Scrapbooking Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter

Scrapbooking is a wonderfully creative pastime but many people run out of inspiration after recording family birthdays and special occasions. Putting together an album filled with photos of family and friends enjoying seasonal activities is a great way to get creativity flowing again.

Scrapbooking Winter Memories

Depending on the location, winter can range from icy wonderlands to drab grey landscapes. There is beauty in all of this - especially if loved ones are included in landscape photos. Look for shots of children in brightly colored clothes against dull backgrounds or a friend with his arms around a snowman. Action shots of skiing, skating and snowboarding are possibilities as are a baby wrinkling his nose in the cold.

There are many ways to reflect a winter theme in scrapbook pages. Consider the following ideas:

• Use grey, white and black cardstock
• Shiny cellophane can add life to a background
• Look for snowflake stickers or similar
• Cotton wool gives a snowy effect
• Metal embellishments can add a wintery feel
• Winter is stark so don't clutter the pages

Scrapbooking the Promise of Spring

A spring scrapbook should include hints of new life. Take photographs of children with newborn lambs or baby chicks. Other photo ideas include dancing-in-the rain, spring cleaning and budding flowers. It can be effective to photograph a bud every day for a week to capture its growth and expansion into a fully-formed bloom.

Spring themes in scrapbooking can be captured by using the following:

• Card stock in pastel shades
• Wispy ribbons
• Feathers, egg shells and natural embellishments
• Paper with torn edges and soft textures
• Butterfly stickers

Summer and Scrapbooking

Summer is the season of fun and vacations. Photograph picnics, beach activities and road trips. Children running through sprinklers can create some wonderful shots and a family at the playground can create some memorable moments for a summer scrapbook.

Summer can be reflected through the following scrapbooking supplies:

• Primary and bright colored cardstock
• Bold stickers - flowers, sun, sports
• Add texture with braiding and scraps of checked or floral material
• White, blue and yellow work well for water scenes
• Summer is busy so include lots of detail in the pages

Scrapbooking Fall Colors

Fall is characterized by warm earthy colors and accents of gold, bronze and yellow. Capture shots of children tossing fall leaves into the air or burrowing into them. A stack of orange pumpkins is another vibrant background. Citrus fruits add color to an autumn scene and golden sunsets add warmth to a fall page.

The feeling of autumn can be mirrored by using the following scrapbooking techniques:

• Crumpled tissue paper
• Accents of metallic paper in gold and bronze
• Metal embellishments in gold, brass and copper
• Stickers of leaves and bugs

It is possible to combine the four seasons into one scrapbook or create one per season. In this case it is an idea to start each album with a photograph of the same scene taken in each season. This adds interest and acts as a unifying factor. Scrapbooking the seasons is a fulfilling pastime and can create many happy memories to look back on.