Vacations and out-of-town trips provide
opportunities to take photos. Aside from these, everyone has to deal
with birthday celebrations, wedding anniversaries, Halloween parties
and Thanksgiving get togethers. After all the festivities, most
people are left with stacks of photographs and memories tucked away
in the attic to be organized later.
Due to the popularity of scrapbooking,
many people have taken up the hobby as a way to preserve their
memories. While some go order ready-made custom designs from the
internet, most have taken the DIY or do-it-yourself route, which is
more fulfilling.
There are thousands of websites that offer ready-made materials for
your scrapbook. DIY scrapbook enthusiasts prefer creating
decorations from scratch. This way, they are sure that the designs
for their scrapbooks are unique and personal.
While some DIY-ers create designs from normal colored paper, tape
and markers, some take it a step further by using natural material
such as leaves, dried and pressed flowers, rocks, wire, egg shells,
and the like.
Though you are only limited by your creativity when designing your
personal diary, there are some considerations for the diarist who
prefers to preserve his memories using photographs.
1. Use acid-free, PVC-free and photo-safe paper
Many companies put "acid-free" on the label to indicate that it can
be used to for a scrapbook. Paper that is not acid-free fade fast,
and may not be safe to be used with photographs. Acid can lead to
the yellowing and deterioration of photographs.
2. You can print straight from the computer
Those who are not too confident of their designing skills can use
their PCs to design their layouts, but it is important to note that
not all printers can be used to print the designs. Non-laser
printers use ink that is water-soluble, which may bleed into the
paper. It is therefore advised that you use laser or ink-jet
printers in printing custom designs, or to use printers sparingly to
minimize deterioration of scrapbook pages.
3. Use of materials which are not photo-safe
Again, while there is no cut-and-dried rule regarding the use of
materials which aren't photo-safe, it is advised that they be used
sparingly. There is an invention called an Archival Spray, though,
that will let anyone create photo-safe and acid-free decorations for
scrapbooks. It is inexpensive and works like a spray laminate. The
Archival Spray is useful if you wants to include brochues, menus,
and tickets in the layout.
Font-free scrapbooking
A font is described as a digital typeface. Therefore it follows that
font-free scrapbooking is creating a scrapbook without the use of a
computer.
It is relatively easy to create a scrapbook page using downloaded
and printed fonts, but it would be more personal and unique to write
journal-style entries for your scrapbook. There are some who aren't
confident with their penmanship, though, but with the popularity of
scrapbooking, they can now choose from wide selection of templates
and stickers to create great-looking pages.
There are four basic items that a scrapbooker can use if he or she
wishes to do a font-free scrapbook.
1. Templates
You can choose from several variations of alphabet templates. They
are available in different sizes, and you just need to select the
most appropriate template for your scrapbook. Once you have selected
a theme, you can layout the page first and trace the letters from
the template using a pencil. After making sure that you have created
a good layout, you can then use a marker with archival quality ink
to trace the letters permanently.
2. Stickers
There are several companies that produce letter stickers that you
can use for the scrapbook. Some companies create sets of words for
theme pages, such as "It's my birthday," or "Graduation day," for
the more common themes. All you have to do is select the design to
match the theme in mind and stick the labels in the appropriate
places. It should be mentioned though that not all companies produce
acid-free stickers, so you should check the label for "acid-free."
3. Stamps
Stamps are created in a variety of designs. Most stamps also use
archival-quality ink in different colors. You need to make sure that
you are using acid-free paper for the photos and the stamp designs,
because even if you are using scrapbook-safe ink, the paper may
easily deteriorate and become brittle if it is not photo-safe or
acid-free.
4. Die-cut designs
Similar to stickers, die-cut designs are glued onto the scrapbook
page. There are several die-cut designs available online. The
designs are printed on thin sheets of paper, plastic, or thin rubber
matting, and you only need to cut the design and paste it onto the
scrapbook page.
While these materials are easily available online and at various
arts & crafts stores nationwide, you can also "go commando" and
write your entries using markers or special pens to make your
scrapbooks more special.
