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Scrapbooking is a method for preserving personal and family history in the form of photographs, printed media, and memorabilia
contained in decorated albums, or scrapbooks. The idea of keeping printed materials of personal interest probably dates to
shortly after the invention of printing. This trend is probably similar for photographs. Historically, scrapbooking was a
tradition similar to storytelling, but with a visual and tactile, rather than an oral focus.
Keeping your memories alive
We never take enough pictures of the important times in our lives. And, worse still, many of those times are locked away in
the attic and we don't have them available to share with friends and family or to engage in a little quiet reverie ourselves.
Scrapbooks are an ideal way to preserve memories and retrieve them for later reference or use. They allow for a trip down
memory lane without struggling about what someone had said on a particular event or what you were wearing. These fun books
keep precious memories safe and tucked away in a corner till the time you are ready to revisit or share them with someone.
Here are some free ones and some you need to pay for, we hope it may give you some ideas as to how you can save YOUR memories
before they are lost for good !!
The most important scrapbooking supply is the album itself, which can be permanently bound, or allow for insertion of pages.
There are other formats, such as mini albums and accordion-style fold-out albums. Some of these are adhered to various containers,
such as matchbooks, CD cases, or other small holders.
Modern scrapbooking is done largely on 12 inch square or 8½×11 inch pages. More recently smaller albums have become very
popular. The most common new formats are 6, 7, or 8-inch square.
Basic materials include background papers (including printed and cardstock paper), photo corner mounts (or other means
of mounting photos such as adhesive dots, photo mounting tape, or acid-free glue), scissors, a paper trimmer, art pens, archival
pens for journaling, and mounting glues (like thermo-tac). More elaborate designs require more specialized tools such as die
cut templates, rubber stamps, craft punches,stencils, inking tools, eyelet setters, heat embossing tools and personal die
cut machines. No you dont need all of this, a simple book and picture wouls work lovely.
Various accessories, referred to as "embellishments," are used to decorate scrapbook pages. Embellishments include
stickers,rub-ons, stamps, eyelets, brads, chipboard elements in various shapes, alphabet letters and ribbon. The use of die
cut machines is also increasingly popular; in recent years an electronic die-cutting machine, similar to a printer, can be
connected to one's computer to cut any shape or font.
One of the key components of modern scrapbooking is the archival quality of the supplies. Designed to preserve photographs
and journaling in their original state, materials encouraged by most serious scrapbookers are of a higher quality than those
of many typical photo albums commercially available. Scrappers insist on acid-free, lignin-free papers, stamp ink, and embossing
powder, and pigment based inks, which are fade resistant, colorfast, and often waterproof. Older "magnetic" albums
were not acid-free and thus caused damage to the photos and memorabilia included in them.
Scrapbooking with photographs has been around since photos became available to ordinary people.
Old scrapbooks tended to have photos mounted with photomount corners and perhaps notations of who was in a photo or where
and when it was taken. They often included bits of memorabilia like newspaper clippings, letters, etc. Modern scrapbooking
has evolved into creating attractive displays of photos, text, journaling and memorabilia.
In addition to preserving memories, the hobby is popular for the strong social network that scrap booking can provide. Hobbyists,
known as "scrappers" or "scrap bookers," get together and scrapbook at each other's homes, local scrapbook
stores, scrap booking conventions, retreat centers, and even on cruises. The attendees share tips and ideas as well as enjoying
a social outlet.The term "crop," a reference to cropping or trimming printed photographs, was coined to describe
these events.
Scrapbooking is the perfect way for you to save all of your most important memories. Each year of our lives goes so quickly,
life just speeds by and all too often we forget those special moments that made it worth living. That is why scrapbooking
is such a popular hobby these days. People get to save all of their pictures and make them into a work of art, a memory book
that can last for generations.
If you want to start making these kinds of books then there is no time like the present top do it. This is especially
important if you have children of your own. They grow up so fast and it is wonderful to have books of their school years.
I like to have a special book for each year. These have things like pictures of them at that age as well as some of their
best works of art done in school and stories they wrote etc. These are things that your kids can cherish and show to their
own kids when they grow up and have their own families.
The internet is the best place to find fantastic and free scrapbooking ideas. There are thousands of dollars worth of ideas
out therefore the taking and you don't even have to pay for them at all! There are some scrapbooking sites crammed with creative
advice and suggestions to help you make your own creative memory books. If you're looking for a unique and creative way to
put together all of your favorite pictures, and to arrange them perfectly then look online. This hobby is getting more and
more popular all of the time.
The internet is not the only place to get great scrapbooking ideas the library is another popular and effective place.
There are hundreds of books in the library that can help you to plan out the perfect books to keep your memories in. If you
want to keep things safe and protected then take some time to browse the books at the library. They are free to take out and
you can keep them for as long as you need to.
You can also get many scrapbooking kits cheaply online and offline. These kits come with everything that you need to make
the perfect books. We are talking about scissors, stickers, stencils and paper not to mention the book itself. Many even come
with borders and other pretty things that you can use to make your scrapbooks even better than any other.
Using the fancy scissors with the different edges and some pretty little stickers then you will be able to make images
to remember. These will be able to fascinate people for generations to come and it will be fantastic. Your kids will be so
happy they will cry for joy and their kids will be just as fantastically happy when they see pictures of their mom or dad
when they were the same age.
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Digital scrapbooking
The advent of scanners, desktop publishing, page layout programs, and advanced printing options make it relatively easy to
create professional-looking layouts in digital form. The internet allows scrapbookers to self-publish their work. Scrapbooks
that exist completely in digital image form are referred to as "digital scrapbooks" or "computer scrapbooks."
