Although scrapbooking is a great way to save pictures as a unique form of art, it can be an expensive hobby. If you have never scrapbooked because you were afraid of the costs, or if you would just like to save some money while scrapbooking, you may find some of the tips below to be helpful. The following tips are from the Ezine Article, "Scrapbook Cutting Cost Methods."
1. Be Organized
If you have been scrapbooking for a while, be sure to organize all of your materials. Knowing what you have will help you to use your materials most efficiently. For new and veteran scrapbookers, being organized will also help you to know what you have and what you need to buy. This will also help you to begin to form a budget as you will know what your expenses will be.
2. Practice bulk-buying
Buying items in bulk can also help to save money. If you plan on making multiple scrapbooks in the future, having extra materials will also be helpful. If you and a friend want to make scrapbooks together you can buy materials in bulk and then split them.
3. Plan in advance
Think about how you want your pages to look before you go shopping. Only buy the accents and borders that fit the themes and looks of your pages. This will help to prevent impulse buying and buying items that look cute but don't fit your pages.
4. Improvise
You can use materials you have laying around the house for your scrapbook, you don't have buy everything at a scrapbooking store. You can you circular and square items you have laying around the house as templates. Be creative and you will be surprised how much you find laying around the house.
5. Embellish with everyday objects
Use objects you have laying around the house for embellishments on your pages. Make use of ribbons, stickers, stamps, or buttons you may already have. You can make your pages look great with these items without spending extra money.
I hope you find these tips helpful! Happy scrapbooking!
Monday, October 29, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
How to Recover Photos after a Disaster
For those of you who have been watching the news, you may be following the story of the fires in California. This got me to thinking about how much a person loses in such disasters. Whether it is a fire, flood, or some other disaster, often times pictures from some of our favorite memories can be destroyed. I have searched many sources to try to find some of the best ways to recover these photos. Below are the steps for cleaning photos provided by the scrapbooking company "Creative Memories".
Cleaning Photos
Step 1: With gloves on, place photos in cold water in small groups of one to five. Handle the photos by the edges only.
Step 2: Soak or rinse the photos with cold water. A gentle stream of water may be sprayed on the photo to help loosen debris. Change the water frequently to keep your work environment clean. Repeat this process if necessary.
Step 3: Conduct a final rinse using cold, distilled water. This will wash away any residue remaining from the cleaning process.
Air Drying Photos: Lay photos flat to dry on either a paper towel or on plastic or aluminum screening material fastened to a frame. You may also hang the photos by one corner using small clothespins. Drying should be done in a shaded part of your home.
Flattening Photos: If the photos are curled after they are dry, place individual photographs between two sheets of blotting paper. Place flat, heavy books on top of the sheets for 24hours in a humid environment.
Additional Tips
1. If possible, try making reprints of photographs or digital images from any negatives or files that may be available before attempting to restore damaged photos.
2. If you are unable to clean your photographs immediately, place them in plastic bags in a freezer until they can be cared for further. A freezer will slow fungal growth and ensure that your photographs are in a secure location.
Hopefully you will never need these tips, but if you do, I hope they help!
Cleaning Photos
Step 1: With gloves on, place photos in cold water in small groups of one to five. Handle the photos by the edges only.
Step 2: Soak or rinse the photos with cold water. A gentle stream of water may be sprayed on the photo to help loosen debris. Change the water frequently to keep your work environment clean. Repeat this process if necessary.
Step 3: Conduct a final rinse using cold, distilled water. This will wash away any residue remaining from the cleaning process.
Air Drying Photos: Lay photos flat to dry on either a paper towel or on plastic or aluminum screening material fastened to a frame. You may also hang the photos by one corner using small clothespins. Drying should be done in a shaded part of your home.
Flattening Photos: If the photos are curled after they are dry, place individual photographs between two sheets of blotting paper. Place flat, heavy books on top of the sheets for 24hours in a humid environment.
Additional Tips
1. If possible, try making reprints of photographs or digital images from any negatives or files that may be available before attempting to restore damaged photos.
2. If you are unable to clean your photographs immediately, place them in plastic bags in a freezer until they can be cared for further. A freezer will slow fungal growth and ensure that your photographs are in a secure location.
Hopefully you will never need these tips, but if you do, I hope they help!
Saturday, October 13, 2007
More on the History of Scrapbooking
Today's post has more information about the history and evolution of scrapbooking. This information was also gleaned from the scrapbooking organization "Pages of the Heart."
Scrapbooking continued to gain popularity when John Poole published "Manuscript Gleanings and Literary Scrapbook in 1826 and other publications such as 'The Scrapbook' which defined a scrapbook as a blank book which held newspaper articles and pictures for preservation. The term "scrapbook" came about when people started using scrap pieces of paper left over from printing jobs to decorate their articles and other clippings.
Mark Twain was actually one of the biggest supporters of scrapbooking in the late 1800s. Twain loved scrapbooking so much that he actually patented a series of scrapbooks in 1872 to be sold by Brentano's Literary Emporium in NYC as well as through the Montgomery Ward catalog. Scrapbooking proved to be quite lucrative for Twain as an article from the St. Louis Dispatch in June 1885 states that Twain made about $50,000 on his scrapbooks compared to the sales of all his novels combined that had netted him about $200,000.
