Scrapbooking

Scrapbooking is believed to have started in ancient Greece. The ancient Greeks used a form of a notebook to write down what they had heard or seen that what they thought might be worth remembering.

People have been scrapbooking since printed information became available to the common everyday person.Some famous American scrap-bookers are Thomas Jefferson and Mark Twain.

Since people wanted to save their memories or information on important events it only makes sense that they would start including photos (just as soon as cameras and the art of photographs came about).

Some of the older scrapbooks might have the photos held in place with photomount corners and perhaps a note of who, what, where and when the photo was taken. Early scrap-bookers sometimes included bits of newspaper clippings or letters. Those early scrap-bookers normally just attached their items to plain paper and held the papers together in a simple notebook.

Today with all the modern techniques and processes we have modern scrapbooking has an art of creating beautiful personal displays of our pictures, printed material, journaling and souvenirs.

Marielen Christensen of from Utah is often recognized for reviving interest in scrapbooking here in the United States. Marielen started making creative pages to hold her family's photo and memories. When her page was finished she would place it in a sheet protector and organize these in a 3-ring binder.

By about 1980, she had put together over fifty books and was invited to display them at the World Conference on Records held in Salt Lake City, Utah. Marielen along with her hubby AJ wrote and published the how-to book, Keeping Memories Alive. They opened a scrapbook store in 1981.

The hobby of scrapbooking is also popular for the strong social network that it can provide. Hobbyists, known as "scrappers" or "scrapbookers," will get together and scrapbook just about anywhere. (each other's homes, scrapbook stores, conventions, etc) These scrappers share tips, ideas and techniques as well as enjoying a social get together.

Many of these scrappers in the United States opened stores and turned their hobby into very profitable businesses in the late 1900’s. But……between 2001 and 2004 the scrapbooking industry doubled in size. One such company, Creative Memories, a home-based retailer of scrapbooking supplies founded in 1987, saw $425 million in retail sales in 2004.

Here in the United States the scrapbooking hobby has surpassed even golf in popularity. One in three households has someone who is involved in scrapbooking.

The most important item is the album itself. (it can be permanently bound, or allow for insertion of pages like the 3 ring binder.

a means of mounting your pictures like adhesive dots, photo mounting tape, or acid-free glue

If you desire to get more elaborate designs you will need to have some specialized tools like:

Embellishments are also used to decorate scrapbook pages. These might be stickers, stamps, ribbon, etc..

Today with modern technology there is also an electronic die-cutting machine, like a printer that can be connected to your computer to cut out shapes or fonts

Keep in mind at all time that the archival quality of the supplies you use in creating your scrapbooks in extremely important in order to preserve then for years to come. Materials that are acid free should be used.

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ACID FREE - Many papers can be 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 it´s nature is acid free however some plastic is unsafe for use in photo albums.

ADHESIVES - Product used to attach photographs and other components onto a scrapbook page. Adhesive types include photo corners (clear plastic stick on style or paper “lick and stick” style) which are considered to be non permanent, photo tape, photo tabs, tape runner (all forms of double sided tape) which are considered permanent but in actuality articles can be removed with slight damage to the album page, and glue which can be considered permanent and not recommended for adhering photographs.

BORDER - The margins of a scrapbook page. Usually spoken of in terms of decoration

CIRCLE CUTTER - Scrapbook tool used to create circles from photos and mounting paper. Circle cutters vary in type from tower to template style, fixed blade to separate knife systems. Different circle cutters suit different people so it is best to try a few before you commit to one.

CROPPING - Cropping is the trimming of a photo to remove unnecessary sections. Cropping should be done to improve a photo not just to make a pretty shape. Cropping also allows for more photos to be added to a page. When cropping some attention should be paid to maintaining the historical integrity of a picture. Never crop out anything that identifies the time period in which the photo was taken.

CROP - A crop is an event where scrapbookers meet to work on their scrapbooks, share tools and techniques.

LAMINATION - The coating of paper with a thin, translucent plastic. Lamination is considered unacceptable as a conservation methods due to the high heat and pressure used during application and its irreversibility.

