Protect Special Papers by Binding Them into a Book

You have them hanging on the refrigerator, stored in boxes, or stuck between the thick pages of a big book until you have the time figure out what to do with them. These are the crayola drawings your children or grandchildren have made; the certificates and awards they have earned in school and even the programs from their school plays that you have saved to remember those special events. They are also important documents such as Marriage & Death certificates, diplomas, and career awards. You can protect these special papers and important documents from deterioration by binding them into a book. People have been binding important documents and special papers into books for centuries. The practice of bookbinding even dates back to ancient times, when the detailed accounts of certain events were inscribed on thin stone tablets and then encased using different materials such as leather, ropes, and wooden pegs inside thicker tablets of stone to protect this information from being lost due to damaging toxins in the air, and dirt. These early ‘bindings’ were the first books created. Bookbinding occurs through the use of various methods to secure or bind together loose pages or sections of a book or booklet using stitching, staples, wire, plastic, tape, or glue. You can bind your special papers and important documents into a book using these techniques yourself or by having a professional binding service do the job for you. You can find binding services through your local print shop, your local phone directory, and online. The costs of having a professional do the binding for you will be influenced by your choice of materials used in the binding process, but these costs can be a worthwhile investment in the time and work it saves you from having to do on your own. You will be pleased to find that there are many materials available to you to choose from for your bookbinding project. Today we have materials such as: leather, strong-bond paper, and vinyl, which are a light-weight, yet durable alternative to the heavy-weight, stone tablets of ancient times. These materials are used every day to produce the copy-back and hard-cover books that we buy to read. If you prefer to bind your special papers and important documents into a book yourself, it is no longer required that you perform the labor-intensive task of stapling, taping, or gluing individual pages together in order to bind them into a book. Today, you can purchase a ‘binding machine’ that takes the work out of bookbinding for you. These machines are capable of using different materials to bind your pages together and they are a good investment. This is especially true for those who don’t want to, or who don’t have the luxury of a lot of time to put towards protecting special documents by binding them into a book. If your budget doesn’t allow for the purchase of a binding machine or to have your pages bound by a professional, consider this alternative: purchase 3-ring binders with protective sleeves already in them, or use a photo album you already have and personalize your book by using stickers, decorated paper cut into different shapes, markers, crayons, and whatever else you would like. Place your important documents and special papers in the protective sleeves and then don’t forget to use labels to document such important information as what, where, when, and who. Binding special papers and documents into a book, not only protects them from spills, fingerprints, and dirt; it also ensures their long-term preservation as well.

Creating a Memory Book through Scrapbooking

The art of Scrapbooking has become very popular. Scrapbooking allows you to create memory books that are so much more than the old standard, boring photo albums of yesterday. Using the immense supplies available for you to choose from in your Scrapbooking, you can create memory books that reflect not only your personality: but that also help you to capture the true “essence” of those special memories you want remembered forever.

You can begin making your memory scrapbook, sure to become a treasure to be shared from generation to generation with basic materials like patterned paper, rubber stamps, patterns, stencils, stickers, serrated- scissors, and the photos you already have. This is just a small example of the many supplies that are available for you to choose from in creating your memory book. You can find Scrapbooking supplies online and in many malls and outlet stores today. Software programs are also available to help you design the perfect memory book for your precious memories.

Begin by looking at a photo; recall the memories and feelings that arise by looking at this picture that has been captured on film. What does this picture represent to you? Maybe it is the love of family and friends, or the adventure you found on your last vacation. Whatever it is, consider how you might best represent these feelings, and memories so that someone else looking at this same photograph, even a few generations removed, will be able to understand the emotions and circumstances surrounding the images of the people, places, or things seen in this particular piece of film. Being able to know why a certain picture was taken, and what it meant to the one who took the shot, results in a ‘bonding’ between the original picture taker, the event captured, and the one who is now looking at these images.

Once you have started to think about what this picture means to you and how you would like to best represent that meaning, you can start to create a memory scrapbook that will keep these precious memories alive forever. The best memory books have pages that employ the use of many different types of materials. Don’t be afraid to mix stickers with cut-outs (made by designed scissors), patterned papers, stencils, rubber stamp images, markers, crayons, and labels. Let your creative-side come out in the designing of your memory books.

With a little creativity it is easy to create memory scrapbooks that are a joy to share with family and friends. Family history can be captured in these books: to be recalled in your lifetime and as testimonials of relatives in the past, to be known and remembered by the generations to follow. You not only have a plethora of choices in materials already available to choose from in creating your memory book, new ideas, and materials are created every day for those who want to use scrapbooking as a way to create memory books that will last forever.

What should you use to hold your newly created memory pages? You can choose to use a standard photo album, one that you can decorate using the same materials used in making your memory pages. Or maybe you will want to complete your memory book by laminating a couple of special memory pages for the front and back covers, and then “binding” them together with all of your memory pages into a book. You can learn more about bookbinding through books and software programs. Scrapbook stores and the internet are also good sources of information about scrapbooking and bookbinding.

Bound For a Lifetime

There are few truly special and unique days in our lives. Everyone has unique days, such as birthdays and births in the family. Many people are fanatically scrapbooking their family photos into heirlooms for their children and grandchildren. However, there is one day that many of us experience that are truly unique-our wedding day.

