When I completed by first Autumn Album last year, along with a shiny, new photo book, I also walked away a little wiser about what did and didn’t work for me during the entire process.
A page from my 2016 Autumn Album
Here’s a little about what worked:
(1) Choose a Design Theme Early
The abundance of activities, the incredible changing colors and the inviting vibrancy of Autumn can yield hundreds of photos – both a blessing and a burden in the context of creating an album. What helped me, both in my past and present Autumn Albums, is selecting a design theme before I had scrapped my first set of photos.
Minimalist, artsy, altered, retro, etc. – choose a theme or combination of themes that will keep you passionate about scrapping several months of photos.
For both my 2016 & 2017 Autumn Albums the design themes are nearly identical – white space, artsy with minimal textures & elements. For 2017, though, I’m increasing the texture, artsy factor & color, but still maintaining plenty of space for notes & journaling.
(2) Select Your Main Materials Early
Along with complimenting your design theme, this is also where you decide how much time you have to devote to this album AND how many photos you are actually willing or able to scrap.
Starting your album early in the season + want multi-photo pages? My tip – ready-to- use quick page albums, photo masks & templates are ideal for getting many photos scrapped quickly. Additional colorful or textured elements are useful for brightening up and individualizing each page and also help with cohesion.
Starting your album mid-season and/or short on time? Scrap with fewer photos – choose 1 – 3 photos per page that best represents that adventure, then let your journaling, a creative title or a quote be responsible for the other half of the storytelling. Ready-to-use photo mask clusters, stamps & Autumn themed word art can help with getting your pages scrapped quickly and beautifully.
Autumn Album 2016
My goal was to create both artistic, single photo pages and simple, multi-photo pages with room for journaling & additional artistic touches.
For the multi-photo pages I used a mix of quick pages from each of these two packs:
Still Life Collection: White Space 12×12 Album
Still Life Collection: Black Cardstock 12×12 Album
For the single, artistic photo pages I used several pages from this pack:
Still Life Collection: White Wash 12×12 Album
And for the simple, but colorful artistic touches:
Still Life Collection: Paint Swatch Element Pack
Autumn Album 2017
My goal is the same as last years with the addition of more artistic elements & texture – this is my supply list:
For the multi-photo pages:
Comical Templates (available at The Digital Press during the month of October)
For the single, artistic photo pages:
For the artistic touches & background papers:
(3) Scrap as You Go
Scrap every chance you get and do so while it’s still Autumn. The fresher the photos are off your camera’s memory card, the better your memory will be of the occasion + your motivation to get that page scrapped will be high.
Set a makes-sense-to-you due date for your Autumn Album. Once my family starts getting busy with early Christmas activities (mid to late November), it’s a clear signal that the season is done for me (even if it’s still technically Autumn). Last year I finished those last few pages in early December and sent it off to print not too long after. This year I plan to do the same.
Bonus Tip: Join a Challenge
Okay, shameless plug for the Hello Autumn Challenge lol, but joining this (or any Autumn themed challenge) will both inspire and motivate you during your mission to complete whatever Autumn scrapping project you have in the works! Click here to be taken to the Hello Autumn Challenge Thread.
