There's not much worse than looking through your completed scrapbook and finding that your book's layout is a mess. One page is crammed, the next is empty. Take the time to read the following ideas about scrapbook layouts to ensure that you are satisfied when you look through your finished product.

Every scrapbooker needs to know how to balance photos on scrapbook pages. When cropping photos, an easy way to achieve balance across a page layout is to crop two or more photos to the same size. A photo cropped to 3" x 4" will balance another cropped to 4" x 3".

A unique way to spice up your scrapbook's layout is to make a quilt page. To do this, measure your page and divide the width and length into thirds (and round the measurements down). Cut nine squares of paper to fit. Arrange the squares on the page three by three. Then, using a template or cutting tool, crop five photos into circles or hearts. Place a photo in the middle square and the four corner squares. Add pigma pen 'stitching' for a special touch.

You may think there is no order of scrapbooking. However, make sure to do your journaling before adhering any stickers. While there are a lot of nice embellishments available, this will prevent the temptation to over-use stickers to fill up any blank space.

Create a focus on your scrapbook page layout to give the viewer's eye somewhere to start looking on the page. If you are using more than three photos, the easiest way to create a focus is to use a distinctive title. For a classic effect, mat the title to match the photograph mats.

Love picking out that patterned paper in the craft store? There are a few rules to keep in mind when using patterned paper in your layout. Never use a background paper with a larger pattern than the smallest photographed head. Use a plain paper in a similar tone for your journal block. Don't be too concerned if you can't find the right photos to use with the patterned paper, which is often more tricky to match than plain paper.