Louis-Jacques Daguerre invented the daguerreotype in 1837 but the process was not made public until 1839. With the invention of photography, people were then able to capture actual moments from their lives to include in the scrapbooks which has led scrapbooking to what it is today. Scrapbook popularity decline in the 1940's when photography became more of a hobby for people. However, Alex Haley then published "Roots" in mid the mid 1970's which is a story that tells Haley's family's history and autobiography back to eighteenth century Africa, which gave rise to genealogical research and a renewed interest in scrapbooking and preserving family history in such a fashion. This helped to keep scrapbooking alive and make it what it is today!
Scrapbooking continued to gain popularity when John Poole published "Manuscript Gleanings and Literary Scrapbook in 1826 and other publications such as 'The Scrapbook' which defined a scrapbook as a blank book which held newspaper articles and pictures for preservation. The term "scrapbook" came about when people started using scrap pieces of paper left over from printing jobs to decorate their articles and other clippings.
Mark Twain was actually one of the biggest supporters of scrapbooking in the late 1800s. Twain loved scrapbooking so much that he actually patented a series of scrapbooks in 1872 to be sold by Brentano's Literary Emporium in NYC as well as through the Montgomery Ward catalog. Scrapbooking proved to be quite lucrative for Twain as an article from the St. Louis Dispatch in June 1885 states that Twain made about $50,000 on his scrapbooks compared to the sales of all his novels combined that had netted him about $200,000.
Louis-Jacques Daguerre invented the daguerreotype in 1837 but the process was not made public until 1839. With the invention of photography, people were then able to capture actual moments from their lives to include in the scrapbooks which has led scrapbooking to what it is today. Scrapbook popularity decline in the 1940's when photography became more of a hobby for people. However, Alex Haley then published "Roots" in mid the mid 1970's which is a story that tells Haley's family's history and autobiography back to eighteenth century Africa, which gave rise to genealogical research and a renewed interest in scrapbooking and preserving family history in such a fashion. This helped to keep scrapbooking alive and make it what it is today!
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Power Scrapbooking
Over the next week, I am going to be taking a break from the history of scrapbooking and give some tips for getting started. Have you ever wanted to make a scrapbook but were afraid that you did not have the time to create one? Although it is nice to have time to enjoy the process of scrapbooking and looking at your pictures, it is still possible to create a great piece of art in a much shorter amount of time. This is where the idea of "power scrapbooking" comes in.
There are several elements to "power scrapbooking." First, you need to decide whether you want to make pages for particular pictures you have in mind or else just generic pages for future scrapbooking. If you have particular pictures in mind, it will be helpful to have them near you so you can use pages that match.
After you have decided on the pictures, you are ready for the first step. Choose two matching pieces of paper. The paper can be solid or patterned. Lay these two papers side by side on a table. Then select two more matching pieces of paper and lay them above the previous two. Do this again with a third set of paper. Continue this process until you have the desired number of pages layed out.
Next, it is time to go through all of your stickers and other embellishments. Find the accents you would like to use for the first layout and set them in the way you like on the paper. Continue to do this for the other sets of paper. Don't complicate this process by bringing out more accents than you think you will really use in the project. You may have to go back into your collection for a few extra accents but this shouldn't be a problem.
If you have already chosen which pictures you would like to use, bring them to the table for the next step. Decide how many pictures you want on each layout and cut them into the shapes you think look good. This is the longest and most tedious step so don't be discouraged and be sure to finish this step.
After completing the pictures, add the embellishments and titles to the pages. Don't spend too much time deciding where to put embellishments, go with your gut feeling! Just be sure to not glue anything to the page until you are sure you like it. When you do decide to glue, be sure to use an adhesive that will not damage you pictures. If you have already selected your pictures, go ahead and glue everything down! You have completed 3 pages in almost the same time as it would have taken you to complete one! If you have not yet decided on pictures, be sure to keep the embellishments together with their pages and stack the pages on top of each other. When you are ready to add pictures you will already have these beautiful pictures to return to!
Good luck with your scrapbooks!
There are several elements to "power scrapbooking." First, you need to decide whether you want to make pages for particular pictures you have in mind or else just generic pages for future scrapbooking. If you have particular pictures in mind, it will be helpful to have them near you so you can use pages that match.
After you have decided on the pictures, you are ready for the first step. Choose two matching pieces of paper. The paper can be solid or patterned. Lay these two papers side by side on a table. Then select two more matching pieces of paper and lay them above the previous two. Do this again with a third set of paper. Continue this process until you have the desired number of pages layed out.
Next, it is time to go through all of your stickers and other embellishments. Find the accents you would like to use for the first layout and set them in the way you like on the paper. Continue to do this for the other sets of paper. Don't complicate this process by bringing out more accents than you think you will really use in the project. You may have to go back into your collection for a few extra accents but this shouldn't be a problem.
If you have already chosen which pictures you would like to use, bring them to the table for the next step. Decide how many pictures you want on each layout and cut them into the shapes you think look good. This is the longest and most tedious step so don't be discouraged and be sure to finish this step.
After completing the pictures, add the embellishments and titles to the pages. Don't spend too much time deciding where to put embellishments, go with your gut feeling! Just be sure to not glue anything to the page until you are sure you like it. When you do decide to glue, be sure to use an adhesive that will not damage you pictures. If you have already selected your pictures, go ahead and glue everything down! You have completed 3 pages in almost the same time as it would have taken you to complete one! If you have not yet decided on pictures, be sure to keep the embellishments together with their pages and stack the pages on top of each other. When you are ready to add pictures you will already have these beautiful pictures to return to!
Good luck with your scrapbooks!
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