scrapbooking do’s and don’ts

Scrapbooking isn’t always just for photos. I tend to go out with myself often, but when I was a kid, my sister had a scrapbook that she used to sneak into every now and then. Of course, back then she used plain paper and colored cardboard that is now yellow from acids. She also used white school glue which no longer holds anything in place. The important point I am trying to make is that I still remember the contents of that scrapbook.

She kept theme park and movie ticket stubs, concert ticket stubs, and when she got older, I even found an old love letter from a boy she had a crush on at the time. Other things I remember seeing were school papers with an A+ on them, notes her friends passed around in class, and even pressed flowers and leaves.

Today, we can still preserve those kinds of memories by adding these little extras to our scrapbooks. The difference today is that we know a lot of those types of things are destructive to our scrapbooks and we know how to fix that using digital scrapbooking techniques. I always recommend making digital photocopies of everything. Unless the original paper is guaranteed to be acid-free, it will yellow and crumble over time. So keep the original in a keepsake box or other safe place, but use secure digital copies in your scrapbook.

So what other kinds of “extras” are safe, and what kinds of things will destroy your scrapbooks?

Items that are safe:

*Old Report Cards

* Short essays or poems

* birthday invitations

* Vacation city maps and postcards

* University brochures and acceptance letters

* Greeting cards for special occasions

* Decorative Napkins

* name tags or place cards from table settings

* Receipts from a Favorite Restaurant

* Tickets and programs for plays and concerts

* Sporting event tickets and schedules

* Old driver’s licenses

* Album covers

These items can be added to individual pages or left untouched and placed in a sheet protector along with photos of the events they represent. Just be careful with bulky or uneven items, as they can ruin the pages on top of them over time when the book is closed.

Common items that can destroy your scrapbooks over time:

* Pressed leaves and flowers

* Newspaper clippings

* Clippings from magazines or articles

* Thermal print receipts or carbon copies

* Pencils and most markers

* Glitter or other objects with sharp edges

* School glue or rubber cement

* Synthetic Material or Fabric

* Most hobby and home paints or stains

Organic materials such as flowers and leaves have a natural content and emit gases that will deteriorate your photos and papers. Newspapers and magazines use acid-filled oil-based inks and they stick to everything… just watch your fingers after reading them. Thermal papers and carbons are highly acidic and require very little heat to turn them completely black. Crayons, markers, house paints, and stains use acids and other harmful chemicals to bind colors, as do white glues (school paste) and rubber cements. Glitter has thousands of tiny, sharp edges that cut, scratch, and ruin your photos and other items…not to mention it gets everywhere.

If you must use glitter, get the more expensive type that is fully coated with a clear, acid-free glue. While not perfect, it does hold most of it in place and covers most of the sharp edges.

Here is the whole point. There really is no limit to the items (and memories) you can put in your scrapbooks. Additional elements can help capture feelings and emotions, as well as tell more of the overall story. Just use a little caution. Check that the materials do not contain acid or lingon. If in doubt… make a copy on your color scanner or copier and use the digital version in your book. Save thick and bulky items for your shadow boxes or protect pages below and above from damage that thick borders will cause.

Above all… happy scrapping