MAT - The placing of a photo for decorative effect onto cardstock cut slightly larger and then placed onto a scrapbook page.

PHOTO CORNERS - A non permanent method of adhering photos to a page. Small triangles of plastic or card stock one for each corner are adhered to the page and the corners of the photo slotted in. The photo is held in place but may be easily removed for copying, etc.

STICKERS - Stickers are one of the most basic scrapbooking supplies. Scrapbooking stickers should be acid free, and lignin free (or photo safe such as Stickopotamus™). Traditionally scrapbooking stickers are made out of printed paper, adhere to your page with a sticky back and are very quick, and easy to use. More recently scrapbooking stickers have become more embellished - some sporting fiber, beads, wire, ribbon and other such products that give your scrapbook pages depth and texture. Stickers are a must for every scrapbooker and come in almost any imaginable theme.

TEMPLATE - Plastic or card sheet with punched out shapes that can be used to crop photos and photo mounting paper into shapes. Some templates are suitable for drawing outlines or journaling lines.

TRIMMER - Tool used for straight cropping of photos and cardstock. Can come in guillotine, rotary or blade style

Journaling is a very important part of scrapbooking to me as I am wanting to save and pass down family history and memories. Journaling can be story like. But whether you tell a story or not it is important to say who is in the picture and when and where the picture was taken.

Today with computers, printers, scanners and desk top publishing programs, page layout programs, it is rather easy to create professional-looking layouts in digital form. Scrapbookers can easitly self publish their pages and albums over the internet. Scrapbooks that are completely in digital image form are called digital scrapbooks.

Digital scrapbooking has grown over recent years in popularity. Some advantages to digital scrapbooking are: cost savings, ability to share pages on the internet, diversity of materials, and image editing software that allows you to experiment with manipulating elements of your pages in many ways without making permanent adjustments. This eliminates waste.

You create a digital layout in the same way that you do a traditional layout, by layering papers and rudiments on top of one another. The nice part of this is that each paper, photo, or adornment is its own layer so you can easily reposition them at will.

Digital scrapbooking is NOT restricted to digital storage and display. A good number of digital scrappers will print their finished pages and store them in scrapbook albums. Other scrappers will have their pages professionally printed and placed in hard bound books to save as keepsakes.

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Take a notebook or a mundane daily diary or journal and add some decoration with a border and you end up with a scrapbook. The notebook, diary, journal or scrapbooks have the same basis for production. They all are filled with thoughts, ideas and feelings. What separates a scrapbook from the others is the visual impact and beauty of the production. In a way, the scrapbook allows you to show off your events or thoughts so that other people will enjoy seeing it. All these mentioned items preserve memorabilia and legacies. It is just that the scrapbook dabbles in creativity and imagination whereas the other items are plain and simple.

Just as with many other facets of life these days, scrapbooking has also been changed with the advent of the computer, internet and things like printers and scanners. These items of hardware have the same effect as the printing press on scrapbook presentations. They all make the process faster and easier. Desktop publishing and new software has also made scrapbooking easier for everyone. You could have a scrapbook and not use a single piece of paper. Doing this is known as digital scrapbooking and it has taken off in popularity. Whereas all these new-fangled computerized methods use to be the domain of geeks and techno-nerds, they have now branched out to the practice of scrapbooking. People of all ages from anywhere in the world now have access to many things to help them produce their own special scrapbooks. Because of the internet and lots of scrapbook oriented websites, the options have skyrocketed. Never in the past could someone do as much as they can now. Another facet of digital scrapbooking fits in very nicely with the world of social networking. Sites like Myspace and Facebook are a good match for displaying your scrapbooking skills.

Over the years, scrapbooking has gone from a hobby for elitists to today where it is a viable commercial activity. Both brick-and-mortar locations and websites have mushroomed into what you see today. It used to be a small scale activity but now it is expanding day by day. With all the new entries into the scrapbooking industry, there are new scrapbooking techniques and lots of them. Because of the myriad of choices for scrapbooking, it is hard to pigeonhole particular scrapbooking techniques. There really is no right or wrong way to decorate a scrapbook. This leads to new and unique scrapbooking techniques every day. Don't get me wrong, there are scrapbook techniques that will definitely benefit your presentation but a little bit of imagination with a smidgeon of creativity will go a long way.

