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Getting Started with Scrapbooking
Home » Arts & Crafts » Getting Started with Scrapbooking » Getting Started with ScrapbookingIf you find yourself looking at mountains of pictures, piles of keepsakes, a list of endless necessary supplies and feeling overwhelmed, don’t worry. With a few basic tools and materials, some good techniques, and some free time, you too can get started with scrapbooking.
• Get Organized: Before you can get started with scrapbooking, you will need to get organized. The trick to staying on top of your scrapbooking is to not let your photographs and other things pile up on you. You can organize photographs into shoeboxes or specially made sorting boxes according to what scrapbook the particular picture should go in. Once they are organized by album, you can further organize pictures, keepsakes, and journal entries by event, theme or topic. There are many helpful tools available to help organize your scrapbooking materials, including software to organize digital photos, organizer kits, and specially made plastic sleeves for keepsakes.
• Journaling: Scrapbooks are not complete without some sort of story to go along with the photographs and other materials. Journaling can seem like an intimidating task, but once you get started, you may be surprised at how easy it is. Begin by keeping with the basic who, what, when, where and how, but also include some of your favorite memories, your thoughts, or feelings about the things that took place on your pages. This is a great way to incorporate emotion into your scrapbook, in a way that even photographs can’t accomplish. Your first journaling endeavor could be as simple as the date and title, or be as elaborate as a long narrative or could include the use of poems or song lyrics. Just remember to write from your heart.
• Albums: The first thing that you will need to begin a scrapbook is an album. There are many styles and sizes to choose from, ranging from the larger 8.5 by 11 inch or 12 by 12 inch sizes to smaller mini books that are 7 by 7 inches. Smaller albums, however, do not allow for much display room or journaling. The larger albums are much more suited for scrapbooking. Albums can be permanently bound or allow you to insert pages. Other formats such as accordion-style or fold-out albums are also available. The main three types of scrapbooking albums are strap bound, post bound or three-ring. Three-ring albums are the easiest to use and allow for fast and simple page removal and insertion. However, adjacent pages are separated by the rings and do not lie flat. Post bound albums are similar to three ring and use the same type of page protector. They allow for adjacent pages to lie fairly flat and additional posts can be added for expansion. Strap bound albums are the most difficult to use and often the most expensive. They allow for the pages to lie flat without the hinge being seen, but they must be taken completely apart to remove pages. One benefit of this type of album is that they are expandable, allowing for many pages to be used. Choose a color or pattern for the cover that goes with the theme of your album. There are many styles to choose from. Albums can be purchased at craft stores, scrapbooking stores or from scrapbooking consultants. Prices for regular sized albums are approximately $25-50. Investing in a good quality, archival album with acid free and lignin free pages and protective sleeves will ensure that you scrapbook will last a lot longer.
• Scrapbooking Pages: There are many kinds of scrapbooking pages available. You can get themed, patterned, card-stock, or textured pages, making it easy to create themed layouts for your scrapbook. Pages and papers are available in many sizes and can be purchased at craft or scrapbooking supply stores. Refill pages for your album may also be necessary. Most albums only come with 15 to 20 inserts. Be sure to get the proper size inserts and refills for your specific album. Depending on the type of album, page protectors can keep dust, fingerprints and other things from degrading the quality of your photographs and memorabilia. Page protectors are a great way to keep your pages in good condition.
• Tools: Successful scrapbooking is achieved when you are pleased with the end result. To make that easier, begin with good quality tools. A good, sharp pair of scissors is essential to achieving a product that you are proud of. Scissors are necessary for cutting background pages, cropping photographs, and cutting accessories or embellishments. Other cutting tools are often used as well as good scissors. Cropping tools, shape cutters, craft punches, trimmers and die cuts are readily available where scrapbooking supplies are sold if you have the budget to allow for investing in these more specialized tools. These are often used for creating embellished layouts with one of a kind quality. Adhesive is necessary for creating sturdy layouts. Choose an acid free adhesive that can work equally well on pictures and the different types of paper that you will be using. You can also purchase adhesive rollers, tabs and other handy tools to make sticking your scrapbook together easier. Journal pens are another essential tool for successful scrapbooking. Choose fine tip pens for journaling directly on your scrapbook pages and wide tip pens for titling and decorating.
• Other products: There are many other scrapbooking products available. These products include stickers, clip art and other embellishments as well as stamps, photograph mounts, glitters, ribbons and more. Just about any paper craft can be adapted and used in scrapbooking. Just be open to possibilities and let your creativity determine which direction you will go.
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