The article "Scrapbooking Tips" is about family, it has been created by Marcus Harbert.
Have you ever found a very old family photo album, perhaps in
your grandparent's house, and had no idea who the persons in the
photographs were?
Sometiems no one remembers who they are, and a
part of your family history is lost forever.
One of the most frustrating things about finding old photos or
old albums is the lack of information in them. Often there is
nothing to identify the photos. No names, no dates, no
locations.
One way to keep that from happening with the albums that you
create is to take the time to journal in them.
Today, creating
photo albmus has become an art form known as scrapbooking.
These
scrapbooks are more than just photos on a page.
They are family
histories, meant to be handed down from generation to
generation.
Journaling is important for several reasons. First of all, it
will provide valuable genealogical informtaion for future
generations. Secondly, journaling is a way for you to make sure
the stories of your life and your family's life are persevered.
Also, it allows those with whom you sahre your albums to look
through them without having to have you narrate through the
entire album. They can take their time to browse through the
album, enjoying the photos and reading the captions and stories.
What do you need to journal in your album?
You need to have acid
free, permanent pens that are cretaed for scrapbooking. It's
important to choose these types of pens cause they are photo
safe.
They will not damage the surrounding photos as time
passes. You may want to have pens in a variety of coolrs or just
black. The colors you use, however, are not as important as
getting the words on the page.
At the very least you should write identifying information
associated with your photos. This would be people's names and
who they were in relationship to you. It could be as simple as
"My cousin Jack White, "our neighbor Bill Smith," or "my
co-worker and good friend Jill Jones." Identifying persons with a
little more information than just their names will be helpful to
those looknig through your albums.
Other important identifying
information would be dates and locations.
In addition to identifynig information, many persons choose to go
further in their journaling. They tell stories that go along
with the photograhps. These can be short paragraphs that
highlight what wanted on or entire paegs of written memories.
If you're new to journaling and unsure how to fit it into your
album, try of these tips:
Lists are great to put in an album instead of just straight
paragraphs. For example, if you're doing an album for a toddler
you can make lists of their favorite things - food, books, toys,
tv programs, songs, etc. and sprinkle them throughout the album
where there are blank spaces.
Ask ohters to write in your albums. Get your kid's dad to write
his point of view of his fourth birthday party.
Have a friend
you took a trip with write her thoughts on the trip.
Use pomes or quotes that are appropriate to fill in blank
spaces. Have a little white sapce left on the page of Halloween
pictures? Find a cute pumpkin poem to fill it in.
Whether you choose to simply write in the important identifying
information or go a step further and tell stories with your
albums, journaling will make your albums more personal.
It will
also leave future generatoins with valuable information that
they will be grateful for.
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