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Pressing Leaves and Flowers
Make your own pressed item by placing it between
the pages of a heavy book. Use a folded paper
towel as a blotter to protect the book's pages
from moisture. Gently brush the item daily
with a natural paintbrush to help retain the
color.
Including Pressed Items in a Scrapbook
After the flower or leaf has been sufficiently
pressed, mount it onto a piece of heavy
cardstock, then slip it into an acid free
pocket. You can create a safe see-through
pocket by using vellum or sheet protectors. Just
trim to the desired size and adhere on three
sides with double-sided, clear tap.
Treasured Keepsake or Clutter? A Look at Memorabilia
by Christine Sutton
Handwritten
notes, children’s artwork, report cards,
ticket stubs . . . little tidbits of our
lives. What’s worth keeping? What should be
released? Only you can decide which items
hold most meaning and importance for you.As you decide which items to keep, we do offer a word of advice. Keep those items that truly stir your heart or capture important events, and allow yourself to release the rest. In her book, The Gift of the Sea, Anne Morrow Lindbergh compares our lives to the process of collecting seashells. Imagine that you are exploring the beach, gathering shells along the way. Each time you uncover a shell, you carefully consider its beauty and uniqueness. You decide whether or not it is worth keeping. By carefully choosing which shells to keep, you end up with a small collection of beautiful shells that bring you joy. If you had insisted on keeping every shell, then your beautiful shells would be lost in the mass of other shells.
The same can be said for your memorabilia. If you insist on keeping every item that is attached to a memory of an event or special person in your life, then you will soon be overwhelmed, and your truly precious keepsakes will be lost among the masses.
If you need more convincing, then just remember the major side benefit of purging. Your task of organizing your memorabilia will be so much easier!
Once you decide which items to keep, you can make the secondary decision on how to store or display the items. Whichever method you choose, you should be sure to protect your keepsakes from acid, lignin and PVC. Here's a quick explanation of these hazards:
- Acid: A chemical substance that can weaken paper and cloth, causing it to brown and become brittle.
- Lignin: An organic substance that is present in wood pulp. It becomes more and more acidic as it deteriorates. (The yellowing effect of a newspaper is an example of lignin.)
- PVC: (also known as polyvinyl chloride) A chemically active plastic that, when combined with moisture in the air can emit hydrochloric acid.
This may sound
complicated, but you don't need to worry
about remembering the details.
Just remember that acid, lignin and PVC will
damage photographs and memorabilia! For
ultimate protection of your precious
keepsakes, be sure that all of your storage
and display materials are acid-free,
lignin-free, and PVC free.
If you would like
to include your memorabilia in a scrapbook
album, you have several options:
- Test the item.
A
pH-testing pen will allow you to
determine the level of acidity in your
item. It might be acid-free, in which
case you can put it directly into your
album. pH pens are very simple to use;
most have a color and pH chart on the
outside of the pen. You simply mark your
item in an inconspicuous place and check
the color against the chart.
- Use a
de-acidification spray to remove the
acid from your items.
If you choose this method, then please
be aware that you may need to retreat
items after a length of time.
- Color photocopy your
memorabilia on to acid-free paper.
- Take photographs of
your child’s artwork.
You can
keep the reminder and get rid of the
bulk. By the way, this is a great way to
use up those last few pictures on a roll
of film.
- Use polypropylene
memorabilia pockets to safely
encapsulate and display small items such
as ticket stubs, hospital tags or locks
of hair.
- Create a pocket page in your scrapbook album to hold awards, greeting cards, report cards or children’s artwork. To do this you’ll need two pieces of acid-free cardstock sized to fit your album. Cut the top off of one piece so that it is three to four inches shorter than the other piece (leaving the width as is). Place acid-free adhesive on the bottom and the two sides and adhere the shorter piece directly on top of the full-size piece of cardstock. This will provide you with a pocket to hold your assorted memorabilia, and you can embellish the front of the pocket as you choose.
Be sure to use acid-free
adhesives when mounting memorabilia directly
onto your album pages. You can use
self-adhesive photo corners or a corner slot
punch for those items that you don’t want to
permanently mount.
To safeguard your precious keepsakes,
practice these “Don’ts”:
Do not use rubber cement, tape or glue,
which may contain acid and harmful chemicals
that will destroy your photos and
memorabilia.
Do not laminate memorabilia. Laminating with
common heat-sealing laminating machines
permanently traps dust and contaminants in a
closed environment. Laminating machines that
use heat subject your memorabilia to high
heat and strong pressure that can cause it
to age more quickly. And, laminating with a
heat-sealing laminating machine means that
the lamination is irreversible.
Never put newspaper directly into your
scrapbook albums. Newspaper is a cheap paper
that contains lignin. Have you ever noticed
how quickly a newspaper yellows especially
if it exposed to sunlight? The yellowing
effect is the result of lignin. Newspaper
also contains acid. Storing photographs and
memorabilia with newspaper creates a
damaging environment for your keepsakes, as
the acid will migrate from the newspaper.
If you do not want to create a scrapbook
album, you can still enjoy your items in the
future, by ensuring their safety with the
use of archival-quality storage supplies
such as: acid-free file folders, archival
boxes or polypropylene enclosures.
(Remember: All supplies for storing and
displaying photos or memorabilia should be
acid-free, lignin-free, and PVC free!)
If you’ve been feeling guilty because you
haven’t organized and protected your
family’s keepsakes, then take heart. This
accomplishment pales in comparison to the
significance of the journey you embark on
each day -- creating joyful memories with
the people you cherish most in your life.