Themed Albums Vs Free Form Scrapbooking

One of the first questions that a beginner scrapbooker wants to know is, "Am I doing it right?" This is usually followed shortly by, "Does it all have to match?" There is some debate as to whether or not a scrapbook has to follow a general theme/color scheme or if each page can stand alone. So are you doing it right? Does each page of your scrapbook have to match?

One of the many benefits to doing a themed scrapbook album is continuity. Each page can be different but a general theme or color scheme is applied to make the album feel whole. There are two ways to do this. You can create a theme to your album. This would be matching patterned paper and embellishments that have one subject; animals, school, sports, jobs, babies, weddings, etc. The other option is to just have a central color scheme while each page can have a different subject and embellishments.

Another benefit to doing themed albums is that you can buy scrapbook theme sets. Scrapbook theme sets come with coordinating papers and embellishments. These theme sets take the difficulty (and expense) out of buying matching paper and embellishments on your own. This gives you the flexibility to focus your time and energy on layouts and creating eye catching scrapbook pages.

The benefits to not doing a themed album is that you aren't limited. Each page can stand alone and will be personalized to the subject matter. If you are doing a scrapbook album about your child and have pages ranging from first bath, going to the circus and Christmas, then finding a central theme or color scheme is going to be next to impossible. Creating each page to stand on its own it will give you the flexibility you need to be creative and to personalize the page to your subject matter.

While I'm sure the debate will rage on in the forums and chat rooms, bottom line is that there is no correct way to scrapbook. It is a personal experience and is something that will reflect the personality of the person doing the scrapbooking. So next time you are asking, "Did I do it right?" just ask yourself, do I like it? If the answer is yes, then you did it right. If you don't like it, well, there's a saying, "There are no mistakes in scrapbooking. There are simply opportunities for embellishment."