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Your scrapbook is your scrapbook. You may enjoy sampling ideas from other scrapbooks or layout books but don't feel that you must copy them. If you like the photo placements then use it on your page too, but embellish in your own way. Use colors that compliment your photos. Keep an open mind about your pages. Scrapbooking isn't an exact science, it's an expression of you and your feelings. Be sure that your pages follow your own style.
We all love to embellish. There are so many cute and exciting embellishments to choose from. Stickers, die cuts, buttons, etc... But remember, your stories are told in your photos. Don't draw attention away from your photos with to many extras. You want people to see your photos easily and not have to search for them. Embellishments are just that, embellishments, not the main focus. Don't over do them.
The easiest way to chose colors for you page is to pick them right out of your photos. Again, you want to enhance you photos and make them easy to look at. Remember also that colors can promote a mood. Bright colors are happy colors, pastels are peaceful, earth tones are subdued, dark colors can be somber, and light colors can be joyful. Which mood fits the story your pictures are telling? Moods are especially important for choosing colors for you black and white photos.
Papers come in so many wonderful varieties! They can add dimension to an otherwise plain page. But remember that too much of anything can be bad. Use large prints as backgrounds but mat your photos in solid colors. Balance lager prints with complimentary smaller prints. Try different ways of using patterned paper on your page. When you look at your page, is your eye drawn to the pictures or the paper?
Most people like to see things symmetrical. Whether it is in the clothes they wear, how they decorate their living room or set the table. There is something about symmetry that is pleasing to the eye. Remember this when creating your page layout. Try to have photos mirror each other. If you use embellishments in one corner, use them in the opposite corner. Imagine a straight line across the middle of your page, either vertically, horizontally or diagonally. If you like the asymmetrical look, then try the same thing, only divide your page into two, slightly uneven, parts.
Scrapbooks are designed to show off your favorite photos. The best way to embellish them is to repeat features from your pictures on your page. It might be a certain color or pattern. Or it could be buttons from a dress, flowers from a garden, or beads of a necklace. Just a few of these additions will make your page more personal.
Some embellishments are secure on their own, but others need the company of their own kind. This is especially true of small embellishments such as, buttons, brads, eyelets, small punched shapes and tiny stickers. On a page of Baby's First Bath, you might use small bubble stickers. If these stickers aren't grouped together in at least three of a kind, someone may have difficulty deciphering what the stickers are supposed to be. It is also rumored that un-even numbered groupings are more pleasing to the eye.
Remember why you decided to start scrapbooking in the first place. You wanted to tell the story of your life and those close to you while preserving these memories forever. It's not a contest and you won't be graded, so have fun while your doing it! Any effort you make will be appreciated by the generations to come!