Photo albums vs scrapbooking?

[PRINCESS VIJA]

Hi, I take ALOT of photos, and I am getting tired of just putting them into photo albums, but I can't stand the idea of cutting pictures up for scrapbooking. I am not sure why, just the idea scares me somehow. So, please tell me, why you love to scrapbook, and why are they better than photoalbums? Thanks

 

[bananiem]

Why do I scrapbook? Well, I had intended to only do 1- our trip to WDW in Oct. 2000. Our kids were 41/2 and 6 at the time and I wanted them to be able to look at the pictures and remember some of the trip. Well, not only do they look at it a lot but so do my dh and I! It's a nice way to have everything in one spot when you want to do a little "reminiscing." I have also done one on past trips we've taken & the building of our house. I've started their "Baby's 1st year" albums and it's been fun for my Dh and I to think back. I also just finished a 5x7 for my sister from her 40th birthday surprise party. It turned out better than I thought it would and I think she'll like it.
I like to be able to journal right next to the photo too so I don;t have to take the photo out and turn it over to see who it's a picture of! LOL!!
I find it to be a stress-reliever too. It's artisitic, even though I've never thought myself to be artistic. And it's something I can do with my DD since she started scrapping last year.
So that's why I love to scrapbook.

About cutting photos- It was hard for me to do that in the beginning too but then I started to see that cutting off some of the "extra" actually enhanced the object I had intended to focus on. You know how you take a picture of Cinderella's castle but you end up with somebody you don't know hanging on the side or something? I have found that I do take better pictures now because I tend to fill the frame with the person of object so there isn't much to cut off. Then I can just use my corner rounder and it's so much faster!

 

[LindaBabe]

I, too, found i'm taking better pictures since I started scrapbooking. Also, I used to find it really hard to throw out the duds. No more - I am ruthless!

Princess, I overcame the hurdle of cutting pictures by using color photo photocopies on my first few pages. After about a dozen pages, it was to heck with the photo copies, where are my pictures!

If I really have a priceless picture - like a heritage photo of which there are no negatives, I cut a frame instead of the photo, and put the frame on top, with the photo sandwiched between it and the page.

Happy Scrapping!

 

[AmySIAS]

I enjoy the creative process of scrapbooking, as opposed to just putting all my photos in an album. I like the process of finding embellishments to go along with the photos (decorative photo mats, maybe some stickers, maybe a page border or title, maybe a picture of a Disney character that I've created from pieces of cardstock based on a pattern in a coloring book, etc) to add a little extra "zing" to my pages.

The other major reason I scrapbook is the journaling. This is simply writing down your memories about a particular event. I may write about how the kids seemed to feel about a particular ride or meal or character or something. I may write about how I felt, or just general information about WDW.

I also save memorabilia from our trip: our tickets, the park maps, any other little pieces of stuff.

I use a variety of scrapping styles, too. Some pages are very simple, so the complete and total focus is on the photos alone. Other times I use more elaborate page embellishments, but never enough so the photos are not the main focus. I like my embellishments to accent, not overpower, my photos.

I teach scrapbooking, so if you would like to email me privately, I can teach you more (for free, absolutely no charge) about the basics of scrapbooking in private email. Anyone who wants to know more is welcome to email me, too.

 

[Spinning]

I am rather new at this too. But I like it because I pick the best shots, write stuff down put little momento's in it! But I still can't cut the original! So I always get doubles. I have my standard pocket albums that every shot gets put in then I have my scrap books! I only scrap special events such as trips, my dd ballet kids school stuff and then I have what I call their life scrap book. I just put in it candid or extra stuff we did and then I can put names and places so when they are older they can look back at all the fun they had! Or who was their best friend and when! I so wish my mom would have taken pictures of my friends when I was small! Would be so neat to look back!

 

[Shawna]

I LOVE scrapbooking!!! Love it. It's a huge hobby of mine and over the past two years I've gotten much better. In the beginning I didn't want to cut up my pictures and I still don't really. I cut off the extra insignificant stuff in the picture and leave it square (sometimes using a corner rounder) and once in awhile I'll use the circle and oval cutter but only for pictures that don't really stand out. I used to use the scissors that cut differently (wavey, jagged etc.) but hated what my pictures looked like afterwards.....made it look sloppy, I thought. So, those were a waste of money to me. I'm all about a neat look, not taking away from the photo.....and so I don't use very many stickers either. It's all personal preference though
BUT the most important thing about scrapbooking is that it won't damage the pictures in the long run like a magnetic photo album would as long as you are using archival safe products.
Hope this helps!! Good luck!

 

[BevS97]

if you don't want to cut your pictures, then DON'T - I cut quite a few when I first started, and I wish I hadn't. Now, I hardly crop them at all - maybe to remove a stray person, or perhaps an oval or a circle for emphasis, but more often than not they are basically intact.

I really don't like to see photo's cut into shapes like hearts etc, or sillhouted (where you cut out all the background), although I have seen some very professional layouts done like this, but I personally don't like it.

What I do like, is the journalling and extra decorative elements you can use to really highlight your photographs - and it's fun

Bev

 

[AmySIAS]

Bev,

I agree with you about cutting pictures. I will crop mine into squares or rectangles to get rid of extraneous background that doesn't add to the picture (like junk on the family room floor, etc). If it's a beautiful location shot at the beach or WDW or something, I may leave the background, or if it's got something that shows the time period (like a car).

I also don't like my pictures cut into fancy shapes. Some pictures do look good cropped into circles or ovals, and I will do that. But I don't let my decorative scissors anywhere near my pictures. At times, I may use a pair to cut a mat for my picture, but I never cut my pictures with them. My favorite decorative scissors are deckle edge.