Nothing is more precious to a family than memories. Scrapbooks are the perfect tools to capture those memories: a baby’s first step, that perfect vacation, the first time behind the wheel, graduations, or weddings. No matter the occasion, the craft of scrapbooking creates a unique keepsake which forever commemorates the occasion. The possibilities and products for scrapbooking these days are mind-boggling. The internet is a great source of help for all scrapbookers, regardless of their level of skill.
Articles and Tutorials
- Scrapbooks in Science – Scrapbooks aren’t just for baby books! This PDF article from NASA describes how to use the making of scrapbooks can help reinforce learning science.
- Family History Scrapbooks – Scrapbooks are the perfect toll to use to preserve a family history. This PDF document from Tempe University advises scrapbookers how to use their craft to tell a family story.
- Scrapbooking 101 – For beginners, this scrapbooking primer will get them started creating their own masterpieces.
- How to Scrapbook – For those who need it all spelled out, this scrapbooking tutorial is the perfect place to start.
- Scrapbooking for Kids – Kids enjoy scrapbooking, too. This site is a great place to get them – and their parents – started. There are multiple articles here, from what supplies are needed to how to create scrapbooks about insects or the last 1000 years.
- 4-H Scrapbooking – This PDF document is another great guide for creating scrapbooks written just for kids. The detailed instructions will be useful for all children, whether they are involved in the 4-H program or not.
Blogs
- What I Make with My Hands, I Give with My Heart – Tammy Tutterow has been a scrapbooking instructor for over five years. She shares her creativity and passion with ideas and video tutorials on the blog. The site also lists information about online classes in scrapbooking.
- Write. Click. Scrapbook. – When Tina Cockburn, Marnie Flores and Elizabeth Dillow lost their jobs at a magazine, they started this blog to share their vision of scrapbooking. They encourage scrapbookers to use their creativity to tell a story. They also believe there’s no wrong way to scrapbook!
- Paper, Scissors, Chocolate – For scrapbookers who want to learn some advanced techniques, Louise William’s blog is a great start. Louise is a graphic artist whose visionary designs have landed her on numerous design teams for multiple magazines and companies.
- Jennifer McGuire Ink – Jennifer McGuire has been an avid scrapbooker for nearly ten years and is a contributor to Paper Crafts magazine. She shares her ideas on her blog, offering video tutorials and online classes in scrapbooking and card making.
- Hydrangea Hippo – Jennifer Priest is a master in paper crafts. Her innovative designs have earned her spots on many design teams and company endorsements. While Jennifer often travels to give lectures and offer classes, her blog provides an avenue for any scrapbooker to learn her skills.
- Upcycled Scrapbooking – This former web designer channeled her creativity into scrapbooks after becoming a stay-at-home mother. Jennifer Wright started this blog to help others share in her love of scrapbooks. She offers tutorials and free templates as well as other tips and techniques.
- Katie the Scrapbook Lady – Katie Nelson takes a different approach; she’s a digital scrapbooker. She uses programs like Photoshop and sites like Flikr to tell her stories, and teaches others how to do it as well. She also blogs about photography, an important element of scrapbooking but not one usually addressed by devotees.
- For the Love of Paper – Kimberly Crawford is a photographer and scrapbooker who is inspired by the colorful paper scrapbookers use. Her work has been featured many times in Paper Crafts, CARDS, and Scrapbook Trends magazines. Her video tutorials will inspire other scrapbookers as well.
Tips
- Making Scrapbooks Last – Scrapbooks can commemorate many things, from family vacations to historical events. Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources describes how to create a scrapbook that will remain looking good for decades.
- Removing Old Photos – Sometimes a scrapbooker wants to preserve old photos that are part of a family heritage. But old photos might not have been preserved properly. This article from the National Archives details the proper way to remove these heirlooms from old albums.
- 10 Tips for Scrapbooking Holiday Memories – People often spend many hours each year decorating, baking, and shopping for Christmas in order to create wonderful memories for themselves and their families. The National Christmas Tree Association provides ten tips to preserve those special memories.
