by: Caroline Smith

Scrapbook paper can be used in a number of different ways to add creative touches to your pages and enhance your photos. Displaying your photographs in scrapbook albums is a great way to preserve your treasured memories for posterity, and scrapbooks you've made yourself make wonderful keepsakes. To make sure your precious photographs are archived safely, it's important to use special scrapbooking paper and adhesives that are acid-free and lignin free, so they won't damage your pictures. There's a huge variety of different types of papers available these days, in all kinds of colors and patterns. Look out for free scrapbooking ideas online and in craft magazines to help inspire your creativity!

Scrapbook paper is most commonly sold in standard sizes of 12 x 12 or 8 x 8. As well as providing an attractive background for your photos, paper can be used to embellish your pages in many ways. For instance, torn or crumpled scraps of paper can be used to add texture and this is a very simple technique to use. Ready made kits of paper piecing patterns give you the option to add all sorts of images and shapes to help add meaning to you pictures and elaborate on the story they tell. Vellum paper has many uses. Because it is translucent, lots of scrappers like to use it to give their pictures a matte appearance. It can also be decorated and used as a stylish background.

If you've got a computer you may want to have a go at digital scrapbooking and print off your own designs onto your paper. If you've got a scanner, you could scan your chosen images and print them out to use as stylish backgrounds. You could use anything from a postcard to a map - use your imagination to see what you come up with! Think about what would fit in with the theme of your scrapbook, and reflect the characters of the people in the pictures. Of course, you can embellish your pages by hand if you prefer. Ideas range from using stickers or rubber stamps, to adding journaling or quotes.

Plain scrapbook paper can instantly be transformed with a bit of imagination and some artistic flair. Creating your own unique scrapbooks is a lot of fun and can become an addictive hobby!