Scrapbooking for Beginners will walk you through the process, step-by-stepStep #7 - Test Fit Your LayoutScrapbooking Basics
Don't forget, the mattes are not required. Sometimes the photos look just as nice placed directly on the background paper - particularly if the background paper is a solid color. 
Think about your title and think about where you want to put it. Artistically it does not have to go at the top of the left hand page. Scrapbooking for Beginners Tip: It can go anywhere. Up one side, on the bottom, in a corner, in the center, split between the two pages. Large, small, medium sized. 
Titling is all up to you and whatever you have room for. The fewer the photos, the more extra "white space" and the more room for a title. Do you want any other journaling. Don't forget the particulars of who, when, when, where, and why! A Scrapbooking for Beginners basic. You can journal directly on the background paper, in the margins of your photo mattes, on separate pieces of paper or card stock that can be glued to the background page, attached with paper clips, staples, or ribbon. They can be tags, lettering squares, text cut from a brochure, or pictures of signs - like the layout on the left above. The sign explains all about what the Cypress Knees are for. The list is limited only by your imagination. Scrapbooking for Beginners Tip: While you are deciding where and how large to the title and journaling, cut out some scrap paper (something that you may already be recycling) and use that for your journaling blocks. Hand write on the scrap paper to get an idea of the size you want. Maybe a family get together or a party where the event is obvious and all family members. Maybe just the date will do and there is not need for much journaling - like the floral layouts above. Scrapbooking for Beginners Tip: Move things around, before you glue. Or, you can always use a repositionable adhesive until you finalize your layout. It is certainly easier to move things around in this environment than if you were trying to move furniture around in your home. Don't forget to add your embellishment items and just consider them like additional photos. A large brochure or program may take up the space of 2 photos. A ticket stub from the theater will only take up a little room.
Have just a little too much for a 2-page Spread, but not quite enough to do another 2-page Spread. Scrapbooking for Beginners Tip: If you don't want to crop your photos, make a mini scrapbook to put as part of the layout. Here are a couple of examples below where I have done that. When do we ever need more stuff? Well, occasionally there is just a little too much white space on a page or a page just doesn't seem complete. It needs something. Can't think of anything else to add? 
The page on the left needed something in the upper left, so I made a little beaded embellishment with a heart charm - a little like a fancy dog collar. I had planned to put another photo on this page, but didn't have one - so I put the blank photo matte on the page so the lady who got the album can add an additional photo or some journaling. The page on the right needed a little something also, so I added the stamped image of a tree, cut into four equal pieces, matted them onto a solid piece of cardstock. It resembles the view looking out of a window to the outside. Scrapbooking for Beginners Tip: Let the page sit a while and maybe something will come to you. You may remember something that you already have - remember from the Embellishments page - sewing notions, ribbons, fibers, a rubber stamp image. Did you forget anything that you were saving especially for this layout? Scrapbooking for Beginners Tip: Ask someone else if they will take a look at your page. One nice thing about belonging to a crop group or an internet chat group is that I can share my layouts and ask for advice for improvement at the same time. Run the page by someone else who was at the event. Can they remember anything about the event that possibly you have forgotten? Extend a journaling block, make your title larger, add a charm, rubber stamp an image to go with your theme. Actually this is not just a beginners tip, but always a good idea to get a review from another set of eyes. But trust me, it may start out that you like the layout and are trying to copy it, but during the creative process, something always changes. I can't even seem to copy my own layouts. I work at a College and every year I have the same idea about some pages for the Graduation Ceremony and every year the pages turn out completely different, but they always start from the same idea. It amazes me! But, I have learned to go with it. But don't worry about CASEing - the photos will always be different. Also remember that imitation is the finest form of flattery. If you really like a layout that someone has done, tell her you'd like to CASE it. That's a wonderful compliment. Just take a look at the flower layouts above - the same and yet different. I do manage to take a lot of vertical photos so I can actually copy this particular design quite often. Now that you have Tested the Fit of Your Layout ... Go on to Step #8 -
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