(Beginners) Scrapbooking

I don't really have a great suggestion b/c I'm not the great scrapbooker that I would like to be...lol. I do however save money on the supplies by signing up for Hobby Lobby and Michael's email updates. This way I know when they are running sales & also get emailed coupons for anywhere from 10% to 50% off.

T.,
I saw a great idea on OPRAH in december on a really nice way to store and keep the "I love you mom" papers. This mom found these beautiful boxes (they looked like treasure chests) from a craft store like Michaels. They were big enough to store papers and were less than $20. She used file folders inside to help organize things within ie: by ages or "firsts". She saved pictures drawn, little remnants of carpet from their room when they were little, grade cards, etc. and turned the box/storage into a way to share the past with her kids as they get older. She made one for each child.
Good luck!

Hi T.,
A way to keep all the great artwork that the kids make is to copy them into a smaller version and use several on a one or two page layout. You can keep the originals in a book or box and they won't be ruined by putting the original on the scrap page. To be honest scrapbooking can be expensive or if you are on a budget there are how to books to show you how to make alot of your embellishments. Joann's has half off sales at times, and so does Hobby Lobby. There are recycle groups that you sometimes can get scrapbooking leftovers from others. The company I work for has a level one kit that gets you started on scrapbooking and then when you are comfortable you can move to the next level. If you have any more questions please feel free to ask me. i will give you my e-mail or you can send me a message here

Hope some of this helps
M.
____@____.com

I suggest reading "Confessions of a Slacker Mom". Seriously, it is not what you think it is about and was an eye-opening book for me. It is small and a quick read!

If you are still determined after reading, there are several websites with pre-printed pages and you just add the pictures.

I think, when you look back, the memory of you and your seven-year-old doing the book together will mean more and you will LOVE the book!

Just my "slacker mom" opinion! ;)

I love to scrapbook - and you are right, it can get costly. If you are just looking for a way to preserve all those wonderful pictures your kid draws - I suggest getting a binder and using clear paper covers. Keep them in order by age, adding to the end everytime you get another. You could even do a fancy binder where you have decorated the front. As to moving up the ladder - start simple. I noticed the first few I did, I tried to do to much and they just ended up looking sloppy. The important thing is to save the memories, not to have the most crafty scrapbook. Hope this helps - and best of luck to you:-)

Hi, T.! I commend you for getting your photos organized! As a former Creative Memories consultant, I say go to www.creativememories.com and find a consultant near you to get you organized and on your way to creating some awesome albums! Get the basic tools and get to work! You will love it! Creative Memories is a scrapbook company that has been around for qutie a while, and has some wonderful tools to get your albums in order! Good luck and have fun!

You can get a big binder, decorate it and fill it with clear plastic sleeves (similar to report covers but they are 3 hole punched so you can put them in a binder - you can purchase them in boxes of 100). Put the artwork in the sleeves and put it on the coffee table as "coffee table" book. Or take digital photos of the artwork and work with them in that form. Good Luck. I'm jealous that you are being so organized!

I know how you feel=:) I have years worth of sunday/preschool stuff my daughter has done (I didn't save everything, just most of it) and now my son has started sunday school classes and I have some of his stuff, too. I just plan on getting some acid/lingen free photo albums and just catalogue them and save them for when my kids are older and show them what they'd colored, project type stuff for us over the years. Its simple and pretty cheap if you find the right stuff (usually Wal Mart has what I'm looking for as far as photo albums go) If you want something more "crafty", try a scrapbooking type store (google for some in your area) sometimes you can get lucky and find neat stuff cheap, like at Hobby Lobby.

There are quick kits you can get, where you just add the pic to the page. Very easy to do. For the papers, it depends what you want to do. If you want to preserve them so they will last until your grandchildren can see them, then putting them into a magnetic photo album where you pull up the plastic sheet and the page is sticky, these are not acid free and will cause your papers to yellow and deteriorate faster. So will mounting them onto construction paper. When using stuff on your scrapbook pages, you want to make sure it is acid-free. Be aware, that some plastics, while still acid-free, have gases that are released and potentially harmful to your pictures.
How much money you spend depends on how long you want your work to last. If you don't mind if it yellows, than use whatever products you like the look of. If you want it to last for your grandchildren, then make sure you use quality products. And look around in your area for scrapbooking groups. I have a friend who equates scrapbooking to quilting bees. We talk, solve the world problems, share ideas, and have real fellowship with other women. As someone already suggested, go to creativememories.com, they have a consultant locator. You can find consultants in your area who are active in their business, and they will have crops and workshops you can attend. Some don't mind if you bring outside products, so you may want to ask. Have fun and enjoy!

Why don't you just put them in a binder and use a paper punch to keep them there.Date them and maybe write why the child made it for you.

