Making up scrapbooks can be a fun and interesting hobby for adults and children alike.  One great aspect of that hobby is that there are many different ways to express your creativity; if you get some good rubber stamping instructions and keep them in mind you’ll find that they make for an interesting touch with your pages.  This means that on top of stickers and other embellishments you can use just about any type of stamps to liven up your pages.  So let’s look at some quick and easy rubber stamping instructions to see how you can apply them to your scrapbooks.

Rubber Stamping Instructions for Themed Books

Are you making up a book that has a particular theme, such as for a certain vacation, a wedding, and so on?  Usually when you do this each page will show a particular timeline or be organized in some helpful way.  Some easy rubber stamping instructions for this type of book is to use the rubber stamps to add continuity to the pages.  In other words, use the same stamp or ones that are very similar on each page so that they look as if they are all tied together.  For something as special as a wedding you might even consider getting a personalized rubber stamp made up with the bride’s and groom’s names and the wedding date; you can use this stamp on every page to really tie all the pages in with each other.  Vary these rubber stamping instructions for your own pages; put each stamp in the same place on each page or move it around for some visual interest.  You can do the same for other themed books – a vacation book might be a stamp of a car or a sunset; a child’s school theme may be a stamp of the year they graduate or a little brick school house.  When you vary these rubber stamping instructions for your own themed books you’ll see how doing this type of thing on each page really makes them feel professional and planned rather than haphazard.

Rubber Stamping Instructions for Larger Elements

You might have some very large rubber stamps that you’re going to use as your main element; this might be a stamp of a flower, school bus, and so on.  Some common rubber stamping instructions for these bigger stamps are to avoid putting them in the exact center of the page.  This can make your scrapbook pages look a bit contrived and not very personal.  Practice putting them off to one side or in a corner and then adding elements around them.  Other common rubber stamping instructions for these larger stamps are to use complementary stamps around them; this might be smaller flowers or bees for the large flower stamp, or stamps of schoolbooks for that bus, and so on.  If you don’t want to use too many stamps on a page just be sure to tie in that large stamp somehow with the other elements of the page rather than leaving it dangling on its own.  The rubber stamping instructions you would use for these large stamps are the same for other items you use as the page anchor – frame it, or use ribbon and other material to highlight it, put some wording around it or under it, etc.

Rubber Stamping Instructions for General Use

Maybe one of the most common problems with rubber stamps is that once you put it on your paper, you immediately regret where it is or how it looks.  Some good rubber stamping instructions to avoid this problem is to stamp a blank sheet of paper and then cut out that stamp with the smallest amount of border as possible, and then use this as a mockup of where the real stamp would go.  These rubber stamping instructions are used for many elements you add to a scrapbook page – lay out your entire page before you adhere or glue anything and put your wording on a separate piece of paper and use this mockup on your page also before you add the actual words.  When following these rubber stamping instructions you’ll have a lot less regret once you actually put the real stamp on your actual page.  By following these rubber stamping instructions for not just your rubber stamps but for all your page elements you’re going to have a lot less regret once you do make up the page for real!  You can take away items, move them around, and work with them until you’re happy with everything and then start gluing and using the real stamp.

Making Rubber Stamping Instructions Right for You

When you’re reviewing rubber stamping instructions you don’t want to follow anything and everything absolutely to the letter.  One of the best things about scrapbooking as a hobby is that you can make things personal and unique to you.  If you want to put your large stamp in the middle of the page, then ignore the rubber stamping instructions that say to put it in the corner!  You need to create a scrapbook that works for you and that is an enjoyable excursion when you make it.

Remember that when we say these are “rubber stamping instructions” that doesn’t mean that they’re actually instructions; consider them as just guidelines and use them as a stepping stone for how you want to make up your own scrapbooks.  There is no right way or wrong way to make scrapbooks and this is just part of the fun of the hobby!  This is something to keep in mind especially when you’re working with children who don’t always follow the “instructions”!

But if you do use these rubber stamping instructions as a guideline for your scrapbooks you’re likely to see that the pages look professional and presentable.  You’ll have a lot less regret when you do actually put the real stamp on the page and will no doubt enjoy looking at the books over and over again.