Getting Started with Cricut Scrapbooking?

Posted by: Dawn In: Cricut Projects ()

If you are just getting started with Cricut scrapbooking, I would love to invite you to join a challenge that I am participating in on the message board.

In January, I was browsing through the Cricut message board, when I came across the Lay It Down challenge. Each week, one of the members posts a sketch or two, and anyone who wants to participate can make a layout based on the posted sketches. When finished, participants post a picture of their finished layouts.

There is a new challenge posted each week. To participate, just go to the layouts section of the message board (here's a link: http://www.cricut.com/messageboard/tt.aspx?forumid=6), and search for the thread titled "Laying It Down (LID) Weekly LO Challenge". Take it from me, it's not only a lot of fun, it's a great motivator!

I haven't finished this week's project yet, but here's the layout for the first challenge I participated in...

Cricut Scrapbooking - First Layout

That was not only my first project for the challenge, it was the first layout I have completed - ever!

You see, when I first bought my machine, I purchased it with the intention of getting all my photographs into scrapbooks. I had a problem though - I had no idea where to start! I loved playing with my Cricut, but I found I was making cards and other crafts instead.

Anytime I thought about scrapbooking, I would get discouraged. Where should I even begin? I had thirty plus years of pictures that needed a good home, and even if I just focused on my children's photos, my oldest is already twelve. I wanted to start scrapbooking when he was a baby, but I just never took the time to get started.

On top of that, I admit I'm a perfectionist. I didn't want to cut up and glue my pictures down unless I knew I could make my layouts look good. I have bought magazines and books, browsed through blogs and forums, and spent hours looking at what others have done. Still, I was reluctant to take that first step.

Now that I have successfully completed my first layout, I'm officially hooked! Even if I only can do one layout a week based on the challenge sketches, I now have hope that eventually all my pictures will leave their home in boxes and end up in scrapbooks.

By the way, for anyone wondering which cartridges I used for this layout, here's that information:

I used Stretch Your Imagination for the spider.
I used Life's a Beach for the title and date.

The rest of it was cut with my paper trimmer.

Anyway, that's the beginning of my Cricut scrapbooking adventures. I'm sure I will be talking about it a lot more here, but in the meantime, I would love to hear how all of you got started scrapbooking. If you some free time, leave a comment.

Also, if you have been needing a little motivation or inspiration, please join us over on the message board for the Laying It Down challenge. It really is a lot of fun!