Mainly what I scrapbook are concerts. It is sometimes hard to make your pages unique, which you have probably seen from some of my scrapbook posts! (Especially after 67 Hanson shows. How do you scrap something that has been scrapped so many times before?) Sometimes I get the urge to be creative, other times I just want to get the scrapping out of the way and rush a bit.
My first tip would be to either think of a layout yourself, find inspiration somewhere or look at someone else’s design and “scrap lift” it. I subscribe to a couple of scrapbooking magazines and while a lot of times the layouts pictured are of someone’s kids, if you look at it with an open mind you can sometimes see something that will work for boys playing on stage instead of in that leaf pile in the backyard. Inspiration can come from weird places and sometimes at the shows as I am taking photos I get ideas for layouts. Then I just have to hope I remember them after the show!
One of my favorite websites to search is twopeasinabucket.com. They have an extensive gallery that you can search. Sometimes I’ll search specific things – did anyone else scrap the Jonas Brothers? And other times I will just browse to see if a layout strikes me as something that I can re-create that will work with some of the photos I have.
I also try to set guidelines. In 2011 it was to try and only use 1 page per concert, 2 if a meet and greet was involved (that would land me with a photo with the band and/or an autograph to scrap as well). This may lead to you being creative when you have 8 or 9 great photos you want to use, but want to stick to the 1 page limit. Don’t be afraid to get wallet sized prints and incorporate them into the layout as a border or something similar! (Tip: Edit the images yourself in photoshop. Turn 1 4×6 photo into a photo with 4 photos in it – 9 cents to print instead of whatever the price for a wallet print is that will end up giving you 4 of the same photo)
Other staples for my concert pages are the setlist (which I always keep track of, but sometimes a google search or even a look on wikipedia will get you the setlist, especially for arena shows where the setlist never really changes) and of course the ticket. For shows without tickets I either make a mock ticket from a raffle ticket embellishment or something similar, or I am just sure to write in the date and name of the artist. I usually write in the opening acts as well, though I don’t always include their photos in the layouts.
One thing I should probably add more of to my layouts but don’t, is JOURNALING. If you don’t like your handwriting, you can type it on the computer and choose a fancy font and print it on fancy paper. If you like your handwriting but aren’t sure about writing directly on the page, you can get a font made of your handwriting and type and print it! Yes, I have sometimes had to re-do whole layouts because I stupidly spelled something wrong or left out a letter and couldn’t squeeze it in.
Another great way to get some inspiration for colors to use is the Scrap By Color! website. (http://www.scrapbook.com/color/) You upload a photo that you want to use for your layout and it helps you find colors that coordinate with the photo. If you don’t have a photo, there is also a color wheel that you can use to see which colors go best together.
Obviously by looking at some of my layouts this is all easier said than done. I do have some pages I put a LOT of times in to and others I just kind of throw everything together. It all depends on how much time I have an how overwhelmed I am with what I have still to scrap.
Katie 
(One of these days I’ll figure out how to use it properly – I was so excited when I saw it on Oprah I ran out and got it the next day – but have only used it a couple of times because I keep slicing fingers!)
