I’ve never been an “event” scrapper, I’m not even a chronological scrapper. I scrap what I want, whenever I want.  😉  Lucky for you, my partners in paper, Shar and Brande, are amazing chronological and event based scrappers, which means they often create title pages for specific albums. (And, trust me, they make some amazing title pages.) For that reason, I’m turning things over to Brande today so you (and I) can learn how to start an album in an interesting, eye-catching way!

Title Page Tricks with Brande

Title pages are my ultimate favourite! There is nothing better than thumbing through your almost complete album as inspiration for the title page. It’s like putting the icing on a cake, the bow on a present or finally dropping those fresh flowers in a vase after spending the time on a perfect arrangement. Gratification!

How do I come up with title page layouts? Here are my three simple tricks:
  1. Use print or publication advertisements as layout inspiration. Really.
  2. Use scraps left over from the other pages of your album. Not joking.
  3. Use enlarged photos (5×7 or 8×8, my new favourite) to make the page pop. Absolutely.

Let me tell you a bit about each of these tricks …

Introducing Advertisements:

I am the first one to thumb through my Scrap Smash or a scrapbook magazine, blog or website for inspiration on a page layout. But when it comes to title pages, I tend to forgo the scrapbook magazines and reach for any old print publication for the ads. The clean lines and limited contextual copy (words) on the standard ad, lends itself beautifully to a great title page for an album. Those advertising geniuses know exactly how to tell a story with just a few simple words and an image – and that’s exactly what the title page for a scrapbook album should do.
Here are a couple of examples (and note that I am not in any way endorsing these products, in fact I could not even tell you what products they are – I was just so impressed with the advertisement and how it inspired me for a title page) with corresponding sketch to demonstrate:

What a layout … I mean ad! Imagine a close up picture of the presents under the tree as the large photo on the left, a close up of the table set for dinner and another close up of the shiny ornaments on the tree as the smaller photos on the right; the word Seasons Greetings where Family sits. Assemble that on an awesome, slightly muted seasonal background paper, back your photos just barely with a complimenting colour – maybe with some bright red mist behind – a little embellishment to the left of the title and voila! Title pages do not need people pictures; photos of events, places, random close ups of favourite signs in a foreign country all tell a story. Have fun with it and set the stage for the feeling you hope people will get thumbing through the rest of your album – happy, funny, simple, reflective, etc.

What an ad … I mean layout! This layout does not even need examples of photos you can replace with. The photos already included are a great example of, say, a trip through farming country on your family trip to the United States or maybe your own town. You could have four photos with a smaller title below as suggested in the ad, or you could go with three and use the fourth square for some patterned paper and an embellished title, or two and have an extra square all dazzled up with a sub-title.

Advertisement, let me introduce you to Paper Scraps:

Well I have to admit, I love this ad and I love this layout. It is definitely my Go To for album title pages and if you were to peek through my albums you would see I have used this one for everything from a beach vacation to a Universal Studios visit. What is the best part about this ad for a layout? Well one of its biggest “wins” is that you can complete almost the whole thing with just scraps of paper!
In fact, that’s how I make it happen. I always do the title page last. While I complete every other page in an event album, I keep all of the usable paper scraps (a usable paper scrap in my scrapbook room is anything big enough to matte a 4×6 photo) together. Then, when it comes time to do the album title page I use those scraps and this layout. The use of bits of paper on the title page that are also on other pages in the album gives a little glimpse into the goodness to come. It is also a great way to bring the whole look/feel together. And a great way to use up some of your paper scraps!

Advertisement and Paper Scraps, allow me to introduce you to Enlargements:

This is the title page I did for an album documenting a family trip to Kelowna, BC where we played at the beach every day in the beautiful hot sun. The Fancy Pants beach collection was a kit I reached for over and over again while doing the other pages of the album – so it made sense it would be used on my title page and I had a lot of paper scraps of it to use. A title page destined to happen!

Go-To Title Page Layout with an 8×8

This is a section title page I did for an album documenting a family trip to Disneyland and Universal Studios California. When I think of Universal Studios I instantly think Hollywood, flashy, glittery, way too bright and crazy colours. Using papers that have all of these qualities is not really my style; but using paper scraps that have these qualities is definitely up my alley. Here is the outcome of that trial – the larger 8×8 photo also helps to tone down the bright scraps and really signals that this is a title page or at least an important page. This photo size was especially important so you could see and read the images on these homemade t-shirts. (Yes my sister, mom, nephew and I may have worn a different set of matching t-shirts every day we spent in Universal Studios or Disneyland. Makes scrapping easy!)

You can have a lot of fun with title pages! I sure do.