Scrapbooks
If you are looking for a new hobby to help keep you busy you may want to consider scrapbooking. A scrapbook is a collection of memories that will help you to stay close to special times in your life. Many people enjoy scrapbooking as a way to preserve their precious family history by assembling a collection of photographs, news paper articles, and other such memorabilia and placing them lovingly within a decorated photo album or scrapbook. It's widely believed that this practice first came into practice shortly after the invention of the printing press which would have been the first time in history that it was truly possible.
Besides being an excellent way for an individual to preserve their most cherished memories, keeping a scrapbook is also a way for people to join a strong social network. People who consider scrapbooking a major hobby of theirs, sometimes referred to as scrappers, will often spend time with one another be it at home or at craft stores. Believe it or not, but there are even special events for these scrapbooking enthusiasts such as conventions, retreats, and cruises. Besides being an excellent way to meet other people, these folks will also use this time to share tips and other ideas.
Scrapbook Materials
The main supply needed for the scrapbooking hobby is the actual scrapbook itself. These days you will find yourself with a wide variety of options and designs to choose from. For example, some scrapbooks are permanently bound, while others will allow you to insert more pages as needed as your collection grows. Additionally, there are some formats such as a small scrapbook and those will fold out, kind of like an accordion. In order to make sure that these memories are kept protected, scrappers will often over their pages with a clear protected covering.
A few other supplies that a scrapper will probably want to have in their possession include background papers, photo corner mounts, scissors, a paper trimmer, art pens, mounting glue, etc. The supplies that you will need will expand if you wish to create more elaborate designs. You may requires such tools as diet cut templates, rubber stamps, stencils, eyelet setters, and so on. You may eventually wish to invest in embellishments, which are used in order to decorate the individual pages in the scrapbook. These could include anything from stickers, stamps, eyelets, brads, letters, and ribbons.
Creating That First Page
If you are someone who has never 'scrapped' before, just getting started can be a daunting task, so the following are a few tips to help get you started. In order to make you the most prepared and comfortable that you can possibly be all you have to do is follow these simple steps:
1. Gather up all the photos that you wish to use in your project and sort them according to different themes or topics.
2. Select the sheets of cardstock that you will be using. 2 to 3 colors that match with your photos seems to work best.
3. Choose one photo that will act as the centerpiece for your first page.
4. You may now crop your photos as needed.
5. Select photos that compliment your centerpiece photo.
6. Add some narration, or journaling, to accompany your photos. Remember that in order to give all the details, you must incorporate your thoughts and feelings effectively.
7. Now add your embellishments.
8. After you have arranged everything on your page, it is time to adhere everything, using glue or other preferred method.
Cropping Your Photos
Special attention needs to be given to the subject of cropping as there is a lot of room for error involved, especially to those with little experience in doing it. When cropping your photographs, be conservative, taking off too much is never a good idea. After all, you can always take more off if need be later, you can never add more back on. Of course, the advent of digital photography has made it easier to back up your photos should they become ruined. The following are a few other important things to keep in mind:
- Never crop Polaroid photographs as they contain chemicals which can leak out and ruin everything. One alternative you have at your disposal is to cover up the parts of these pictures you don't wish displayed, using frames, embellishments, etc.
- Try not to crop out historical places of significance in the background of your pictures as this can remove from the bigger pictures so to speak.
- Try to crop your photos into one or two shapes for each layout in order to keep things simple. Sometimes simple shapes such as squares or circles are fine.
Finding a Theme
Before even starting your scrapbook, it is important to determine what the overall theme will be. For example, one of the most common themes for a scrapbook is a simple chronological layout which will portray your family's growth and events over the years. You do have quite a few other options however, one thing you can do for example is create a gift scrapbook, or a documentation of a special event. When creating this type of scrapbook, you will often tell a story using pictures and accompanying journaling. A couple ideas that you may want to consider include different places you have lived over the years or maybe just a collection of your favorite photos.
A Brief Word Concerning Digital Scrapbooking
As computers have improved over the years, they have become the focal point of the lives of most people, so it comes as no surprise that they would also be used for scrapbooking as well. Since digital photography is so popular, it is easier for people to create their scrapbooks on the computer as most of their photos are already there. Many users, those who are younger or have more experience with computers, will find it easier to crops their pictures and create special designs and embellishments using software than they do to use paper and traditional tools.
Scrapbooks