[ MAUKA-MAKAI ]
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Stephanie Marrack, in striped shirt, introduced new scrapbooking techniques recently to Mary Cargill, sitting, and Leilani Maguire.
Moments are the building blocks of life, and remembering pleasurable events and occasions can bring lasting joy that can be shared with family and friends. So it's no wonder that many of us try to capture the special times by taking photographs or collecting memorabilia. Unfortunately, because we're so busy, many of those treasured items simply get set aside, only to collect dust, or get stored away in a box. Preserving the past
Scrapbooks show future generations their
roots and the way things used to be»You don't have to go it alone
»Party time!By nancy arcayna
narcayna@starbulletin.comScrapbooking is one way to organize and preserve precious family memories, connecting past and future generations.
Scrapbooking is no longer just a fad for the craft-inclined. More people are realizing the importance of documenting our lives to offer personal insight into history. Children have an easier time learning about the past when they learn how their parents and grandparents lived as youngsters.
Today's scrapbooking trend also tends to be more informational than ever before, focuses on journaling, that is, documenting the names, dates, places. You'll understand the importance if you've ever stared blankly at a photograph because your parents can no longer recall the names of old relatives and former friends in pictures from 20 years back. Journaling answers such basic questions such as "Who's in the picture?" "Where were you?" "How old were you?" and "What is everybody looking at or laughing at?"
Commentary or poetry can be used to convey feelings about an event or place, and photo captions can describe the action in a picture.
CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Learning to crop is an important skill.
Linda Laine, a Creative Memories consultant, started creating scrapbooks for her granddaughters. "My grandkids and great-grandkids can read my stories. They didn't believe that washers stood on legs until they saw the pictures," she chuckled.
Laine enjoys working on personal scrapbooks and now conducts Creative Memories classes and workshops, one at the Queen Emma Summer Palace on Tuesday mornings. Her company's mantra is to "preserve the past, enrich the present and inspire hope for the future."
To preserve important photos and documents, scrapbookers must start with the right materials. All the products Laine uses are acid, lignin and PVC (polyvinyl chloride) free.
PVC can turn a "blue sky into gray," she said, while advising against using magnetic photo albums that may cause photos to deteriorate or turn yellow. Plastic covers that are not PVC-free can also discolor photographs, and stacking photo albums is another no-no, she said, because this causes pages to stick together.
ONCE YOU GET past these logistical elements, your creativity can take over.
Scrap in a Snap scrappers' convention 'Scrapper's Delight'
Where: Ford Island
When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Aug. 18
Cost: $20 registration fee includes lunch and two classes
Call: Marisa Kristovich at 623-5873
"Incredibly moving things have happened to me while making Creative Memories scrapbooks," said Laine. "I found a piece of paper with my mother's handwriting. It was a handwritten job application from when she was only 18 years old. She had applied for a job working for my father."
The document from the day her parents met will now form the basis of Laine's childhood scrapbook.
Stephanie Marrack is also reliving her childhood. Marrack's father had started to document her life with photos and notes capturing special moments. Unfortunately, the beautiful leather-bound book he used began to disintegrate. She is transferring his work into a scrapbook to better protect them.
"I'm keeping his pictures in the same order but adding a little more detail," she said. "It's so much fun because I get to re-experience my baptism, rediscover my sandbox.
"It's a form of psychotherapy for me. My mom tells me the stories, and she also gets a chance to relive the past."
Several more photos had been lying haphazardly around Marrack's house. Attending Laine's workshops "forced me to get organized and bring the photos out of the closet," she said.
Leilani Maguire also attends classes to maintain order. "I have a photo closet where you have to squeeze the door shut. One night -- in the middle of the night -- there was a tremendous crash. The doors flung open and everything fell to the floor, a definite message to get organized."
Maguire is now working on a scrapbook highlighting her trip to the Great Wall of China.
"It's so satisfying. My life is insane, and it makes me sit down and work on something semicreative," she said.
Mary Cargill of Reno, Nev., is attending classes while her husband works at the University of Hawaii during the summer. She had to do something because she was watching her past life crumble before her eyes. "I made a scrapbook when my husband and I were dating. The glue was falling apart, the magnetic albums were turning yellow."
Cargill started attending monthly "crop till you drop" sessions in Reno and was hooked. Normally, her cropping sessions begin around 6 p.m. and last until midnight or beyond as she works her way backward through her family's memories.
"I removed the photos from my daughter's old (magnetic) album. I ended up having to use a kitchen spatula and damaged some of the pictures," said Cargill.
Once the photos were removed, she used a razor blade to get rid of the glue on the backs of the photographs. "It was a big job, but now they are all waiting to be put in a scrapbook," she said.
"A helpful way to remove things that are stuck on the page is to run a piece of dental floss under the picture," Laine said.
Cargill recommends using a "power layout" system. Select an album size, color scheme and decorative accents that will be used, to save time. Organize photos and set up pages with the stickers and memorabilia. Once the pages are designed, they may be stacked on top of one another. Now the items only need to be attached with adhesive, she said.
"It's creative, educational and keeps you out of trouble," Cargill said. "It's a wonderful project to share with children. And it's something you can do while recuperating from surgery or even while your husband is watching TV. There are no mistakes -- only opportunities for creativity."
Colorful paper assortments, glitter, sequins and even tinsel can dress up scrapbook pages in a snap. Add pizazz to any page in a snap
Scrap in a Snap is an organization that offers theme scrapbook kits and sets up scrapbooking parties, or bees.
"Scrapbooking is like the quilting bee for modern women," said Marisa Kristovich, an independent Scrap in a Snap consultant. "We get together and work on our pages, talk about our families or our lives. Simplified scrapbook making gives you more time to make more memories."
The group's scrapbook parties, called ScrapShop, give hostesses the opportunity to earn company products while inviting friends to get together to learn to crop.
A typical party involves experimenting with embellishments, a variety of fibers and papers.
"The main thing is that acid-free materials are used," Kristovich said. If you are unsure of any product, distance it from the photograph to avoid damage.
Swaps are another important aspect of working together in bees. Women can swap pages and build theme pages for each other, using their unique skills. This helps to save time and create special theme pages with a different look.
Workshops are conducted from 9 a.m. to noon on Tuesdays. To register for Linda Laine's classes at Queen Emma Summer Palace, call 595-3603. The basic workshop is $42 for six weeks. For information on Creative Memories products, call 395-2653 or 888-2CROPIT.
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