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013 How to Make Scrapbook Memories
But just how to begin making scrapbook memories? My wife, Jill, offers these suggestions for starting a regular, physical scrapbook (as opposed to a digital scrapbook):
1. You first need to decide what kind of scrapbook you are creating. Some people organize their scrapbooks chronologically, especially in making albums for their children. Others organize around a theme – all the Christmas or vacation photos together, for instance.
2. Choose a kind of scrapbook format – 8 x12 or 12 x 12 – and post or three-ring binding, and purchase the materials that you will need. Remember to have all acid-free materials – paper, glue, pens, stickers, etc.
3. Organize your photos and other memorabilia in the order that you would like them in your scrapbook. You will need to choose which photos will be on which page. It keeps it interesting if you don’t have the same number of photos on each page.
4. A well-thought-out cover page, perhaps one that would be consistent in multiple scrapbooks, is a nice way to begin.
5. After laying out the photos, text or journaling script added to the page gives an explanation of what the reader is seeing and helps one remember more information about the pictures. (Another option that people use sometimes is adding text to their photos before they print them.)
6. Remember that you can cut out your photos using templates or fancy scissors, or just leave them all the traditional size. Adding special scrapbook paper, stickers, or embellishments to your pages make them more interesting and attractive. However, don’t let them overwhelm the photos and any text you might have added.
7. Some people set a regular time aside either weekly or monthly to work on their scrapbooks. That way, things don’t pile up and become overwhelming, and you can remember the information that you want to include.
8. If you are making scrapbooks for your children, make sure that you make duplicates when more than one appears in a photo, so that each child can have the photo in their book.
You may want to consider making a scrapbook in digital form, that is, as a digital file. That way you can print off or share as many copies as you wish as gifts for family members or others
These sites are listed in the order in which Jill believes are most valuable through the scrapbooking process:
http://www.wikihow.com/Start-a-Scrapbook- great site including videos to help you get started.
http://video.about.com/scrapbooking/First-Scrapbook-Page.htm – another site with a great video to show you how do to a scrapbook page; I wish that I had seen this site when I first started scrapbooking.
http://scrapbooking.about.com/od/gettingstarted/How_To_Get_Started_Scrapbooking.htm – this is a valuable site because it gives one a lot of choices in how to do various different things with your scrapbooks, such as how to choose basic supplies, mat photos, make journaling boxes, etc.
www.Smilebox.com – this site is a great one, especially if you are interested in doing digital scrapbooks which are nice if you either want to share them with others or make duplicate pages to use with more than one child. There are 100’s of layouts here as well which you can copy in your own paper pages.
If you simply don’t have the time or creativity to make a scrapbook yourself, but want to have one made for you, consider contacting one of the creative people identified in this article to help you: “014, Selecting a Scrapbooking Service – Custom Scrapbooking.”