Don't be afraid to break the rules . . .

So many people are afraid of scrapbooking.  The thought of scrapping all the pictures they have is completely overwhelming.  Getting everything in chronological order is about as much fun as filing your last ten years bills.  And what about all those things that happened that there are no pictures of, won’t that leave huge gaps in a scrapbook?

 

I’m here to tell you, these unwritten rules of scrapbooking were made to be broken.

 

1. You don’t have to scrapbook chronologically.
2. You don’t have to scrapbook every photo ever taken.
3. It’s okay if you don’t have a photo for every memory.
4. Not every “page” must fit in a traditional 12x12 album.

 

Scrapbooking is way easier and a lot more fun if you work on what you’re excited about.  So if you’ve recently come across an old photo or recently taken photos that you’re excited about scrapbooking then work on those.

 

In today’s age of digital photography it would be impossible to scrapbook every photo you snap.  Digital cameras are supposed to make our lives easier by not wasting film and getting to see the photo right away, not make our lives more difficult by making us feel we need to scrapbook every photo.  So stop feeling guilty!

 

For many of us we don’t have a photo to go along with all our special memories especially when it comes to scrapbooking our own childhoods.  You don’t absolutely need a photo for every page.  Instead look on the web for a photo that represents your memory or keep the focus of the page on the journaling and decorate/embellish around the journaling rather than a photo.

 

Again, so many people are overwhelmed by the decision of scrapbooking 12 x 12, 8 ½ x 11, 6 x 6, mini albums, altered art etc.  They want all of their albums to look nice and matchy, matchy sitting on the shelf in their family room.  Well that’s fine for scrapbooking magazine photo shoots but not realistic at all.  It’s okay to scrap pages in different sizes, throw in a mini album here or there or make some altered wall art of your favorite memories.  You are not a professional historian; you are a person who enjoys creatively preserving their memories. 

 

If any of these so called “scrapbooking rules” have prevented you from beginning or enjoying scrapbooking I challenge you to throw the rules out the window and start (again).