Secrets of Scrapbooking with Paper Clips

Hi everyone, Mou Saha here today chatting about paper clips. “Meh,” you sigh? Well, keep reading and you just might go “Wow!” when I’m done. Did you know that this super simple basic office supply can really amp up your scrapbook layouts? Take a look!

A Day at Dog Lake by Kim Jackson, as seen in the July/August 2012 issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine, page 85.

Isn’t it cool how Kim Jackson linked several paper clips to make a chain banner? For more fun ideas with paper clips and techniques to alter them to create unique accents for your scrapbooking layouts, check out the Supply Savvy column from the July/August 2012 issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine.

In this issue, Kim only scratched the surface of the subject of paper clips. Nowadays, paper clips come in various sizes, shapes, and colors, and that means that their creative potential is vast. Use shaped paper clips to accentuate a scrapbook page theme or use it to enhance your journaling. Let me show you a sneak peek from CK’s upcoming Mixed Media special issue (hitting newsstands on 7/17).

I Love Ring Pops by Mou Saha, as seen in the Mixed Media Scrapbooking special issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine, page 71.

In this layout, I used various paper clips to make my journaling look interesting. If you try this fun technique, keep in mind the following:

• Write out your journaling first in a notebook.
• Keep the story short.
• Plan what other elements you want to use in your journaling, like stamps, stickers, or handwriting.
• Space your journaling lines far enough to accommodate the paper clips.
• Stitch the clips in place and journal around them. If you’re printing your journaling, be sure to leave plenty of room for the paperclips.

Hope you take your paper clips on a creative journey with you next time you sit down to scrapbook!

—Mou Saha, CK contributing writer