I am excited to start this blog to share some ideas with those who scrapbook, those who wish they had time to scrapbook, or those who simply wonder, “What in the world am I going to do with all these pictures I have??”

Photo from Pack Peddler

When my friend, Deb, invited me to go to a fall “crop” many years ago, I had no idea what she was talking about. She knew I had a son in elementary school and asked me what I was doing with all the pictures we were taking. “Well, we print them…and look at them. Oh, and I get double prints so I can send some to the grandparents! And I keep the pictures and negatives in photo boxes.” Remember…this was before digital pics and cameras on your phone, so you never knew what your pictures looked like until you paid a fortune to develop and print them (after paying a fortune for the film itself, of course). Deb encouraged me to bring a box of pictures, a pair of scissors, and a ruler and come and see how easy it was to make a scrapbook that would last for generations. I thought, “I’m not artistic! I got a “D” in art in junior high and barely passed an elective drawing course in college! And I wouldn’t know where to start…I have YEARS of pictures and that is just since my son was born!”

But then I thought, “Hey, a day to myself with a friend…THAT sounds good. And coffee without kids…that sounds good. And…if I don’t do something soon, I’m going to have a closet full of pictures and no idea of what to do with them. I’ll do it!”

 

Hey Mikey! She likes it!

So I went and had FUN! I figured out that, for some people, this is a major artistic endeavor. The lady to my right spent the WHOLE DAY on one page of her kids at the zoo…it was pretty but not my style. The person on my left was putting pages together faster than lightning, sticking on picture after picture, but she wasn’t writing down who was in the picture and where or when it was taken. That wasn’t quite my style either…I wanted a scrapbook to help me remember my history!  Pick some great pics from an event or time, put them in the scrapbook with some matting, stickers, etc. And WRITE down what you remember about that person, event, or time. Yes, the pictures above are from my first album.

Your family, your history…preserved!

Imagine if you had several albums from your grandmothers or great grandmothers with pictures and notes so you know who the people are, what they were doing, and what your grandmother thought and felt about that event or person. Can you see her handwriting, feel her sharing memories with you? Now imagine YOUR great, great grandchildren looking at pages that YOU created, sharing your memories…sharing your family history. What a precious treasure! This is what I imagine when I look at my growing shelf of albums.

What’s stopping you? What are the barriers?

• I’m not artistic.
  • Neither am I! If you can use a pair of scissors to cut a straight line and can match colors to pick your clothes in the morning, you have PLENTY of artistic talent to make a great scrapbook!
• I don’t know where to start. 
  • Pick an event (Christmas, school play, etc.) or a year (2018!) and just get started. You don’t have to have a master plan. Scrapbook pages can be reorganized!
• I have thousands of pictures on my phone/computer. Do I have to print all of those?
  • Absolutely not! The great part about digital pictures is that you can print only the ones you want to use. But one benefit of scrapbooking is that you sort and organize your digital pictures regularly, so you don’t end up with 25 years of pictures to sort!
• I don’t have time to do this.
  • You don’t have to scrapbook a whole day at a time. I sort pictures on my phone and send them to print while waiting for appointments, car repair, etc. I do “power layouts” (more on that later) so when I have 30 min, I can drink my coffee and put a couple of pages together.
• I don’t like to cut, paste, and glue!
  • NO problem! You can do scrapbook pages using great acid-free page pockets…slide in your photos, use one of the pockets for a “journal” card to tell something about the pictures on that page and DONE. I like to mix up my albums with classic pages and pocket pages. Still too “hands on”? You can easily do digital pages and either print them or share them online. NO cutting and pasting, AND you can get amazing graphics and background “paper” if you want to spice up your pages.
• It’s too expensive. I’d have to buy a lot of equipment.
  • There are some really amazing scrapbooking tools out there. But my friend Deb was right…to start you need:
    • A stack of pictures
    • A sharp pair of scissors
    • A ruler
    • A pencil
    • Some adhesive (CM* or other) to stick pictures on the page
    • A scrapbook (e.g., CM* or other) or scrapbook pages
    • Some scrapbook paper (CM* or other) to liven up your page
    • An acid-free marker (CM* or other) – I usually recommend black or dark blue to start.
  • After you get started, the next tool I recommend is a 12” paper cutter. I use the Fiskars Sure Cut (less than $20 at most stores) but the CM 12-in Straight Trimmer is great as well. I still use my CM Personal Trimmer to crop (cut) all my pictures.  

So let’s get started. Gather 10-15 pictures and next time…scrap time!

 * If you do not have a Creative Memories Advisor and want to order CM materials, I would be thrilled to be your CM Advisor! Browse the products at https://www.creativememories.com/ and, if you want to order, visit my page: https://www.creativememories.com/user/MarshaSC.  

The memories we make with our family is everything.
-Candace Cameron Bure