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by Christina Bultinck

Many people say, sure I’d love to scrapbook if I had nothing to do all day but cut and paste things. The real waste of time is not creating a scrapbook, but rather taking pictures, dropping them off at the store, picking them up, putting them in a box, and then wasting numerous hours trying to find a specific picture months later. Why take pictures if you’re just going to coral them in the closet like cattle? Making a scrapbook is about preserving memories for future generations. With scrapbooks, people organize their pictures, souvenirs and mementos into themes and create mini-histories using safe materials to ensure the photos will last ages. Simply put, scrapbooks are more than fun times with friends, or that fulfilling feeling you get when you create something. Scrapbooks are is also an investment in your family and future generations.
Find Time to Scrapbook
Alright, so how do you make time? Don’t think you have to belt out a scrapbook in one sitting. Most people are short on time with a tall list of things to do, so their goal is to create a page here and there which will eventually complete a themed album. Like with anything else you want to accomplish, you must schedule time and break your project into little steps. You can sort through photos while the kids nap or are out to play. Think up themes and come up with design ideas when you are out and about and bombarded with color combinations. If you have a small child or children you may find it difficult to schedule time to breathe, let alone scrapbook, but there is always time, even if all you can spare is fifteen minutes here or ten minutes there, at least you can get a little done, like sorting pictures or placing one on a page. Once you have experienced the rewards from scrapbooks, you’ll find that time for it magically appears.

Scraping Lingo
 Acid-Free
When wood goes through the process which turns it into paper, acid is added to assist in breaking down the wood. Once acid is added to a process, it doesn’t just stop working, you must neutralize it. So, the acid in paper, still alive and kicking, is a real enemy to photographs as it will destroy your pictures in time, which is why acid-free is such a common term in this craft. Everything from paper to glue must be acid-free. A “buffered” paper is one where additives, such as calcium carbonate are used to neutralize the acid.

 pH
This is a term you’re probably familiar with if you make homemade soap or maintain a pool. pH refers to the level of acidity in whatever the item is you’re testing, in this case paper. The scale ranges from 0-14 with 0-6 being too acidic, 7 neutral, and anything above 7 has too much alkalinity. To give you some examples, battery acid has a pH of 1, milk measure at 7 and ammonia has a pH of 12. Because scrapbook pros want to stay away from acid in their paper, anything with a pH of 7 or above is good.

 Lignin
Sounds like a tasty berry, but it’s not. Lignin naturally occurs in trees as they grow, but when a tree is processed into paper, lignin is responsible for turning it yellow and brittle with time.

 Photo-Safe
Photo-safe is a term you’ll often see on packing or in instructions. This means that the embellishment, paper or glue will not harm your photographs. This is often another term for acid-free, but either way, make sure everything you use from paper to pencils, had one term or the other on the package.

 Sheet Protectors
Finished scrapbook pages are often slipped into sheet protections before being inserted into the final album. Like all items you use, make sure that they are acid-free. The Polypropylene variety sold in grocery and office supply stores is not acid-free. There are also smaller protectors for smaller items you want to add to the scrapbook, but don’t want to put adhesive on. With these items, such as a very old letter, you would put it into the protector and then adhere that to the page.

 Cardstock
Cardstock is a heavier, studier paper making it an ideal backing for pages with heavier embellishments or more photographs.

 Adhesives
These are used to attach photos and other items to your scrapbook pages. There are many types of adhesives used in scrapbooks for the various items used in an album (remember, this country was founded on freedom of choice, so beginners, don’t roll your eyes with all the choices with you.) Remember to make sure that the adhesive is acid-free and be sure note if you’re using permanent or nonpermanent glue. Once you put it in place, it is there to stay with permanent glue, while with nonpermanent glue you will be able to pick up the item and attach it elsewhere. Other types of adhesives include tape, double-sided tape, liquid, and stick glue, and spray adhesive. Spray adhesive is excellent for gluing larger items. Because you spray it on, there is a thin even layer of adhesive, so when you place the item in the scrapbook you do not have hills and valleys of glue underneath. You can also use adhesive tabs which come in a variety of shapes large and small.
 

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