So You Wanna Try Scrapbooking?
by Brandie Valenzuela

So you're thinking of doing your own scrapbook? I know -- I was there once too. Maybe you are a crafty kind of person, who has seen the adorable, acid free paper in your local craft store.

Or maybe you have zillions of photos sitting in shoeboxes -- never being "ooohed" and "ahead" over by anyone, just knowing that there must be a better way.  No matter who you are, if you have considered trying out this hobby called scrapbooking - welcome! I was a combination of both of the situations above. I had boxes and boxes of photos -- just doing nothing but collecting dust. I have also seen some really wonderful scrapbooking tools at my local craft store. They looked like so much fun, that I wanted them all. So, I knew that the time had come for me to try out scrapbooking.

Well, I tried it out. And now I am absolutely hooked. I just love scrapbooking and I love the results that come with my hobby. Slowly but surely, my dusty photos are entering wonderful albums that are enjoyed by all that enter my home. They are also becoming better protected, which means that generations to come will enjoy these photos just like my family does today. And with time and a little work, you can do the same with your photos. 

One of the very first steps in beginning scrapbooking is organizing your photos. This is a big task -- actually the more photos you have stored, the bigger the job. I had quite a few, so I sorted my photos over several nights. Also, there are different methods to organizing your photos. Over time, you may find a method that you prefer. However, to get you started, I will share with you how I did it. 

Step #1 To start, I collected all of my photos. Every single one! I went through my home and brought every photo album and every shoebox to my work space. I knew that I needed decent size work space, so for my sorting, I went to my living room floor.

Step#2 Now that I had all of my photos together, I began sorting. I started with a pile and sorted it by year. I was married in 1990, so the majority of our photos started in that year. I had a pile of 1989, a pile of 1990, and so on. I kept working my way through every single photo until they were all in their appropriate piles.

Step #3 After the sorting into years, I sorted each pile chronologically -- January, February, and on through December. I used one of my shoeboxes to make a sort of index with my newly sorted photos. At the beginning I had my earliest photos indexed with the first year. Every year after that was labeled also. When I was done sorting, I had boxes of perfectly sorted photos -- all ready for my new hobby!

Now it's your turn -- start organizing those photos of yours and begin your new hobby! Next time we meet I will talk about the tools -- what you need, what you can live without (great for those of you on a budget), and what some of those neat gadgets do. If you are interested in finding out more now, consider checking out some of the great web links I have found for scrapbooking. Whether your new at it or you've been doing it for years, there's something for everyone! 

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