So where does one go to look for new and different scrapbooking techniques? There are websites, books, and friends who also scrapbook. Scrapbooking is a learning experience and while you are creating your masterpiece, you will see interesting techniques you may not have thought of in the past. Go ahead use them and share them with your friends. Get them to share their scrapbooking techniques too.

When you plan your scrapbook, take some time and think the whole process through to the finished project. You start out with the most important portion of the scrapbook; the paper. Paper should be sturdy with a long life and be acid-free. You want your work around for a long time and the correct paper is essential for long life. As you plan the design of your scrapbook, keep mental notes about different supplies needed. Supplies such as pens, inks and stencils should be carefully planned for to make your project. Go into each scrapbook with the correct planning and you will find it easier to express your thoughts and end up with beautiful presentations.

A lot of scrapbooking techniques highlight the need to have index pages or highlight pages. They will inform you about where to locate them and how to display them. These special pages should be instantly noticeable as special pages with unique colors and symbols. Another way to distinguish pages is with bookmarks with tassels. Tassels are both decorative and functional in a scrapbook.

There are many elements to the art of decoration. Decoration shouldn't be overdone as it will make your project look gaudy. The right type of decoration is critical in scrapbooking techniques. Choose decoration carefully with planning before you start. Visualize it and then go with it. There are many choices you can use. Stamps, embellishments, rub-ons, stickers, snow globes etc. can really glitz up your scrapbook if not done to excess. Choose carefully and use each appropriately.

Want more versatility for your scrapbook? Here are a few ways to add impact to your project. You can add pop-up pages, trinkets that are attached to pages, punch craft, peek-a-boo and panoramic pages will make your scrapbook unique and wonderful. Scrapbook techniques are limitless and very diverse. Go ahead and explore these techniques and add versatility to your scrapbooks.

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Honeymoon scrapbook albums can be fun to make, even if you have never tried one before. Tropical scrapbook albums also are exciting. When one combines the best of tropical scrapbook albums and honeymoon scrapbook albums, the results can be amazing. But how do you make scrapbook albums?

Let's look at the steps.

How to Construct a Scrapbook Album – Step 1

Scrapbook albums come in a range of materials, sizes, and styles. The first step in constructing scrapbook albums is choosing the album itself.

1. Materials: Leather scrapbook albums are likely to be the most expensive. Honeymoon scrapbook albums are precious, however, and you may want to choose durable leather for yours. Cloth-covered scrapbook albums are also a good choice. Some have a window opening on the front cover for a special photo. The cloth used is usually book cloth, so it is strong. Cheap scrapbook albums are also available. These are usually made of heavy cover stock, plain or covered with paper.

2. Sizes: Standard scrapbook albums have a useable page size of 12x12 inches. The scrapbook album itself may measure 13x14 inches or more, but part of that is the book's spine. Some scrapbook albums are larger – as large as 18x20 inches. Smaller scrapbook albums are as small as 4x6 inches. As a novice, you may want to select from the standard scrapbook albums, since scrapbook supplies are made to that standard.

3. Styles: As the popularity of scrapbooking has increased, the variety of styles in scrapbook albums has mushroomed. Plain cover scrapbook albums come in many colors. Some scrapbook albums have a military-themed cover, featuring the military branch and a gold plated service medallion. Others have a Disney theme, with Mickey Mouse and friends adorning the cover. Tropical scrapbook albums, which you might choose for a honeymoon in Bora Bora, would be attractive in scrapbook albums with a bright red or blue Hibiscus-patterned cloth cover. You might even find unique Bora Bora scrapbook albums.

How to Construct a Scrapbook Album – Step 2

Once you have selected a scrapbook album, you need to sort the photos and memorabilia you will use. Pay attention to the theme of each piece as well as the colors.

