New to the art of Scrapbooking and wondering where to begin? Well, all you'll need is papers, glue or pastes, scissors and most importantly, imagination and interest in this hobby! Okay, so what is a scrapbook? From the word scrap, a scrapbook is a collective book size pages containing memories of collaged images. They come in all shapes and sizes and designs. You can buy a hardbound, ready to use, sophisticated scrapbook at any bookstore. However, if you are into laborious details then why not collect some interesting pages and bind them into a book and lo! Your scrapbook is ready!



Scrapbooks store memories and probably that's what motivates their being made. If you have an idea and a concept - well - you're half done. Most scrapbookers can't even remember when they started making their scrapbook - it's so spontaneous. A peer group can collectively make up a priceless collection of such memories.

A scrapbook lends an insight into an individual. What interests him/ her and how do they perceive various things in their environ. Usually random compositions, they give relevance to the expression and mood of the picture being collaged. These compositions are thus informal creations and need not be 'perfect'!

Even the graphics that you do put into the book need not be original pictures. In fact with the help of computers and other paraphernalia, your original stuff can remain safe while you cut and paste its digital duplicates - duly copied or scanned and reprinted for best results. Thus if you happen to cut off more than required, you can always take another printout - miracles of modern science.

If you are a beginner, how will you start doing your own scrapbook?

Select a topic and go about collecting suitable photos or written material on it. You can even gather some friends or colleagues and jointly make up a collage of good times - maybe a trip you took together. Throw in some priceless photos (copies of course) and some memorabilia - and you have an exclusive souvenir of your trip. In case you are doing up a set of pictures, you can make copies and crop them as per your requirement. It would be a good idea to go along a color scheme for every page. This makes the scrapbook a visual treat. A sunny beach party could make use of bright earth colours to blend with the overall theme, or a trekking concept could incorporate all the rich shades of nature! You can use up old magazines that would otherwise be thrown away. Scrapbooking is probably recycling at its best.

Storing a scrapbook is just as easy as making it. Keep it safe from dust and dirt. You can place it with your albums and look after it just as well. When sitting with friends, its quite possible you'll be showing off your lively scrapbook rather than your formal album.

Thus creativity plays a more vital role rather than splurging when it comes to Scrapbooking. You can do just as well with material available at home as you can with specialized and expensive stuff from shops.

As long as you have the sentiments for creating a visual memoir of some special time, you will find it fun and rewarding too. That's all it takes to create a stunning work of art and to keep going.