"What Inspires You To Be Creative" - Creating Scrapbook Pages Tips for Teachers
by Gweneth Branch-Rice, Art Teacher
Bluefield High School
North Wiltshire, P.E.I.

What inspires you to be creative? Find objects that because of their texture, colour, line and/or shape, could be that spark that inspires you to create that great new painting, story, sculpture or piece of poetry.

My art students were given this assignment. I gave them a large brown envelope and three weeks to collect items for their scrapbook page. The items had to be able to be attached to the page with glue. They completed the arrangement for one side of the page first. They were then required to discuss the items they had included and how they felt the project was going. I gave them some suggestions and then they completed the other side of the page. We all had a lot of fun; I made a page as well and my students and we learned a lot about each other in the process. The students now have this terrific cache of ideas to draw from the next time they need to be creative.

My class brainstormed a list of items that they might include on their page. I thought it might give other classes some ideas:

- photos that you or your family took
- photos from magazines
- other paper items that have special meaning or a story that goes with them: movie ticket stubs, receipts, wrapping paper, comics, newspaper articles, wrappers, etc.
- items that have texture e.g. fabric (velvet, corduroy, fur)
- stickers, small flat toys, coins, beads, yarn, string, wire
- a piece of writing you created or one from a writer you admire