Friday, November 24, 2006

What is Scrapbooking?

My hubby is away on business at the moment so i'm unable to upload any more pictures of my layouts. So i thought i should finally write something about what scrapbooking is about.

In brief, scrapbooking is basically an extension of a photo album. Its more personalized and can be an outlet for your creative side. But to be really honest, i haven't got a creative bone in me at all. My layouts may not be as stunning as others and i may not be as quick in designing a layout but they are an extension of me and i'm proud of them all the same. So i do not believe that you have to be arty to do scrapbooking. A person just has to develop their own style.

The key thing about scrapbooking is that you need to make sure that you use acid and lignin free products. From your glue to your papers and embellishments. If you look back at your childhood photos, some of you may find them yellow with age and maybe even spotty discolourations. Apparently, if we had kept those old childhood photos in acid and lignin free albums, such discolourations would not have occured. The idea of scrapbooking with such products is that your photos will now last for generations to come and if you add meaningful journalling and captions, your kids, grandkids and great grandkids will be able to enjoy your albums as family heirlooms even after you are long gone.

Glue is another important factor for me personally. When i was in secondary school, the teachers used to give us handout notes which we were supposed to stick into out notebooks. I used double sided tape sometimes instead of the standard UHU stick glue and i remembered that after about a year or so, i could actually see the outline of the double sided tape thru the note paper. The paper would also turn yellow rather quickly. So if you were to stick your photos into your album with such double sided tape, i think you'll find that over the many years to come, your photos would eventually form the same discolourations.

When i started scrapbooking, i used cardstock and paper bought from stationery stores in Brunei that were not specifically acid and lignin free. Mainly because i had no choice available to me at that time. But i made very sure that all my glue (bought from Australia where i was first introduced to scrapbooking) were acid free.

For scrapping, one will need tools for paper crafting. If you're just starting out and are not sure about whether the hobby is for you, all you will need are a pair of good scissors, a craft knife, a ruler, a paper cutter (optional if you are good with a knife, ruler and a cutting mat), glue and a pen. I am really anal when it comes to my tools so i have different scissors for paper, glue and cardstock. I have different rulers for cutting, measuring and tearing. There is no need to invest in a tool kit unless you are really serious about the craft and if you are, then i would recommend the Making Memories Deluxe Tool Kit (see below) which will cater to your every need.



Once you have the tools, go develop your photos. Get some paper, cardstock and an album to keep your pages in and off you go.