Scrapbooking

In recent years scrapbooking has become a very popular hobby around the world. Memory books can be plain and simple or very intricate, depending on your taste, your creativity and your imagination.
Basic scrapbooking consists of 1 or more photographs laid out on special paper of your choice (patterned, plain, floral etc. ), along with journaling done with acid free pens and pencils. Stickers, attachments, embellishments and other things (lace, ribbons, fabrics, buttons, etc.) will enhance the pages , highlighting the overall theme of the page, as well as the time era the photograph was taken.

Albums

Albums come in various sizes, the most popular seems to be the 12" x 12" album, I personally prefer the 8.5" x 11" three-ring binders simply for the reason that most of my charts and are of that size.

Since scrapbooking is basically archiving family histories it is very important to take precautions to preserve your work so future generations will be able to enjoy them. We have provided a list of terms that you should familiarize yourself with when shopping for paper supplies.

Acid and Lignin

Anything that touches your photos should be acid-free and lignin-free, including paper, glue, markers and stickers so your photos will not discolor or disintegrate more quickly than they would naturally. Products that are photo-safe will be labeled as such.

What Is Acid-Free?

Acid causes paper and photos to disintegrate, this aging process is slowed significantly when acid is removed from paper during the manufacturing process. Be sure your paper, glue and markers are labeled acid-free or archival-quality before you purchase them.

What is Lignin?

Lignin is the natural bonding element which holds wood fibers together. Newsprint contains lignin and becomes brittle and yellowed after just a few days. Like acid, lignin can be removed during processing to make scrapbooking paper safe.
If you wish to include newspaper articles or announcements in your memory album, photocopy them onto acid-free, lignin-free paper. Use an off-white paper that resembles newsprint for an authentic look.

Archival quality

This is a term used to indicate materials which have been tested to determine that their acidic and buffered content is within safe levels.

Buffered paper

During manufacturing, a buffering agent such as calcium carbonate or magnesium bicarbonate may be added to paper to neutralize acid contaminants. Such papers will have a pH of 8.5.

pH Factor

This refers to the acidity of a paper. The pH scale runs from 1 to 14 with each number representing a ten-fold increase; pH neutral is 7. Acid-free products have a pH factor of 7 or above. Special pH tester pens are available to determine the acidity of products..

Photo safe

This is a term similar to archival quality but more specific to materials used with photographs. Acid-free is the determining factor for a product to be labeled photo-safe.

Sheet protectors

These are made of plastic to slip over a finished album page, They can be side loading or top loading and fit 5”x7”, 81/2”x11” or 12”x12” pages. It is important that they be acid-free.

The History Of Scrapbooking

by Audrey Okaneko

Back in the 15th century there were books known as commonplace books. These books were used to record information, such as weights, poems, medical formulas and prayers. Instead of trying to remember all of this information, it was written into a commonplace book. Commonplace books were used by students to record the information learned.

Over time commonplace books also held newspaper articles, recipes and illustrations. Commonplace books were a way to share information.

There were also friendship albums that were created and given as gifts. Young women in the Victorian period often created memory books or visitor’s albums filled with signatures, scrap, cards, hair, handwriting, poetry, and even photographs of their family and friends. Again, these were a way of sharing with others, and of preserving memories.

Mark Twain was an avid scrapbooker. He devoted entire Sundays to this hobby and then sold his books through Montgomery Ward.

Thomas Jefferson kept leather-bound books filled with news clippings, drawings, dried leaves and other memorabilia.

In the 1970’s “Roots” was introduced by Alex Haley, and a huge interest in genealogy was born. This interest in genealogy led to people wanting to capture their heritage.

In the 80’s and 90’s scrapbooking began to get more and more popular, and today we have a wide variety of scrapbooking choices, with color choices, embellishment choices and even tool choices.

Audrey Okaneko has been scrapbooking for several years now. You can reach her at audreyoka@cox.net or http://www.scrapping-made-simple.com

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