Blast From the Past.
From time to time we will revisit some of our previously posted articles.
Written by Michele
Start Simple!
My biggest piece of advice would be to START SIMPLE! Your first trip to the scrapbook store, or even down the scrapbook aisle at Target, can be overwhelming. Papers, punches, borders, the options are never ending! Stickers, brads, threads, embellishments galore!
My biggest mistake was buying every cute paper and sticker that I liked, thinking I would use it on a certain book eventually when I got to that book. But, don’t go crazy, your stuff will pile up and when you do get to that certain page or book that you bought that “perfect” embellishment for, you won’t even remember having it!
What I do is try to go purchase what I need for the particular project that I am working on at that time. I made the mistake of starting a wedding book, my baby book, our Green Bay Packers book, among other gift albums. So now I am trying to go back and finish up these partial books. So, I pull one out, see what I have for it already, then go and purchase additional items I want to include. It keeps my head straight and my area free of piles!
Don’t attempt to scrapbook every single picture you have. Pick the top 5-10 of an event, those that truly capture what you want to say, captures the essence of the moment etc. Remember to include journaling in your albums. The pictures will always be cute but, 25 years down the road you want to let others know what was going on that day and why it was a special moment to you.
Buy Supplies
Throw out those photo albums with the gummy substance meant to hold your photos in place. First thing to remember when preserving your photos is to choose products which are acid free. This includes papers, stickers, adhesive, markers, anything you will use in your book should be acid free and photo safe.
Basic supplies you need to get started include:
Paper – paper packs are an easy way to get a variety of paper colors and patterns. And this is usually less expensive than buying every page singly. Most books come with white pages, I tend to use colored backgrounds more, but you can do whichever suits your style. You can also purchase Scrapbooking kits that include the scrapbook, paper and embellishments. Kits are a quick, easy way to begin. And be sure to keep all your scraps, you never know when you need just a little piece to add a splash of color to your page!
Scissors – you will want a pair of sharp precise scissors. Cutter Bee is a great brand.
Paper Trimmer – I would recommend the Cutter Bee Cutterpede. I recently upgraded to this and it is fantastic! I found a great video that highlights it well. http://store.scrapbook.com/ek-ekcp01.html
Adhesive – there are several adhesive options. Do not use Elmer’s glue, glue sticks or rubber cement. Do use photo tab dispenser or tape runners. I prefer the latter, the tape runner is so easy to use and you can reposition the picture more easily. Something to keep in mind regarding photos or mementos you may want to remove later… You can use photo corners for these items, although they are more time consuming. Only use enough adhesive to hold your photo down in case you need to remove them at a later date. And keep extra adhesive on hand. Don’t run out at midnight, in the middle of a project, like I have done before!
Stencils/Stickers – if you don’t want to hand write all your titles, you may want to look into stencils or stickers. Buying tons of letter stickers can get pricey, but for those of us who are not artistic they are a savior! One thing that I recently started was mixing and matching my alphabet stickers. Adds fun and spunk to the page and you have less waste!
Quality
I have often wondered about Photo Quality. With digital cameras being the norm, I print a lot of my photos myself. Here is an article relating to this topic: http://scrapbooking.about.com/od/archivalsafety/a/inkjetink.htm Basically if you take good care of your books, keep them away from moisture and sun, they should still last a long time.
The use of page protectors is important in preserving your photos as well. The protectors normally come in the scrapbook when you purchase it but can be purchased separately as well.
Something else to consider is the quality of your memorabilia. I like to include original items, such as drawings that my nephews have made me or football game tickets. However, some suggest that you scan and print these items so that you are sure they are acid free.
Help is Available!
Check your local Scrapbooking store, they will lend their opinion, and most offer classes and open times that you can come use their equipment and room. If you are looking for page layouts, the Internet has numerous ideas. There are an abundance of Scrapbooking magazines and books out there too.
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Comments
14 Responses to GET STARTED ON YOUR SCRAPBOOK
What was so hard about that. It sounds great. Good job.
Thanks Michele.
I think when I have some time off this summer I might try this. My parents have a 50th wedding anniversary coming up and it would be great to make a book for them.
