Make Great Scrapbooking Titles

To make great scrapbooking titles begin with a good supply of scrapbooking alphabets. As many of us are not happy with our own handwriting and we’re always on the lookout for alternatives, these make a great start.

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So how do you want to get your words onto your page?

The simplest is to find a style of writing you like and practice until you are happy with it. Otherwise it’s a trip to your local scrapbook store to spend your hard earned money – again!

So … having loaded the dishwasher, the washing machine and the drier, got the kids to school, made appointments for the dentist and the hair dresser for everyone, attended the PTA meeting and got the groceries for dinner, you just have time between your lunch date with hubby and collecting the dry cleaning to run to the scrapbook store before it’s time to collect the kids from school, give them a snack, prepare dinner so it’s ready when you all get back from soccer practice, then home again to eat dinner, help with homework, get the kids to bed, and discuss some family issues with hubby before you hit the sack yourself … By the way, when do you have time to scrapbook? lol

Anyway, when you do make it to the scrapbook store what will you find there?

You will find a humungous selection of alphabet stickers, rub-ons, die cuts, stamps and word and phrase [tag]embellishments[/tag], any of which will make great titles, journaling and sentiments on your layouts.

Let’s take a look at some of them …

Alphabet stickers come in all shapes, sizes, colors, fonts and materials – cardstock, bubbles, jelly, pebbles, to name but a few. They are very easy to use and will add fun and color to your [tag]scrapbooking layouts[/tag].

The downside is they never seem to come with enough letters and you can only make a few words in the same style. You can, however, use leftover letters as ‘drop capitals’ at the beginning of paragraphs in your journaling. You can get off with a variety of different styles this way. And some layouts will allow you to mix and match different styles within the title or bullets for example. It’s fun to add random characters in the midst of your journaling, too.

Rub-ons
These were called transfers when I was a child, and only came as letters. They now come as individual letters or words and phrases in black or a variety of colors, and many beautiful designs, too.

As the name suggests, you simply rub them onto your page with the little stick provided. (You can use a bone folder or a coin if you lose the stick.) It’s a good idea to cut round the words you want to use and position them carefully or you may find stray pieces from the word next door that you hadn’t meant to transfer.

Rub-ons look good, and give a professional finish.

Alphabet stamps
These are a good buy as you can avoid the ‘never-have-all-the-letters-I-need’ syndrome that happens with other media – and they are re-useable!

It’s easy to stamp words with duplicate letters if you opt for clear stamps. Simply line up the letters on a clear acrylic block to form your word, leaving the correct size space for the duplicate letters which you add on a second pass.

To save the correct gap, put another stamp in the place where the duplicate letter will go, and once you’ve completed the word remove it and you’re left with a space where you stamp the missing letter afterwards. You can stamp the letters accurately because you can see where you are stamping. After use, just wipe clean, replace on the sheet and they’re ready for next time!

Other alphabet embellishments
There are chipboard letters, metal letters, punched letters, self adhesive letters, button letters, brad letters, Scrabble letters, paper tile letters; alphabets in a myriad colors, materials, and with bling … you name it, you can probably get it! You will find many interesting accents to try out on your scrap booking pages.

Mechanical and electronic systems
The various die cutting machine systems have some wonderful alphabets, but, if you are new to scrapbooking they can be an expensive way to create your titles. The results are excellent and well worth the expense if you think you will also use some of the many other shapes available. You will get excellent use out of these especially if you make your own greetings cards, too.

Some names to look out for are Sizzix, Big Shot, Quickutz, Cricut and Xyron, to name but a few.

You can even buy a set of alphabet punches.

What’s left?
But before you make the trip to your local scrapbooking store consider using your computer. You already have a number of fonts on it and there are many more available to download free from the internet.

Your computer is one of the most flexible ways to create a title or [tag]journaling[/tag]. With the vast selection of fonts available you will find one that suits your layout design, but even more useful is the flexibility when it comes to size. You can have the font as large as you want for a title or small enough to get all your journaling on a tag.

You will save a lot of money with the help of your computer.

How do you get titles from your computer to your layout?
It’s very simple and quick to do.

Choose a font and size it appropriately for your project. Type your words, then print using the reverse image setting on your printer options. Transfer to the wrong side of your selected pattern or color paper or cardstock, cut out and stick to your scrap book project or card. If you don’t have, or can’t find the reverse image setting, then carefully trace around your words – a light box will help you here – on the right side of the paper, and cut out inside your lines. And there you have it.

It’s great to have so many varieties of alphabets for our layouts. However, do try to avoid using one style too often, as it will be monotonous to make and to view an album full of the same designs.

Now you see how easy it is to make great scrapbooking titles there’s nothing stopping you. Have fun creating your memories – and may you have time to scrapbook them.

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Tagged as: Embellishments, Journaling, scrapbooking layouts