For starters: What is scrapbooking and how to get started?

What is scrapbooking

Scrapbooking is a creative hobby that involves preserving memories and events by using photos, journaling, memorabilia, and other collectible materials which are then assembled into a bound book. The items used to make scrapbooks can be as simple as photographs and memorabilia glued onto a page or as elaborate as an entire room dedicated to scrapbooking.

Scrapbooking has grown in popularity over the years and is now a billion-dollar industry with millions of people around the world participating in it. This interest has led to many stores like ours selling scrapbooking supplies such as paper, stamps, metal dies, embossing tools, adhesives, embellishments, frames, albums, and more.

The first scrapbooks were assembled by people who wanted to preserve souvenirs of their travels, such as ticket stubs, programs, and articles cut out of newspapers or magazines. Today's scrapbooks are often much more elaborate and include many kinds of items. You can use any kind of paper for your album — from plain white cardstock to fancy designer papers — as well as photos, memorabilia, stickers, and other embellishments. These items can be placed on pages with glue or adhered with double-sided tape. Pages are typically made from cardstock paper or photo album pages instead of regular paper because they're sturdier than a normal printer or copy paper.

How to start your scrapbook project?

Scrapbooking can be done by anyone, regardless of age or experience level. Most scrapbookers start by collecting photos of friends and family members in all sorts of sizes and shapes: photos taken on film (before digital photography), prints from photo labs, snapshots taken with cellphones or digital cameras, and even Polaroid shots! And photos are not your only choice, drawings, gift cards, souvenirs from a trip, die cuts, and even leaves and pedals can all be a part of your scrapbook.

The next step is deciding how you want to arrange them in your album — in chronological order. By subject? Or any old way that suits your fancy? Once you've decided how you want your pages to look, it's time to start creating them!
Scrapbooking can be as simple or complex as you like, but here are some basic steps for creating your scrapbook:

Then gather your supplies. These include paper, stamps, metal dies, embossing tools, adhesives, and embellishments such as ribbons and lace. You'll also need albums and storage boxes for your completed projects.

Now choose a theme for your scrapbook. This can be something significant in your life such as a wedding or the birth of a child, or it could just be an interest that you want to explore further through your scrapbook pages. Once you have an idea of what you want to do with each page, choose colors and patterns that reflect this theme throughout all of the pages in your book. You can also use themed papers and stickers to create consistent themes throughout each page of your project.

Assemble materials for each page before starting on them so that you don't waste time looking for things later on down the road. Now that everything is done and you are off to go. Let your imagination fly and create whatever you want with all the materials. In the next blog, we are going to introduce the must-have supplies for scrapbooking and give some instructions on how you can use them.