If you are like most of us, you anxiously await for the newest roll of photos to be developed. Perhaps you have an entire box, or several boxes filled with envelopes from the developers all pictures waiting to be placed in an album. 

More importantly if you love taking photos you love looking at photos! You love pulling out an envelope every once in a while and remembering the Saturday at the park, your friend’s wedding or the blizzard of the year! 

You may have considered scrapbooking as a way to safely preserve your photos for generations to come. A walk down the aisles of the local craft store can be quite intimidating with all of the different embellishments, stickers and tools but hopefully this article will be able to give you a very basic guide to the supplies you need to get started.

You hear a lot about 'acid free' when you start your scrapbooking journey and many may not know why this is so important. Regular paper, embellishments and newspaper clippings (and even your photographs) will slowly deteriorate over time if they contain acid. The paper and the glue in regular sticky back photo albums will eventually ruin your pictures.

The good news is that the many, many companies that feed the scrapbooking hunger in so many of us, have all created acid free paper and supplies and they are all labeled acid free so you know they are safe.

Before you purchase any supplies it is recommended that you sort your photos in a way that will make them easy to scrapbook. You can sort them by theme (i.e. holidays, vacations, family gatherings) or you can sort them chronologically - which every way you prefer. Once you have your photos sorted you are ready to buy some supplies!

Now if you are like me, you will skip the step above because you just can’t wait to get started! This can be a lot of fun but to save your wallet, choose a handful of photos that you wish to scrapbook that have something in common and focus on them to being with. Once you have your photos in hand or in mind, you are ready to shop!

As you shop, keep in mind that as with any craft, you will eventually find your own style. I look back on my early pages and wonder why I used the stickers I used and why I added the embellishments I did.  In order to change them now I would have to completely re-do the pages. I suggest that you start very simple so that if you decide to, you can always go back and add to them.

To start you will need photos, glue, straight scissors, colored pens, acid free cardstock and an album. I would suggest choosing an album you can add pages too so you won’t outgrow the album before the photos are through.  Pick paper that suits the topic or suits you. Remember, these are your pages and you are going to want to convey your emotions about the subject to the generations that will be looking through this book. 

A good way to complete a simple page is to take the photos and matte them by putting them on solid or printed cardstock, cutting them out to leave a small border and placing them on a larger piece of cardstock. Then cut another piece of the matte paper to journal your thoughts or a little about the photos to tell the story. Remember that your computer is a nice way to add a little formality to your journaling. In a few minutes you can have a beautiful page that you will be proud to show your friends and family.  

Happy scrapbooking!!