Hi T.,

I don't scrapbook but I sometimes make greeting cards, using the scrapbooking materials.

Keep your eyes peeled at garage and rummage sales, you can sometimes find very cheap supplies there. Also check ebay, craigslist etc.

Also remember that it doesn't have to start out as something labeled "Scrapbooking Supply" for it to become that--you can use "normal" items like wallpaper remnants, wrapping paper, fabric etc can also be used. Have fun!

K. Z.

I take pictures of all of my daughter's papers from preschool. I can sometimes get multiple papers in one picture. Then print them out and keep the pictures in an album.

As far as the love notes go, I have put all of mine in a 3 ring binder in plastic sleeves. The smaller ones get glued on a piece of paper together to save space. I write the date and "reason" for the note on them too. That has worked out well for me. It's fun to go back and look at them.
As far as scrapbooking goes, I used to be an avid scrapbooker but found that it just takes too long to do. So now, I upload all of my pics to Shutterfly and scrapbook on-line. With Shutterfly you can make photo books SUPEREASY and it takes less than half of the time than doing it the conventional way. It is fun to still scrapbook and I may pick it up again. Not sure. For now I enjoy Shutterfly better b/c it saves time. You can find Shutterfly at www.shutterfly.com.

Lay several pictures on the table, and snap a photo of them. Then they become picture size and can easily be put into your scrapbooks. I still keep some things, but it helps to control some of my clutter, and keep the books a managable size.

I'm not a scrap-booker, but recently we were at the Flower Factory in Aurora and the Hobby Lobby in Stow and they have huge sections of scrapbooking stuff. Since the prices in both of these stores are cheap (discounted and in bulk), i would think the same about the scrapbooking supplies also.

I would go to Wal-Mart and buy a picture photo album; the one that is 8x10 (you lift the clear page to put the picture in- it has adhesive on the cardboard side of it). It's alot less expensive and you can add a couple to the page depending on their size and if you wanted too, you could add construction paper to the back of it and glue the papers to the construction paper. It's worth a thought. You could even type a caption and date on your computer with different colored computer paper and add those under the letters. You could also pick up the scissors that heve the different edges to cut the construction paper or caption papers (for a different look).

One way to preserve the "love notes" with out having them take up a huge space is to take a photo of them and put the photos in the scrapbook. You can do this with artwork, etc. If something is really special save the original, but you can have a memory of the others without having a huge amount of paper. I get a lot of scrapbooking supplies at Big Lots and Dollar Tree. Of course, the selection isn't as large as crafting stores, but sometimes you hit the jackpot and the prices are unbeatable. I also watch for sales at the crafting stores. I save greeting and Christmas cards to use because they have wonderful graphics and pictures on them. Watch rummage sale ads, too. I got a huge amount of scrapbooking supplies this way for next to nothing. Increase your skills by scrapbooking with a group of women. You'll get ideas and have fun in the process! You can also share tools and equipment.

How about those plastic paper protectors that you put in a notebook. I don't know what they're called. They are clear plastic pockets and I put papers in them and then put them into a notebook. They're the size of notebook paper with the 3 holes punched into the side. Works good for my recipes that I cut or write out. Keeps them all organized and easy to look at and it protects them. CHEAP! Hope you can figure out what I'm talking about!

Scrapbooking will get better the more you do it - just as anything else. I am a scrapbook consultant with Creative Memories, although not a very good salesperson. I became a consultant in order to buy the quality product at the consultant cost, and hopefully in the future have more time to actually become a better salesperson & make money. I recently joined a small group of women who get together once a month to scrapbook. It is nice getting together with a group because 1) you make time to do it; 2) you get ideas and suggestions; 3) you make new friends, etc., If you are in the Grove City area, and would like to join us, please feel free to contact me. Or if you want more info. feel free to contact me - ###-###-####

Craft 2000 in monroe has much cheaper supplies than Michaels. Once you get a supply of stickers and stamps and stuff the cost isn't that expensive, and before yo uknow it you have a HUGE container full of papers, stickers, stamps etc and you stil buy more!! lol

good luck, scrapbooking can be as expensive or inexpensive as you make it. Check out Target or Meijer too. THey both have craft areas and sell scrapbook supplies.

T. -

Have you thought about taking a digital picture of each special thing your child brings home? That way when you scrapbook, you can organize them more easily and shrink them if necessary, and you can fit more than one to a page. In the alternative, you can always get the pages that have pockets in them so you can store their artwork in the album itself.

I agree that scrapbooking can get expensive, but I've found that Michael's isn't always the best place to go. I don't know if you have a Hobby Lobby near you, but they have the best prices I've ever seen on this stuff, and they frequently have 50% off all paper, stickers, etc. Also, since I don't have a lot of time to scrap I've recently discovered Shutterfly.com, where you can make a digital scrapbook that is super easy!

Good luck!

C.