If you have never made a scrapbook before and are going to start on your first one you are about to enter the wonderful world of scrapbooking and I promise you you will be hooked as soon as you start.

Creating a scrapbook page layout is a way of displaying pictures and memories with stunning paper designs and added little extras such as memorabilia and embellishments.

scrapbook layouts

One of the problems I came across time and time again was finding the right colour brad to attach photos and embellishments to my scrapbook page.

There are two ways to get your brad to match the paper. Firstly you can dip your brad into clear ink and then sprinkle with the coloured embossing powder you want, and then heat. Alternatively you can select the ink colour you need and then use clear embossing powder.

Try not to make your pages too perfect sometimes throwing things together on instinct can have a much better and more natural effect.

If you are using rubber stamps for your scrapbook pages always keep them as clean as possible. Baby wipes are great to clean your rubber stamps, but take care not to make the wooden mount too wet.

A good tip to avoid getting the wood wet is to carefully peel the rubber stamp from its wooden mount then varnish the wood with a clear varnish and remount the stamp. Doing this will not only make the stamp waterproof but will mean you can easily wipe away any ink.

If you want to cut a circle there is no need to spend huge amounts of money on expensive templates and cutting guides I found keeping lids off old bottles and the actual bottles themselves can make fantastic templates and if you save them from different products soon you will have all different size circles you need.

Sometimes I found that once I had created a page that I thought was finished I would look at it, and feel there was something missing. I would try adding something else to the page, but then felt it  looked too much. My solution was to simply mount or frame the whole page which more often than not would give it  finished look. You can try using as many different colors until you find the one that works.

For many more scrapbook tips, techniques and ideas visit www.vickisscrapbookideas.com