Full Pictures? Ideas?

I think it is ok to crop your pictures down to fit as long as you aren't cutting out anything that might be considered important in the future...say the clock on the side table is a heirloom, or something like that, future generations may be interested in stuff like that...personally I'd leave the picture you described whole and crop the other two to where the most important stuff is, or just to fit the page, not cropping out too much...clear as mud, lol??? HTH, Arleen PS Most people are cropping their pictures into squares and rectangles...don't see too many circles and ovals, nor pictures cut out with pattern scissors...however, you should go with works best with your pictures and your page...sounds cute by the way!

Not sure what to say other than cropping is ok but dont leave out important bits. Make sure the photo has a main focus. The sofa pic sounds like you should leave it. I bet it's really cute.

Cheers! Elaine

"In the long run we shape our lives and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility."

Shann> I have just started another page. It is a blue card stock piece of paper.

With scrapbooking it really is a point of anything goes and there aren't really any mistakes - do whatever you love, however from talking to others who have been scrapbooking a while I have found that most people regret having cropped their pictures too much when they first started out. My friend showed me some layouts where she had cut around people and around heads etc and says how she regretted that very much.

I personally prefer when picture are kept to one shape - so I will sometimes crop but try to keep all pictures to a square and to a similar size - to me it looks better but again this is very personal!

If I have too many pictures to use I go for the other option and make it a two page layout! Or I pick my favourite one or two pictures and use them - and if it is one picture I pick, often I will enlarge it and use that.

My main advice would be to experiment and as you go on you will learn more about what you like. You will probably end up in a year or two not liking your first layouts anyway and wanting to re-do them! I know I have redone a couple of my first layouts because I wasn't happy with them!

Welcome to the group!!! You can learn a lot from the people here ;)

Bws Jane

Ah, someone who thinks like I do! I was very excited last year to find a old b/w snapshot of my grandmother that had 2 or 3 heirlooms in the pic (not posed w/ them; just there as they were in use 50-60 years ago). When I come across family photos I haven't seen before (dad spent the past year going thru everything & packing up his house to move, so he uncovered lots of stuff I'd never seen), I always carefully look in the background for "heirlooms". It's like a treasure hunt! :-)

Alicia

Replying to myself (is that like talking to myself? ):

After I posted that, I decided to go thru a small bag of photos & negatives I'd brought back with me from my last trip to dad's. Had to chuckle as I realized I was looking at a lamp (on the negative) that dad bought almost 50 years ago . . . by the light of that same lamp! (or its' twin; I have the pair).

Alicia

Don't be afraid to crop all or just one of your pictures or just keep them whole. I am sure it will turn out great!

Sounds as if you could just do some cropping an use them all. For instance,the one under the couch, just crop it so you get his sweet lile face.

Hugs, Sabrina in Kentucky

Lord,keep your arm around my shoulder.......and your hand over my mouth

Hi Shannon. Your page sounds great. I like to overlap pictures sometimes or have one that is a different shape from the others (2 rectange, 1 oval). I would leave the picture of his face sticking out of the couch whole and maybe just trim the others.

Yeah, I enjoy finding things like my mom's old 1971 Gremlin, and the harvest gold refrigerator in pictures...usually they were not something you would take a picture of, but it is in the background! Arleen

some links on cropping: