As snow begins to melt, the onset of spring brings with it many opportunities to celebrate the beauty of the great outdoors. Compiling a scrapbook album that captures glimpses of spring is a wonderful way to preserve the memories that accompany the season. The following suggestions will help inspire scrapbook enthusiasts to create a simple album.
Basic Scrapbooking Tools
The first thing that is needed for a nature album is the actual album. Scrapbooks come in a variety of sizes and are available in many department stores and craft stores. It is important to remember that if photographs or other sensitive memorabilia are going to be used, the album and it's pages need to be acid-free.
Once the album is chosen there are a few other basic tools that will be needed for the project. These items include;
- A 12" x 12" paper trimmer.
- Scissors or other manual paper cutters.
- Acid-free adhesives (tapes and glues).
- At least one acid-free pen for journaling.
- Page protectors (if they aren't already included with the album).
Although they are not required to complete a basic nature album, using a variety of scrapbooking embellishments on layouts (such as brads, stickers, letters, ribbons and eyelets) can help to enhance album pages. Such items can be found in scrapbooking specialty shops in large quantities and in many different themes and colours.
Create Magazine Collages
Look through nature and wildlife magazines for pictures that center on outdoor themes. Choose pictures, titles, and words that stand out from the rest. Cut and paste the clippings onto an album page to create a collage that represents a spring related theme. Some themes that work well for a magazine collage can include;
- Outdoor adventures.
- Peace and solitude.
- Spring activities or events.
- Spring vacation spots.
It is important to note that magazines pages and newsprint are not usually acid-free. This is not a big problem if the only items on the collage are other magazine clippings. Although there are ways to protect photographs and sensitive items from other high acid items, the easiest option is to keep the magazine collages separate from layouts that include photos.
Preserve Keepsakes from Nature
Take a walk and collect leaves, crocuses and other wildflowers. These can be pressed and then preserved in scrapbook layouts in a variety of different ways.
- Clear memorabilia pockets can be used to showcase the keepsakes while protecting them from the environment.
- Items can be fastened to buffered paper (paper that stops naturally occurring acids from spreading across the page to pictures and other fragile memorabilia) with acid-free adhesives.
- Acid neutralizing sprays may be used on some kinds of memorabilia to lessen the degree of deterioration of the item over time.
Create Traditional Scrapbook Layouts
Take pictures of the surrounding beauty and growth that takes place as the snow melts. Zoom lenses can be used better capture the details of flower buds, greenery and new wildlife. These pictures can be put together to create a nature specific layout of their own, or they can be used with photos of family activities or community events that take place this time of year.
Always Include Journaling
Whether it be short descriptions of basic facts about an event, or lengthy creative entries related to the season, journaling is essential to the overall effect of a layout.
- Bulleted lists can be used to outline the main points.
- Write one or two sentences beneath a picture to add some details to the theme.
- A brief but descriptive paragraph can enhance the imagery of the layout.
- Detailed storytelling can be used to share behind the scenes information.
A nature album need not be complicated or take a lot of time to complete. The main purpose to constructing a nature album is to capture the essence of the outdoors and the beauty of new life. How much or how little one prefers to include in her layouts is strictly a matter of taste.
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