Scrapbooking has been around for generations. Our Mothers’, Grandmothers’and Great-Grandmothers’ have all kept images in albums along with memorabilia. It’s a book about your family tree, the “Who’s who” in your family. My grandmother had a scrapbook that had black paper pages which were now very brittle. The photos were square shaped, some had scalloped edges. The photos were yellowed with age and the people are stoic trying to stay still for the image. It was like walking back in time, all the way to the 1900’s.
Nowadays, scrapbooking has become very mainstream. It is literally overwhelming how many materials, embellishments, and tools are out there just for scrapbooking. For instance, there is paper in all sizes, pens, markers, tape, glue, stickers, scissors, die-cuts, die-cut machines, ribbon, embellishments and the list goes on and on. You can find books, magazines, t.v. shows, youtube channels, sections in craft stores all dedicated to scrapbooking, (Pretty cool), and now there is a thing called digital scrapbooking. When I was starting out it was so hard to choose the right album. Then everything had to be acid-free. So many choices for every type of supply, it was amazing. You’d go into a scrapbook store for ONE thing, and leave with several bags! There is something to be said for the simplistic photojournalism of scrapbooking.
I remember my first attempt at scrapbooking. I was going to give it to my mother as a gift for Christmas. It was a book about our beloved dog who had passed away. We took so many pictures of that dog it was unbelievable. Who knew a dog could photobomb. I had no idea of what I was doing. I used original photos (oops), decorative scissors to cut paper and photos, and tried to journal and caption the images. Looking back it was a mess. But you know moms, they love anything we make them! Since then I tried to learn as much as I could about scrapbooking, all the ins and outs. Pretty soon you develop your own style and your books become a legacy for the next generation.
As I scroll through Pinterest and Instagram, I found other types of journals that include photographs. These are not your mainstream scrapbook genre. They are travel journals with photos. Genius! I had a started a recipe book of all of my grandmother’s and great-grandmother’s meals and desserts and put a photo next to each dish. So how could we steer away from the mainstream and make our journals and books more intimate, personal, something that could be passed down from generation to generation?
I have started a Bullet Journal and in it, I practice my layouts, my organization skills, documenting my daily life, and even my thoughts. I also like to draw and doodle, so I am always trying to find a medium that will not bleed through the pages and I must say I am enjoying the experience. I thought that it might be a nice touch if I added photos and snippets to my Bullet Journal and really make it a book about my life during one year. I want my son or maybe my grandson in the future to read this journal and learn about me and who I am, and see the important people in my life and who they are. I’m a big fan of nostalgia.
So my plan is to try to incorporate mini photos into my bullet journal and combine my love of scrapbooking, rubber stamping and paper arts into the journal. We’ll see how it turns out. Art imitates life, they say, so this sounds like an exciting adventure. I will keep you posted as to what techniques work and what materials work well. Until next time, keep scrapping, journaling and sharing your art.
Artfully yours,
Andi
Artful-Living 