Amanda Gonzalez

Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Valentine’s, Easter, Summer… June is so far away but I already have the first weekend of the month scheduled. My summer will kick-off in full scrapbook swing.

In a previous post I mentioned the Great American Scrapbook Convention, which provides a showroom of various scrapbook vendors. I was again reminded of the convention a few days ago when I received a Save the Date e-mail about it. The convention will be coming to the Arlington Convention Center on June 2 – 4.

While this seems to be way in the future (and it is), it gave me a burst of energy for a scrapbook project.

Over the next few weeks I will be attempting to create AMAZING holiday cards. I have done this in the past, but I want to further advance my creative juices in a non-scrapbook album way. I may even try my new digital scrapbook program and see what type of card options it provides.

In addition to that e-mail reminder, I have been finding scrapbook inspiration in all sorts of places, like magazine photos and layouts, outdoor scenery and even in the doodles I make in my notebook.

I believe we all can find inspiration for our creativity through the world around us. This may be especially needed for those who are not naturally creative (I am more not creative than creative, so I need inspiration).

The challenge this week (as cheesy as it sounds): View the world through every color, every image, every everything.

Today I was excited that my mom and I finally received the Creative Memories digital scrapbook program we ordered.

I have now been officially converted to the digital world of scrapbooking!!

Since I began my freshman year of college I have wanted to make an album completely dedicated to my freshman year. However, I have not had the time to dedicate myself to the project so I have held off on completing it. Instead of waiting and waiting until I can spare some of my time to make the best freshman album ever, I have decided to make a digital scrapbook, especially since I have almost all of my freshman pictures already online.

Like many other things, scrapbooking has transitioned to the digital world. It seems that almost everything imaginable can be done online, which now includes the creation of a scrapbook album and other related projects. A person can upload photos, select themes and place all of it on a page which can then be ordered, printed and sent directly to their home.

While I still prefer old-fashion scrapbooking, where I will have taken the time to cut and glue paper as well as handwrite the accounts of the event, digital scrapbooking does have its advantages. For those who are too busy to go to the store and purchase supplies, develop their pictures and sit at a work table and spend some hours creating unique pages, digital scrapbooking is the way to go.

While the word scrapbooking implies that a scrapbook is used in the process to create memories – this is not always the case.

Scrapbooking involves must more than albums filled with family photos and memorable moments. Alternative avenues of scrapbooking are being explored and created more and more by both scrapbookers and non-scrapbookers.
My favorite thing to make aside from scrapbooks is homemade cards and canvases, although there is so much more than that.

Homemade cards can turn into a mini album and can be decorated in so many different ways. It really personalizes a gift when you are able to give someone a hand written card that has been hand crafted (it’s even better when the card is decorated to meet that person personality).

Canvases are great to hang in your home or can actually be the gift that is given with a handmade card. Canvas come in various sizes and shapes and can be hung or turned into a type of stand up picture frame. Canvases are a great way to spruce up wall hangings and room decor.

Aside from homemade cards and canvases there is an unlimited amount of projects that be bedazzled with scrapbooking techniques in mind.

Recently, I bought 3D cardboard cutouts of my initials and decorated them so they could add some color to the plain white table that I use as a desk when I am working or studying at home. Instead of searching for some sort of desk decoration I was able to make a custom piece that I can enjoy every day.

Alternative scrapbooking may not include photos and be created with the purpose of remembering something but are another outlet of creativity and expression.

Every summer I attend the Great American Scrapbook Convention with my mom. The convention is held at the Arlington Convention Center and is a show room of everything and anything related to scrapbooking.

I love attending this convention with my mom because it is a day and sometimes two that we can spend together enjoying one of our favorite mutual hobbies. It was my mom who got me started on scrapbooking, but above all it was my mom who got my started on cherishing the memories of my life in a creative way.

What I love most about the convention is that everything I would need or want to scrapbook is under one roof. When I first started scrapbooking there were many small scrapbook stores located around the DFW area that were devoted to carrying the latest and greatest of a scrappers desires.

Now, the market for scrapbooking has really changed. Small tailored scrapbooking stores had a hard time keeping up with large stores that carried scrapbook supplies and therefore the smaller stores started to die out. While some still exist the large craft stores, like Michael’s and Hobby Lobby has been superior. This is not necessarily a bad thing because these stores are growing and growing more into small scrapbook stores within a larger craft store.

While I enjoyed going to small scrapbook stores I am fine with going to a large craft store for my scrapbooking needs, after all the prices are cheaper and while I am there I can purchase other items for other crafts.

My recommendation is to not feel the necessity to seek out the few small scrapbook stores that still exist but instead go to someplace like Hobby Lobby and purchase supplies there. And for sure go to the Great American Scrapbook Convention if you ever get a chance. It is by far the best experience for a scrapper and for a crafty person as well.

