How
To Begin Your Scrapbook Hobby
Learn how to get started in one of the most fastest growing
hobbies in America.
by Brandie Valenzuela
March 24, 2004
Are you interested in preserving your family photos? Have you heard
about scrapbooking, but are unsure of exactly what it is? I know --
I was there once too.
Maybe you are a crafty kind of person, who has seen the adorable,
acid free paper in your local craft store. Or maybe you have zillions
of photos sitting in shoeboxes -- never being "ooohed" and "aaahed"
over by anyone, just knowing that there must be a better way. Even
still, you might be someone who wants nothing more than to protect
your photos from the destroying affects of acid and other substances.
No matter who you are, if you have considered trying out this hobby
called scrapbooking - welcome!
I was a combination of all of the situations above. I had boxes and
boxes of photos -- just doing nothing but collecting dust. I had also
seen some really wonderful scrapbooking tools at my local craft store.
They looked like so much fun, that I wanted them all. So, I knew that
the time had come for me to try out scrapbooking.
Scrapbooking is an old term that since the 1990's has been reborn.
Today, scrapbooking is a craft that involves creatively adhering photos
and other mementos to pages in an album. Along with the photos, it
is a must to include information about the photos, such as who, what,
when, where, and why. This is called journaling. The finished product
is albums with pages of photos, that clearly tell a story.
One of the very first steps in beginning scrapbooking is organizing
your photos. This is a big task -- actually the more photos you have
stored, the bigger the job. I had quite a few, so I sorted my photos
over several nights. Also, there are different methods to organizing
your photos. Over time, you may find a method that you prefer. However,
to get you started, I will share with you how I did it.
Step #1 - To start, I collected all of my photos. Every single
one! I went through my home and brought every photo album and every
shoebox to my work space. I knew that I needed decent size work
space, so for my sorting, I went to my living room floor.
Step #2 - Now that I had all of my photos together, I began sorting.
I started with a pile and sorted it by year. I was married in 1990,
so the majority of our photos started in that year. I had a pile
of 1989, a pile of 1990, and so on. I kept working my way through
every single photo until they were all in their appropriate piles.
Step #3 - After the sorting into years, I sorted each pile chronologically
-- January, February, and on through December. I used one of my
shoeboxes to make a sort of index with my newly sorted photos. At
the beginning I had my earliest photos indexed with the first year.
Every year after that was labeled also. When I was done sorting,
I had boxes of perfectly sorted photos -- all ready for my new hobby!
I will admit that before I started scrapbooking, it looked like an
expensive hobby to me. All those scissors, papers, idea books, templates
and such could add up! But I really wanted to give it a try, and even
though I was on a budget, I was determined to find a way to make this
something I could afford.
The first piece of advice I would give to beginners is to keep it
simple. Many times the most impressive scrapbook pages are those which
are simplistic - they are uncluttered and in my opinion these are
much more appealing. Also, realize that removing your photos from
those boxes and acid-containing photos albums is the most important
step in scrapbooking. What you do after this step is secondary. Your
main goal with scrapbooking should be to preserve memories.
When you first start scrapbooking there are a few things you can't
do without. Here is a breakdown of those items and some suggestions:
Albums
For your first album, you will need to decide which album best
suits your needs. You will find that there is a wide variety available.
You must give thought to what will work best for you, what your
budget allows, and what type of album it will be. One of the best
resources I have found on the Net to assist you with your decision
is at http://www.gracefulbee.com/newbees/albumguide.html.
This site lists the pros and cons of several different options.
Paper
It is important to keep in mind with all paper that you use for
scrapbooking, that it is acid-free. You may also notice that some
papers say that they are "lignin-free" and "buffered" - and both
of these terms (in addition to acid-free) describe qualities which
are ideal for scrapbook paper. Many crafts stores that sell scrapbooking
supplies will have an assortment of paper that is ideal for archival
use. I advise the beginning scrapbooker to purchase a package of
acid-free solid colored cardstock. The size of paper you buy will
depend on the size of albums you would like to use. I prefer 12"x12"
albums, but many scrappers prefer 8.5" x 11" -- carefully decide
which option will work best for you.
Scissors
Having a pair of good, sharp scissors is a definite must. You may
even want to consider buying a new pair just for your scrapbooking.
I don't include decorative scissors in this section because they
aren't a necessity. It is nice to use them occasionally, but your
plain sharp scissors will be what you need the most.
Photo Safe Glues and Adhesives
Once you have all of the above, you need to have something to make
your photos stick to the paper. Once again, there is a wide variety
and you will have to determine what works best for you. Some of
the options include photo corners, double sided tape, glue pens,
glue sticks and photo splints or squares. Be sure that they adhesive
you use is acid-free. I have used glue pens and photo splints for
most of my scrapbooking. They are not too expensive and I have been
satisfied with the results. If you would like something even less
expensive, I recommend glue sticks, like the kind that children
use. There are a few brands which are acid-free and usually you
can purchase one or two sticks for about $1.
Pen
An acid-free, archival quality pen for journaling is a necessity.
To start off, just buy a basic black pen, and if you want, you can
add to your collection later.
Sheet Protectors
Sheet or page protectors are a necessity if you are preparing your
own pages to be inserted into a binder. They must be acid-free and
I recommend those that are top-loading. Don't skip the page protectors
as this is excellent "insurance" against fingerprints, dust, and
other materials.
Once you have your photos organized and have purchased some of the
essential scrapbook supplies, you are ready to get your photos in
your albums. In closing, I recommend that you visit some of the wonderful
beginners guides for scrapbooking on the internet. Here are two sites
you might want to check out:
The NewBee's Guide To Scrapbooking:
http://www.gracefulbee.com/newbees/index.html
Learn 2 Scrapbook:
http://learn2scrapbook.com/
© 2002 Brandie Valenzuela
Brandie is a wife and homeschooling mom to three children, who
also works fulltime from her home designing products and writing
articles for the scrapbook industry. She is a proud design team
member of Pages of the Heart at http://www.pagesoftheheart.net
-- a free resource site for scrappers. She also maintains her own
website at: http://scrapbookingwithbrandie.4t.com
