How To Scrapbook
How To Scrapbook
First off what is a 'Scrapbook'?
A scrapbook or the art of scrapbooking is basically a way of preserving personal and family history in the form of photographs, printed media, and memorabilia contained in decorated albums, or scrapbooks.
Although scrapbooking seems to be a fairly recent phenomena it actually has a long and varied history, beginning in the 15th Century in England. As paper became affordable and printing more common place, indeed these were known as commonplace books, people would compile collections of things that were of interest to them. Recipes, quotes, letters, poems and anything else of personal interest.
Scrapbooking went through many stages of development. Friendship albums became popular in the 16th century where friends and visitors would make entries at the owner's request, very similar to today's yearbooks.
Printed books often had blank pages at the end so that people could personalise them.
Probably the biggest leap forward was the advent of photography and it's availability to the ever growing population, as most modern scrapbooks are based around collections of photographs. A serious scrapbook, though, goes way beyond a simple photograph album.
The basic idea of scrapbooking is to create a theme around the photos and items that represent your memories to be preserved for the future. For instance some of the most
important occasions in your life like, a baby scrapbook, graduation scrapbook, a wedding scrapbook are all typical themes. There are endless ideas for scrapbooking and we'll cover some of these in other pages of this site.
As well as the overall theme for the scrapbook, individual pages and sections can have their own page layouts. Suppose you had a scrapbook about camping. There could be a general section about your camping equipment then different sections and themes appropriate to the various camping trips and locations you've been to.
To create the theme use is made of background papers, scrapbooking stickers, newspaper clippings, cutouts, rubber stampings, die cuts and anything else you care to think of.
Scrapbooking is one area where you can let your imagination and creativity run free. It's not expensive to get started as all you basically need are scissors, paper, photographs and glue.
Of course those tools are necessary for physical scrapbooking. As with everything else these days there is the ability to create scrapbooks on your computer - Digital Scrapbooking.
Why would you want to create a Scrapbook on your computer?
As with most things digital the options are huge. As well as the usual scrapbook elements you can add videos and sound including music to your digital scrapbooks. You also have the ability to share them with friends and relatives online through email, blogs and social networking sites. They can also be printed and burnt to DVD.
Digital scrapbooking software can be a greater initial outlay than just starting a physical scrapbook but it can cost less over time as you will undoubtedly go on to spend more on a physical scrapbook. There is free digital scrapbook software available, just do a search for it.
Which is better, digital or physical? As with everything it comes down to personal choice. One of the major advantages of a physical scrapbook is you can hold it, touch it, feel it and some of the elements are there for that purpose. Different textures and materials can be used to really bring it to life.
On the other hand it's probably a lot easier to manipulate a digital scrapbook. No messy adhesives, scraps of cut paper, objects spread all over the dining table. There is also quite a lot to learn about the materials used in making a physical scrapbook.
Whichever you choose digital or physical, scrapbooking can not only be a very rewarding and fulfilling pastime but you end up creating something memorable and precious for not only yourself and your family but for future generations.
