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How To Begin Your Scrapbook Hobby
by Brandie Valenzuela
Are you interested in preserving your family photos? Have you heard about
scrapbooking, but are unsure of exactly what it is? I know -- I was there once
too. Maybe you are a crafty kind of person, who has seen the adorable, acid free
paper in your local craft store. Or maybe you have zillions of photos sitting in
shoeboxes -- never being "ooohed" and "aaahed" over by anyone, just knowing that
there must be a better way.
Even still, you might be someone who is wants
nothing more than to protect your photos from the destroying affects of acid and
other substances. No matter who you are, if you have considered trying out this
hobby called scrapbooking - welcome!
I was a combination of all of the
situations above. I had boxes and boxes of photos -- just doing nothing but
collecting dust. I had also seen some really wonderful scrapbooking tools at my
local craft store. They looked like so much fun, that I wanted them all. So, I
knew that the time had come for me to try out scrapbooking.
Scrapbooking is an old term that since the 1990's has been reborn. Today,
scrapbooking is a craft that involves creatively adhering photos and other
mementos to pages in an album. Along with the photos, it is a must to include
information about the photos, such as who, what, when, where, and why. This is
called journaling. The finished product is albums with pages of photos, that
clearly tell a story.
One of the very first steps in beginning scrapbooking is organizing your photos.
This is a big task -- actually the more photos you have stored, the bigger the
job. I had quite a few, so I sorted my photos over several nights. Also, there
are different methods to organizing your photos. Over time, you may find a
method that you prefer. However, to get you started, I will share with you how I
did it.
Step #1 To start, I collected all of my photos. Every single one! I went through
my home and brought every photo album and every shoebox to my work space. I knew
that I needed decent size work space, so for my sorting, I went to my living
room floor.
Step#2 Now that I had all of my photos together, I began sorting. I started with
a pile and sorted it by year. I was married in 1990, so the majority of our
photos started in that year. I had a pile of 1989, a pile of 1990, and so on. I
kept working my way through every single photo until they were all in their
appropriate piles.
Step #3 After the sorting into years, I sorted each pile chronologically --
January, February, and on through December. I used one of my shoeboxes to make a
sort of index with my newly sorted photos. At the beginning I had my earliest
photos indexed with the first year. Every year after that was labeled also. When
I was done sorting, I had boxes of perfectly sorted photos -- all ready for my
new hobby!
I will admit that before I started scrapbooking, it looked like an expensive
hobby to me. All those scissors, papers, idea books, templates and such could
add up! But I really wanted to give it a try, and even though I was on a budget,
I was determined to find a way to make this something I could afford.
Supplies to Get Started
The first piece of advice I would give to beginners is to keep it simple. Many
times the most impressive scrapbook pages are those which are simplistic - they
are uncluttered and in my opinion these are much more appealing. Also, realize
that removing your photos from those boxes and acid-containing photos albums is
the most important step in scrapbooking. What you do after this step is
secondary. Your main goal with scrapbooking should be to preserve memories.
When you first start scrapbooking there are a few things you can't do without.
Here is a breakdown of those items and some suggestions:
Albums
For your first album, you will need to decide which album best suits your needs.
You will find that there is a wide variety available. You must give thought to
what will work best for you, what your budget allows, and what type of album it
will be. One of the best resources I have found on the Net to assist you with
your decision is at GracefulBee.com. This site lists the pros and cons of
several different options.
Paper
It is important to keep in mind with all paper that you use for scrapbooking,
that it is acid-free. You may also notice that some papers say that they are
"lignin-free" and "buffered" - and both of these terms (in addition to
acid-free) describe qualities which are ideal for scrapbook paper. Many crafts
stores that sell scrapbooking supplies will have an assortment of paper that is
ideal for archival use. I advise the beginning scrapbooker to purchase a package
of acid-free solid colored cardstock. The size of paper you buy will depend on
the size of albums you would like to use. I prefer 12"x12" albums, but many
scrappers prefer 8.5" x 11" -- carefully decide which option will work best for
you.
Scissors
Having a pair of good, sharp scissors is a definite must. You may even want to
consider buying a new pair just for your scrapbooking. I don't include
decorative scissors in this section because they aren't a necessity. It is nice
to use them occasionally, but your plain sharp scissors will be what you need
the most.
Photo Safe Glues and Adhesives
Once you have all of the above, you need to have something to make your photos
stick to the paper. Once again, there is a wide variety and you will have to
determine what works best for you. Some of the options include photo corners,
double sided tape, glue pens, glue sticks and photo splints or squares. Be sure
that they adhesive you use is acid-free. I have used glue pens and photo splints
for most of my scrapbooking. They are not too expensive and I have been
satisfied with the results. If you would like something even less expensive, I
recommend glue sticks, like the kind that children use. There are a few brands
which are acid-free and usually you can purchase one or two sticks for about $1.
Pen
An acid-free, archival quality pen for journaling is a necessity. To start off,
just buy a basic black pen, and if you want, you can add to your collection
later.
Sheet Protectors
Sheet or page protectors are a necessity if you are preparing your own pages to
be inserted into a binder. They must be acid-free and I recommend those that are
top-loading. Don't skip the page protectors as this is excellent "insurance"
against fingerprints, dust, and other materials.
© Brandie
Valenzuela is a
freelance writing mother of three children.
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