Scrapbooking without photos

Scrapbooking Without Pictures
by Angi Anderson (May 13, 2009)

The Scrapbooking 101 Program is a SUDSOL program which seeks to assist you at incorporating Scrapbooking into your Stampin Up Business sharing information, tips, and ideas about scrapbooking. If you have specific questions or articles you would like to see in this program, please contact scrap101@sudsol.org

Occasionally you will miss the shot – maybe you didn’t have your camera, your batteries were dead, or the lighting was bad. Or perhaps, you want to record heritage events in your scrapbook and you simply do not have photos for. Even the most avid scrapbooker like me, can be caught without a camera at a memorable moment. Sometimes I participate in a conversation or experience an emotion I want to capture on paper. Here are a few ways to scrapbook your precious memories when photos aren't available. These are all reasons why you might find yourself scrapbooking without photos.

Use Memorabilia:


* Movie/concert/show ticket stubs
* Restaurant menus, matchbooks, napkins
* Pressed flowers
* Ribbon or trim cut
* Bills for service or receipts
* Maps
* Programs
* Copies of Birth/death/marriage certificates
* Invitations & greeting cards
* Military records
* School/work records
* Letters
* Pages from bibles
* Announcements
* Newspaper articles
* Census records
* Children's drawings, paintings and other various artwork
* Report Cards
* Greeting Cards

I hope this list gets your creative juices flowing, cuz it's just the beginning of a ton of things you can use in your scrapbook when you find yourself without a camera.


Use Journaling:

Scrapbooking without photos is a wonderful way to further your journaling skills. What a better way to practice your descriptive writing than to try and re-create a picture with words. Use your thesaurus to find descriptive words that will have your reader picturing it in her mind. This is a time when you have to tell the story completely through your journaling, so take the time to really tell about the events, the feelings of the people who were there, and why it was important to you. Journaling that tells how the people in your story felt, what they heard, smelled, saw, and enjoyed is journaling that completes the story when you find yourself without photos. On your next scrapbook page, ask yourself these questions: Why do I love this picture? What was special about that day? How did I feel when I took this photo? For me, the journaling is the star of any layout, you don't need pictures to tell the story. A picture may capture a thousand words, but your words will convey exactly what you want your readers to know.

For many scrapbookers, journaling can be a tremendous challenge, here are a few ideas to help you get started:

* Use a dictionary or thesaurus to find descriptive words
* Use song lyrics
* Poetry
* famous phrases/sayings or quotes
* greeting cards or greeting card phrases
* Use a simple list like those "Priceless" commercials
* Put your memories in a "recipe" for example recipe for the perfect day, recipe for love, recipe for a temper tantrum etc.
* Think back to elementary school: Who, What, Where, When, How, Why and don't forget those adjectives and adverbs!
* Use historical facts from the time period
* Use historical photos from newspapers/magazines/books


Use Pre-made Embellishments:

Scrapbooking manufacturers have created embellishments for almost every situation imaginable. A glance through our Simply Scrappin' line, you can find embellishments to match most any emotion.


Use Printed/Scanned Images:

For many memories, you can find a photo using a search engine online. For example, I was horrified to lose my film from my trip to San Francisco, but thanks to FLIKR, I was able to use photos on my layout of all the sites and scenes I wanted to remember. Sure, I am not in the pictures, but I was able to scrapbook my thoughts and or feelings about the golden gate bridge by borrowing someone else's photos and putting them in my scrapbook.

* album covers
* google photo search
* FLIKR
* advertisements

Use Stamps:
With Stampin' Up! fantastic lines of stamps, you can find a pictorial image to suit most any memory. Let your stamps be the picture to embellish your memories.


Don't leave a special memory out of your scrapbook just because you don't have a photo to adhere to a layout. The idea is to use whatever facts you have about a person, family, area, or history to tell the story. Use pictures if you have them, but when you don't, try some of the above techniques. Remember, it's the story of life that you are preserving, not just pictures.