Summer Scrapbook Page Ideas

Straight from the pages of fashion magazines, we’ve got fresh and trendy ideas for your summer scrapbook pages. Maximalism and vibrance is at its best ever this year, so sort through those stacks of colored scrapbooking paper, get your craft knives ready with some fresh new blades and read on to get inspired!

For the following projects, you’ll need a hobby knife, pencil, ruler, paper in your choice of colors, glue, tape and a cutting mat. Our 24”x36'' cutting mat is large enough to protect the table surface area when cutting and gluing. 

Check Out the Large Cutting Mat Assortment We Offer!

Offset ’80s Leopard Spots

Someone once said that leopard print is a staple and we agree. I mean, it’s as timeless as the little black dress. The motif can be found on designer bags, shoes, sweaters, hats and even manicures, but have you used it in your scrapbook yet!?

We had some fun creating a scrapbook page for our book by using bright colors in an oversized scale for the leopard spots as a backdrop for a feature photograph. Here’s the step-by-step:

First, select your colors. You’ll need two for the effect — one for the main spot and a second color for the “shadow.” Draw the spots on one sheet freehand or download our printable template. Then, using the craft knife or scissors, cut them out. We used the K26 craft knife with the #11 double-honed blade.

Next, trace each shape onto the second sheet of paper. Keep the two matching leopard spots together so they do not get mixed up. 

Cut out a quarter-inch frame for your photo out of the main color paper and a “shadow” out of the secondary color. We made our frame for a 4”x6” vertical photograph. Our quarter-inch frame outer measurements are 4.5”x6.5”.

In the scrapbook, on a background color — the third color in this composition — select a spot for the photo and glue the frame to the background. We placed ours in the center of the page, but you should have fun with placement. Try positioning off to the side or towards the top for a dramatic effect. Our photo is level, but we thought about placing it at a bit of an angle as well. 

The offset for the frame is a quarter inch, so we kept that same offset for the leopard spots where the “shadow” is up hand to the left of the main color. Glue together the shadow and main spots and then glue them to the scrapbook page. 

We used very bright and neon colors for this page for a fun call-back to the vibrance of the ’80s. Study the photograph you’re designing the page for, choose colors that will either highlight or complement it and play around with the colors until you’re happy with the overall design. 

Scrap Paper Collage

For this idea, we were inspired by prints from a vibrant menswear collection — a collage of color strips and newspaper tear-sheets arranged at random on the diagonal. For our version, we used pages from our old catalog as well as scraps of construction paper left over from previous projects. Using our trusted K26 Fit-grip knife, we cut triangles, rectangles, trapezoids and odd shapes and then arranged them in a collage on opposite corners of the photo. Long and narrow shapes have a dynamic effect on the page when arranged in a cluster. We also used long pieces to frame the photograph, which is centered on the page, placed at an angle to go with the overall theme of this page. 

We chose a light background so that the reds of our catalog and scrap paper really pop. 

Checkered Print with Pop Color Accents

The black and white checkered pattern is iconic. We’ve seen it on classic taxi cabs, famous skater shoes and on many handbags and clothes, including in recent designer collections. According to a wikipedia entry about this pattern, the check motif goes back as far as the Bronze Age and was found in ancient Roman architecture. Definitely timeless. 

For the classic alternating grid, we used black and white, but you don’t have to. Any two colors will do or you can have fun and use three or more to create a very colorful scrapbook background page. Have fun with this!

How did we create it? We used our K26 Fit-grip knife with a fresh #11 blade, a ruler from our AlumiKit and, of course, we protected the table surface with our cutting mat. Our scrapbook page is 9”x12”, so we cut 3”x3” squares from black and white shimmer paper and then we glued them one by one starting with the outer corners and working our way in. Next, using the craft knife, we cut various size strips from a neon orange paper. This is the pop color that will make the classic black and white checker really pop!

Now all that’s left is to glue your photographs to the page and admire your work.

Cabana Stripe City Name

Travel is back (yay!). We’ve got an idea inspired by cabana stripes for the summer-themed vacation pages in your scrapbook. Common cabana stripe color combos include black and white, red and white, blue and white, yellow and white and red and yellow, as well as pink and green — but there’s so many others!

First, prep the stripes. Select the colors of your choice and, on your cutting mat, cut strips about a ¼” thick. Use a ruler. For our Miami page, we chose blue and a dusty white.

Check Out the AlumiKit: AlumiColor Ruler with Finger Guard and Our K18 Grip-on Knife.

With a pencil, lightly outline the name of the city your vacation photos are from. Our city is Miami. In the bottom corner, we added a palm tree icon as well. Then, using the craft knife, cut out the letters and motif. Turn the page over and arrange the paper strips in an alternating pattern. Tape them together so they don’t shift and set them aside. Next, using scrapbooking glue of your choice, add the glue around the outline of each letter and place the strips over the glue. Repeat the steps to fill the motif. 

This page design is great for a collage of photographs, mementos and quotes from the trip.

Blue and White Zebra Pattern

Yes, yes, another animal print (we can’t help it!). The colors for this idea are inspired by the blue and white porcelain, whereas the zebra print, well, we just love it for its simplicity and error forgiveness. It’s a cool pattern to experiment with in many artistic mediums. We tried it in polymer clay a few times and it worked out nicely! 

Start with the blue paper and, using a hobby knife, cut the zebra stripes. End each one about a half-inch from the edge of the paper. This way, the page will stay intact. Once done, turn over and dab paper glue to the zebra stripes. Pay special attention to the pointed ends. Glue on a white sheet for the final look. So simple!

Bonus of this project? You get two zebra pages. The cut-outs from the first one can be used on a new page and a new design. 

For more scrapbooking ideas, read our earlier post: How to Make a Scrapbook from Scratch.