Scrapbooking

Scrapbooking is a special creative way to preserve and display your precious photographs and memorabilia.

What wonderful memories can be looked back upon in the future! Your children growing, developing and acheiving!
Birthdays, sporting victories, graduations, weddings, birth of a baby! Or maybe some of your own historical ancestral photos.

And not only does scrapbooking provide a collection of your own memories, but something to bring your time alive to future generations.

Scrapbooking is not difficult, and doesn't have to be intricately fancy... unless you want it to be! It can be quite inexpensive- or more upscale- depending on your budget and tastes. The idea is to preserve memories, and the feel of your thoughts and feelings of special events, not create pages with the most clutter or sparkle.

One of the most important considerations in scrap booking is to make sure all items used are acid and lignin free, or to neutralise or protect where needed. PH testing pens are available to test items before placing them in your album, and an archival spray can be used to neutralise acid. Sealing items in zip seal type bags or covering them in contact plastic may also help solve this problem, and protect the other precious items in your albums.

Try to record at least the basic details of each photo or piece of memorabilia, even if it is on the back. Otherwise, time and forgetful memories will make the details unclear in your mind, not to mention unknown to generations to come.

Scrapbook themes can be approached in a myriad of ways. Maybe you will have scrapbooks that will follow the lives of each of your family members... or a general group family scrap book. Perhaps there will be a Scouting scrapbook... a Figure Skating book... or a footy one- depending on what your family is into. You could make one from all of your fascinating old family tree photos, and maybe even continue this with your own immediate family, also done in sepia tone and old fashioned decorations, to fit the style.

Or maybe you would like to make a lovely demonstration scrapbook to show people something you offer, such as puppies from dog breeding, wedding dresses or cakes, or holiday cottages. You can create something beautiful and unique to get whatever message you like across to your clients!

Whatever your fancy, scrapbooking can be a very relaxing and enjoyable creative pastime, with results you will treasure for many years. So... why not give it a go? And have fun! Scrapbook to your heart's content!

Look online for many offers of free (or cheap) patterns, templates, ideas and supplies.

Here are some of the items you might like to consider for your scrapbooking. A lot of them are not essential, and can be purchased when, and if, you think you might need them.

• Photos, tickets, programmes and other memorabilia
• Scrapbooking albums
• Sheet protectors (free from PVC)
• Acid free cardstock for making pages more sturdy and less bendable, so that photos won't be damaged.
• Fancy and plain papers
• Photo-safe pencil for recording details on backs of photos
• Soft Pencil (easy to rub out)
• Coloured pens, acid free etc
• Gold and silver pens, acid free
• Calligraphy pens
• Archival pens- acid free permanent ink, in various sizes
• PH testing pen
• Archival spray
• Eraser
• Ruler
• Sharp scissors (including fine tip)
• Decorative scissors, with different cutting patterns
• Craft knife
• Adhesives- liquids, pastes, tapes, tabs
• Photo Corners
• Templates and stencils
• Die cuts
• Punches
• Rubber stamps and pad
• Stickers including letters, borders and images for decoration
• Interesting bits and pieces to help illustrate eg ribbon, lock of hair, lace, dried flowers
• Computer clip art