Saturday 23 February 2008

Scrapbook


A friend asked me where she could start in making a scrapbook, and here is how I replied;


I would just buy a big blank one from WH Smiths, or maybe even make one myself from odd newspaper sheets. Then start sticking, arranging, writing, adding extra bits like sweet wrappers, beer labels, whatever's relevant, or not relevant and just seems to fit. Don't aim for it to be perfect, as it will just develop. I pick up sequins from toilet floors, bits of ribbon from the straps on clothes shoulders to stop them falling off hangers, write in crayon, pencil, ink.... not just in a biro. Cut our pictures or letters from magazines and add them. Relax, have fun. ..... Print stuff off the Internet in black and white, then colour in over the top, even changing the colours, Make photo fits by cutting up famous peoples faces, or even photos of your friends. If there's a photo of you, but the background is boring, cut yourself out, and stick yourself onto a different background from a magazine, or whatever else you think would work. Glue in envelopes, and put items inside, so that not everything on the page can be seen immediately. Look up on the Internet how to make pop up things, and add some of the to make the scrapbook 3D.... Add glitter, sand, hand prints of your friends, or draw round their hands at college then cut them out. Draw onto tracing paper and stick that over the top of pictures or letters.....
You don't have to spend a penny. If you use an old newspaper as the book, maybe sewn down the spine with thread to keep it together. You could add a stiff cover later, made from cereal box cardboard, or cut it square so that it fits inside a pizza box. Get the idea? Print out song lyrics you like... Poems, quotes from books, images of people you admire. Random words or thoughts. Keep it loose......... Whatever works for you. Aim not to spend a penny on it, and by limiting yourself to free, found or donated stuff, you'll use your imagination & find you're more creative.

10 comments:

jafabrit said...

My favourite kind of thing, free stuff to make stuff, cool!

Anonymous said...

Love your thinking on this topic, Steph. Already have scrap books of my own but they sound very dull and uninteresting when viewed alonside your ideas. Will really try to introduce some of them to my efforts.

Anonymous said...

a friend eh, not your fave cousin lmao
xx

Gesa said...

very nice... i find the idea of free and found stuff just very exciting too!

Melanie Rimmer said...

What's the purpose of keeping a scrapbook? As a crafter, I am aware that most craft stores now are full of supplies for the new craft of "scrapbooking", where the aim seems to be to produce a beautiful heirloom, a sort of glorified photo album (I'm not a fan, can you tell?). But you are obviously talking about a very different sort of scrapbook. What's the purpose of yours?

Is it to create a beautiful and precious object? Is it to collect together resources you will use again in future, perhaps as inspiration for paintings? Is it to exercise the creative process, and having gone through the process of selecting, collecting and arranging these items, the scrapbook could just as well be thrown away, rather like an exercise book full of handwriting practice? Or is it something else?

Anonymous said...

mel,
i decided to put together a scrap book of written or photographed things or memories i have kept in a keep sake box, so as i go through uni life and get odd ticket stubs of things i want to remember, and daft fotos we have like our fancy dress nights, instead of a borin foto album or the memories forgotten. and its working really well, obvioucly not all things can be stuck down into it. but its looking fab its more like my life story....

amy x

Yellow said...

My scrapbook are a mix of momentos; stamps or a meaningful letter or card I've received, and a collection of things that inspire me in one way or another,such as magazine or leaflet cuttings, which act as a stepping stone sometimes to something I'll go on to paint or draw. But, I'm not strict about it. My scrapbooks include photos of friends, places I've been, places I want to go, and beside them are jottings and notes about them. I also keep a journal which includes more of my own words and sketches, aswell as some of the above.
I looked back through some of the scrapbooks from my university days and it was great fun, like a photo album from inside of my heat and heart at that time.

ilex said...

Brilliant, Miss Yellow. That's what a scrapbook should be, not one of those over-produced monstrosities full of Chinese-made items bought from the chain craft store. Your instructions make me want to start a scrapbook. Wonder what kind of glue makes worms stick...

Anonymous said...

To Ilex: When I was a boy, way back in the Forties, I remember that worms dried out quite flat if left out in the sun on the concrete of the farmyard, or on the lane. Maybe you could try that. Or, if that's too morbid for you, you could wait until Summer then keep your eyes open for any foolish kamikaze worm that hasn't made it across your nearest road then stick him in your scrap-book with Copydex. If the glue didn't work, and I'd be surprised if it didn't, you could cross-stitch him onto the page with some suitably coloured embroidery thread (a golden yellow would look nice, I think). Anyway, Ilex, thank you for nudging all three of my brain cells into action over your problem.

ilex said...

Bwaah! Bill, you're wicked funny. I think I'll give the cross-stitch a try next time one of my dim-witted little pink-kids tries to make an overnight run for it and ends up a dried twig on my dining room floorboards.

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