Hi Everyone ~
Happy Monday!
As you all know May is National Scrapbook Month. All this month I will be talking about Scrapbooking. I will be posting for you tips, techniques, ideas, & more that have to do with Scrapbooking.
Remember in the posts below I let you know about Stampin' Up!'s Scrapbook Promotion along with my May Promotion for booking a workshop.
I am sure you will want to take advantage of those.
Scrapbooking TIDBIT # 1 ~
Let's start at the beginning:
Where are your family photos?
If your pictures are in old adhesive photo albums (and some of mine where) - you should remove them as soon as you can.
Many of you may be using these magnetic photo albums. These albums came out about 25 to 30 years ago. Conservators have discovered that the glue used in those albums had a very high acidic content which can eat through the backs of the photographs.
These albums can even cause deterioration to the image side of your photos. They are very bad for your photos.
If you do own one or more of these albums full of your precious family pictures then you need to do something now to try and prevent further deterioration.
WHAT TO DO ~
Begin by gently trying to peal up the corner of the photos. So slow and be gentle - you don't want to ruin your photo. If it does not come off easily - STOP. You don't want to ruin your photos.
Instead try one of these tips ~
1. Dental floss can work wonders. Use a piece of UNWAXED dental floss and run it between the picture and the album page. Do a gentle sawing motion.
2. Un-du, a product commonly used by scrapbookers. It is an adhesive remover that may help safely remove the photos. Any local craft store will carry this. Be careful not to get it on the photo images themselves ~ just the backs.
3. Try putting your album in the freezer for a few minutes. This can make the glue brittle which may make it easier to remove your photos. DO NOT LEAVE in the freezer more than a few minutes. If you do this may cause condensation to build up on the photos as the album comes back to room temperature.
4. Some photo experts will recommend using the microwave to try to loosen the adhesive. Place only a page in at a time and only turn it on for 5 seconds. NO MORE. wait five to ten seconds and then turn it on for another 5 seconds. Then check to see if it loosened. If not put in for another 5 seconds. DO NOT try to hurry this process. ONLY DO 5 SECONDS at a time. You can even try using the dental floss now to see if the glue is soft enough and the photo lifts off.
5. Sliding a thin metal spatula gently under the edge of your photo and then use a hair dryer to heat the spatula as you slide it slowly under the photo. This may heat the glue enough to help you remove your photos. Don't aim the blowdryer directly at your photo itself.
IF your photos still don't come off easily - DO NOT FORCE THEM>
You can take the pages to a self help photo kiosks place and make copies of the photos right from the pages.
You can also have a photo shop make negatives from the photos - but this might be a little expensive.
To prevent further deterioration, remove the Mylar or plastic sleeves and insert pieces of acid free tissue paper between the pages. This will keep the photos from touching each other or the remaining glue.
ALSO NOTE: some of these ideas may damage any writing on the back of your photos. PLEASE BE CAREFUL.
Once you successfully remove your photos it's time to start scrapbooking!
I was successful removing my photos from these albums by gently pulling them off and where some were more stubborn I had to use Dental Floss. This worked great for me.
I hope this helped you out and gets you thinking about preserving your FAMILY MEMORIES.
If you have any questions - EMAIL ME at
[email protected]
Happy Scrapping ~
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