Scrapbooking

The photos above show many of my scrapbooking supplies. I want to experiment with the best way for me to post my layouts on this blog. My LSS (local scrapbook store) charges $1 per page to scan my 12X12 layouts. Hmm... that will add up over time. I can try to scan layouts on my scanner and stitch two images together to cover a 12x12 layout. Scanning would have been easier if I scrapped 8.5x11, but I like the large square of the 12x12 size. I can also take pictures of my pages, but I am not sure how that will look. I plan to post some layouts in the next week or so.

I started volunteering with my neighborhood association and now coordinate the pool and clubhouse rentals. I was cleaning up at the neighborhood clubhouse and found some scrapbooks of the University Oaks Garden Club from the mid to late 1970's. They made scrapbooks before it was popular! It was interesting to stumble upon these books with officer lists, club information, and pictures. The only problem is that these books are starting to fall apart thirty years later. These books serve as proof that it is worth the money to buy acid and lignin free products!

On Saturday I was visiting a friend who is interested in starting scrapbooks for her daughter. She has boxes of photos and memorabilia and is ready to get these into books. I made her a list of my top ten supplies to start scrapbooking:
1. Cardstock (I like Bazzill and Die Cuts With a View.)
2. Patterned paper (match the colors of your photos or the theme of your photos)
3. Black acid free journaling pen
4. Dry Adhesive (I use the Herma Vario Tab Dispenser, but there are lots of brands available.)*
5. Wet Adhesive (I have used the Zig Two Way Glue because it can be temporary or permanent.)*
6. 12 inch paper trimmer
7. Fine point scissors
8. Album/page protectors
9. Alphabet Stickers
10. Art Bin/Plastic Case (good to start organizing your scrapbooking supplies and portable)
*A less expensive option to these are acid free glue sticks.
Estimated cost: $100, depending on the exact items you purchase

You want to make sure that your supplies are acid and lingin free so that your albums will not fall apart in thirty years like the ones I saw in my neighborhood clubhouse. If you want to include any newspaper articles or items that may contain acid, you can buy somethings called Archival Mist to neutralize these items and prevent them from breaking down over time.

Here are some additional products that I have added to my stash: stickers, rub-ons, ribbon, brads, pens in a variety of colors, punches (circles and squares are good), corner rounder, stamps (buy acid free ink), scrapbook paint, stencils, and colored staples. It is easy to overbuy, so start off slow. I bought supplies for my wedding album when I first started scrapbooking. I wanted to practice on other photos first, so I am now working on my wedding album two years later and some of my early purchases do not fit my style anymore. I bought a 500 pack of cardstock at Costco at a great price, but there are colors that I will not use in there. Also, I prefer the textured cardstock now since it gaves a richer look to pages. I bought some paper packs on sale, but I do not like some of the paper now. I have bought some purple items over time that do not match, and I now try to look for coordinating lines of paper, cardstock, and embellishments to make sure that my supplies match.

I am still looking for an album that I love. Beware of buying inexpensive albums because they can fall apart. (I have been guilty of this...) I am going to try out a Creative Memories album for my Australia album. Sometimes I do not scrapbook in order, which can be a challenge with the Creative Memories albums because you scrapbook direclty onto the page. I love American Crafts products, so I want to try out their Modern Album. I recently saw a neat post about how you can use their binder albums for multiple size pages. Now that I am using more embellishments on my pages, some albums do not make my pages lay flat.

I cleaned out my scrapbooking stash on Friday night, which was really helpful. I threw away all the scraps of paper and cardstock that I will not use. I organized the remaining scraps by color. I found some paper, cardstock and stickers that I do not think I will use, and I am going to donate them to a local church that makes scrapbooks for children in foster care. This effort was inspired by one of Ali Edwards' articles.

The internet is full of sites to give you free information about scrapbooking. Scrapbook.com is one of my favorites and includes articles for beginners. 2 Peas in a Bucket has a message board for beginning scrapbookers to ask questions, which is really helpful. A couple of my friends sell Creative Memories products. Their approach is a little different than what I learned at my LSS, but I am really impressed with their quality of products. Scrapbooking is my first true hobby, I am really enjoying it.

On another note: Go Spurs Go! I am happy to see the Spurs and the Cavs in the finals.