Greenhaven: A Pagan Tradition

  • Home
    • About Us >
      • Highlights: Greenhaven in Brief
      • Floodlights: Greenhaven in Depth
      • Our Facilities
      • Words To Live By
    • Our Voices >
      • Activities in a Nutshell
      • The Heart and Soul of Greenhaven
      • Memories of Samhain 2004
      • Janet's Wild Ride: First Esbat
  • Activities
    • Classes >
      • Year-and-a-Day Class
      • Stone Magic Class >
        • Lesson 1: Introduction to Stone Magic
        • Lesson 2: Stone Magic Applications
        • Lesson 3: Shapes and Settings
        • Lesson 4: The Symbolism of Stones
        • Lesson 5: Metals and Their Meanings
        • Lesson 6: Acquiring Magical Artifacts
        • Lesson 7: A Guide to Magical Stones
    • Cooking Feasts >
      • How to Host a Potluck Feast
      • Litha Recipes
      • Lammas Recipes
      • Mabon Recipes
      • Samhain Recipes
      • Yule Recipes
      • Imbolc Recipes
      • Ostara Recipes
      • Beltane Recipes
    • Crafts >
      • PVC Drum-making Workshop
      • Scrapbook of Shadows >
        • Part 1: Introduction to Scrapbooking
        • Part 2: What Is a Scrapbook?
        • Part 3: Why Are Scrapbooks Important?
        • Part 4: Tools and Supplies
        • Part 5: Scrapbook Planning
        • Part 6: Scrapbook Creation
        • Part 7: Glossary
        • Part 8: Recommended Resources
    • Esbats >
      • Esbat Rituals
    • Sabbats >
      • Litha
      • Lammas
      • Mabon
      • Samhain
      • Yule
      • Imbolc
      • Ostara
      • Beltane
  • Resources
    • Links
    • Recommended Reading Lists
  • Sitemap
  • Writing
    • Composing Magic >
      • Discussion Questions
      • Reviews of CM
      • Table of Contents
      • Worksheets
    • Essays & Articles >
      • All Hail Hypatia
      • Concepts of Evil
      • Cyberspace as an Out of Body Experience
      • Erishkegal: Goddess of Thankless Tasks
      • Expecting the Best in Pagan Leadership
      • Guides for the Urban Pagan
      • How to Deal with Magic Interfering inTechnology
      • How to Start a Pagan Club
      • Magic in Animated Movies
      • Magical Safety & Skill Development
      • Monotheism vs. Polytheism in Contemporary Paganism
      • The Pagan Vocation
      • Secrets of the Inner Circle
      • Totems, History, and Evolutionary Complexity
      • Witches, Fire, and Other Dangerous Things
    • Poetry >
      • Air Beyond Breath
      • And He Is the Moon Too
      • The Balance of the Wheel
      • Before Their Time
      • Beltane Faery Drum Jam
      • The Breath of Spring
      • Brigid's Braid
      • Bringing Beltane
      • Cornerstones
      • Craftwise
      • Dancing with Stones
      • Dragon Mother
      • The Dreamgod
      • The Eye of Mímisbrunnr
      • Firewheel
      • The God of the Waning Year
      • The Grain of the Gods
      • Her name
      • Invocation to Agayu
      • Invocation to the Sun in Glory
      • A Mother's Prayer
      • My Lover, Boreas
      • Red Moon Rising
      • The Rite Way
      • The Shells That Speak
      • Song of the Seasons
      • The Spring-Fed Spirit
      • Staff of Sun and Wand of Song
      • Summoning for the Feast of Ancestors
      • Vacillations
      • The Waters of Hades
      • What the Bards' Songs Say
      • a Witch's garden
      • With Every Fine and Subtle Sense Perceive
  • Havenspeak
  • Sample
 

Part 2: What Is a Scrapbook?

Picture
A scrapbook is a binder whose pages contain some combination of photographs, text, embellishments, and other memorabilia.  Pages may be made from bare paper, cardstock, or other materials.  Often the materials are held inside clear page protectors.  The combination of images and written commentary, and the presence of additional decorations, distinguish a scrapbook from an ordinary photo album.

The two main physical aspects of a scrapbook are 1) size and 2) binding.  The most popular size of scrapbook album is 12 x 12”; however, 8½ x 11” has its fervent fans.  Smaller sizes like 5 x 8” are popular for gift albums as well.  Scrappers who like 8½ x 11” albums say the supplies and albums are cheaper, though some stores are now phasing out the smaller size paper. Computer journaling can easily be done directly on the standard size paper, and most scanners are 8½ x 11” so these pages are more easily shared online.

I prefer 8½ x 11” for scrapbooking my poetry.  Michelle Benedicta uses 12 x 12” albums because she prefers the larger, square page for its design possibilities.  She scraps mostly memorabilia, much of which is 8½ x 11” already, and the larger size provides a larger canvas on which to mount those items. 12 x 12” pages also hold more photos, so more photos can fit into a single album. Also, sometimes it’s easier to stare at a blank page waiting for inspiration if it’s a smaller size.  Choosing simply comes down to personal preference and intended purpose.

As for binding, there are post-bound, wire-bound, three-ring, strap style, and book binding.  Again, each has its pros and cons. Wire-bound albums are great for finite topics (such as a trip) or for gifts. But they don’t allow you to move pages around or to easily take pages out if you’d like to scan them. Ring albums using top-loading page protectors offer perhaps the greatest flexibility, but to some people they feel too similar to school notebooks.  Side-loading page protectors are also available.  Many people say the strap style albums are the sturdiest and the most protective of your items.  Strap and post albums usually offer the most ornate covers, too.

Michelle Benedicta uses wire-bound albums because she likes how the book lies flat when opened.  More than once, though, she has wished she could rearrange the pages. Because she scraps memorabilia such as invitations, cards, and brochures, she doesn’t use page protectors.  She wants people to be able to open the cards and read the contents.

Conversely, I prefer three-ring binders filled with page protectors.  They are much cheaper than specialty scrapbook albums, usually less than $5 (compared to $20 or more for an album).  They’re also easy to use; the strap and post style albums can be pesky when you want to add or move pages.  Often I buy presentation binders with clear sleeves to hold cover and spine inserts.  Other times I have found fancy binders intended for use as photograph albums.  So you can see how different choices work for different people.



Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photo used under Creative Commons from ChooseKristen