by Marie Stine

Created on: August 29, 2010

No matter whether a student graduates from junior high, high school or college, it is an important and monumental accomplishment that should be documented.  A graduation is a culmination of years of hard work, which deserves to be recognized.  Now that your graduate has walked across the stage and received their diploma, it’s time to preserve the memory of that special day with a scrapbook page or two.

Supplies needed:

• Cardstock

• Paper Trimmer

• Patterned Paper

• Adhesive

• Die Cuts

• Photos

Incorporate memorabilia such as the graduation program and speeches into your scrapbook layout.  If the items are not acid-free, an alternative way to use them is to scan the program or tickets and print them out on acid-free paper.  Acid-free paper is safe for archiving and scrapbooking and will not fade or harm the scrapbook pages.

Use the school colors in your graduation pages.  Use a neutral color of cardstock as the background.  Before you begin the layout, think about the finished page and what you want it to look like.  Sometimes sketching out the layout on plain paper helps to bring it all together.  Decide on which photos to use.  On the main graduation page, keep the pictures to a minimum so the main photo will stand out on the page.

If you have a die cutting system, use it to cut out die cut shapes.  Sizzix and Quickutz have several shapes related to graduation themes such as a diploma and graduation cap.  Cut out several to use on your scrapbook page.  You can also use stickers or embellishments to accent the page. 

Trim and mat your picture with a combination of patterned paper and cardstock.  Don’t be afraid to combine several different patterned papers together.  Anything goes in scrapbooking, so mix and match combinations any way you like.  Place the matted photo off center on the page so the eye is immediately drawn to it.

Use a phrase or quote from the graduation speech as your title to tie all the elements together and give meaning to the scrapbook page.  Place several of the die cuts above and below the picture to embellish the page.   Don’t worry if the die cuts or stickers are slightly off by a fraction of an inch.  Scrapbooking should be fun.  While everyone wants to create that perfect page, stressing out over whether a die cut is an eighth of an inch off takes the joy out of scrapbooking.

Scrap that special day for that special someone and create a lifetime of memories.         

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