. I use upcycled and budget supplies along with thrifty hacks to make Scrapbook layouts that don’t break the bank.
I’ve included links to my favourite retailers for the products I’ve used to make my crafts. Click on any of the product images and links for full details. If you decide to buy any of these products I may get a small percentage of what you spend. There’s no cost to you at all.
Aran Knitting Baby Baby Scrapbooking Batch Cooking Beginner Scrapbooking Beginner Sewing Pattern Birthday Cards Budget Recipes Cards for Children Cards for Girls Chicken Recipes Christmas Christmas Cards Craft Sensations Dovecraft Easy Sewing Pattern Elasticated Channel First Edition Free Knitting Pattern Free Sewing Pattern Healthy Eating Healthy Recipe My Minds Eye Papermania Peek-a-Boo Patterns Polkadoodles ProMarkers Scrapbooking Sewing Sewing for Kids Sewing Pants Sewing Tops Sewing with Jersey Sewing with Wovens Simply Creative Sizzix Slow Cooker Recipes Soup Recipes Spellbinders Stitch Upon a Time Tim Holtz Top Stitching Vegetable Gardening Winsor Newton XCut
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