Scrapbook lettering, or as I like to call it, the art of making your scrapbook titles look awesome, is a subject that makes many scrappers nervous. As a result, I've created this quick guide designed to help you bring your scrapbooking lettering ideas to life.
Before we delve into scrapbook lettering tips and tricks, I've got a few tips for deciding the wording of your title and designing it.
2. Keep your title short
Keep your title short and punchy so that it's easy to read and fits on your page with enough room for the other elements. For e.g. instead of writing "making a snowman in winter", you could just write something like "snow time" or "winter". After all, the photograph will tell the rest of the story. For those days when scrapbook title inspiration is hard to find, choose a title from the book 10,000 Instant Scrapbook Page Titles.
3. Decide where it will go on your page
Titles don't always have to be up top in the center. In fact, they look great running vertically down the page, diagonally across the page, or even smack bang in the middle of the page. Before sticking anything down, move your photo and other elements around on your layout so that you can easily visualize how it will look.
Now that you know what you will write and roughly where it will go, decide what materials you will use. There are two ways to do this:
Scan your supplies and decide what to use based on what you already have
Decide what you want to use beforehand and set to work gathering/purchasing what you need
Scrapbook lettering can be made from all sorts of things, which I will talk about a little further down.
<h2-center>TIPS and tricks for creating your title with WOW factor<h2-center>
Now that you know how to come up with your title ideas, let's talk about ticks and trips that will give your title that WOW factor.
1. Forget proper capitalization
Scrapbook lettering ideas do not have to follow the usual rules of writing. That rule about beginning with a capital letter followed by lower case letters? Well, you can forget that when it comes to scrapbooking if you like. Go ahead and mix up your capitals however you please.
The only rule that needs to be followed with scrapbook letterings is your imagination.
2. Mix and match your font and size
Likewise, scrapbook lettering does not have to feature the same font throughout. It doesn't even have to be the same size. Changing the font and/or the size of your font is an easy way to add some WOW to your scrapbook titles.
3. Use novelty pens
Make use of all the lovely novelty pens on the market. You can get pens that go on like paint, chalk, or glitter. You can even get pens that change color seamlessly as you write!
Novelty pens are great source of inspiration for scrapbook letterings.
4. Trace your letters for perfect hand-drawn lettering every time
Find a font you like on the internet, print it out, and then trace it for hand-drawn scrapbook lettering perfection.
You can do this in two ways:
Print your title in a very light grey directly onto cardstock and simply trace over top with your chosen marker.
Alternatively, print your title onto paper, flip the paper over and roughly color in the backside of the lettering with a dark pencil. (Photograph 1 below).
Next, flip the paper back over the correct way, place it down onto your cardstock where you want the lettering to go, and trace over the topside of the lettering with another pencil, making sure to push firmly. (Photograph 2 below).
This transfers the lead pencil that you colored on the underside onto your scrapbooking page, creating an outline of your design. (Photograph 3 below).
Remove and discard the paper. Now you can trace over and decorate the newly created lead pencil outline on your scrapbooking page. (Photograph 4 below).
Not confident with your calligraphy skills? Tracing is a great workaround for it!
5. Use a ruler to get perfectly straight stickers
Adhere your stickers onto your ruler first before sticking them down to get perfectly straight and positioned letters.
Here's what you do:
Using a plastic ruler, stick your scrapbook lettering onto the long straight edge of your ruler, making sure to only adhere a tiny bit at the bottom. Ensure they are straight and spaced how you like them. (Photograph 1 below)
When all of your letters are on the ruler, you can hover the ruler over your layout, moving it around to visually see where they will go best.
When you have it just where you want, place the ruler onto the layout and press the top of each sticker down in place on the paper with your fingers. (Photograph 2 below)
When you are sure the stickers are secure at the top, carefully remove the ruler and press down on the bottom of the stickers to adhere them in place.
6. Mount your scrapbook lettering stickers onto scrap cardstock
Stick your letter stickers onto scrap cardstock and then cut around them, loosely following the shape of the stickers. This is a particularly useful tip for a busy background where the letter stickers would otherwise get lost on the patterned background. Mounting them this way onto plane colored cardstock allows them to both stand out and be read more easily.
Adding borders to your title helps it stand out more.
a. Stamp your scrapbook letters onto bunting
Create some cute bunting from your cardstock scraps and a piece of twine, and stamp your letters onto the individual bunting pieces.
7. Use the letters in your words as a picture frame
Make your letters really big, or at least the letter "O", and use the letter itself as a picture frame. You can do this by either cutting your photographs into a perfect circle (with a craft paper punch) and hand drawing the letters around it, or by cutting the letters from scrap cardstock and using them as a frame of sorts.
8. Supplies and materials to make the magic happen
There are lots of things you can use to make scrapbook lettering. However, here is a list of easily attainable supplies that are handy to have. Anything else is a nice bonus!
A few different novelty pens
Letter stickers and die-cut letters
Small scraps of cardstock
Themed cardstock with pre-printed titles
Letter stamps and inks
These scrapbooking supplies will help you create unique and beautiful scrapbook letterings.
Scrapbook lettering ideas
I hope these tips and tricks will help you to take the next step in your scrapbook lettering ideas. Do you have any other tips that I've missed? We would love for you to share them with us.