No-frills scrapbooking focuses on the photo

Debbie Preece knows that preserving memories is just as important as experiencing those past events. As a consultant for Creative Memories, Preece is teaching others how to make those photos and the past they depict last for generations. “Scrapbooking in general doesn’t quite cut what we do,” says Preece, who will soon teach several classes on the topic. “The photo is what is important,” Preece adds. “Our idea is simple and fast. We don’t promote all the grommets or lace. [And] just because your kids played in the snow once, doesn’t mean it warrants three pages.” Preece, who has been a consultant for nearly four years, conducts workshops on how to use power layouts, photo layouts, journals and enhancements to preserve the past. Her home office is filled with mementos, journals and scrapbooks that she has arranged for members of her family. Where once she had her film developed in triplicate to ensure that she had plenty of photos to work with, she now has now gone digital which, she admits, has proved to be both a blessing and a curse. On the plus side, she says, “with digital photos, we’re taking more [shots] because we don’t have to print them all, and you can select the ones you really want to print.” The downside, Preece adds, is that preservation of those computerized images becomes an issue when a computer crashes or reformats and accessibility to those photos changes. In Preece’s workshops, students are asked to find or print out photos of a specific event, vacation or person that they would like to place in an album. She then helps them to design scrapbooking pages, along with journal information to tell the story behind the photos. But whatever format or scrapbooking products people may use, Preece emphasizes the importance of using archival-safe materials to preserve them. She has seen many older photos lose their color and fade because of the acid used in some materials. “The creativity is incredible” with some scrapbooking ideas, she says. “But make sure that you find quality, because if you’re going to go to all that work, you don’t want it to fail.” Preece also urges people to record information about photos as soon as possible after the event. When left too long, she explains, memories of who was in the photo can fade right along with the image. She recalls a visit she had with her mother before her passing 18 months ago. As they looked through family photos together, Preece learned that her mother could not remember who was in many of the shots. That fact, combined with Preece’s own personal philosophy, serves as motivation to help others preserve their heritage. “It’s history and people want to look at [their photos] and to tell their stories,” she says. “Everything that happens to us tells people that we lived and what we did with our lives. The story behind the photo [is what really matters]. We need to explain what happened . . . Photos should help you recall those memories.” http://www.sltrib.com/davis/ci_4300954