|
Are you new to the hobby of scrapbooking? Does
this look like fun but you are unsure where to start? Everyone seems
to know what they are doing but you? How much should you buy and
what should you do to start scrapbooking? So many questions abound
for the newbie scrapper. Good news! This is a really FUN hobby and
there are no 'wrong' ways to scrapbook a page. As long as you are
putting the photos into acid free and lignin free environments-- and
ENJOYING yourself as you go--you are scrapbooking the 'right' way.
There is a wide world of scrapbooking advice as well as supplies out
there....but don't be overwhelmed.
We are here to help set you on the path to
successful scrapbooking! We'll take you from sorting photos and
negatives, to buying an album that is right for you, to purchasing
your basic tools, to organizing basic items like your stickers and
other page additions. In the next installment, we will even show you
how to set up page kits and speed scrap. We'll help you get a LOT
done in the shortest amount of time possible and yet maintain your
own style and create top quality pages. Join in as we take you
through step by step and get you started.
|
|
|
|
Part One: Sort those Photos and Negatives
|
|
|
| You won't
know what to buy or even where to begin making a page if you don't
know what photos you have and how many of them there are for each
event. For this reason, I always advise people to sort all their
photos FIRST. I know it seems more fun to dive right into page
making. But sorting really is a good way to begin. Sorting will help
you survey the scope of the whole project. It helps you determine
how much you have to do which in turn helps YOU decide how MUCH you
feel like doing overall. |
|
| |
| I sort
chronologically to start with regardless of how I am going to do
various albums. I figure if I can FIND the photo I can pull it out
later for specialty albums or emotion and sentiment pages. My mind
automatically thinks chronologically. When I think of a photo and I
ask, "Where is that photo of Julia on the little red
boat?" My mind answers reflexively "That was last summer
(2002)." Or "That was the early 1970's on a trip to
Bermuda" Our minds have been trained to think chronologically.
So let's use that training to aid us in sorting and retrieval of
photos. Even if you do albums by sentiment or emotion or by person
instead of working on pages by time period, you will still go FIND
the photos based on the chronology of when they occurred. When you
think of a photo, you naturally think of when it was taken or how
old the child was or when the vacation was in a context of your
personal history. Use that personal chronological timeline as a
basis for your photo filing system. |
|
|
|
HOW TO SORT PHOTOS
|
|
|
|
|
Materials needed:
- Oxford 4x6 index cards in several colors
- photo storage box
- pen
- page protectors if sorting memorabilia or
large photos at same time
- negative holders if sorting negatives at
same time (see below for further tips)
- time to work on this
- table or floor space to sort
- all your loose photos from ALL around the
house.
|
|
|
|
Step 1 Supplies
Buy your supplies listed above and gather the
photos into one room. Get a pack of big index cards. You can use 4x6
or 5x7 cards. I use 4x6 as I get more of them for the same price.
Buy several colors.
Step 2 Decade Cards- WHITE
I make a front card for each decade in white.
This is just a reference card and all the yearly cards will go
behind it for that decade.
|
|
|
|
Step 3 Yearly Cards
I assign a index card color to each year. If
you need to you can use colors more than once in a decade. I think
my card pack had 6 colors. Here you can see my sample for 1998-2003.
I write the year at the top of the card so it will be visible like a
tab above the 4x6 photos.
|
|
| |
|
|
Step 4 Monthly Cards
In my sample, the year 2001 is assigned pink
cards. I will now make a card in pink for each month in 2001. I make
similar monthly cards for each year I am sorting.
|
|
|
|
Step 5 Start Filing
I place my cards in the photo storage box and
start filing them in order of date. As I go, I may see that December
has many events in it. I will then break down my month of December
by creating a card for each event. This event filing helps me go
right to the photos I want later. I may have over 50 photos for
December but if I have them sorted by event I can distinguish in
seconds between the church candle lighting, the boss's office party,
the from the school concert, and the family holiday dinner.
|
| |
| Some
people sort their piles onto the cards on the floor or a table
instead of a tub like I use. You can set up with them on the table
laid out like solitaire by year and start dealing! Take a big pile
about 1 or 2 inches thick of loose photos off the top of your big
pile of unsorted. Now figure out when they were taken. If you are
not sure of the exact year, put them on the first year of the DECADE
they were taken. Say something is taken during the great depression.
You would file it for now at the 1930 year card. Later you can look
closer and try to determine from clues in the photo a more specific
year or even year and month. But for now don't get bogged down. Keep
sorting. |
|
|
|
|
As you go, determine to toss out BAD photos
within reason.... If you have 15 photos of mom and one is bad, toss
it. Mom will thank you. LOL But if you only have 2 photos of mom and
one is bad, try to fix it with professional restoration, computer
fixes, or Kodak Picture maker to make it better.
|
| |
| Keep
photos from one event together for now chronologically. If you are
sure you want to use a certain photo for an emotion page or album,
flag it with a Post It* note on the BACK of the photo. Do not adhere
Post It notes to the fronts of photos. You can always later go back
and pull the ones you want. But keep in mind you may change your
mind or not use them for a long time so it is best to store them
chronologically until you really need them. It takes about 2 seconds
for each photo to be filed on a pile at this stage. You can see that
filing 2000 photos will take about 67 minutes of steady sorting.
That is a little over an hour time. Don't worry, you CAN do this!
Step 6 Enjoy!
Reminisce as you go. Don't view it as a big
chore. It may be a big job but it can also be FUN! Remember with
fondness those who are gone from your life. Laugh at Uncle Fred's
hairdo in the 70's. Twirl with imagination to the dance photos at
the prom. Enjoy yourself as you sort.
|
|
|
|
HOW TO SORT NEGATIVES
|
| |
|
|
Materials needed:
- binder 3 ring notebook
- negative sleeves
- black Sharpie Marker or Slick Writer that
will write well on plastic
- negatives that need sorting
|
|
|
|
As you sort the photos out of their processing
envelopes into safer environments, sort your negatives at the same
time! You can get archival negative sleeves made by many companies.
Ours are by C-Line and come in several sizes. I use 35 mm film
negative sleeves. I just remove my negatives from the processing
envelope and make sure they are in order by photo number. I then
slide them into the plastic negative sleeves.
Keep the negatives in complete strips and in
chronological order. Negatives that are all sliced up into small
sections are too easily lost or crumpled and very hard to file. Be
sure to take the time to label the edge of the negative sleeve with
a black marker. You will want to label the year, month, and topic of
the photos whenever possible. This will save you squinting and
handling the negatives unnecessarily later on.
Place the full sleeves into a 3 ring binder
and if needed create tabs for various months or years. Store the
binder in a cool even temperature room about 40-60 degrees F with a
lower than 30% humidity. Store away from bright light. This will
preserve the negatives longer.
I store the negatives in my safety deposit box
at the bank. To avoid damage by natural catastrophe, it is a good
idea to store negatives in a separate site than your home. Perhaps
trade with a family member or do as I do and store in a bank vault.
This way if one site is hit by disaster, the other site is likely
all right. You will still have one collection or the other.
There is such a sense of accomplishment that
goes along with having your photos and negatives all sorted and
labeled and safe. I hope you will take the opportunity to do this
task soon. It really is a scrapbooking basic! And it is a great
launching point for further scrapbooking. Get started right and you
will find you can work much faster too! Finding what you want will
be a breeze! Sorting photos and negatives now translates into more
efficient scrapping later on! And THAT is a great thing! |
