Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Scrapbooking for Beginners

By Becca Designe

Are you one of those people that at every occasion feels it is the right occasion to take a picture right? Your family at holidays, reunions, sporting events etc. might even run away when you bring out the camera. Once you take your pictures what should you do with them?

Luckily we live in the age of the easy way called the internet. You can also go the hard route with your images and do them yourself. The harder way is that way because you start with nothing at the beginning.But it can be more satisfying because its more work but more personal.

So what is your theme. What sorts of supplies do you use while putting your album together? Paper, pictures, leaves, doilies; whatever you feel like it there are no rules because it is your album and your treasure. If you want your picture to look good for many years here are a few tips:

1. If you are thinking about putting your original pictures in your album, then you want to look for paper that says it is acid free. Paper without that designation will turn yellow and brittle and in a few years not be attractive any longer. All your hard work will be down the tubes as this yellowing is a direct cause of the acid.

2. One short cut you can take as you start off is to consider using your computer to make your page borders. Doing them by hand can be time consuming. Just be careful of the ink you use as certain types of ink can discolor your pictures over time.

3. So we have mentioned already that there are really no limits or rules when you scrap book as it is your imagination that guides you. You are free to use any materials you want even if they might pose problems down the road. It is nice to know that you dont need to despair over this. You can use a called the Archival Spray. Using this spray on your souvenirs will create the barrier you need against acid.

So start your project today. It is easier than ever to find all these materials in any craft store or on line scrapbooking sites. Just know that you CAN do it all yourself and do your own journaling. Just purchase special none acid and lignin free pens and markers.

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