Let’s Get Back to the Basics

Summer time has arrived and all the kids are out of school. With little or no routine scheduled, I am now forced to relax with my children. This is a great time to have some fun, but of course, take a lot of photos! Some of you are still at the point when taking photos is all you do. We have had lots of requests from scrapbookers-to-be wanting to know how and what they need to get started, so this is your chance for a little summer school course on the basics of scrapbooking.

There are a few basic supplies that you will need. Each teacher has his or her own favorites list, and mine is as follows.

1. The Binder. This is definitely the first decision you should make. You are not stuck with this decision; so if you find yourself wanting a different size at some point, go for it. There are numerous sizes and types, so look around to see what you like. I will tell you to avoid anything magnetic. Although a lot claim to be safe, after all the ruined photos I’ve had in the past, I am very hesitant to try that route again. There are 4 basic types that are available.

a. Strap-hinged

b. Post-bound

c. 3-ring binder

d. Spiral

If you were to ask a random group of 100 scrapbookers, and you would get a big variety as to their own personal favorites. It depends on what you have been exposed to. There are good points to all of these types and they all serve different purposes. I like to use the 3-ring binder just for the speed in being able to open it up and remove a layout. (You will need to use page protectors to slide the finished layout in.) The main draw back to the spiral is that if you make a mistake and you need to remove a page and put them in a different order, you can’t. You better not make any mistakes either!

3. A paper/photo trimmer. My favorite is the 12” Paper Trimmer by Fiskars. It will cut both 8 ½ x 11 and 12 x 12 papers and chances are that if you buy a smaller one, you will want to replace it sooner than later, and you will find it useful around the house even if you don’t stick with scrapbooking. (Hard to imagine!)

5. Photo mounting squares. You can buy these in boxes of 200 – 500. But if you want to invest in one of my “can’t live without” favorites, buy a Hermafix with photo squares. (Once you’ve experience the floating blue tabs, you’ll understand what I mean.)

7. Acid-free journaling pens. You definitely need black, and a set of different sizes would be nice, but just one will do. Pens are something you will test and add to your collection as you progress; so don’t be afraid to try them. You will definitely find the type and company that you prefer. Or maybe you’ll be like me, and just like them all!)

10. A clear plastic ruler.

11. A pair of sharp scissors. The pair I use the most are my Fiskars Soft Grip Micro Tip Scissors with the spring action in the handle. When you are doing lots of cutting, they keep your hands from getting so tired.

12. A photo-permanent marking pen.

2. Acid-free cardstock in a variety of colors and shades suited to the types of photos you will be scrapbooking. (If you have small children, you will probably use more primary colors than muted ones, at least to start. If you are doing vacation photos at the beach, stay with the muted lighter sand and sky colors. You will always use white, black and oatmeal shades, so a few extra of those will come in handy. Just don’t buy tons of it until you develop your style.)

4. Clear photo corners (For special photos that you will not want to adhere permanently)

6. A 2-in-1-glue pen or glue stick. Fine tip for details and chisel is fine for the bigger projects. (I use these for paper to paper, not photo to paper.)

8. A #1 and #2 pencil. Don’t use them really sharp, as it will scratch or make an indentation on the paper.

9. A white polymer eraser. You can forget about ever using the red pencil eraser on your pencil again! They are far to rough on the paper, don’t pick up all the lead, and have been known to leave a red trail behind. The white polymer erasers can be found at most office supply stores.

These are the basics that I take with me on the road or to a class or to a crop. You can start collecting these items as they go on sale, for birthday and holiday gifts, or as your budget allows. I would urge to have #1, #2, #5, #7, #8, #9, #10 and #12 before you start, and I would really suggest #3, the paper trimmer. I went for 2 years without one, and now I am going back and fixing all the uneven cuts that I made without my paper trimmer.

There are lots of other basic tools and supplies, and many extras that I now find it difficult to live without, but if you gather the above, you will be able to get started. Now, let’s get started.

Page Construction 101

There are many different ways of looking at a page. Some schools of thought are to cut up and crop down as many photos as you possibly can and cram them all on the page. I have heard it explained that if you do it right, you could get as many as 6-10 photos on a page. Oh, my goodness! What a scary thought! Even if you are using the 12 x 12 pages, that’s an awful lot of cropping and possibly losing irreplaceable information from your photos! So today we are going to discuss: Helen’s Theory on Cropping and Page Design.

