I received an urgent email from Lisa M this week. Lisa is getting together with her mom this weekend and mom has consented to give photo album scrapbooking a try! How can I not help? Mom is extremely well traveled and just returned from a trip — so, for Lisa and her mom and anyone else who wants to dedicate their "labor" this weekend to a totally doable approach to scrapbooking, here are 10 Tips.

note: you can click on any of these photos to see a larger version.

ONE.

Select a photo album that is a good match for your content. Consider color, size and style. If you have LOTS of photos you might look for a good sturdy two-up album with a capacity of 200 or more photos. I used one from Pioneer for my Puerto Rico PAS

It looks like this inside — bound in black pages designed to hold two 4×6 horizontal photos per page, hence the term, "two-up"

TWO.

Pre-select your pattern papers and embellishments and then pre-cut your papers into 4×6 pieces. Keep everything in piles in front of you and REFUSE to use anything that isn't in your piles. This will save you time, streamline the whole process and result in a design that is more harmonious and therefore more pleasing to the eye.

THREE.

After you've selected your photos (and NO you still won't be able to use ALL of the photos you took, so be selective) focus your efforts on creating simple 4×6 pages. You've pre-cut your papers and if you're extra brave, you've pre-cropped your photos — so just start assembling mini-pages without worrying where exactly they will go in your finished album. AND DON"T FORGET … you can simply add a strip of ribbon, an accent, a brad (whatever) right to a 4×6 photo and call it a page!

FOUR.

If you realize your album has way TOO many pages, remove some. I've figured out how to carefully tear or cut (using a craft knife) pages from most styles of bound photo albums. It's a little scary at first, but it gets easier.

FIVE.

It's OK to CROP your photos – I haven't met very many photos in my day that couldn't lose an inch or two off one side. A small crop here and there will allow you to add touches of color and texture that will create both visual interest and a sense of continuous flow.

SIX.

It's OK (and in fact, it looks good) to not include photos and/or journaling in every pocket. Some pockets can display just pattern paper. Looking at page after page of nothing but  photos is not very interesting, so break up the flow of your photos and your story with colorful places where your eye can rest.

SEVEN.

Don't worry about 4×6 vertical photos that don't seem to fit. You can simply "slice" them at the 4" mark and use two pockets to display them.

EIGHT.

Please avoid the tendency to over plan. You'll likely want to use 4×6 text boxes to type up several detailed entries of the stuff you most want to remember, but after that, it's time to "let go" and start assembling your album. As you do this leave a blank pocket here and there, so you can go back and simply use your handwriting to insert a random note or memory.

NINE.

Don't get confused. I just switched albums on you. This is a page from my London PAS. The more photos you have and want to use, the more SIMPLE you can and should make your pages. If every spread in your album has a touch of pattern paper to provide some continuity then slide an un-cropped 4×6 photo into two or more pockets to simplify the process! My London album is much less involved than my Puerto Rico album!

TEN.

Once you've started a PAS, keep everything together in a materials file. This will make it very easy to grab everything you need to work on your album. Photo Album Scrapbooks are SUPER easy to take to crops, because you don't need to concentrate on layout design — you can just crank out dozens of 4×6 pages using your pre-selected materials and then assemble as you gab with your girlfriends.

Good luck Lisa and thanks for reading my blog!