Recording your life’s events is probably all that you will treasure as the years go by, and going through family albums, scrapbooks, and journals makes you feel like you have lived and have something to show for it.

Scrapbooking

Entering records in scrapbooks has been a practice that started as early as grade school for many young girls. We all have had our share of scrapbooking in school where we kept records of good and bad happenings.

As we grow older (especially women), we don’t change much with regard to keeping records of occasions, anniversaries, and other such events, thus scrapbooking has come back to life with each person choosing their own personal scrapbooking technique.

Scrapbooking Technique

It is important that we make and maintain a scrapbooking technique in order to have our ideas put down just the way we want others to see them when going through the scrapbook.

Everyone has a different way of writing and recording memories; however, if you want others to understand your scrapbooking technique then you must try and maintain a pattern. You can either write guidelines in the beginning of the book or make the pattern obvious as you begin viewing it.

Some Helpful Tips

* Try and enter records in the scrapbook date wise so they will have a flow.
* Get as much detail as possible on the occasion without making it tiresome or hard to follow.
* Write a few lines about what you felt that day and about the occasion.

If you have no idea how to get or maintain a scrapbook there are many ideas available online to help your scrapbooking technique represent you and your personality; after all, that is what you want others to remember when they read your scrapbook.

Cherish your memories and take the time to record them; before you know it, you will be going through your scrapbooks criticizing your own scrapbooking technique if you cannot follow the very entries you made before.

Enjoy the present – cherish the memories, as they are what will be remembered tomorrow. So, stop a moment and take time to create a memorable scrapbook.

Share This

Scrapbooking has joined the digital age. We can now make complete scrapbooking pages on our computers. Even those of us who prefer traditional scrapbooking tend to use the computer for our journaling to print clean, neat captions and narratives on our layouts.

Your handwriting may not be as neat as a printed journaling block from a computer. Yet, your families will find it so much more meaningful and personal than anything typed.

Why do we hesitate to use our own handwriting in our albums? There are a few reasons. The most common one is concern that our handwriting is too messy or won’t be able to be read by others. We should all try to get beyond this and realize how important it is to our family to preserve something as unique as our handwriting. Think about those handwritten letters and recipes from a grandparent and how important they are to you now.

Another reason people resist handwriting on page layouts is fear that they will make a mistake that can’t be erased. There are many ways to correct a handwriting error. First, use a paper journaling block to write on first. You can always use a second one if you make a mistake. You can also correct a mistake by placing a new piece of paper over the error on the page, and write again on that piece. Finally, stickers work wonders when it comes to covering up most kinds of scrapbooking mistakes.

The right pen makes a big difference when it comes to handwriting success. Look carefully at the paper you are using, and choose the best pen for that type of surface. Many pens will smear or run on certain types of papers. Choose a pen with the appropriate width as well. Trying to write in a small space with a wide tip will be a definite handwriting challenge.

For handwriting success you need to practice. Make a draft of your journaling before you glue anything to the page. Read it to yourself and out loud. This allows you to spot any errors in spelling or grammar. Having someone else proofread your journaling is especially helpful when you have a long, narrative block of writing. Be sure to test your pen on the page you intend to use for your final journaling. Making a draft also lets you be sure your paper is large enough to handle all your journaling.

Many of us need a straight edge to handwrite or we tend to write on a slant. Pre-lined journaling blocks are a useful tool for those you often write uphill. You can make these using a pen and ruler or you can use a lined-journaling stamp made for this purpose. Your local scrapbooking store will also have pre-lined journaling blocks usually with decorative accents. Patterned paper can work as a guide for your handwriting. Try writing along the lines in striped paper. Print along the outside of a frame. You even can write along the edges of scrapbooking borders.

There are few things as personal as our handwriting. Handwriting is unique. Like our signature, it is a statement of who we are. When you use your handwriting on your page layouts it adds character to your scrapbooks. It will tell your family and anyone who looks at your albums about your mood and your personality. Your family is sure to treasure your scrapbooks even more. Let your handwriting add depth and emotion to your pages, not a computer font.

Share This

For some, that effort will be a simple recording of the events of the day or occasion: who came to the Christmas dinner, who brought what presents to a baby shower. Those words, even when plain, do more than just record the facts, though. They themselves will trigger memories later on down the road.

But many will want to go beyond the simple facts surrounding the images in a scrapbook. They will want right away to go to the personal meaning of those images and events. Anyone who does is in good company. Journaling is much the same as keeping a diary and that has been done by some of the world’s finest writers for centuries.

But don’t be intimidated. Your journal doesn’t have to be a world-class literary effort. After all, it’s for you and maybe a close friend or loved one. It only has to be what you want to put down and the way you want to say it.

You’ll find that over time your thoughts will flow more easily than they do at first. Like anything, writing is a skill that comes more easily with practice. The first day you may struggle to come up with anything beyond the bare facts. But before long, you’ll find your words flowing out to capture just what you want to say.

To help prompt your journaling you can look to any number of sources of inspiration. A cherished novel, a personal poem, a great song, a moving movie…. It could be anything. A simple search online will allow you to find a thousand quotes in a few seconds. Some of them will express just the sentiment you were reaching for. Use them freely.

