Sometimes, the internet doesn't have the right answers

[cupcake_goth]

Shocking, I know, but true.

Remember how in my last post, I mentioned that the cleaning-out-of-the-basement turned up a lot of gothy ephemera? Stickers, flyers, concert tickets, art, and other things that I was contemplating making a scrapbook out of?

I spent some time this afternoon looking for websites with basic, how-to-get-started information on making a scrapbook. There should be oodles of those sorts of sites, right? Instead, what I found:

- Lots of sites selling scrapbook supplies.

- Lots of sites on how stay-at-home-moms can turn their scrapbook hobby into a home business.

- Lots of forums with pictures of people's scrapbooks that make me go "Wow, my personal aesthetic is very, very different from yours. Ew."

- Lots of "Learn to Scrapbook!" classes at craft stores. Which I would rather not attend, because I'm pretty sure the people who would attend those classes are Not Of My People.

But not a lot of helpful, informative sites. I'm about to Google "gothic scrapbook", just to see what that gets me. But, since I have a bunch of crafty-type people on my FL, I thought I'd whine about it here and see what help I get. ::grins::

(oldhalloween, metamorphmuse, trystbat, and alexiarnps, I'm especially looking in your direction ...)

Comments

[poetry-lady.livejournal.com]

I suggest you look for things on altered books instead. That would be more your sensibility, I think. I'm working on a couple of projects right now, and have bought one book on techniques. I'm thinking of making my scrapbooks more along the line of altered books as well.

I'd love to have a gathering where people get together and work on books. It's nice to have ideas from others.

altered_books has some pretty pictures.

[cupcake-goth.livejournal.com]

Ooooh. I hadn't even thought of that. That sounds MUCH more like what I would want.

Oooh, oooh, oooh. Thank you for telling me about this!

[bork.livejournal.com]

Try this: http://www.seedsofknowledge.com/scrapbooking.html

I got this when I googled 'Beginning scrapbooking'.

What might help: The activity of making a scrapbook is called 'scrapbooking' - like painting, writing, etc. That might help in your searches.

way too much on my 3rd fave. hobby

[trystbat.livejournal.com]

Internet is hard. Michaels is easy. At least when it comes to scrapbooking. The only thing to know before setting out is to get acid-free & lingin-free materials, if you want the scrapbook to last for ages. Then head off w/a full pocketbook, ready to be emptied. Start w/an album, lots to choose from, depends on what you want to do w/the scrapbook. Meaning, is this a one-time book that you won't add to? If so, then you can get a spiral bound or other fixed binding that you can't add pages to. But if you want it to be an on-going project, look for a post-hinge album or other kind you can take apart & add pages.

There are a jillion different types of pages to use too. I go for the basic black or white pages & use plastic slipcovers (makes it easy to leaf thru the book later w/out messing stuff up; I also put pockets on pages so I can put brochures & maps in & take them out later).

For sticking stuff on, I like double-sided tape, the spiffy narrow kind Michaels has. Glues are ok, but messy & take long to dry. Just make sure to get a pH neutral glue.

Um, what else? As you've found, there's a huge industry selling supplies. Lots of papers for backgrounds, matting, framing, etc. I'm a fan of pretty papers, & while I haven't found explicitly goth stuff, there's always "vintage" & "nostalgia" papers that work, plus basic dark colors. You can dress up pages w/die-cut shapes, stickers, buttons, rubber stamping, fabric, ribbons, punched shapes (I have a bat-shaped paper punch, nyah nyah!), fancy-edged scissors, blah blah blah. Just a matter of how much time/money you want to spend on it.

You can, of course, use non-scrapbook supplies, but for the book to last, make sure they're acid-free or mount them on the neutral buffering paper. There's also neutralizing sprays that are supposed to make papers archival.

As you can see, I'm happy to go on & on about this topic, so fire questions & comments my way. Pity we're not local to each other, then you could come over & raid my collection of tools & supplies ;-)

[marc17.livejournal.com]

You're were I was about a year ago. they have some black paper scrapbooks, but the oes I'm wanting are like 14" X 12" so I can easily put band flyers and stuff on one page with descriptions. I think I finally decided I'd have to make my own scrapbooks which would involve learning how to make books too. Just what I need, another hobby.

[cupcake-goth.livejournal.com]

I started searching for info on altered books, and wow. I think that's the route I'm going to take. If you want, I'll tell you about it when I start dabbling with them.

[marc17.livejournal.com]

I would love that.

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

I know how to make books. I know where to get paper. we can talk about it this weekend in person.

As far as the gothy scrapbook, ummm it's all about whatever you want it to be really. A book of fun, a book of memories, a book of ideas... we can talk about this too.

I've gotten about 3 pages. . .

[robespierrette.livejournal.com]

. . . into a scrapbook for Nora. I want to be able to give her something with her weird birth announcement, the creepy 3-D ultrsound, the picture of me white-water rafting while pregnant, etc. Basically, I have an album, and a big pile of stuff. It is kind of daunting.

The one tip I wanted to pass along was this: you can still get those cool, old-fashioned photo corners! They do come in black (or white, but I doubt that would go with your palette), and they're just a really classy way to attach small rectangular things in your book. . . And they help add that sense of "depth" to the page.