It’s nothing new to find inspiration in home decor trends. The trends come and go but how you translate them onto your page remains relatively the same. You take the trend and you choose to focus on how color is used as well as how pattern and texture work together. Today, we’re going to focus on working with the Americana Style. It’s the perfect style to influence how you document your hometown pride or Fourth of July photos.

Tips for Creating Your Own Scrapbook Kit with the Americana Style

Creating your own scrapbook kit is easy as long as you stay consistent with your supply choices. Consider how many scrapbook pages you might make with the kit and be realistic about the supplies you need. More isn’t always better. Look for supplies with the following criteria:

• When you think of Americana, the colors of red, white and blue immediately come to mind. You may have many shades of these colors within your supplies. Try to use shades that are all similar to one another.
• If you are creating 1-2 scrapbook layouts, choose 3 papers at most( one in red, one in white and one in blue).
• Look within your supplies for items with worn textures and a hand-made feel. If you don’t have something worn, look for techniques that can help you distress( or add wear) to products you already own.
• For a handmade feel, consider hand stitching on your page
• You will need something “shiny” to keep the page from feeling drab. Consider items with the look of tin to add a little shine.
• Stars are a common motif in the Americana Style. They are also a common motif in many scrapbook kits. Pull a few stars in various sizes. Consider cutting a few stars from your patterned paper to create DIY die cuts.
• Don’t be afraid of adding vintage items to your kit. Vintage can be paired with newer supplies to achieve that worn look with a vintage fresh feel

A Visit to Norman Rockwell’s America by Christy Strickler |Supplies Patterned Paper JBS Mercantile,Pink Paislee; Letters: American Crafts,Basic Grey; Die Cuts: October Afternoon, JBS Mercantile: Stickers: Freckled Fawn; Jewel, Photo Corners: Queen and Company; Other: German Foil, Ribbon; This Layout originally appeared in an article for Get It Scrapped

What Supplies Did I choose to Scrapbook with an American Feel?

The first item I chose was the white paper with the word Liberty on it. It had been a challenge for me to use on other pages but with the brick texture( which I felt represented solidarity and foundations) and the word art, I thought it would be a great place to start kit building. You could easily replicate this word art on your own pages using stamps or die cuts. My second choice was the star print pattern. The muted color had a vintage vibe and the star pattern reminded me of a quilt. I felt that I needed a stripe pattern, so I chose the navy striped ribbon. It added a soft texture to the page. I didn’t have any tin in my supplies. I almost made my own embellishments from a soda can but when I saw the gold trim German foil, I knew that it felt right for my page. Placing it over the ribbon made the border between both patterned papers feel less plain. I didn’t embellish heavily because I felt the patterned paper prints spoke volumes. I chose a navy vintage style bingo card, a button, some photo corners and a few gold bits.

This is the story of my son and his friends at a Norman Rockwell exhibit. We were indoors and the photos were of a just OK quality. I chose one photo to print in a 4×6 inch size and made it black and white. I printed the other two pictures as wallet size prints on a 4×6 inch size piece of photo paper. The cluster arrangement works well for me here. I snuggled the photos together and slipped embellishments over and under them.