I love preserving memories. In the Philippines, scrapbooking hasn't yet reached the same level of mania as it has in western countries. I, myself, have never been much of a scrap booker. Only because when I think of scrapbooks, it sets off my gag reflex with mental images of old photo albums overly embellished with laces and pasta shells. But I walked into a scrapbook store a couple of days ago and was totally wowed by all of the scrapbook trappings they had.

And, they aren't just for girly pages either. Nope. Scrapbookers everywhere are doing what many have never done before. That is including a subtle flower or two on a masculine scrapbooking layout. The look is awesome. Flowers add quite a bit of punch to your page.

A misconception of flowers is that they are a more elegant embellishment. Not so. Sure they can be, but they can also look amusing, clever and fun. Now flowers are being adhered to scrapbook layouts just because it looks good there.

To me however, a flower still represents a moment I intend to look back into. I still have pressed white rose petals from the bouquet of my cousin's wedding. I have pressed tulips from my last trip to Calgary, Alberta. And a pressed red rose from last year's Valentine's Day. There is something special about keeping an item as perishable as flowers well preserved. I guess the difficulty involved in the process makes it so more desirable. Having "real" foliage is a really great way to accent a scrapbook, or to save as a keepsake ? or for use in other crafts!

The "correct" way to press a flower is by using a flower press. You sandwich your flowers between botanical paper (available at many flower shops), and spacer board. Then press the flowers for one week, tightening your press every few days. After a few weeks, your flower will be ready to enjoy for many years to come. I've seen pressed flowers that my grandmother kept from her memories with my grandfather and they look just as good.

Don't have a flower press? You could always do it as I do. Collect flowers and arrange them on a piece of wax paper. Cover flowers with a second piece of wax paper (or ? if you've used a large piece, you can fold your wax paper so it covers the top and bottom of the flowers). Next, place this "wax paper/flower sandwich" in the middle of a phone book's pages for several days. When dry, remove gently and add to your scrapbook.

Whatever gift you receive, or keepsakes you find from special moments, keep in the back of your mind all of the scrapbooking possibilities. Scrapbooking is a great way to chronicle life's experiences, recapture them and give substance to feelings in those moments.