Quotes and Phrases
- Quotations About the Dog – Scrapbooks about the whole family would not be complete with man’s best friend. This website has many dog-related quotes and links to dog poems.
- Quotes from Famous People – For a long list of quotes, try this site which the compilation of Dr. Gabriel Robins, a professor at the University of Virginia.
- Movie, TV, and Song Lines – Some of the best quotes come from favorite movies or songs from childhood.
- Sea Quotes – Many summer get-aways involve water and beaches. These quotes all about the earth’s oceans can provide a great narrative for those vacation photos.
- Friends Quotes – For quotes in 34 different categories, bookmark this site. No scrapbooker will ever be without a clever note to write under a picture again.
Poems
- Poetry, Songs, and Fairy Tales – Need some Mother Goose Rhymes for a baby’s book? This page has texts of those, Cinderella stories, and texts of folklores.
- Shel Silverstein - This complete list of all of Silverstein’s poems will provide text for many scrapbooks.
- Soldier Poems – The Veterans of Foreign Wars organization has gathered patriotic poetry and poems about the serviceman onto one convenient page.
- Angels for Hope – Angels of Hope is a group of crafters who use their skills to encourage those in hopeless situations. They have compiled a list of inspiration poetry on their site.
Printable Photo and Sticker Websites
- Free Printables – This site offers free printable calendars, cards, and many other items, but also an impressive selection of scrapbook items, including paper, templates, and decorations.
- Needlepointers – Devoted to handicrafts like needle point, knitting, and quilting, this website has an extensive page reserved for scrapbooks. Printable stickers in a variety of themes are available.
- Love to Know Scrapbooking – When a scrapbooker is looking for stickers with a specific theme, Love to Know should be the first stop. Whether she’s looking for spring flower stickers or skulls and crossbones, this site probably has it.
- Digital Design Essentials – Digital scrapbookers need stickers too! This site has free digital sticker kits for those who prefer to create scrapbooks electronically.
- Clip Art – With printable sticker sheets available at office or stationary stores, any clip art can be turned into stickers. This site has 10,000 free images ready to be downloaded.
- Microsoft Images – Microsoft offers thousands of images, from photos to clip art, for free.
- Family Fun – This Disney site has many themed stickers, though not of Disney characters. However, scrapbookers can find Halloween stickers, birthday stickers, travel stickers, and many others.
- Alphabet Stickers – Sometimes simple is best. For free downloadable alphabet stickers in a variety of colors and themes, bookmark this site.
Additional Resources
- Community Scrapbooking – Scrapbooking is an activity that transcends age, race, or social status. Communities all across the country have started hosting scrapbook days and hosting classes in city facilities. This website is just one example out of hundreds of towns who are using scrapbooking to bring neighbors closer together.
- The Scrapbook in American Life – Scrapbook making has been around for decades, long before fancy scissors and hundreds of choices in acid-free paper existed. For those interested in ready about the history of scrapbooking and its effect on American culture, this review of the first book written about the subject is a must read.
- Scrapbooking Suffragists – In 1910, Anne Fitzhugh Miller and Elizabeth Smith Miller created a scrapbook documenting the suffragist movement in the U.S. The Library of Congress offers a page-by-page look at this historical document.
- Therapeutic Scrapbooking – The National Library of Medicine has published an article noting the therapeutic effects of scrapbooking for parents whose children have serious diseases. This everyday activity helps them cope with the reality they and their children are experiencing.
- Charity Wings – Charity Wings is a non-profit organization that uses crafting, especially scrapbooking, to help charities raise money for their causes. Scrapbookers have helped raise money for cancer research and food drives.
- Mark Twain, Scrapbooker – It’s true! Mark Twain was an avid scrapbooker. He even invented the self-pasting photo albums. This interactive scrapbook delves into the life of one of America’s most famous authors – and scrapbooker!