While some people prefer the physicality of the actual artifacts they paste onto the pages of books, the digital scrapbooking
hobby has grown in popularity in recent years. Some of the advantages include a greater diversity of materials, less environmental
impact, cost savings, the ability to share finished pages more readily on the internet, and the use of image editing software
to experiment with manipulating page elements in multiple ways without making permanent adjustments.A traditional scrapbook
layout may employ a background paper with a torn edge. While a physical page can only be torn once and never restored, a digital
paper can be torn and untorn with ease, allowing the scrapbooker to try out different looks without wasting supplies. When
you create a digital layout, you do it in much the same way that you would a traditional layout, in that you layer papers
and elements on top of one another. Each paper, photo, or embellishment exists on its own layer in your document, and you
can reposition them at your discretion.
Furthermore, digital scrapbooking is not limited to digital storage and display. Many digital scrappers print their finished
layouts to be stored in scrapbook albums. Others have books professionally printed in hard bound books to be saved as keepsakes.
Professional printing- and binding-services offer free software to create scrapbooks with professional layouts and individual
layouting capabilities. Because of the integrated design and order workflow, real hardcover bounded books can be produced
cost effectively.
Common terms
"Scrapping", or "Scrappin'": Scrapbooking
"Faithbooking": is the art of scrapbooking feelings, prayers, memories, and events related to one's faith.
"Crop" or "Cropping": Gathering together to scrapbook at a home, a scrapbook store, or convention.
A person brings their own materials to create pages while socializing with other scrapbookers. A equilvalent to a modern day
"Quilting Bee"
"Acid Free": Materials that have a pH balance of 7.0 or higher. Many papers are considered acid free immediately
after manufacture however unless they have been buffered, i.e. treated with a neutralising agent, chemical reactions with
substances such as sizing or bleaching will cause the paper to become acidic over time. All plastic by its nature is acid
free however some plastic is unsafe for use in photo albums.
"Lignin Free": Lignin is a naturally occurring acid substance in wood that breaks down over time. Paper with
lignin is not suitable for archival scrapbooking projects.
"Matting": Matting is a technique that allows you to enhance your photos by adding a border around the outside
edges. Simply lay your photgraph on a piece of cardstock and trim around the photo. (the size of the trim can be any size...1/8th
inch to 2 inches, even more). Matting is an easier and more effieceint way to 'frame' a photo.
"Journaling": Journaling is the writing that describes the events taking place in the photographs on your scrapbook
page(s). A scrapbook without journaling is merely a fancy photo album!
Scrapbooking takes three things-time, space, and dedication. Anyone interested in this craft has the dedication needed to
complete an album masterpiece, but what about time and space? With the countless papers, stickers, and other supplies (not
to mention photographs), scrapbooking requires room, both for creating pages and for storage. The sheer volume of supplies
is part of what makes scrapbooking so time consuming; by the time you get everything out and organized, you've already wasted
15 minutes or so, and the time spent looking for that perfect stamp leaves you little time to create a page before you have
to clean up. It can be frustrating, and if you're nodding your head in agreement, the perfect solution for you might be digital
scrapbooking.
Don't be intimidated by this concept if you have no computer skills. Digital scrapbooking is easy to learn and can make
designing pages and creating albums go more smoothly, leaving much more time for the other things in your life. By following
a few simple steps, you can begin digital scrapbooking in less time than you think.
First, you need to find a way to put your pictures online. This is easily achieved with a digital camera, but hard copies
of photographs can also be put onto your computer. Even if you do not know how to transfer pictures from your digital camera
to your computer, you can put your pictures onto a CD at any photography center. At one of these centers, you can also scan
your printed pictures and put them onto a CD as well. If you want to take it a step beyond the basics, you can register for
a website on the Internet that hosts photograph sharing. You can also use photo-editing programs to change the look of your
picture, but this is not necessary for beginners. In any case, once your pictures are on your computer, you can use them to
create scrapbook pages.
There are many programs available that help you design and print pages. You can buy a program at the store, or you can
purchase a downloadable program on the Internet. This is an especially good option if you want to share your album online.
Compare prices and services on the programs before making a purchase-not all programs are made the same way, and you'll want
to find one that's appropriate for your skill level. When you've chosen and purchased a scrapbooking program, take some time
to go through the tutorial. Learn to use all the functions of the program from the start, and you'll save yourself a lot of
time when you're trying to create pages.
Every program works differently, but after you've created pages you can print them out or post them on a website. This
is not only easy, but also convenient for family members and friends who many want to print their own copy of your work or
view your entire album. Having your pages online is also security-if anything ever happens to the hard copy of your album,
it is simple to print the pages again. Digital scrapbooking is worth the initial cost and time to learn for beginners who
have little space or time to create hand-made albums.
Starting off with digital scrapbooking is not as daunting a sit sounds. All you will need to begin is some photographs that
you want to use on your computer. The photographs can be clicked on a digital camera and stored in your computer or perhaps
some photographs that you have in your online mailbox. Then you need to select one of the appropriate categories of software
easily available in the World Wide Web. The scrapbooking softwares are designed to provide maximum comfort and support to
any individual keen on learning and indulging in digital scrapbooking. You can select among the two different kinds of available
software which may either be photo editing programs or layout programs. The softwares help you in deciding and finalizing
the layout of the pages and the design for the theme that you have selected. The photographs to be used can also be accordingly
adjusted, cropped or redefined to suit your requirements.
With a little creativity it is easy to create memory scrapbooks that are a joy to share with family and friends. Family history
can be captured in these books: to be recalled in your lifetime and as testimonials of relatives in the past, to be known
and remembered by the generations to follow. You not only have a plethora of choices in materials already available to choose
from in creating your memory book, new ideas, and materials are created every day for those who want to use scrapbooking as
a way to create memory books that will last forever.
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