Welcome to Scrapbooking ... a hobby that I have found to be very valuable, as well as an addictive craft!! What a wonderful blessing to be able to pass on gems of information about who we are, who our parents were, and the way that the Lord has worked through every aspect of our lives to bring us to the place that we are!! Children are craving for a sense of belonging and history; parents crave to look over the years and see the value of their lives; and family needs to be reminded of the blessings!

It's easy ...

Scrapbooking is a collection of photos, notes of writing, or memorabilia that has been creatively arranged on a page.

If you don't personally own all of the memorabilia that you need for a page, consider tracking down the originals and taking pictures of them to include alongside your authentic photos (ie: Grandpa's war awards, Grandma's quilt ...). Place a note with details of the original owner beside each photo so that others can appreciate the items, and your research work.

Most paper products contain acid that will draw the colors out of your photos over time, and cause black and whites to become yellow and brittle. Acid Free materials help to preserve the quality of your photos and your pages to insure that they remain in good quality for years to come.

1) Collect your photos. Sort them according to themes (anniversaries, birthdays, Christmas ...) or chronologically (according to dates ~ earliest to latest, or first to last ...). Separate them into smaller groups that will allow for approximately 3-6 photos on a page, depending on the size of your page and the size of the photos.

2) Choose an Album size:
- If you have a great number of photos, you may want a larger page (ie: 12x12").
- If you want to add extra photos along the way, choose an album that is expandable and refillable.
- If you are doing a special occasion album with a set number of photos, you may appreciate a "library" style album that has a more formal look but is not refillable.
- Also consider if you have little people that will be handling the albums, to get sheet protectors to protect the pages for finger prints and dirt (see Scrapbooks and Photo Albums for varieties of Albums).

3) "To Crop or Not To Crop" ... Cropping is trimming away unnecessary parts of the photo, straightening it, or trimming a decorative edge. I would suggest keeping a good pair of fancy edged scissors (see Scissors and cutting tools) handy when cropping photos. Be sure not to crop away things that may be of interest in 20 years (ie: houses, cars ...), but don't be afraid to center photos that are crooked, or take your thumb out of the edge of the photo!

Cropping is especially useful if you have multiple copies of the same (but different) image, and you want to keep them all. For instance, if you have 10 photos of little Becky in the backyard, keep one or two with the background to give perspective and context to the photo, but don't hesitate to zoom in on Becky's 8 different "faces", to bring a different focus to the page!

4) Decide on color. I have found that one of the most impressive aspects of scrapbooking is the colored paper that you use to enhance your photos. Each photo takes on a very different look based on the paper that is backing it (ie: pastels, primary shades, country or deeper shades of color). Play with your photos!! Move them around on several shades of cardstock and see what combination is most attractive to the photos that you will be working with (see Acid Free Papers for the variety available). Decide on 2-3 complimentary colors for your page.

5) Arrange pictures on your page, using colored paper to "mat" your photos (cut colored paper slightly larger than photo on all sides to create a "mat" effect underneath photo), or to add decorations around your photos (see examples on Tips & Projects page).

6) Adhere your photos and decorations using Acid Free glues or tape "splits", which are precut squares of double sided tape (see varieties of adhesives in Adhesives Page).

Journalling is just a fancy word for any bits of information that you can include about the photos. Consider titling scrapbooked pages to attract the reader to a theme in the photos (ie: Day at the Beach!, Mom and Dad's Anniversary, Joey's 5th Birthday).

A good rule to follow in journalling is to include the 5 "w"s on your Scrapbooking pages:
* When ... was the photo taken (date: be as specific as possible)
* What ... was the occasion (Joey's Birthday, Anniversary ...)
* Why ... was do people look the way they do; any unusual details
* Who ... was in the photo (again be as specific as possible with names)
* Where ... was the photo taken (Aunt Helen's kitchen, whose house ...)

Sometimes memorable captions are humorous in scrapbooking! ... Like the time 3 year old Joanna told her 95 year old Nana that she looked like she just stepped out of a shower because her skin was so wrinkly! ... Or when Jacob walked into a lovely house and announced that it didn't look like they were too poor!! Ideas such as these lend a human side to scrapbooking and give the reader a glimpse into the real life of some of those in the photos.

On a page that I am doing of my Mother and Father, I am trying to put together special hymns, dates of baptisms, special passages of scriptures, poems, or other trinkets that I know were valuable to them.

Add newspaper articles, certificates, or awards (photocopied or printer copied onto archival or acid free paper).

Scrapbooking allows you to keep memories alive and a sense of family connection by treasuring each of these special keepsakes in one place.

Family trees don't have to be overwhelming or massive projects. Geneology is just the study of people, families or groups in our ancestoral line ~ our history. Most people don't need to know their "ancestoral line" 10 generations back ... start with the basics: what you know, and ask around for the rest.

Start with names of siblings, parents and grandparents. Add dates of birth, death if applicable, and any other interesting information (ie: marriage, baptisms, birth place, immigration if applicable, burial place ... ). Broaden your tree by adding aunts and uncles and working back towards great grandparents. Any information that you can gather is helpful and will add to the interest and value of your Scrapbook.

A section can also be added to the back of your scrapbook to note any details that are not appropriate or do not fit in the pages of your Album. For instance, make notes of physical characteristics or illnesses that have been hereditary, or intermarriages....

Whether your Scrapbook is one of generations past, or future generations to come, I encourage you to enjoy the process of scrapbooking ~ don't get hung up on the little details that people may not notice 10 or 20 years from now as they focus on the people in the photos! And I hope and pray that your Scrapbooks will be a blessing to you and yours!