| You went to a special event or party and took | | | | pictures on each page. |
| a lot of photos but what are you going to do | | | | |
| with them now? If you are like most people, | | | | Put words to the pictures. After all the |
| you'll view the photos on your computer or | | | | pictures are mounted onto the card stock |
| from the envelope that they came in and that | | | | scrapbook pages, I bring them to my computer |
| will be the end of it. They will be filed | | | | and simply go through each page and type into |
| away never to be seen again. | | | | a blank Word document the captions for each |
| | | | picture. |
| That is a shame. I know, because I have boxes | | | | |
| and boxes of pictures that are rarely seen | | | | When I began making these books, I purchased |
| because it's too difficult to get at them. | | | | a disk of really cool fonts called "The Best |
| Conversely, I also have several scrapbooks | | | | of Creative Lettering" from my favorite |
| that are just a joy to look at. To me, they | | | | scrapbook magazine, "Creating Keepsakes |
| are heirlooms that I can't even put a price | | | | Magazine." If you want a great scrapbooking |
| on. | | | | resource, this magazine is it! |
| | | | |
| The idea of putting my photos into a handmade | | | | After the captions are in the Word document, |
| scrapbook came to me after I attended a | | | | I print them, and mount each one by the |
| certain event and several people asked me for | | | | appropriate picture using glue sticks. |
| copies of my pictures. I didn't want to just | | | | |
| hand these people a packet a random pictures | | | | Embellish the pages. Now that the pictures |
| because this event deserved special | | | | and captions are mounted, I dress up the |
| treatment. It was special and so I wanted to | | | | pages with memorabilia, such as, golf score |
| showcase the pictures in a special way. It | | | | cards and ticket stubs, and I add stickers to |
| wasn't enough to just give them pictures. I | | | | limit the amount of white space. Don't use |
| wanted to have words with the pictures. | | | | metallic stickers as they do not copy well. |
| | | | |
| Although handmade scrapbooks take a lot of | | | | Copy, laminate and coil. The cheapest way to |
| time to make, they can not be beaten for | | | | make copies of your original pages is to go |
| quality and uniqueness. I started with that | | | | to a copy place, like Kinkos or |
| first special event and have made several | | | | Reprographics, and make the color copies |
| books since then including the two shown | | | | yourself (bring your own cardstock). It's |
| below. Follow the steps below to make your | | | | more expensive, but they will do it for you |
| own: | | | | if you prefer. |
| | | | |
| To Make a Handmade Scrapbook: | | | | This is one of the main reasons that I make |
| | | | these books. You can make as many copies as |
| Mount prints on 8-1/2 x 11 white card stock. | | | | you like of the original and everybody gets a |
| In addition to the prints and card stock, I | | | | copy of their own to take home. You can't do |
| recommend getting a paper cutter and a corner | | | | that with scrapbooks made in those big, fancy |
| rounder. The paper cutter allows you to | | | | albums. |
| precisely cut your photos and card stock to | | | | |
| size, and the corner rounder is really nice | | | | To make the scrapbooks more durable, I |
| for shaping the corners of your photographs. | | | | laminate the front and back covers. The books |
| | | | will hold up longer and look nicer. Lastly, |
| I usually put my prints in chronological | | | | the books need to be bound. I like to use the |
| order first, crop them to size, round the | | | | black coil type because they hold up well and |
| corners (personal preference) and then mount | | | | look really nice. |
| them with glue sticks. | | | | |
| | | | I spend a lot of time and energy creating |
| In addition to the photo pages, adding a one | | | | these handmade scrapbooks. When I give |
| page family tree or an itinerary page can | | | | someone one of these special gifts and see |
| really help tell the story. My scrapbooks | | | | their expression, it truly warms my heart and |
| usually end up being 20-40 pages with 3 to 5 | | | | makes it all worthwhile. |