Brads for Scrapbooking

Brads for scrapbooking can be found in many different shapes. They can be the old fashioned office supply type of brads that we can find in office supply stores, or they can be decorative brads that take interesting shapes, likes stars, squares, flowers, snowflakes, birds, fish, animals, flowers, vehicles, airplanes and many other items.

Brads for scrapbooking can also be different colors, they can be glittered, metallic, painted, and patterned. You can also color some yourself with Alcohol Inks or Copic Markers, or decorate them with stickers, markers, glitters, embossing powders or paints.

They can be made of pearls, jewels, or metal or mixed media.

Sizes of Brads for Scrapbooking can vary from 1/4 inch to half inch, 5/8 inch or up to 2 inches. The options are practically limitless.

Below you be able to see just a few of the many types and uses for Brads for Scrapbooking and Card Making. The samples get a little more complicated as you move down the page.

All of the examples used here are also shown on other pages of this site. If you click on the image, you will be taken to that page where you will be able to read about the specific items used in the composition.

Metallic Brads for Scrapbooking Flowers

Using brads for the center of flowers was probably my first use of them in Scrapbooking.

This is a layout I did using a Personal Shopper Scrapbook Kit and some of the items that came with the kit. The two fabric flowers have centers made with brads, which, in turn, attach the flowers to the tags and also to the scrapbook page itself.

Upon closer inspection, the brad on the left is a blue rhinestone about 1/4 inch and the one the left is a silver metallic brad that is just a little larger.

Using different kinds and colors helps make each of the flowers unique - just like in nature. A great way to decorate your Scrapbook page or handmade greeting card, specially if you don't have enough of one kind of brad.

This Scrapbook page uses larger brads (over 3/4 inch) for the centers of hand cut paper flowers. Each flower shape was cut from patterned paper and matted with white paper, for a total four papers for each flower.

There are small silver flower stickers called "Dazzles" placed on the center of each of these brads.

For additional interest, the white stems & leaves of the flowers have been "stitched" with a black marker.

This layout uses Brads for Scrapbooking as flower centers and to attach a tag. The larger of the flowers is felt, with ribbon behind it with a large decorative brad at the center holding all to the background paper.

An up-close look at this large center brad reveals a square rhinestone at the center with mini pearls around the center.

Pearl Brads for Scrapbooking

I used a number of Pearl Brads on this scrapbook layout. The largest ones to make the centers of the fabric flowers - two of them in Brown and one in Turquoise.

An additional accent to the brown flowers is a wide ribbon pleated underneath the flowers.

Several smaller Pearl Brads were used to accent the floral border on the paper.

Here's a close-up of the beautiful Pearl Brad used for the flower center.

While these Pearl Brads for Scrapbooking are used to embellish a full page, the embellishment itself can always be used as a focal point on a hand made greeting card.

This Pearl Brad has been enhanced with additional smaller pearls and makes an elaborate flower center.

Brads to Accent Chipboard

These colored metal brads were used two ways. First to enhance some of the chipboard letters used in the title of the page "3 Friends", but also to attach those particular letters to the background page.

The Brad in the number "3" in the upper left corner is actually holding on the flower as well. There is another Brad used to accent and attach the chipboard tag.

Using brads for card making to attach chipboard letters can also be useful as a focal point for a hand made card.

Perhaps you could use chipboard letters to represent the first letter of a greeting or the initials of the person you are sending the card to.

Shaped Brads for Scrapbooking

The small yellow and white Flower Shaped Brads make a bright contrast to the black background in these layouts.

These little Bird Shaped Brads were used to attach the wispy dicrofiber fabric to the front of these cards as if the birds were perched on the vine image made with a rubber stamp.

More information on Dicrofiber embellishments can be seen at Dicrofiber Scrapbook Embellishments

More shaped Brads for Card Making with these shell brads, also used to adhere the Dicrofiber to the card front.

Here, Star Shaped Brads for Scrapbooking have been used in the center of the star shaped papers to enhance and attach them to the background.

They can be the same color as the paper or background or contrasting colors.

Again, Brads for Scrapbooking can be used to embellish scrapbook layouts but can also be used for card front accents on your hand made greeting cards.

