There are many, many ways you can preserve your story in a scrapbook and how we do that has changed over time. What hasn’t changed is how much we like remembering our story. People enjoy looking back, sometimes with nostalgia, other times just as a reminder of where they’ve been. People also like sharing their memories, talking about their experiences and the things that have shaped them.
We get lots of questions about how to encourage a younger generation to take up this mantle and preserve their story by creating something that will last like a scrapbook, and today we are showing you some examples of scrapbooking from a Millennial point of view. Anyone can scrapbook this way. The principles featured in this style of scrapbooking can appeal to all memory keepers, but we are specifically focusing on style aspects that Millennials gravitate toward.
1. Create intentional white space.
Are you familiar with the term minimalism? It’s actually an idea that’s been around for quite a while, but today, minimalism is a trend that resonates with many Millennials. It focuses on eliminating clutter and avoiding excess and distractions. People apply this idea to spending, décor, design, fashion, and more. When thinking about minimalism and memory keeping, focus on clearing the clutter by intentionally leaving lots of white space, like you see in the page above. This page is primarily White Daisy cardstock, but you don’t get lost in the white space. Adding a thin Linen cardstock border on the top and bottom of the page helps to ground your eye and pulls you in to the center.
2. Use only one or two photos.
With minimalism in mind, a single photo is the focus of this page. It’s easy to get lost in the thousands of photos on our phones or computers, but you don’t have to scrapbook all of them. That’s probably not even possible, but you can pick your favorites. Start with scrapbooking one or two photos that are truly meaningful to you and tell other people something about who you are and what you enjoy. Even just one photo on a page can tell a story in a creative, yet clean and uncomplicated way. The neutral color scheme keeps the spotlight on the photo. Just add a few embellishments and a couple stamped images to round out this look.
3. Focus on the story.
We don’t always remember details about our lives, even from the most important moments. Details from events like family vacations, weddings, or even day-to-day life can get lost. Scrapbooking gives us a place to record them, so we can remember the little things that made them special later. Instead of thinking about your page as one that’s primarily photos, why not think about your page as one that’s primarily words?
Describing the story can be the point of your page. Scrapbooking allows you to be reflective, to be grateful, and to document change. Those are ideas that matter to Millennials, and they often are thinking about ways to reflect and document their lives on social media or through other venues like a gratitude journal. These are all ways to tell your story. What makes scrapbooking unique is that it is preserved and available to continue to share and learn from over time. You can do this, plus exercise your creativity, through memory keeping.
This page also incorporates elements from the minimalist perspective, using lots of white space and just one photo to complement the real treasure, the words. Keep in mind, your photos don’t have to have faces in them. It could be the perspective of your feet hanging out the window, like you see on this page, or maybe it’s the food you ate or the places you visited. Photos don’t have to be just of people. It can be whatever best illustrates the words on your page.
4. Make something simple, yet Instagram-worthy.
Millennials, and many of the rest of us, are already sharing their story on social media. These photos deserve a home, but it’s equally important to Millennials to be creating in ways that are Instagram-worthy. This means that what they make should be easy to share and aesthetically pleasing with a touch of simplicity.
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
Leonardo da Vinci
The beauty found in simplicity is something even Leonardo da Vinci recognized as important, and it continues to resonate with Millennials. Using an Everyday Life™ format can mimic the popular look of photo books, and these albums can be just as simple to create. Even in a smaller size, this type of scrapbooking can still emphasize white space with photos, similar to a photo book. Photos could be square, making it easy to scrapbook things directly from places like Instagram. Millennials are already sharing their story on social media, but it is so easy, and affordable, to take those stories and photos and slip them into an Everyday Life™ album. With little extra effort, you can preserve your memories in a simple, sophisticated way.
Scrapbooks come in all shapes and sizes. They allow us to creatively express who we are, the time we live in, and the things that matter to us. You don’t have to be a Millennial to appreciate the trendy looks in the artwork you see in this post. Like da Vinci’s thoughts about simplicity, some of these ideas have been around a very, very long time. Millennials just happen to be the ones taking inspiration from them today, and that can encourage us all to both try something new in our memory keeping and help others to tell their story in whatever way speaks to them. So next time you pull our your scrapbooking supplies, think about how you can add some extra white space, focus on the story, or keep simplicity in mind as you create beautiful pages for your memories, and as always, we hope you share those memories with others.
Recipes:
12″ × 12″ Happy Place Page
D1772 My Acrilyx® Documented—Scrapbooking Stamp Set, X5946 Linen Cardstock, X5955 Pebble Cardstock, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, Z3271 Archival Black Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, X7234C Documented Complements, Z3357 Better Together Complements, Z4181 Thin Cuts—Stitched Circles, Z2060 Thin 3-D Foam Tape, Sewing Machine
12″ × 12″ And Then Page
D1772 My Acrilyx® Documented—Scrapbooking Stamp Set, X7234B Documented Paper Packet, 1386 Black Cardstock, X5946 Linen Cardstock, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, Z3271 Archival Black Exlusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, X7232C Fresh Air Complements, Z3386 Thin Cuts—Block Alphabet, Z4181 Thin Cuts—Stitched Circles, Z1151 3-D Foam Tape, Z2060 Thin 3-D Foam Tape, Die-cutting Machine, Sewing Machine
6″ x 8″ Love Everyday Life™ Layout
X5946 Linen Cardstock, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, Z4185 Fresh Air Shapes, Z4171 Documented Titles, Z4181 Thin Cuts—Stitched Circles, Z3252 Everyday Life™ Memory Protectors™ 6″ x 8″, Z3191 Everyday Life™ Memory Protectors™ 3″ x 4″, Die-cutting Machine
Love the clean look.
I love these pages! I am just wondering what the journaling is typed on? Is it White Daisy cardstock or just paper?
Good eye, Marsha! The journaling in our example is typed directly on the White Daisy cardstock inside a printed border. If you do not have a printer that fits 12 x12 paper, then you can achieve a similar look by printing on a standard 8 1/2 x 11 sized paper and adhering it to your page.
you have to work hard to make things focus and clear. It is really beautiful and also the tips are given by you that how to make a true scrapbook..
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I am a millennial but I have to say that my layouts vary greatly depending on the theme. My photos, title, and journaling are all unique every single time. I love negative space and clean lines – but I usually save this for gorgeous background papers with equally gorgeous photos that I can surround in little touches of ephemera, stitching, or gems. However, if my photos are from a sports event or busy vacation, I usually pick two or three photos that tell a story horizontally across the page. Very interesting blog entry though…but I’d appreciate not being stuffed into an over-simplified box, if you know what I mean?