How to Construct a Scrapbook Album – Step 3

Honeymoon scrapbook albums already have an overall theme – the honeymoon. Your next step will be to decide sub-themes for each 2-page spread. For example, you might have a theme of arrival at Bora Bora, with approach photos of the island from the air. This theme could also include photos taken upon landing. First impressions are important memories. Lay out your photos, deciding a theme for each page or 2-page spread. Then move to the next step.

How to Construct a Scrapbook Album – Step 4

Background papers are a good way to tie pages together. Scrapbooking paper in standard 12x12 inch size comes in a multitude of colors and patterns. Plain paper is also available. Be sure you purchase paper that is acid free to protect your photos and memorabilia. Choose paper to complement the photos on each page.

How to Construct a Scrapbook Album – Step 5

With your scrapbook album paper in place, arrange photos. Resist crowding your pages with photos. You will need space for notes and other elements. You might want to add a bit of torn paper beneath photos to set them off from the background. On come pages, you may want to put a paper frame around the photos. Such scrapbooking supplies are available at scrapbooking stores and websites.

How to Construct a Scrapbook Album – Step 6

After you arrange and affix the photos, it's time to add journaling. "Journaling" is nothing more than notes or captions that help explain the photos. You may have a memory of what was said when a certain photo was taken – or a comment about what happened immediately before or after. Journaling can be done on small pieces of paper that are added to scrapbook albums much as photos are added.

How to Construct a Scrapbook Album – Step 7

The final touch in constructing scrapbook albums is to add embellishments, charms, stickers, and other small pieces that add interest. Honeymoon scrapbook albums might include small hearts or kisses. Bora Bora scrapbook albums, or other tropical scrapbook albums, might include small sandals or seashells.

The Easier Route!

If construction of scrapbook albums "from scratch" sounds too complicated, or too time-consuming, you may want to purchase a scrapbooking honeymoon kit!

Throughout several decades now, people have tried out several ways of preserving their family history. Maintaining photo albums, photo collages are some of the ways of maintaining a family history. People generally maintain family history to make the future generations get acquainted with their roots and also to treasure their family members. A comparatively newer way of maintaining family history could be scrapbooking family history. We all do know about scrapbooking. In fact, remember our childhood times, when we had to maintain a scrapbook for our school. Exactly, scrapbooking is a method for preserving a legacy of written history in the form of photographs, printed media, and memorabilia contained in decorated albums, or scrapbooks.

Documenting your family history can be a long process that involves plenty of research. Instead of simply using that information to complete a family tree, consider scrapbooking family history for future generations so that they can come to know about their roots. This allows them to put faces with names of those who they never got a chance to meet. Scrapbooking family history involves making sure you have the right information available before starting. Make sure that you incorporate all the accurate details and information while you go in for scrapbooking family history. You would also not want to exclude any family members during your scrapbooking efforts; therefore, you will have to make sure that you have all the information about all the members of your family. To make the process easier you may want to use loose leaf pages when scrapbooking family history. This way if you discover a mistake or you need to add additional family members you can keep things in chronological order.

At times preserving old photographs become a little tedious as they have the tendency of getting worn out easily, you may find that scrapbooking family history offers a good method for protecting them from further damage or deterioration. Photos can be easily copied at copy centers just as long as they are not professional photos that are copyright protected. If the photos are very old, consider copying them in black and white for scrapbooking family history. This allows you to use a high quality photo while persevering the era of the photo.

Scrapbooking family history can make a wonderful birthday or anniversary gift for parents and grandparents. They will definitely treasure a sentimental gift. Scrapbooking family history may not seem important right now but in the future, it actually has the potential of being one of the most treasured possessions of every family, after all who does not love to remember their family members, especially if they are away from them. Family is the one support system that supports without expecting anything in return. We all make friends but it is our family that supports us without even asking us to do so. Therefore, we should make sure that we know our family members and make our future generations know about them. So just start collecting the materials and start off with scrapbooking family history.

Journaling is a very important part of scrapbooking to me as I am wanting to save and pass down family history and memories. Journaling can be story like. But whether you tell a story or not it is important to say who is in the picture and when and where the picture was taken.

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