Weddings are unique in many aspects; it’s difficult to have two weddings exactly the same. There is always some variable in how weddings differ from each other, but no matter what the differences are between your wedding and the Joneses down the street, this is YOUR day and it is special. This is a day you will likely treasure for the rest of your life. What better way to capture the entire event than by scrapbooking the event into a bound book that will last for decades?

There are of course the ‘normal’ scrapbooking practices-taking your photos and arranging them on pages. Pictures are cut out using special scissors and templates so that they fit best on the page you are creating. Pages are also adorned with backgrounds and stickers, buttons and baubles and many, many other creative ideas. The possibilities when scrapbooking your special wedding day are endless.

Think about your wedding, or your upcoming wedding, as the case may be. There are photos galore and photo opportunities galore. Photos of the wedding party, of the bride and groom, of the bride’s and groom’s families, as well as photos of the first dance the bride and groom share. There is also the opportunity for photos of the people in attendance at the wedding and at the reception. A photo of the bride’s mom crying gently into her hankie. A photo of the groom’s brother giving a toast at the reception. The cute little girl throwing flowers on the aisle.

Yes, there are a million photos that go along with your wedding day, but there are other things that are a part of your wedding that you can scrapbook and bind into a book.

Have you thought about including the invitation card, the table placard, the lace that those little chocolates were wrapped in, a piece of the plastic that made up the flowers that adorned your ‘just married’ sign on your car or the gold ring that held the wedding announcements together? These are all things that you can include in your book binding and scrapbooking of your wedding day.

Scrapbooks are beautiful pieces of artwork. The pages can last an eternity-especially if you bind them in a book. This form of altered book will be a keepsake for your family for decades to come. By book binding your scrapbooking pages, you can ensure that the fairy tale story of your wedding will remain intact and in proper order so that future generations of your family can relive your special day.

By organizing your photos and other sundries from your special wedding day, you can create organized and clear scrapbook pages that will tell the wonderful story of your special day. By scrapbooking and then book binding the scrapbooking pages, your hard work and creativity will create a family heirloom piece of art that tells a story.

Can you picture your great-granddaughter sitting down with her young child, your great-great-granddaughter decades from now and sharing the special story of your wedding? By book binding your scrapbooking pages, this beautiful scenario can be your family 60 years from now.

Essential Supplies to Begin Scrapbooking

Everyone is doing it – scrapbooking that is – and you think you’d like to give it a try, too. However, you’re really not sure what the difference is between a scrapbook and a traditional photo album. You’re also not sure what supplies you’ll need. A quick lesson on the essentials of scrapbooking will bring you right up to speed. Modern scrapbooks are different from traditional photo albums in a few respects. They hold both photographs and memorabilia. For that reason they are sometimes referred to as memory books. There is also an emphasis on writing, or journaling, in scrapbooking. Each scrapbook should tell a story. Scrapbooks are also more aesthetically pleasing than traditional photo albums. Attention is paid to the layout of the pages. Often, pages are decorated with colorful paper and stickers, although this is not necessary. The biggest distinction between a modern scrapbook and a traditional photo album is the emphasis on the preservation of the photos and memories. The albums, papers, pens, and adhesives should all be photo safe. Photo safe is a term that means that the materials used in creating a scrapbook are designed to do the least amount of long term damage on your photos and memorabilia. Damage includes fading, yellowing, and a degradation of the paper the photos or memorabilia are printed on. Because of this emphasis on preservation, specific, specialized supplies are required when scrapbooking. These supplies can be purchased at many art supply stores, specialty scrapbooking stores or from many online retailers. The supplies you will need to create your first scrapbook are: Photos and memorabilia – Before beginning any album you should have its contents organized. You may want to do a themed album (baby, wedding, vacation, etc.) or a chronological family album. Either way, having the album’s contents collected before you begin will help you complete your album more efficiently. A photo safe album – The album you purchase should be free from acid and lignin (a substance in wood that will turn paper unstable and cause it to yellow). It should also be the correct size for the project you are tackling. This is where having your photos and memorabilia organized beforehand comes in handy. If you’re creating a brag book for grandma of her new grandchild, a small album that has only one or two photos per page may be appropriate. If you’re chronicling your child’s athletic career and have large newspaper clippings, a larger album would be the appropriate choice. A photo trimmer – Photo trimmers come in handy to crop out any unwanted parts of a photograph or to trim decorative paper. They do the job quickly and neatly. A good pair of scissors – There are some jobs the photo trimmer just can’t do. A good, sharp pair of scissors will come in handy. Photo safe pens – Special pens are sold that are created to be photo safe. Look for pens that say “acid free”, “photo safe” or “archival quality” on them. A photo safe adhesive – Special tape and other adhesives that are photo safe should be purchased. Page protectors – Page protectors are photo safe plastic covers that slip over completed pages. Some albums come with them. If yours does not, buy them. Decorative papers and stickers – These are not essential to creating an album, but many people involved in scrapbooking like to embellish their pages with them. Once you’ve gathered all your supplies, you are ready to get to work. If you need a little inspiration, you can find ideas for your scrapbook on internet sites, in scrapbooking magazines, and from other scrap-bookers.