People have different ways of expressing their artistic sides. It can either be through painting, music, writing and scrapbooking.

With the advent of technology, scrapbooking has astonishingly gone a long way and has proven that it is a hobby worthy of your time, money, and effort. And with the test of time, it is here to stay.

Scrapbooking defined

Once upon a time, scrapbooks were kept as a place to log the exciting and transforming events in our lives. We didn’t necessarily plan to “share” our scrapbooks with a multitude of strangers – the hobby of scrapbooking was more about personal satisfaction and “proof” of a life well lived. — Elinor Greenberg Ph.D.

Scrapbooking is the art of putting together a bunch of different pieces of mementos for the purpose of preservation. Either in the form of your favorite pictures, or a card that was given to you by someone special, a ticket from a party you’ve attended, or even a petal from a flower that signifies a particular stage in your life, the range of memorabilia that you can put in your scrapbook is endless.

What you put in your scrapbook can be anything for as long as it can remind you of important moments in your life.

You take all of these items together and put it in a scrapbook. Together with a bunch of accessories like stickers or ribbons and whatnot, you’ll be able to create an album of memories. The content and design will totally be up to you.

Scrapbooking supplies

In order to facilitate the creation of your scrapbook, there are a couple of things you need to gather which you would usually use when scrapbooking.

1. Albums

Not necessarily the ones meant for pictures, but any kind of personalized notebook that would be large enough to accommodate your content. However, the recommended album for beginners is that which measures 12×12. You actually have the option to choose other sizes but with this type, you will be able to accommodate other elements that you can think of aside from your main subjects.

Buying advice: When choosing your album, make sure that its page protects are made of polyethylene, Mylar, or polypropylene so as not to fade the pages or damage them.

2. Paper

Consisting of a variety of colors and patterns, your paper can also come in any size and can be purchased in either stacks or sheets. Papers are almost always the same size as your album – 12×12 or 8.5×11.

Buying advice: When purchasing papers, keep in mind to choose those that are labeled “acid-free.” Papers that are “acid-free” or have neutral power hydrogen (pH) level are treated so that whatever chemicals or acids that were present in the wood pulp are eliminated.

The field of phototherapy actually provides a much more detailed basis for the projective use photographs, including what can be learned from an individual’s reactions to print and digital images. — Cathy Malchiodi PhD, LPCC, LPAT, ATR-BC, REAT

3. Adhesives

Because you don’t want your contents to be all over the place or even to fall apart, you need your adhesives. There are numerous kinds of adhesives that can be purchased mainly for scrapbooking. Some specialized types of adhesives are oftentimes colorful and have different patterns and shades to add character to your scrapbook. The most popular adhesives are glue sticks and tapes.

Buying advice: Photos and some albums are usually sensitive to chemicals which is why, when buying an adhesive, check if it is acid-free.

4. Sharps

Consisting mostly of scissors, cutters, and trimmers, your sharps can also be bought in different designs. Some scissors have zigzags and some cutters can manipulate specific shapes. Also, there are high-tech versions of your sharps like the digitalized cutting machine which is portable and can cut smoothly and accurately especially with complicated sides.

Buying advice: As beginners, stick with scissors and trimmers first. Cutters can be quite risky. When you think that you are careful enough to take on cutters, that’s the time you can purchase one.

5. Pens

Journaling your ideas on how your scrapbook would look like will only require an ordinary pen. However, if have the talent for typography or decorative writing, you can use color pens. Before writing your thoughts on your scrapbook, write it down on a piece of paper or in your journal first, which will serve as a draft. That way, you will not regret it if ever you decided to change the contents.

Buying advice: Purchase pens which have pigmented inks because inks like these are fade-resistant and are waterproof.

It has been said that each of us is like a letter in the alphabet—alone we are mere sound but with others we become words, and when the words are put together we have a story. — Arthur Dobrin D.S.W.

Scrapbooking is a creative tool that was used even before the dawn of technology. Originally, scrapbooking was done by collecting the materials from different sources, but now, it has reached the digital level and to a certain degree, are interactive.