Expert: Sheila M. Krueger - 8/26/2002

Question
Hi Sheila,
I live in Mexico and don´t know much about creating memory books.  My friend was recently widowed and dedicated a garden in her husband´s memory and I have many photos and other memorabilia that I´d like to put together for her.  I´ve just returned from Boston where I bought a scrapbook and some colored papers but I don´t know where to begin or what I´m trying to achieve.  Can you get me started?
Thanks for any tips you can give me.

Answer
Elena: Welcome to my addiction! The first thing to remember is to use the right supplies so that your memory book will last a long time and not damage your photos. If you bought colored papers, hopefully they are acid free! You can use the colored paper to accent your pages: cut into shapes, use to mat photos or cut into shapes to do your writing (journaling).

First, put your pictures in order as you want them in the book.

Second, trim (crop) your photos...you can cut off any excess "background" that is not necessary to tell the picture.

Use an acid-free adhesive to apply the photos to the scrapbook. If you have memorabilia (funeral card, etc.) make sure that it does NOT touch any of your photos, as most of these items are not acid-free.

You may also want to check out some websites for information and layout ideas. There are several good ones and from some you can also order products.

www.twopeasinabucket.com
www.dmaries.com

Good luck! Sheila K