Back when I had more time on my hands (i.e. before I had kids), scrapbooking was one of my favorite hobbies.
I always wanted to find ways to make them memorable but was not able to come up with any new ideas. Of course, once I stopped scrapbooking, I finally had my great scrapbooking idea! I was inspired when opening a musical card and realized that the gadget is actually pretty simple.
Here is how I used it to make my memory book a little more special. I used a photo book (which I have fallen in love with since I gave up scrapbooking), but you can easily apply the same idea to a scrapbook or even a gift book.
How Scrapbooking Began
Have you ever wondered what the origins of scrapbooking were? After all, one of the top pastimes for both sexes of all ages is scrapbooking.
In actuality, more than four million individuals scrapbook! Is scrapbooking a recent trend or has it been around for decades? Scrapbooking has actually been around for a while. While scrapbooking has evolved through time, its origins may be traced back to the 15th century.
The history of scrapbooking indicates that individuals sought a means to keep “scraps” that were significant to them. Love letters, holiday cards, business cards, poetry, and other papers of personal or monetary significance were among the scraps. It’s interesting how the pages have been embellished. Little forms would be carved out of elaborately patterned paper, and glued to the pages.
Scrapbooking history has its roots in England. The friendship album and commonplace books gained popularity in the fifteenth century. The commonplace books were used to store correspondence, poetry, recipes, scrapbook quotations, and other such material.
When visitors were welcomed to a house, friendship books were frequently employed. The business would be requested to sign the album and add a personal note. Some others wrote a poem, a quotation, or their impressions of the homeowners. Others created drawings.
Scrapbooking has a long history that includes archiving newspaper clippings and old black-and-white images. Scrapbooking books were created specifically to contain these treasures. These albums were often huge and heavy.
Leather-bound albums with themes were produced in the middle of the nineteenth century. Some albums included pages for water coloring or drawing, as well as corner pockets to retain images.
The Musical Scrapbook
Items Required: musical greeting card, memory book, scrapbooking paper, scissors, and tape.
- First, you need to cut out the gadget in the card that creates the music. You must include a strip on the other side of the fold, since that is what makes the music play and stop. Please see my picture below to see exactly where to cut.
- Simply taping the gadget into the memory book would be quite the eye-sore, so you’ll want to find a way to make it look nice. I created a little envelope so that I could write a note and give the book as a gift. However you decide to cover the gadget, you’ll want to create the memory book so that there is space for it – you do not want it to cover a picture!
- To create the envelope, I cut out a piece of scrapbook paper and folded it into an envelope shape. I then put the musical gadget inside of it, making sure to keep the left side of the card hanging out.
- Tape the left strip of the card to the inside cover of the book. Then use double-sided tape to secure the covered musical gadget to the first page.
Now you can have fun opening and closing your book! This makes a great gift, as the recipient will be very surprised to hear a song when opening it. You can add it to multiple pages too, so that a different song plays for each page. It’s very simple, and adds a memorable touch to any memory book.
Scrapbook Page Design Elements
Every scrapbook page includes elements such as background paper, photos, titles, journaling, and embellishments. The elements used can be described using the following elements of design:
- SHAPE – How we describe the area an item: squares, rectangles, circles, or organic (free formed shapes or natural shapes). NOTE: A positive shape automatically creates a negative shape.
- DIRECTION (or line) – All lines have direction – Horizontal, Vertical or Oblique. Horizontal suggests calmness, stability and tranquillity. Vertical gives a feeling of balance, formality and alertness. Oblique suggests movement and action.
- SIZE (scale) – the relationship of the area occupied by one shape to that of another.
- TEXTURE – the surface quality of a shape – rough, smooth, soft, hard, glossy, etc.
- PATTERN – a regular arrangement of repeated elements (shapes, lines, colors.)
- COLOR – Color has three main characteristics: hue, or its name (red, green, blue, etc.), value (how light or dark it is), and intensity (how bright or dull it is).
Scrapbooking is Good for Your Health
It is well known that fruits and vegetables are the king and queen of the health food world, respectively. Chia seeds, acai berries, coconut oil, and yoga are some other well-known but exotic members. We could go on and on about this kind of thing, but we’re not here to inform you of information you already possess.
We’re here to introduce you to the amazing health advantages of today. . . play a drum. . . scrapbooking! Even while it may seem absurd to those die-hard scrapbooking junkies out there—and perhaps counterintuitive—scrapbooking is beneficial for your health.
Here are five reasons why:
1. It will lower your stress levels
It’s far simpler to control paper and ink than it is to manage relationships with the in-laws. Take a deep breath and begin your creative process as soon as you start to feel your blood pressure rising. Your body will start to feel less stressed. In fact, it has been shown that partaking in any creative pastime lowers anxiety. So, you have science on your side if anyone ever questions how you cope.
2. It’s a sort of meditation
Your constantly running thoughts must focus on the present when you sit down to work on making a scrapbook page. How will you fit all of these pictures on one page? What shade of ink would be most suitable for this stamp? What size paper strip should you clip that off? These are the inquiries that will divert your attention from your daily obligations and concerns, providing you with a much-needed break.
3. It will challenge your mind
Your brain has to work hard to replay memories and attempt to recall specifics, such as the age of your son on that Hawaii vacation or the name of that enigmatic cousin. Yet each time you reactivate those rusty synapses, you’ll contribute to maintaining mental clarity and improving your memory.
4. It works wonders as a social process
The beauty of scrapbooking is that you may do it with someone else or by yourself; it’s completely up to you. Give yourself a brief “scrapcation” and spend a few hours by yourself in your craft area if you are in dire need of some alone time. You’ll come out feeling renewed and prepared to re-enter society. On the other hand, if you feel the need for some social engagement, assemble your pals and create a small scrapbook of your shared memories. Whatever your personality type, scrapbooking is for you.
5. It will keep your heart happy
The importance of this advantage is maybe the greatest of all. There is much more to scrapbooking than just paper, ink, and pictures. You are honoring a relationship with each memory you document on paper. There is no disputing that scrapbooking draws families and friends closer together, whether it be the individuals you’re scrapbooking with or the ones whose faces are in your images. Not only will you experience unparalleled enjoyment, but you’ll also motivate future generations to save and share the precious experiences in life.