A New Twist on the Time-Honored Tradition of Scrapbooking

(ARA) - Scrapbooks help us capture special memories with just the right touch, the personal touch; but you don’t have to keep those special memories hidden in a book. There’s a movement underway to bring scrapbooking into the limelight.

“Scrapbooking started out as something people did for themselves, but now they’re beginning to realize the pages they’ve created make great gifts,” says Maria Zaren, owner of the Great Frame Up framing shop in Naperville, Ill. She says more and more people are coming to her store these days, not with posters or artwork, but scrapbooking pages to frame.

“I think framing scrapbooking pages makes a lot of sense,” says Anissa Burrell-Butler, 33, of Westchester, Ill. She has been creating scrapbook pages for years, and says it seemed like such a shame to keep her work hidden away in books. One of her first framing projects is a special gift for her husband.

“I had watched him painstakingly recondition a beat-up old car and knew how much it meant to him, so I decided to make him a gift,” she says. Burrell-Butler decorated a scrapbooking page with blue and green paper and put a photograph of the newly restored 1996 Chevy Caprice in the center. Paper tires with the letters, C-A-P-R-I-C-E, inside surround the photo. There are embellishments of keys, the year, 1996, and the phrase “on the road,” in other spots on the page. “It was a lot of fun to do, and I know it’s a gift that’s appreciated,” says Burrell-Butler. Her husband, Rodney Butler, has the framed scrapbook page on his desk at work.

“Buying special frames to display scrapbook pages is a great idea, but scrapbookers need to realize they won’t necessarily protect the pages inside,” says Linda McAleer, regional distribution manager for TruVue, a manufacturer of quality glazing and art board products. “The glass sold with most of those frames does not protect the images from fading.”

McAleer says scrapbookers who frame their pages should be sure to use a preservation quality matboard, like Tru-Vue’s Conservation-grade Ulti-Mat series and specialty glass called TruGuard, which is specially formulated to protect framed pieces from UV damage. It is available in a variety of anti-glare options. “It is just as important to use preservation techniques when framing a scrapbook page as it is when putting one in a book,” McAleer adds.

“The display I’ve put together is very precious to me, and I don’t want it to ever fade away,” says Burrell-Butler.

For the very best in design and preservation, scrapbookers should have their pages custom framed at their local frame shop and be sure to specify a preservation quality package. A less expensive alternative to this trend is the special 12” x 12” frames (the industry standard) now being manufactured specifically for scrapbook page displays. Scrapbookers selecting this option should look for frames with preservation quality glass, mat and backing board. If not available, these frames can be re-fit with preservation items at their local custom framer. Such frames were prominently featured at the Great American Scrapbook Convention in Arlington, TX this past June.

Courtesy of ARA Content