Scrapbooking photo albums
A scrap of that, a piece of this, a chunk of those, and a snip snip snip, and you have the beginnings of a scrap book. Scrap booking photo albums has become very popular.
One great way to prevent from cutting all of your photos treasures to pieces is to take advantage of your computer. When you get your photos developed just spend a few dollars more and get them saved to a CD. Then just pop it in your D drive of the computer and get started. Sometimes you have to go to start, programs, and go to the D drive and select it. Or you can use the find function to access you CD. Then just go down through and pick out the ones that you would like to use for a particular page. Print them out on your computer and get started. I really like Kodak Easy Share for my work. You can change the paper type, the quality, and adjust all of the red eye settings, exposure, crop, and all the rest. For some of my log home works I like to used the black and white setting. This helps to accent the homes against the mountains or the snow.
Before you print the photos it is a good idea to check that your ink is not acid or acid based. The acid will cause the photos to fade and change color over time. Photo paper should also be checked for acid content. Another danger to photos is the presence of the tree substance known as lignin. Lignin causes the paper to become brittle and also yellow. A simple look at the photo paper label should reveal if it is of good quality. Also check the websites for the different suppliers. Kodak, HP, and others supply stores all over the world. Off brands may be fine as well. Just read the label.
The next step is to lay out your scrap book page. A nice back drop can be a piece of wrapping paper, a child’s coloring sheet, or an old paper place mat. These items should also be checked for acid content. A PH test pen can be purchased at many craft stores to reveal if the selected backdrop is worthy to be next to the photos themselves.
Further add to your scrap book album creation with lettering stickers, puffy stickers, theme stickers, or just about anything you would like to glue down. Hot glue works at times the best for this type of crafting. I have even seen little cut outs from favorite toddler clothes used to dress up a page. I have one such cut out of Tigger from Winny the Pooh taken from my oldest son’s night shirt. He loved that character and seemed to bounce around the house just as much at Tigger did.
Whatever your creation, scrap booking is a great way to artistically incorporate your photos and other memorabilia. You can never replace a memory, but you can help to preserve it in even more vivid detail with a photo album and scrap book.