Learning to Scrapbook

Learning to scrapbook will take some commitment and it is really like a piece of art. When you learn the techniques to scrapbook you will be able to enjoy, however, you will have to get to know a few basic tools, supplies, and learn some skills before you get started.

Pictures First

Everyone has boxes filled with pictures, but you may notice that some are discolored or warped because of the poor storage. The world around us in our homes is full of acid and moisture, which breaks down the chemical balance, used to produce photographs and causes them to change appearance. With scrap booking, you will want to use acid free supplies so that you can preserve the pictures for many years and decades to come.

Basic Scrapbooking Tools

• You'll need a cutting tool. You will need to get sharp scissors and specialty scissors that will cut scalloped edges, but you may also want something that will cut a straight line and circles.
• You will also need some form of adhesive. Beginners may find that the easiest products to buy are photo mounts, which are tiny pre-cut pieces of tape, and glue dots, which are pressure-sensitive strong spots of glue to hold larger embellishments.
• Create fancier pages with rubber stamps, paper crimpers, and punches. Start with a few smaller items and increase your inventory as you learn more and more scrapbooking skills.
• Other supplies that add interest to your pages include paper dolls, stickers, die cuts, and three-dimensional elements.

Scrapbook Album

You will also need a few basic supplies before you begin, the most important of which is the album itself. Make sure whatever you purchase is large enough to hold all the pictures you want to include; two to five pictures will fit on a standard 8 ½ x 11 page with cropping, with the most balanced layouts having three pictures. You can also choose from larger or smaller albums.

Remember that the size of album you purchase will affect your long term costs. 12x12 pages means no extra scraps from the papers for making embellishment. Larger albums cost more, but you may get more pictures to fit into the album.