Preserving Memories: Cardstock, Embellishments, Pens and Books

MARK THE MILLENNIUM

Maybe you’re still catching up on 1999’s scrapbooks, but a new millennium comes around only once every thousand years. (We know, we know, technically the 21st century won’t start till 2001. Humor us.) Here are some ideas for pages to create for this year’s millennial memory albums:

• HAPPY NEW MILLENNIUM!: What were you doing when the big ball dropped on 1999? Add photos of the New Year’s bash (or dad asleep on the couch at 10 o’clock).

• WE SURVIVED Y2K: A humorous look at the first few weeks of 2000. Use snapshots of your living room after the party or a record-breaking snowfall, or make it a “bloopers” page.

• LIFE AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY: This layout features anything your future grandkids will find interesting about how people lived “in the olden days,” such as pictures of your house, car, school and favorite outfit. List popular TV shows, movies and songs, fads, prices, news headlines and teen slang.

• OUR MILLENNIUM FAMILY: Posterity will appreciate this record of your family at the dawn of the millennium, with photos, names, ages and relationships.

• OUR MILLENNIUM BABY, MARRIED AT THE MILLENNIUM, CLASS OF 2000: Momentous occasions gain extra significance when they occur during a banner year like 2000.

Boxful of Memories

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but sometimes other mementos complete the story: pretty rocks picked up on a hike, shells from a walk on the beach, grandma’s knitting needles, dried flowers from a wedding bouquet. These treasures won’t fit in a scrapbook, but you can display them in a shadow box — a deep frame that accommodates three-dimensional items. Here’s how:

1. Purchase a shadow box frame at a framing shop or craft store. 2. Cut a piece of acid-free mat board or foam board to fit the frame. 3. Cover the cardboard with material that fits the theme, such as a map from your vacation, handmade paper, or extra fabric from bridesmaids’ dresses. 4. Clue or stitch on your mementos along with photographs, postcards or the wedding invitation.

A BRUSH WITH GREATNESS

The ease of a pen with the look of a brush can be yours with products such as Le Plume II from Marvy/Uchida (pictured) or Mars-Graphic 3000 watercolor brush markers from Staedtler. One end of these markers is a soft tip that’s flexible like a brush, great for coloring stamped designs, embellishing titles and even tinting black-and-white photographs. The other end of the markers is a firm, fine point for adding details or for journaling. The ink is acid-free, virtually odorless and safe for use with your photos. A set of a dozen Le Plume markers costs about $24; 10 MarsGraphic markers run about $29. For information contact: Uchida, (800) 541-5877, <www.uchida.com>; Staedtler, (800) 776-5544, <www.staedtler-usa.com>.

GOOD THINGS, SMALL PACKAGES

Flowers wither and ties go out of style, but a mini-scrapbook is a Mother’s or Father’s Day gift that will be cherished for a lifetime. Make one with a cardstock cover and paper pages bound with staples or ribbon, or buy a spiral-bound pocket scrapbook ($7.99-$13.99, depending on size) from Paper Reflections <www.dmdind.com>. Then add photos starring the recipient’s children or grandchildren, a note and artwork from the children, sticker embellishments and your own journaling. A mini-album is also a great way to say “thanks” to a teacher or “I miss you” to a distant friend.

PHOTO Q & A:

UNKIND CUTS

Q. Is it OK to crop photos that were taken with an instant camera? Is it safe to place these in my scrapbook?

A. We called Polaroid, maker of a variety of instant cameras and film, with this question. Because each Polaroid photograph consists of several layers with chemicals sealed inside, it’s recommended that you leave the photo intact. Cutting through the layers will break the seal and speed up the deterioration of the photo. If you don’t need the photo to last and plan to cut it anyway, give the chemicals several days to dry completely before wielding the scissors.

Photographs taken with instant cameras are on a carbon-black backing that may discolor the front of another photograph it touches. Polaroid recommends storing instant photos with wax paper between them. You may want to try color-photocopying instant photos and pasting the copies into your scrap-book. For more information, contact Polaroid at (800) 343-5000, <www.polaroid.com>.

Say It With Flowers

Pressed flowers are a lovely decoration for spring, garden and wedding scrap-book pages, but their fragility can make them frustrating to use. Now NuCentury makes it easy with Fabulous Frames. They’re made of carefully pressed flowers encased in an acid-free, photo-safe plastic sheet with a sticker backing. Just crop a photo to fit, mount it on a page, then place the frame around it. Choose from clear or cream backgrounds and several flower colors and varieties (the selection changes with seasonal availability). The frames come three to a sheet, priced at $10.95. Also available are flower and leaf stickers, at $10.95 per sheet. NuCentury, 955 Foothill Drive, Providence, UT 84332, (435) 752-6590, or online <www.nucentury.net>

New Books on Scrapbooking

A Year of Scrapbooking by Debbie Janasek and Anna Swinney (Time-Life, $24.95 hardcover, $19.95 paperback): This book by the editors of the Graceful Bee Webzine <www.gracefulbee.com> brings you a year of imaginative ideas and elegant layouts for your scrapbook. Each month has its own chapter that begins with a list of celebrations and ways to capture the memories. Then there are sections on every aspect of scrapbooking: creating theme albums, designing a page layout, techniques such as photo tinting, journaling, photography and unconventional ways to create unusual effects, including ribbon embroidery and paper piercing. Instructions and a supplies index for more than 200 layouts plus a k glossary, a guide to resources and more help you turn your albums into works of art.