The center of these brads is a Snowflake Shaped Brad - one of many different colors and shapes that are available.

The other brads are used for adhering a charm to the paper folded snowflakes and, in turn, adhering both to the background paper.

These Metal Penguin Brads are rather large, almost 2 inches tall, but they certainly fit the layout of those cute little guys found at the Aquarium.

Brads combined with Other Items

This scrapbook layout of the entrance to the Biltmore uses a Scrapbooking Brad in conjunction with another shape called a Brad Buddy. The brad holds the Brad Buddy to the page and adds and accent of a different color.

Here the Brad Buddy has a ribbon threaded through one of the openings.

These Halloween Scrapbook Layouts use Halloween Brads and Brad Buddies to accent both pages.

The Brad for Scrapbooking on the left is actually two attaching a Brad Buddy that says "BOO!" and an additional brad to the right of a Black Bat.





On the right we have an Orange Brad Buddy Pumpkin with 2 Square Yellow Brads for the eyes.

These layouts using Personal Shopper Kit items, both make use of brads.

The Brads and Brad Buddy on the left page have been altered. The Blue Brad Buddy says Wet Zone. It was originally painted all blue, but I sanded the blue paint off the raised lettering and decoration to reveal the silver metal underneath.

Above that, on the same page is a brad in the shape of Flip Flops.

The 3 Scrapbooking Brads in the "Splash" Brad Buddy on the right page make a cute accent to represent the splashing of water.

Also on that page, is another brad of the Flip Flops in a different color.

Scrapbooking Brads as Lists or Bullet Points

Here on this layout about Biltmore Estates, I have used large Antique Brass Brads as Bullet Points for the 6 things that inspired me while standing out on that stunning porch.

Scrapbooking Brads used instead of Adhesive

The Vellum Strip across the center of this page has fish and sand dollar brads and is adhered to the background page with simple dark blue brads.

Since many adhesives show through vellum, using brads to attach vellum strips is an easy way to secure any vellum you choose to use.

On this layout where I will add photos of the Pink Sand Beach of Bermuda, I have used little Pink Brads to hold the Charms that spell out the word "SAND".

What I liked about using the brads is that the letters can actually move from side to side.

This layout for the Bermuda scrapbook will hold a larger photo from our swim with the Dolphins. Little blue Dolphin brads have been used to adhere the blue Coastal Netting across the top of the photo matte and again to adhere the netting as a border strip to the bottom of the page.

Trying to use adhesive on the Coastal Netting, would leave adhesive exposed so it might stick to the sheet protector or to the page opposite if I don't use page protectors.

Here on this US Navy Blue Angels Scrapbook page, each of the four photos is held down with a Gold Brad and a Photo Turn.

The photo turn can still move, but holds the photo in place without adhesive on that one side.

Using multiple scrapbooking brads and photo turns per photo will allow you to place photos without any adhesive at all.

Multiple Uses of Scrapbooking Brads

These two scrapbook layouts use Brads for Scrapbooking in several different ways on the same page.

On both, Brads have been used with Brad Buddys. The blue Brad Buddy Flowers have been backed with a purple silk flower petal. The yellow brads through the center attach to the background paper and the silver dragon fly brads have been put through holes in the sides of the flowers.

On the left, the 2 journaling boxes have the journaling printed on a vellum. Since you can see adhesive through vellum, a brad has been put through to dot the "i" in the word "Magic" and the second journaling box has the brad put through the vellum and the matte behind it to hold all to the background.

Since these layouts represent a special day, a Day of Retirement, the round circle of cardstock represents a clock with Rhinestone Brads used to represent the numbers on a clock face.

The page on the right, uses a brad to attach each of the 3 tags in addition to three Rhinestone Brads in the bottom of the large photo matte.


I hope you have found some useful ideas about how to use Brads for Scrapbooking and for your Hand Made Greeting Cards. Let us know through our contact page if you have a layout or a greeting card you would like to post using Brads. The first person to send us a photo to use on our site will receive a thank you gift of some special Brads.

More about Scrapbook Embellishments

Scrapbook Tutorials

Ideas from Over 70 Themed & Heritage Scrapbooking Albums

Home Page for Scrapbook Advice
from Brads for Scrapbooking