When I decide to set time aside to scrap some pages of my life’s events, I first decide what pictures I am going to scrap. Maybe I’ll choose a birthday party, a day at the beach or some silly pictures of my dog, Sadie. After choosing the photos I like best I check to see if I have the supplies I need to scrap an amazingly themed page of the photos I have chosen. If I have what I need then I start working. If I need something to really make the page pop, like a die-cut of a pale and bucket for my beach spread or a dog dish and bone sticker for my doggie page, I head to the nearest store that carries scrapbook supplies. The stores I best like for all my scrapbook needs are Hobby Lobby, Michaels and JoAnn Fabric and Craft Store.

Once I have all of the supplies settled, I start with a blank page. I first choose a background page that will be the basis for everything. After I’ve chosen a background page to place on the original page that comes with the album (I do that to make the page sturdier, but it is not necessary) I then pick out the exact photos I want on the page. The number of photos on the page can vary from one large photo to three 3×5 photos to any other variation (they can also be cropped and there are tools for that, rather than using scissors). These photos can then be arranged in any order on the page. I have a preference of bordering the photos with a complimenting color before pasting them on the page (the scrapbook stores mentioned above and others will have scrapbook adhesive). The photos can get pasted on before or after other things like embellishments. The page design is really up to the individual scrap booker.

In my next blog I will delve into the many resources that can be accessed to get ideas and inspiration on how to format and bring a page to its completion.

To get started making your own scrapbook the first thing you need is a STRONG desire to remember the moments of your life. Then, the more practical things you will need are an album, supplies and photos.

As far as an album is concerned, you will want to purchase something that is not too expensive but also not to flimsy that it won’t last for years to come. I personally like 12×12 albums because you have more room to work (and if you’re like me you take lots of pictures). But there are also smaller and less conventional albums that can be used.

After the album come the supplies. In the world of scrapbooking supplies are endless. There is everything from paper in every color of the rainbow to embellishments to cutting devices and beyond. In the beginning its best to stick with the basics – some colored paper, a simple cropping tool, some embellishments (its best to know what photos you will be using then go to the store and pick the add-ons) and some sort of glue or tacky tape to stick all the stuff to the page. Once you have scrapped a while, gone to a few stores and consulted scrapbook magazines you will be ready to decide what else to purchase. DO NOT get too excited and buy all things scrapbooking in the beginning – honestly you won’t use half of what you think you need and scrapbooking is not always cheap so shop wisely.

As far as photos are concerned, I suggest you start scrapbooking something that is not a major event. I say that because you will improve and progress in your scrapbooking talents. My first album looks significantly different from the final product that I can now create. It is just the way it goes – we improve with practice. So for sure you would not want to be a rookie scrapper and start with something like your wedding photos or in a few years you will probably be trying to make more copies of the photos from that big day and make a new album.

So, if you get the album, the minimal stuff to put on the pages and print out some photos you are ready to set up a nice work station and scrap away!

If you still think you don’t know what to do after you have all your stuff then stay tuned for my next blog when I tell you how I put a page together.

An example of a 12x12 album

Scrapbooking is a hobby intended to capture or create memories or mementoes. Scrapbooking started with people collecting their favorite photos and placing them in protective sleeves and has involved into an artistic craft.

Traditional scrapbooking involves a scrapbook (they come in various sizes and colors) that contains blank pages. These pages are then transformed into a piece of art. A scrapbook page consists of several pictures that are placed on top and around colored paper, embellishments (like stickers, ribbon, buttons, die-cuts) and much more. Some scrapbooks are simple while others are decorated to show a depiction of the events that occurred in the photographs.

Scrapbooking is not just limited to a book filled with family photos in a decorative manner. Scrapbooking covers anything that is decorated to be displayed in a more exciting and creative way. People use the concept of scrapbooking to decorate and transform a variety of things, like handmade cards, gifts and even to spruce up school projects.

Scrapbooking can be created and transformed into whatever the scrapper wants to make of it. We are only limited by our imaginations and creative juices (honestly, you don’t even need creative juices – just a desire to create).

Some of my scrapbook albums

One of my scrapbook pages from 2004

I have chosen to write a blog dedicated to the world of scrapbooking because scrapbooking is an amazing way to remember and cherish every moment of life.

I consider all my memories to be precious things worth preserving. From life changing moments, like my high school graduations, to spontaneous moments, like climbing to the top of the jungle gym at 20 years old, to completely random moments, like seeing how many people could fit into the trunk of my car, to those unplanned moments, like the time I fell down some stairs and broke my toe.

Every part of my life has shaped me into the person I am today and because of that I want to be able to remember every second of it. With a tangible scrapbook (well several scrapbooks) to carry along side me I know I will always have a way to recall my past.

One day I want to show my grandchildren pictures of myself that don’t contain a face full of wrinkles or grey hair. I want to be able to tell them of my adventures and the experiences that I and all those around me had. But most of all, I want to be able to look at each page years from now and remember the person I was and the things that led me to my current state of being.

In this blog I want to explore all that encompasses scrapbooking and show a glimpse into the scrapbook album that is my life.