By Kathy Sena

Pssst. It’s time to come clean. I know there’s a shoebox (or two) in your closet just overflowing with family pictures, sitting in envelopes, waiting to be put into albums. (How do I know all this? Just take a look in my closets!) Would you like to turn those treasured photos into something that will become a family heirloom?

It’s easy. You’ve no doubt heard of scrapbooking, the popular craft of creating “memory books” that’s been sweeping the U.S. and Canada for the past few years. Scrapbooking has become so big that when the National Scrapbooking Association www.nsa.gs ran a single ad in a scrapbooking magazine a couple of years ago, more than 650 new members joined in just five days.
Now, experts say, it is quickly becoming today’s version of the quilting bee. Scrapbooking’s popularity has spread to England, Australia and even Japan. (And with good reason. Where else can a woman spend a few hours talking with friends and eating chocolate, all while showing off pictures of her kids?)
Scrapbooking is simple. But the list of products — and the terminology — can sound intimidating to the beginner. Acid-free? Polyurethane? Archival quality? Not to worry. Just follow these simple instructions and you’ll finish your first scrapbook page in no time. And trust me —you’ll be hooked.
Experts estimate that photos preserved in this fashion should still be in good shape at least 200 years from now. (I can’t say the same for my high school photo album, a magnetic album that has turned my photos gummy and brown around the edges — and I’m not that old!) Can you think of a better treasure to pass on to your children — and your great grandchildren?

What is Scrapbooking?
Scrapbooking is a way to preserve photographs and other memorabilia in a safe, acid-free environment. (Acid is a chemical substance that can weaken and discolor paper.) As long as you choose acid-free, archival quality (meaning material that can be safely used for preservation purposes) paper, pens, adhesive and sheet-protectors, you really can’t go wrong. The only thing you add is photos, love and a little imagination!

Let’s get started:

1. Get organized. Group your photos by year or by subject. Most experts recommend starting with your most recent photographs and working back in time. Because magnetic-page photo albums are quite harmful to photos, consider removing photos from old albums and storing them by date in a heavy-duty, acid-free photo-storage box (which can be purchased inexpensively at most camera stores and photo shops) until you have time to add them to your scrapbook.

2 Buy supplies. There is an overwhelming array of scrapbooking products available at craft stores, stationery stores, rubber stamp stores, on the Web and even at stores devoted just to scrapbooking. But all you really need to get started is the following:
° Photos! Order double prints.
° Acid-free mounting paper, polyurethane “archival quality” page
protectors and a three-ring binder. (Some people prefer to use 8 1/2 x 11-inch sheets stored in sheet protectors in binders. Others use albums of different sizes that are pre-filled with acid-free paper.)
° Regular household scissors.
° Acid-free adhesive (glue stick, photo corners or peel-and-stick squares).
° Acid-free pen for “journaling” — adding names, dates and
comments to the page.
Starter kits containing most of the above can be purchased at many craft stores for about $25. To further enhance your pages, you can
use paper punches, stickers, circle cutters, colored paper and pens,
templates for cutting shapes, fancy-edged scissors and much more.

3 Pick a theme. Halloween 2005? Your child’s birthday party? First day of school? Whatever your theme, play with groupings of photos. Be choosy. Use only your best photos, whether it’s one special photo alone on a page or a grouping of four or five.

4 Crop and mat. You may want to crop your photos to sharpen their focus. Trim around the most important part of the photo, removing excess background or unnecessary elements. If you are using old family photos or other irreplaceable photos, make color copies and work from those. You can use plain or patterned paper to create a mat. Just glue your photo to the paper and trim around the edges, leaving a border showing. Double- or triple-matted photos look great, too.

5 Add the finishing touches. After you’ve chosen a layout, it’s time to glue down your photos and to add stickers, stamps and — most important — journaling. Add dates and names, of course. But don’t stop there. Add details that will make the photos come alive for future generations. Tell a funny story about how your dog ate the Thanksgiving turkey. List your child’s five favorite songs next to a photo showing her singing. Describe where and how far your son hiked on the Boy Scout camping trip. It’s those details that make your scrapbook a real family treasure.

6 Enjoy! One of the most rewarding parts of scrapbooking is sharing the finished book with your family. Kids can learn a lot from looking at scrapbooks. Older kids enjoy looking back on family activities and sharing the book with friends. Toddlers and preschoolers learn names of family members, pick up lots of new words and enjoy looking at themselves when they were “just babies.” And all kids feel like VIPs as they turn the pages. After all, they’re the stars of their very own book!

Kathy Sena is an award-winning journalist and columnist. Visit her Web site at www.kathysena.com.