The very first step is to organize your photos. I believe that if you work from the present back you might find it less daunting a project. If you are working in a strap-hinged book, this may be a little difficult. That’s why I prefer working on the sheets of patterned paper or solid cardstock and then inserting the pages in the proper order. But if strap-hinged is your chosen style, prepare yourself by organizing by dates.

Group your photos by events: specific holidays, birthdays, weddings etc. If you have cute photos that don’t fit into a specific theme, then you may want to group them by seasons or the year.

Next, choose the group of photos you want to work with. Lay them out on the table, and choose the best 2-4 photos, depending on your page size. You don’t need to have 10 photos of the same child, in the same outfit making the same basic expression. If you have 10 darling photos of the same child in the same outfit making different faces, consider doing a 2-page spread or even using panoramic sheet pages to expound on the occasion. But back to the basic one-page layout.

You will want to maintain the integrity of the photo. There are lots of things in the background that may help you to date the photo, as well as bring back memories. Some things are not essential for the photo, like a stranger’s fanny on the edge of the picture. However, I recommend not going crop-crazy.

Some lessons learned the hard way.

1. Don’t cut your photos with decorative scissors. Save the decorative edges to mat your photos.

2. Don’t cut the photos into shapes. The two exceptions are an occasional circle or oval IF you have duplicates or at least the negative.

3. Never crop an original single-copy photo. If you don’t want to see the whole picture, use a mat over the top of the photo. This includes antique photos that are irreplaceable. If you feel you must crop, make a color copy and cut that.

4. For the more up-to-date photos, you can use the photo mounting squares. For the older photos, use the photo corners.

If the photos were marked before, be sure to redo the information if you crop part of it off. Using a photo-marking pen, give a brief description of the occasion and the date. Even if you journal on the page layout, it doesn’t mean that the photo will never leave the page. Never, never, never use a regular ballpoint pen or a marker on the back of your photos. The finish is such that it will not absorb the ink and the chances of it bleeding onto the photo right behind it in the pile are very good. So be careful! Pencil is great for the old paper-backed photos. But when you’re writing, make sure to do it on a hard surface. The padding on some tables will cause an indentation on the photo that will show through to the front.

Now study the photos. Color will make or break the look of your layout. Try to pull a color from the photos out to use as background or accent colors. Color will make a huge difference. Remember, it’s the photos that are the focal point in the layout, not the designs or sticker around it. All the extras should just accentuate the photos. There are different tastes in use of color, just as there are with the way we decorate our homes or dress our bodies. Find a style that you love and copy it! It’s okay to copy! That’s how most people get started. So get out that old color wheel and play!

Set out your colors and accessories and play with them. Try putting the photo on a different color to see if it works well, or if adjustments need to be made. Set the photos on the page to make sure that everything will fit in. Once you have decided the colors and have cropped your photos, you are ready to mat them.

Matting is adding a colored edge or border around your photos. Some say that you should never put your photos directly on a sheet of patterned paper, but should first mount the photo on a complimentary or contrasting color of solid cardstock. For the most part, I would agree, but there are some designs that are not so bold and can be used directly next to the photo. Matting isn’t required, but it does give a nice finished look to the layout. Multiple layering is also a good thing. Set the matted photos on the page and move them around to see what works best. When you are happy with their positioning, adhere them down.

If you are a beginner, it is best to do all titles and journaling on separate pieces of paper and glue them on another block of cardstock. Lots of pressure comes to bear when the page is complete except for the journaling. Most of us are insecure about our handwriting, and don’t want to ruin a page when it’s almost finished. Try the text boxes. If you really don’t care for your handwriting, you can always do the journaling on the computer. The only problem with that is that even though you can print on acid-free cardstock, very few printer inks are archival, or permanent. We just don’t know how long they’ll last.

Once the title is on, you may admire your page. Just keep in mind, no matter how wonderful you think it is, chances are that a year or so down the road, you will look at it and think, “I can’t believe my first pages are so simple-looking!”. But you’ll never reach perfection until you take that first step. Remember that the important thing about scrapbooking is to preserve memories for you and your posterity to enjoy. I still look with awe at the wonderful quilts my great-grandmother and great-aunts made. That was their medium to exercise their creativity. The cropping parties of the new millennium fulfill the same purpose as did the quilting bees of the past: a chance for friends to gather together to make something beautiful and lasting. Here’s to the memories and friends we make along the way!