Good article. It is very informative. I do know for a fact that this is a very fun project to do. Come on everyone, if you haven't given it a try, you should.
I have seen so many unique scrapbooks out there. It looks like a hobby that is a lot of fun but it also looks like it could be expensive.
What happens if your material has acid and how would you know that?
Michele,
I was wondering, do you do most of your books for your own personal memories, or are they ususally a gift that you give someone?
This was great, Michele!
I'm making a list right now!
I love the idea of preserving memories like this, and also as a great gift idea!
My family and I made scrapbook for my husband's grandfather and grandmother for their bithdays this year. They have plenty of money, buy whatever they like, and have too much as it is so this was a great choice. They LOVED them, none of us reaizied what a hit they would be, but they just adored them.
Pam –
I do scrapbooks for myself as well as gifts. I have done our wedding album, one traditional and one through an online service, Picaboo. I did my honeymoon album through Picaboo as well. I have done our Packers album traditionally because I wanted to include tickets and articles and such. I have been working on my childhood album recently. My mother had done what was considered safe at the time, the old paper albums that are now fading, so we are redoing it together and she is journaling in it. I have done a few other small ones as well.
I love doing baby albums! Since we don't have any kids, I do my nephews, which I really need to work on! I have done wedding albums as gifts. Then I have also done a couple smaller digital albums through Picaboo and Shutterfly for gifts. I say digital but they are not the full fledged design your own pages, they are just programs you can choose backgrounds and layouts. I am hoping to learn how to really digital scrapbook though.
Thanks for a very informative article. Some of you put me to shame. I admit to having plastic storage containers full of unorganized pictures.
I don't know if I will ever be the type to make this a serious hobby, but I love the suggestions for getting some of my treasured pictures into scrapbooks with some decoration.
Samantha, I love this idea. I too have relatives who are older and basically buy what they want and they don't have that many 'wants'. I think everyone appreciates getting a hand made gift, but older people especially tend to be a bit more sentimental and really understand the value in a gift such as this.
What a great article! I've got the plastic bins full of pictures and the idea of starting such an undertaking is daunting. But your article was very helpful for this novice. Thanks, Michele.
Laurie -
There are pens you could buy that will tell you if your item has acid. When in doubt, you should assume it does. michelle put a picture of Archival Mist, and you could spray it on a item to neutralize it, but a bottle of the stuff is expensive. (you can find these at Michaels) Creative Memories (which is sold through independent sales people) sells paper that is suppose to neutralize the acid as well. Another option include matting your item on acid and ligin free paper, then placing on your page. As long as the item doesn't come near your photo, you should be ok.
ooohhh great tips! Now if I just could get motivated! LOL
What great advice and wish I’d had this before I started. I’m not clever or artistic or neat enough to do these as gifts for others, so just have done ones for my daughter’s prom and band trips and such and she appreciates them although they are pretty clumsy and count on those cute expensive stickers rather than any talent, to make them nice.
I can’t think of anything I’d cherish MORE, than a NICE scrapbook of a grandchild, or a wedding – they combine the memories, photos etc and are such great conversation starters. My girl took hers to college with her and she and her roommate bonded over looking at those and their HS year books, getting to know each other . My Sister in law has done ones for me on a few birthdays – she’s a REAL scrapper! – of my precious niece and nephew and those are in my bookcase near the front door with the stuff I’d grab on my way out in case of fire. The kids in their Halloween costumes, around the Christmas tree, in their soccer or Tball outfits, or my nieces dance recital.
I love the idea of doing ones of my family in days gone by and capturing some words from my parents who are in their 70s, what a great idea, as they recall holidays or events from my childhood. Not sure how best to do that?
We did not have digital movie cameras in those days so their recollections would be very special for me and some day for my kids. In fact I intend to do one for my dad and to videotape it as we go through and capture his comments so that some day my kids can see him and hear his voice as he discusses the photos and memories, and not struggle to remember what grandpa sounded like, his gravelly cigar-smoke voice or his special humor. I have ONE reel to reel tape from the 60′s where we have captured my grandparents’ voices over a single holiday in 1966, and I cherish just the sound of their voices. These memories are important to capture, for teenagers who roll their eyes now but will love having this stuff 20 years on.