Choosing a Scrapbooking Theme
by Susie Cortright

The scrapbooking industry has taken papercrafting to an entirely new level in recent years, and that means there is an amazing amount of tools, papers, textures, and embellishments to choose from.

But all of these choices can make even the most inspired scrapbooking artists feel a bit paralyzed.

It?s helpful to choose a theme for your albums and mini albums. Doing so can help you stay focused, and it can help reduce the tendency to buy more products than you?ll actually use.

Here are a variety of scrapbooking themes to choose from. Choose one or two themes to work with at any given time, and enjoy the process of preserving your memories for generations to come.

Annual Scrapbooks. Create one album each year, with one 2-page spread for each month. This is a great way to stay up-to-date, without feeling pressured to scrapbook every photograph.

Significant Life Events. Of course, you?ll want a wedding album, as well as an album spotlighting your other shining moments.

Children. Have one album going for each child, starting with those first ultrasound photographs. Don?t forget to record all of the significant events, including a child?s first tooth, first haircut, first day of school, etc.

Sports. If your child or other family member is particularly interested in sports, have a running sports album going. Include team photos, rosters, and significant achievements. Record your children describing big games in their own words.

The Hero Scrapbook. This is the place for the certificates, awards, and newspaper clippings for all members of your family. You could also do an album along the theme of ?Good Deeds We?ve Done? and ?Things We Are Grateful For.?

About Me album. Imagine the joy of future generations as they learn about your favorite books, recipes, TV shows, hobbies, and ? most importantly - your life philosophy. Record all the things that make you, you.

School Years Album. Create a new layout for each year of school. Ask your children to sign their name each year and include a photo taken on the first and last day of school. Also include a copy of the child?s school schedule, a photo of their teacher and significant achievements throughout the school year.

Holidays. Have an ongoing scrapbook for each holiday celebration. Bring it out with your holiday decorations after Thanksgiving and enjoy adding to it during the festivities. For many families, scrapbooking is a fun family tradition in itself.

Scrapbooking club kits can also help you to work inside themes. Some such clubs send pre-coordinated supplies according to new themes each month, including patterned papers, cardstock, ribbons, journaling prompts, stickers, and other fun embellishments, which provides inspiration for some great projects.

No matter what theme you are currently working on, the key to keeping it fun is to remember that not every photo needs to be scrapbooked. (That?s what photo albums are for, after all.) Choose the events and photographs and stories that are particularly significant and enjoy creating lasting memories for generations to come.

Copyright 2006 Susie Cortright About the Author: Susie Cortright is the founder of Momscape's Scrapbooking Playground at http://www.momscape.com/scrapbooking and a Team Captain for a large group of scrapbooking instructors. Find out about the opportunity she chose here: http://www.momscape.com/business.htm . (This article can also be found here with links to example kits on each theme. "Scrapbook Themes".)