Making memories last. That is what most people use their cameras for. People take hundreds, maybe even thousands, of pictures every year. Some of them are framed and hung on a wall, while others take up storage on a computer hard drive or in a box in the closet.
Some people create scrapbooks with their photos. People do scrapbooking to “preserve pictures,” Manni Hageman, owner of the Scrap Tree on south Third Street, said. “It’s also the most precious gift anyone can make.”
Scrapbooking is the art of taking memories and preserving them so they can be shared for years to come. Most University of Wyoming students probably have a scrapbook or two at home that displays newspaper clippings or photos of their most cherished memories or greatest achievements.
“Old pictures get brittle and fall apart because of exposure to acid,” Hageman said. Modern scrapbooking supplies, from the paper to the glue and embellishments, are all acid free which preserves the photos and helps make the memories last longer.
Scrapbooking papers come in a variety of themes, colors and styles. “People scrapbook all kinds of things from their family recipes to the holidays” Hageman said.
Scrapbook pages also can be embellished with charms and stickers—even newspaper clippings.
“The sky’s the limit,” Hageman said. The only limitation is the page creator’s imagination.
Anything can be used to create a scrapbook page, Hageman said. “You can use ticket stubs, newspaper clippings, recipes…I’ve even seen people make pages using their fabric samples“
There also is no limit to the subject of the page. Simply because it does not appeal to one person does not mean it would not appeal to someone else, Hageman said.
Many pages come with places to mount photos. However, for those brave enough to work without that safety net, any number of photos can be placed on a page. “It depends on how many pictures you can crop down,” Hageman said.
Hageman said the longest it took her to create a page was one week simply because she could not decide how she wanted it. With a little preparation, however, she said it should typically take about a half hour to make a page.
In an age of digital photography where people store their photos on a disc or computer hard drive, one has to ask if scrapbooking might be on its way out.
Scrapbooking has come into the 21st century with acid free paper and embellishments to preserve cherished memories. The Scrap Tree has a wide variety of paper choices, including University of Wyoming themed selections (below).
Not so, Hageman said.
“A lot of people like the 3-D effect and the hands-on of creating a page.”
Pages can be created online. There are numerous sites people can go to to create an online scrapbook. “Personally, I don’t do it,” Hageman said. “It’s not something I care for.”
Like nearly all art forms, there is no wrong way or right way to create a scrapbook page. The only thing required is imagination and creativity, so anyone can create a beautiful page to display cherished memories.
