Do you "pre-make" your scrapbook pages?

[maslex]

After just spending some time looking at people's scrapbook pages, I realized that some don't have any pictures on them. Is this because.....

1--You've pre-made these pages without taking the pictures yet?

OR

2--You already have the pictures ready to put on the pages, but didn't want other people looking at the people in them?

I'm not sure if I could "pre-make" a page without knowing how many pictures of a certain theme I had for that layout.

So what do you do?

***and for some reason, I always like the look of a layout WITHOUT pictures a little better than when I put the pictures on it. LOL I'm really not sure why but I like when I go to the scrapbook store and see all the layout samples that they have posted all over the walls. And then if I decide to scraplift a certain one, it always looked better before the pics. Maybe it's just a little quirk of mine, who knows. LOL

 

[mommy2mrb]

I don't pre-make my pages, but I do make elements ahead of time of things I know we are going to be doing...oh and also hoard my swap stuff too....especially when my trips are usually 6+ months out I have lots of time to make stuff, so when I get home half the work is already done!

 

[kglenn]

some i do make ahead of time but that is definitely not the norm it is nice at times to have a pretty page ready to go though!

 

[disney-akj]

Besides swaps, I never have premade items. (Someday I will join a swap on this board maybe) I find premade pages difficult to work with because I never know how many photos I will take, will the photos be vertical/horizontal, will I enlarge a photo, etc. I am the queen of fitting as many pics on a page that I can, because I take way too many pics (if you look at my recent thread you will see what I mean-LOL)

 

[Disney_rider]

Im sure many of those pages are mine LOL
I do pre-make alot of my pages.... But I also have a scrapbook business of which I make scrapbooks for clients. And since Im usually on a roll I'll make one for myself and keep it. For common stuff they come in handy. Like I know i'll take pics of the Nemo ride and other rides so I'll just bang out a LO and save it. I really want to do an album of nothing but the rides. But that's only cause I collect every Disneyland Specific.
I also do Album in a day classes and kits so I have stock of pre-made albums makes my life easier

 

[ColleenG]

I wish I had enough forsight to premake pages. I am always so behind.

 

[maslex]

Besides swaps, I never have premade items. (Someday I will join a swap on this board maybe) I find premade pages difficult to work with because I never know how many photos I will take, will the photos be vertical/horizontal, will I enlarge a photo, etc. I am the queen of fitting as many pics on a page that I can, because I take way too many pics (if you look at my recent thread you will see what I mean-LOL)

OP here. YES, this is exactly what I was trying to say but you said it so much better!!! LOL I am one of those people who take WAY too many pictures and I tend to want to scrap them ALL. I can never find it in me to pick the best 4-6 photos and do a 2 page layout. If I took 14 pictures of one particular situation, I try to fit all 14 pics in that layout. So if I had premade a Pirates of the Caribbean layout for 5 pictures.....I'm SOL with the rest. LOL

I know this is an issue I'm slowly dealing with and trying to get better at with time. Now I tend to not take as many pictures. Haven't found that happy medium yet.

 

[xanphylus]

I can't make pr-made layouts... I just can't. I have enough trouble making the pages with my pictures, much less with out them. I can see areas where I probably could do it and could save time, but I like to see it all at once and be able to make changes as necessary. Be that as it may- I am still 2 years behind on my DD9''s book and a year behind on my two year olds book!

 

[Lisa]

I can't premake my layouts either. Just doesn't work for me.

 

[LindaBabe]

I can't make pr-made layouts... I just can't. I have enough trouble making the pages with my pictures, much less with out them. I can see areas where I probably could do it and could save time, but I like to see it all at once and be able to make changes as necessary. Be that as it may- I am still 2 years behind on my DD9''s book and a year behind on my two year olds book!

I can't premake my layouts either. Just doesn't work for me.

Me either. But, I did solve the problem of too many photos - I put all the extras in divided page protectors behind the one or two scrapped pages, a method I highly recommend!

 

[MazdaUK]

I've done them for swaps but not for me. In fact I only ever pre-make for swaps Sometimes its an issue where I have a single page LO for 2-3 pics, so I either use the journal box and add a pull-out tab or else do the facing page similar or completely contrasting.

ETA I have been known to specially do something to have the 2 or 3 pics I need - like for a "look what I've made" page I made DS make a cake and took pics while he did

 

[hopemax]

I have done a couple. I think I could do more, if I am primarily using swap items.
In that case, I am already limited by what size the photo mats are, how big the title is, etc. If the goal is using swap items, it's not like I will suddenly want to take a page that has 2 4x6, and 2 smaller pics and turn it into a page with a collage of 10 pics, because then the swap items won't fit.

I'm actually, sort of pre-planning my album of the trip DH and I just took. I am pulling out the swap items, figuring out what pics to use, and sketching a basic layout. I did this for the major wedding album project I did for Dcousin, and it worked really well. In this case, I could build the pages, and have them ready when the photos are printed because I already know what size photos I will be working with.

 

[rskbh00]

I am another one who just can't pre-make a layout! I have to wait until I have the pictures before making the layout. I never know how many pics I will have, what size pics or whether they are vertical or horizontal.

 

[maslex]

OP here. Here's another question for you.

Lately, I've been looking on ebay at premade layouts (basically for ideas) Another thing that I've noticed that I don't understand is why people use "patterned" paper as mats???

One seller was describing how cute the little trains were on the mats. The thing that I don't get is when you put the picture on the mat, you don't see the mat anymore, so it really doesn't matter how cute the little trains, right? LOL

Is it just me or does anyone else feel this way. I'm not saying people can't use patterned paper for their mats but I just don't see the reason?

 

[hopemax]

Me, me, me. While I do sometimes use PP for the top layer of mats for swapping, I use it more frequently as the bottom mat, with a larger border than normal, so you can see the pretty PP.

 

[pjlla]

I know that people post pictures of pages that they make for Make A Wish albums.... those don't have photos............P

 

[mommy2mrb]

I do the same with my PP!

 

[wdwmickey]

I sometimes put the patterned paper on the top of a mat just because I like the way it looks. Generally I try to put a larger mat underneath a plain mat for the photo.