I love this page of my scrapbook! None of my artful pages with
template-cut shapes compare to this one. Not only have I preserved the memories
of Jessee's many playtime activities, but also his own creative expression. When I needed to entertain my 6 year old grandson, Jessee, in a small hotel room, I brought out a bag of colored scrapbook background paper, special edging scissors, non-acid paste, and a collection of miscellaneous snapshots my daughter had left over after the "good" pictures had been removed for framing or photo album use. When I told Jessee we were going to create a scrapbook page, he immediately became absorbed with this exciting project. He eagerly cut out the parts of the photos that he liked the best, then cut background frames out of the colored paper, and pasted all onto a scrapbook page. He found some cat stickers which he carefully placed in empty areas around the pictures. You can see the result in the partial page below.
I love this page of my scrapbook! None of my artful pages with
template-cut shapes compare to this one. Not only have I preserved the memories
of Jessee's many playtime activities, but also his own creative expression.
What I learned from my grandson that night was that things don't have to be perfect to be wonderful. To really have fun with scrapbook creation, you must go back to the childish age where you can just stick stuff anywhere on a page, have fun with it, and love the results no matter how imperfect!
Now that's not so say you can't have fun creating a work of art on a
scrapbook page. I'm sure many avid scrapbookers really enjoy making those
beautiful pages you can see in any scrapbook magazine! But for me, the recording
of fun events in quick pictoral form was what I wanted. Here's one of the first
pages I created all by myself. I had a new kitten named Patches, protectively
kept indoors until I felt she was ready to experience the outside "patio world".
With camera in hand as she timidly stepped out the door on her first excursion, I snapped
several photos of her tour of the patio, then her quick return to the safety of
the house! None of these photos (taken with a disposable camera) are of great
quality, but they show a scenario of events that would otherwise exist only in
my memory. To create this page, all I needed was the photos, a background paper
purchased at a local art store, a paw-print stamping pen, and in half an hour I
had this page!
You don't even need photographs to create a scrapbook page of
memories. When my husband and I vacationed in New Orleans, we wanted to
experience the city atmosphere without carrying around a camera. When we got
home, what I had was lot of brochures I had collected with pictures of the
places we'd been and a map for getting around in the city. So I cut out the ad
pictures of our favorite eating places, added the map, and presto - I had a
record of our favorite eating places (partial page shown). Of course that wasn't all
we enjoyed, I have a couple of other pages showing the scenic sites and our
swamp tour for which I did carry a camera! Anyway, I like this page, cause it
comes in so handy for the typical conversation that follows any vacation you try
to tell friends about - "Honey, remember that really great restaurant where we
had aligator appetizers?" Just grab the scrapbook, and you not only have the
name of the restaurant but can show them on the map where it was!
If you're ready to give scrapbooking a try, here's some great sites to get you started:
| What you'll find: | |
|---|---|
 |
The Heritage Heart scrapbook site. My favorite site for great ideas and a fantastic selection of scrapbooking supplies. Every month this site features new page ideas to try. Directions for making the pages are provided along with a picture. Then click on the Shopping button to find a great searchable database of one of the best selections of scrapbook products I've found. |
 |
Lots of scrapbook kits you can order here, as well as scrapbooks, scrapbook pages, and other supplies. |
 |
Here's a site with great tips and ideas for putting a scrapbook together. All scrapbook supplies can also be ordered from other pages on this site. |
 |
And, of course, there's a scrapbooking magazine out there you can order online - It's appropriately titled: Memory Makers. |
 |
This well-organized site has it all: contests, layout ideas, products to order on-line, chatroom and bulletin board. |
 |