Scrapbooking Basics, Part I

The initial process of scrapbooking does take time and energy, however shouldn't leave you completely overwhelmed, or broke. Organization is key and will be our focal point in getting started.

The basic concept of scrapbooking is to organize photographs and display them in some form in an album sharing the stories that accompany them. Scrapbooking is a simple way to share special moments in your life with family members and friends.

Picture this: you have family over that you haven't seen in quite some time. Of course you want to share experiences with them, so you bring out your stash of pictures still in the envelopes that they have been sitting in since you had them developed. You stand over the shoulder of the proud family member as they turn pictures over in their hand, while you retell the details of the picture. (Not to mention as they get their greasy fingers all over your delicate photographs.)

While it is fun to share past happenings with family, it would be much easier to hand them an album with the stories already described in detail. You can still enjoy watching your family turn each page, yet they can read for themselves the details of the story taking place in each picture.

After my son Kieran was born, I wanted to have a timeline album that shared my husband and myself at different times in our life, up to the present. At first, I didn't know what to do. I didn't even have any pictures of my own childhood. When asked, I was given enormous amounts of pictures and had to piece through all of them and get a general time frame of when pictures were taken. My goal was to try to get stories that went along with the pictures, but time was short. I was making this album for my husband as a gift for Christmas, Kieran was born at the end of October. So, I just went with it. In the end, I did things incorrectly and when I learned more about the proper way to prepare pictures, I went back and corrected my errors. The key though was organization. With over twenty years of pictures in front of me, from two different people, I separated the pictures by year. This was the easiest way for me to get started.

Once the task was completed I was able to then reorganize, putting together pictures of the two of us at the same age in our lives. Because most of the pictures were old and it was harder recollecting stories, I utilized titles along each page to give an indication of setting, time of year, and occurrence. I completed an entire album using method, to get a good grasp of the story of our lives, then was able to focus on the time that we had spent together; dating, marriage, and having our son. Even now, before getting started on a project, no matter what album it is, I maintain several, I sit down and organize my photographs. Keeping pictures organized will make you feel better prepared to work on your scrapbooks. Instead of constantly fumbling through wads of pictures, you'll have an orderly array of pictures ready for your next scrapbooking page or project.

Organizing Pictures: Start with the Present

So, it's now obviously time to dive in and take your photographs out of your closet, from underneath the bed, or anywhere else that they seem to be hiding and get organized. You may have pictures already separated into older photo albums '" take them out. Have you noticed these pictures have developed a yellowish tint? That is because adhesives and papers used in these older albums aren't acid free and photo safe. It is important to remove the pictures from these albums to keep them from deteriorating any more than they already have.

A good way to store organized photos until you can get them into an album is with a photo storage box. The boxes can accommodate picture sizes up to 4X6, a familiar size chosen during developing. Index cards are generally included which allow you to separate the pictures. When dealing with a very large span of time, try separating your pictures first by year, much like I did in the previous example. Getting them separated will probably take some time, especially if you don't remember when specific events happened, or if you come across pictures that don't have any people in them. Some tips in getting pictures organized are:

1. Look at the dates stamped on the back of photos or printed on your original negative sleeves. Many developers include dates of when they developed photos. Even if it took you a few months to get pictures developed, this should give you a general guideline of when certain events took place.
2. Don't be afraid to estimate dates and stick a picture in the pool of a certain year. You can make some assumptions based on the condition of the picture. Many original family pictures may be in black and white, this will give you an idea of how old the pictures might be. You could also get a general date from a good photographer. The size of pictures can also be an indicator of the date. Pictures now are generally developed on 4X6 paper, and this is the largest standard; in the past, the general standard wasn't even 3X5.
3. Don't write on the back of photos. If your intentions are to put them in an album, the information written on the back will not be seen. Attach a post it note to your pictures or index them on cards that are included in storage boxes.
4. Don't get stressed. Organizing pictures might not get done in one sitting. Take the time to go through them, but don't reminisce now. Wait until the stories can be written or journaled in your completed scrapbook page.

Once you have all of your pictures organized by year, you will be ready to get going on an album. It is recommended that you start your first album with your most current photographs. It is easier to work from pictures taken yesterday while the stories are still fresh to tell, than to start at a time in the past that time will be spent digging for memories. In the meantime, the exciting stories from pictures of the present will start to fade, leaving us constantly digging for memories. This is an easy spot where people tend to get overwhelmed. So, just start with now.

Just think: How frequently have you submitted film for one hour processing? Take advantage of the extra time you have purchased. Working on the '˜freshest' pictures will keep you motivated to finish your current blunder of pictures, and if you're like me, you have three to four rolls at a time to develop. Once this timeline of your project is complete you can go back into your '˜photo reserves' and back track.

In our next issue we will discuss what supplies are necessary for getting a scrapbook started. Now that you have your pictures organized, let's get them into a book and preserve them indefinitely.