Scrapbooking for beginners - A place to start

Which in the words of Julie Andrews - is a very good place to start.

Scrapbooking is certainly not a new craft. The idea of collecting momentoes and placing them into a book for future reflection, has gone on since the dawn of time.

I know my own Grandmother collected cards, clippings the odd postcard and had them all stuck into an album with her reminiscent scribbles throughout, comments on who was who, where they were or what happened on a certain day. I myself, 30 odd years ago did the same thing putting old tickets stubs, photos, poems all into a book that I used to love flicking through and remembering fun times I had as a kid.

Around 1996, I had a mail order rubber stamp company. I'd been into stamps for a while, had made lots of cards and tags and dabbled in altered books. I had been importing rubber stamps from companies in the USA, and making do with what I could learn from the handful of stampers I knew, and what could be gained from the odd craft convention.

It was during a trip to the USA that year that my mind was truly opened to just what was out there. I realised that stamping was the tip of the iceberg, that what I had seen and learned previously, was NOTHING compared to what was out there for the creative soul. It was during this trip - visiting stamping wholesalers and retailers, that I really switched on to what could be done with some of the wonderful supplies available at that time in the USA. We all bought up big on gadgets and gizmos, papers, ribbons and of course stamps. Most of us (who all had craft businesses) had never seen some of the stuff here, that we could get there.

The internet was still relatively new, the only way to see a companies product was to get a hard copy catalogue mailed over, the net has now made it so much better for the home crafter to be able to get their hands on all kinds of exotic and exciting materials.

When I got home I started to think there has to be more that I can do than make cards. I didn't spend too much time thinking about it but there was a nagging feeling that.. I should be doing more with all these wonderful ideas and supplies. In the year 2000 I spotted an ad for a Scrapbooking class. I went along, and haven't looked back.

Tips for this week:

1. A scrapbooking class is a fantastic way to start. Be it with a local store on a Saturday afternoon, adult education or an independant consultants class. Take the plunge, do a class and get a feel for it. You will be hooked.

2.Use the internet to look for shops in your local area

3. Use the internet to source out of the ordinary products from scrapbook stores anywhere in the world.

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