Choosing the Perfect Layout

     I know. It's scary. People ask me all the time. How do you choose the layout, how can you visualize the page in its completed form? These questions are the reasons scrappers think they can not step up their creativity.
The answer? I use simple logic.

Step one: Finding the sketches. Like most scrapbookers, over the years I have been collecting plenty of scrapbook stuff, paper embellishments, tools, but one thing I do not regret collecting is ideas. Taking a cue from Becky Higgins, I started with a rolodex, cutting out and pasting ideas and layouts onto the rolodex cards and sorting them by the number of photos on a page.  I made sure to note where I found the layouts and how many possible photos are on the page. This way if I have a question about it, I can always go back to the magazine or website and relocate the sketch.  After I did this for a while, a friend of mine borrowed my collection and copied the sketches into a three ring notebook. Which I then adopted for portability reasons.

 I am constantly updating this book with new sketches, cutting them out and pasting them into the book.

Step two: Choosing the layouts.
 When I am planning my pages for a crop, I begin the process by sorting my photos into what would be a layout- say its a birthday party and I have dozens of photos, I sort them- by this is the dinner, and cake, and this is the gifts and this is the games- each pile goes into a plain office envelope with the "theme" marked on the outside of the envelope. I then take each envelope and count the photos I want to use on the layout.
So say I have 5 photos. Two are vertical and three are horizontal. I estimate that I want to crop at least two of the horizontal photos down and I know that the vertical photos are my focus photos.  I turn to the section in my sketch book where I have sorted all layouts with a possible 5 photos on it and I begin to scan the pages for layouts with two vertical photos on it, knowing that I can cut down the horizontal ones to match if I need to. Sometimes, I lay the photos out on a table as if I was laying them on the page, trying them in the layout. Usually it isn't long before a sketch catches my eye, either because it's obvious theme jumps out at me, or it fits the photos perfectly. I note the sketch, either drawing it on the back of the envelope or using a matching index notecard from my rolodex and sliding it into the envelope. The envelope then goes into the choose paper pile.  (choosing paper will be next weeks topic) It's that simple.Try it- try it several times and before you know it you will nearly double your production of pages.