SCRAPBOOKING:101 Garfield, Kay & Noble County OHCE Leader Lesson
WHAT IS SCRAPBOOKING Scrapbooking is a method for preserving personal and family history in the form of a scrapbook. Memorabilia include: Photographs Printed media Artwork
HISTORY OF SCRAPBOOKING As early as the 15 th Century, commonplace books were compiled to keep information like recipes, quotations, letters, and poems. This evolved into another form of keep sake called friendship books. Friends would enter their names with titles and short text or whatever the album s owner requested. Upon the advent of the modern photograph, the average person could begin to start collecting pictures of their own. In the 1980 s modern scrapbooking became popular and the first home based company centered around scrapbooking was form, Creative Memories. Scrappers is a term coined for those with a scrapbooking hobby. Many scrappers enjoy gathering with others who enjoy scrapbooking and working on their latest project.
LEARNING TO SCRAPBOOK Step 1: Organize Your Photos The first step in learning to scrapbook is to quickly organize your photos. After all, scrapbooking is all about showcasing your photos. You want easy access to the pictures that you ll be using rather than having to paw through hundreds of photos. Categorize your photos using something like: Immediate family Relatives Birthday Celebrations Graduations Weddings Baby Arrivals Vacation Wedding Anniversary Sort through your photos and place them in the appropriate folders. As you begin sorting, you ll most likely come up with additional categories. Toss out any blurry or poor photos. Once all of the photos have been organized, place the folders in a portable file bin or even a cardboard box.
LEARNING TO SCRAPBOOK Step 2: Choose an Inspiring Theme The next step in learning how to scrapbook is to choose the theme for your scrapbook. This is the fun start of becoming creative! Do you want to recapture your wedding day? Did you and your family have a great trip to the zoo and you can t wait to do something with all of the pictures that you took and the postcards that you purchased? Did your husband run his first 5K and you want to document the experience? The great thing about scrapbooking is that themes are endless! Whatever it is that you re excited about, can be used as a scrapbook theme. You ll also need to decide if the scrapbook is something you re making for someone else or for yourself. A scrapbook album makes a very personalized gift that will be treasured by the other person for years to come.
LEARNING TO SCRAPBOOK Step 3: Begin With Basic Supplies As you learn to scrapbook, you ll want to have some basic supplies on hand. Some of these items you may already have and others will need to be purchased: Scissors Easy stick adhesives or glue stick An album with sheet protectors Markers Paper trimmer Colored card stock Themed or patterned scrapbook pages Ruler Oval template Embellishments such as stickers and buttons You ll find these supplies at most any craft supply store, a large store that has a craft department, or some items can even be found at a dollar store. Exercise caution while walking through the scrapbooking aisles! You ll see a lot of fun items, but stick with the basics and over time you can add to it.
LEARNING TO SCRAPBOOK Step 4: Creating Scrapbook Pages with appeal and little effort Now that you have a theme in mind and basic supplies on hand, the next step in learning to scrapbook is having fun creating the pages! Determine in advance, how many pages you want to work with. For your first album, you might want to keep it small the front and back of five or six pages. Most scrapbook albums contain pages and protective covers. Pull out the pages and set the protective covers aside. As you design each scrapbook page, choose one photo as your main focal point for each page. Then decide if you want to add one or two other smaller photos to the page. Keeping your pages to three photos or less will help viewers to focus on the main picture, otherwise it can be too overwhelming. Choose a pattern or themed paper for each page and cover the entire page. To keep your scrapbook album from looking too busy, use the same paper for each side-by-side page. Using the oval template, make a frame for your main photo. Trace the template over the other photos and cut the photos into oval shapes. Place the pictures where you want on the page and add a few words to the page. You can use a black marker, type the words and cut them out, or use words from a magazine page. Keep it fun.
LEARNING TO SCRAPBOOK Step 5: Adding Your Personal Touch The final step as you learn scrapbooking, is to add your personal touch. Trim the pages with paper borders or ribbons. Add embellishments such as buttons, confetti, ticket stubs or sequins. These little touches will make all the difference! Place the pages in the protective covers and then into the scrapbook album. You now have an album that others will ouu and ahh about! Follow these five easy steps and you ll discover that learning to scrapbook is a lot of fun! Initially, you might want to get some scrapbooking ideas online or from a craft magazine. However, each time you scrapbook, you ll come up with additional ideas as well.
SCRAPBOOK ON A BUDGET! 1. Check your inventory. Learning how to scrapbook is a lot of fun and chances are you have the supplies around your house which will reduce what you actually need to buy. Hold on to your scraps of patterned and stock paper. A lot of times, you only need a small piece of paper when creating a frame or cut out and scraps work great for that. 2. Invest in the basics. Shopping mainly for the basics will keep scrapbooking costs down. Check the local dollar before heading off to craft stores to find the basics. If you can t find these items at the dollar store, the go to a retail store but try to find your items on sale. When it s near the end of a season or right after the holidays, you can find all sorts of supplies that been drastically reduced. 3. Swap with friends. Rather than purchasing new supplies, swap or borrow items from a friend. A lot of people who are learning to scrapbook, or have been scrapbooking for years, get together with friends for a day of scrapbooking together. To keep costs low, exchange supplies with your friends when you meet. Most people tend to over do it when shopping for supplies and are happy to swap and share
SCRAPBOOK ON A BUDGET 4. Get ideas for free. No need to purchase craft books or magazines for great scrapbooking ideas! You will be amazed by the number of online ideas regarding how to scrapbook are offered for free. Also, contact craft stores to inquire about free workshops. Most craft stores will offer one or two workshops per year. Not only will you get free ideas, but you ll walk away with a completed craft. 5. Now you know how to scrapbook. By following these tips, you can easily begin your scrapbooking hobby for less than $50. From time to time you will want to add to your current supplies. Only purchase additional items when you have saved up enough money to do so! Also, remember to check garage sales, thrift stores, and church bag sales.