Scrapbooking: Getting started
Scrapbooking is a hobby that allows us to express our personality through our pages. Our scrapbooks are about ourselves, our own families and our life experiences. They are a precious archive of our time, to pass down through the generations.
Because of this there are a few rules which we will need to observe before we start. These are all about preserving our work so that it doesn’t deteriorate with time. We need to use materials in our artwork, which will be archival safe.
Many materials we come across in our everyday lives contain substances which are not ‘archival safe.’ This means, if we use them in our books, they could make our work age faster, possibly crack, or turn a yellow brown. For this reason, the materials made for scrapbooking are ‘acid and lignin free’ and ‘archival safe’.
The other important rule is to always use copies of photos and precious ephemera on your pages. This is especially important if there is only one copy of a particular vintage photo. A scanner will reproduce images of all kinds of objects so well that they can be indistinguishable from the original. Even things such as military medals, buttons and fabrics can be scanned for use in a scrapbook and will uniquely personalise your pages.
Scrapbooks come in many sizes, usually with slip-in, top loading transparent page protectors. Most are square: 12”x12” or 8”x8”.
So now we know the rules, shall we start?
Many people are unsure about which photo, of the thousands in their collection, to start with. A really interesting start would be a photo of yourself. If you start with a photo of yourself as you are now you may want to make your page all about your favourite things. If you choose to start with a photo of yourself as a child, you may want to make the page all about your memories of your childhood.
Who knows us better than ourselves? Even our nearest and dearest may be surprised about what we write and this gives our family such an insight into the real us. Not just the father, mother, partner or friend but the real person that we feel we are. It can be fun to make them guess your favourite food, your favourite film, your favourite holiday destination. Wouldn’t we be interested to know what our Grandparents lives were like through a page like this? We find we know so little about them and their everyday lives. The world is such a different place now that we would be intrigued to know their life experiences. Your grandchildren would love to know these things about you. They may love to work alongside you making a page about themselves. Scrapbooking is a great inter-generational hobby.
Let's start with a photograph. Take a look at the colours in your photo. Is it colour or black and white? What is the mood of your photo? Is it childlike and brightly hued? Is it classical and sophisticated? These observations will help you decide on a colour scheme.
If you choose a colour photo, choose one of the colours in your photo to start with. You will need a square of card in your colour and the size of your scrapbook page.
Now you need to choose an accent colour. This can be another colour from your photo or a neutral, such as a pale green. Try putting your image against these colours in the shop and see if the colours are harmonious. Try a couple of different colour combinations until you feel happy. Mount your photo onto a piece of your accent colour with a border of one centimetre all around.
If your photo is black & white you can choose to make your page monochrome by sticking to black & white in your embellishments or you can choose your own colour scheme to echo the mood of the photo.
Try laying your photo onto your card background in different positions. Choose a title for your page to set the scene. You will be adding words to your layout next time and decorations too. Leave space for these and consider what you would like to write.
To see some of Paula's artwork visit her website: www.paulawatkins.co.uk
Copyright Paula Watkins
Photography by Paul Watkins
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