Scrapbooking Stickers with Success

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Author: Karen Bulmahn

Facts are facts: if you scrapbook, you have stickers galore - stacked in boxes, stuffed in drawers and packed in bins. For easy access and use, find the right way to organize your stickers in our article on Sticker Storage Ideas. But once you've selected and organized your favorite scrapbooking stickers, how do you use them on your page layouts?

Stickers are fun and always a great accent to photos when you are creating a scrapbook. Whether you are following a theme, or just using them to add pizazz to your pages, they need to be used in a way that enhances your designs as opposed to distracting the flow of the page.

I have composed a list of suggestions on common, unique and different ways to use stickers when you are creating:

LAYER/GROUP:

• Layer and group stickers together to create an accent or focal point.
• Repeat smaller groups throughout the page, being sure to remember the rule of 3's taught in the Spotted Canary School curriculum.
• The page needs to maintain balance when layering and grouping.
  
  

CREATE SCENES:

• The “Lil' Sunshine” layout shows flower stickers used to create a quaint little flow of elements around the bottom of the oval journaling.
• The flowers contain colors that pull your eye back into the photos, making them a perfect accent on this page.
  
  

MAKE BORDERS:

• Try using smaller stickers to create a fun border for your pages.
  
• You can run a border across the entire page, or use the stickers around photos.
  
• With the multitude of stickers available, it should not be tough to find themed stickers to assist in making borders; however, if you cannot find specific stickers to match the theme of your layout, try using colored dots, stars, hearts or even colored gems.
  
• Don't be afraid to add small stickers to die-cut or punched border pieces! Sometimes a little accent can complete an entire layout.

PUNCH SHAPES:

• Apply stickers to punched shapes to add extra fun and dimension.
• Try layering the punched shapes and then topping them with a small sticker.
  
• The “3 - 2 - 1 Blow” layout uses the mini cupcake stickers on top of different colored punched circles.
• It also displays a type of bordering with stickers as previously mentioned.
  
• At times, I have been known to use a large sticker on a punched piece and trim off the parts of the sticker that hang off the shape.
  
  
  
• An example of this can be seen on this Character Dining Disney layout, which displays characters in punched circles.
  
• Some of the circles are photos, but other circles are larger stickers that have been trimmed down to fit in the circle.
  

Sticker Sneeze:
I work with a great group of ladies who have developed the term “Sticker Sneeze.”

• A sticker sneeze is when there is no rhyme or reason to why or where a sticker is placed, thus looking like you have sneezed stickers and they have landed in a scatter all over your page
• I share this term with you as a point of caution.
•  There honestly is no perfect way to use scrapbooking stickers on a layout - that is where you come in with your own individual creativity… just watch out for the “sticker sneeze!”

Take some time and organize your scrapbooking stickers, and then tackle the challenge of successfully using them on your layouts! If you follow any of the suggestions above, you are surely on the right track to creating balanced and beautiful pages!