Sometimes you’re in the mood to journal and sometimes you’re not. But whenever you can, take that passionate thought you just can’t hold back and put it down as soon as possible. That will make your scrapbook journaling so much easier because you’ll be on fire to get your words on paper. Use that emotion to drive your pen.

Don’t feel that you need to be limited to writing in formal sentences and paragraphs on one part of the page. It’s your scrapbook and your journal. Write around the edges. Start in the middle or at the bottom. Write upside down, if you want!

You can tell a story associated with the images on the page, real or invented. You can write a poem just for you. You can say how happy you were or how angry. Read what you wrote later and add to it, cross it out, paste a photo over it, or tear the page out and burn it. Or, share it with all your friends. It’s your journal and you can do whatever you want.

Share This

What is Vellum?

Centuries ago, paper was unknown. The technology for processing wood into pulp for writing simply didn’t exist. Instead, animal skins (usually calves, but often goats and lambs) were stretched and dried to make a flat surface that would accept ink. That’s why you see so many ancient books that have a special look.

Modern vellum is very different but the look is much the same. Translucent, veined and very delicate, vellum provides an elegant addition to scrapbook design efforts. But it can be a little tricky to use correctly.

Vellum isn’t as porous as paper so inks and glues have to be applied with care.

How to Scrapbook with Vellum

Since it doesn’t absorb ink as readily as paper, you need to be a little more patient with vellum. Allow ample time to dry. Some never will fully dry without help. You can sprinkle a little talcum powder on the surface and blow the remainder gently away.

Vellum can be fragile, but with care it can still be used in a computer printer. Here again it’s important to allow ample time for the ink to dry. If you print more than one page, remove the first one before the second prints out. If one side is shinier than the other use it for printing.

Since most vellum shows through the page with just a little light, you need to take care with adhesives. Unless you want the glue to show up, try a very thin layer, say by spraying. Or, use a machine such as the Xyron if you want to cover the entire back of the page. That can allow you to use vellum to make a soft cover for a special look on a wedding-oriented page, or for any other creative use.

Any glue used should be acid free. A good acid-free glue stick can be the perfect tool to attach the corners of a vellum page to your scrapbook. It won’t become yellow or brittle over time. But give it ample time to dry by keeping the book open longer than you normally would. If your corners show through because of the adhesive you can hide them cleverly with page corners and other design elements.

Be sure to use quality vellum that is both acid-free and lignin-free. Acid (usually weak sulfuric acid) is what eats parchment away over time. That’s why old books have yellow pages. That old look may be just what you want, but it will eventually make your pages brittle and fragile.

Scrapbooking With Vellum Tips

You can punch holes in vellum and doing so can make for a beautiful design. Take care when folding if you want to make multiple cut-outs with a single punch. Creative tearing can produce a rough edge to give your scrapbook page that medieval look.

Vellum is great for wedding or heritage scrapbooks, but it’s an equally great choice anytime you want that look that only vellum can provide.

Share This

Choosing cardstock can be a technique in itself. There are hundreds of possible choices that go well beyond what color to pick. You could, for example, have a page filled with one inch square-sized photos. But create a great peek-a-boo door effect by choosing cardstock that allows you to create one inch square flaps to cover some or all of them. You could even ‘lock’ the ‘doors’ with tiny pieces of string or metal hooks.

Using die cuts is a tried and true technique. These machine-made pieces of paper or plastic can sport logos, quotes and all sorts of design elements. Or you can hand cut and make your own, tailored to your personal style.

Expand the idea to the entire page by picking patterned paper. You can use the entire page as background, or cut out a pattern to make a decorative border. The colors and patterns you can choose are unlimited. A hippy-dippy tie-dyed kaleidoscope is one option. Or you can go with a Victorian pattern perfect for that heritage scrapbook.

You can glue ribbon across a page or use it to surround a treasured photograph. Ribbons add color and texture to a two-dimensional display. You can even sew or stitch on elements of your own making. If you’re handy with a needle and thread or yarn you can add a decorative design that shows off your talent.

Or go the other way and remove parts of the page. Creative punching allows you to make cut-out shapes that add zip. Fold the paper over and use a heart-shaped punch to make a perfect Valentine’s Day page in a holiday-themed scrapbook. You can place photos, drawings or text behind the cut-outs that will show through.

Crop those photos or drawings in creative ways. Make a copy of any original photo so you can always go back and crop a different way. Then select parts of the photo that feature one person or eliminate distracting backgrounds.

Add embossing to build up the page with color and design. Embossing can be done in any color with designs that are limited only by your imagination. Sprinkle embossing powder of just the right color then heat it onto the page to make it permanent.

Get some personalized stamps and individualize your page. A stamp can contain your signature, your seal or family crest. It can be a great looking logo or a quote that touches and inspires. In short, anything!

Turn your pages into pocket pages. You can buy pre-made pockets that will hold love letters, poems, lockets, photos or a hundred other items. Or, make your own and give them the look you want. Make them into triangles or ovals for something a little different.

Use all the techniques then invent some new ones!

Share This

Share This