Easter Scrapbooking

In celebration of the special occasion of Easter, you may want to try some fresh ideas as you record in your scrapbook. The colors of the season add a new feel to pages, and the gatherings that families and friends experience are great sources of photographs, mementos and other memorabilia. In the next few paragraphs, ideas will be shared that might help you achieve new looks and have lots of fun in the process.

One of the fastest ways to create the look and feel of Easter is to use classic egg shapes in your layout and design. These shapes might be cutouts from specialty papers with rich textures and neat colors. Egg shapes also make great windows behind which photos, tickets, menus and the like might be displayed. One source for different shapes might be stencils made of heavy-duty stencil plastic. Another is to visit a local framing shop and ask if it is possible for them to save the center fall-outs from the oval mat openings they cut. These mat scraps then become your "templates," which are heavy duty and long-lived.

Ways you might use an oval shape is to cut images using the outer edges of the templates set over the portion of say, a photo. Lay the photo on a cutting mat and carefully cut around the oval shaped mat scrap using a sharp blade such as a stencil knife. Use a larger oval shape to cut decorative paper to act as a background for the photo or to create a drawn-on frame around the image.

Creating original egg-shaped stencils in a variety of designs is easy to do. Buy special stencil plastic sheets or create them using stencil paper or even heavy cardstock. You can either use the inside of the oval shape for a sharply defined egg look or stencil around the fall out, replicating a glowing aura around a solid oval area on the scrapbook page. Pounce with a sponge brush or use a dry bristle brush to stipple colors in the desired areas.

There are always stickers and stamps you might select to design personal one-of-a-kind combinations. Some of the best ways to use stickers is as augmentation to the other art designs you create. They can add a little zing and draw the eye to specific areas. Stamps are great if you are a bit hesitant to do original drawings, and there's a stamp image for every need, including many with holiday motifs.

Creation of "carved" egg designs can be done with richly colored papers. Simply use a sharp blade to incise fine shapes and place them on the page along with other treasures and photographs. Carved frames look great around photos, and when colors are used that are reminiscent of the holiday, they coordinate the entire presentation.