The Imperfect Community

[Petulant Pixie]

OK, what I've been doing is just those paper page scrapbooks. I have one for each kid and have just taped stuff on the pages, or stuck things in-between the pages. I got one for Liz today and was sticking ultrasound pictures in it. Then I looked through Alex's and some of his u/s photos look "burnt", there are like white lines going through some of the pictures from the stuff on the opposite pages.

My plan was, when I was a daytime empty nester (ie when Katie started school), I would actually look into quality supplies and re-do the scrap books. But, now that won't be for another six years, and Alex's at least can't wait!

What sort of stuff should I be buying, how can I preserve these things better???

[honeybee]

you say you've been taping stuff to the pages? What sort of tape are you using? Please don't say regular 'ol Scotch stuff!

Regular adhesives are acidic and will eat away at fibers and photos. If you are going to continue taping you need to get acid-free tape. The package will clearly have it labeled as such.

Also, are you sure the paper page books you have are archivally sound? They should be labeled as being acid and lignin free, and buffered aswell -- but definitly AFLF.

How damaged is Alex's book? If you've been using regular tape -- get it off the stuff ASAP. There are special erasers you can get that will rub off the adhesive to stop further corrosion.

If there are things that are looking pretty bad and might not be salvagable, I'd start getting things reproduced -- scan and reprint using acid free/LF/buffered paper.

Go to Michaels or JoAnne's -- there are a plethora of safe adhesives you can use, along with other productst that will keep the stuff safe & sound.

[DietCokeHead]

I have heard that u/s pics deteriorate with time no matter how you store them... something about how they are made? Anyone know what I am talking about?

[prescott]

Ultrasound pics are (were?) printed on thermal paper, like old school fax machines. That type of paper certainly isn't archival quality, that's for sure, and I know from experience thermal yellows/browns fairly quickly.

Do you have a scanner? I would do a high res scan of them and have the scans inkjet printed on quality photo paper. Go to an independent photo processing place (i.e., not Walmart), I'm sure they have an archival quality paper they use. And the u/s pics are usually so small, you can probably arrange them into one 8x10.

JM2C.

wow, look at me, posting in the scrapbooking thread -- whee!

[TheBean]

[TheBean]

Yeah, the u/s pictures won't last because of the paper they are printed on. Scan or take a digital picture of them and reprint them.

You know - my mother's wedding album has photos with tape on them. They are a little yellowed where the tape is - but they are fine. I know the big thing is acid free- and frankly EVERYTHING at Walmarts/hobby stores related to scrapping IS acid free now.

So...you have a scrapbook for Lizzie???????????????? What size is it? Can you add pages to it?

[honeybee]

[prescott]

Hmmm, that's interesting... there are specialized negative scanners that would probably be able to do it...

Look in the phone book for a mom & pop photo place -- if they're anything like the ones by me, they're staffed by uber photography geeks, they are sure to be able to point you in the right direction.

[Petulant Pixie]

Eileen, I don't "scrapbook" in the common use of the word, lol. I have A scrapbook for Liz. It's like the ones I have for Alex and Katie, it has a hard cover, and inside are just blank paper pages that you tape things to. For all three kids, the first few pages have the ultrasound pictures taped (yup, Scotch!) on them, then with A&K, the next few pages have thier hospital ID bracelets, and other stuff from the hospital taped to them. Then they have their baptism stuff slapped on the following pages--cards, certificates and the like. Then the rest of the pages have stuff just stuck in the pages--notable art work, tickets from trips we've taken, report cards, school pictures, stuff like that. They're not secured, they're just stuck in between the pages. So a real "scrapbook page" would go totally unappreciated in this house, lol, it would just be slapped between the pages of my unruly scrapbooks now.

I did figure that eventually I was going to have to upgrade. Maybe sooner than later. Most of the books I was looking at have the plastic pockets. Where I guess you "do a page" and then slip it into the plastic sleeve? I could deal with that. Use the acid free tape and still just slap things on willy-nilly and stick it in the sleeve. I didn't know whether those would be better or worse for the u/s pictures though.

I don't have a scanner. I will have to find one. I don't know if dh has access to a scanner at work, either. I know he used to at one of his previous jobs. I've tried taking digital photos of the ultrasounds and they don't turn out for me, lol. But, scanning and then having them printed on regular photo paper sounds like the best idea. So far, only two of the Alex ones are damaged. I will have to hurry to get them re-printed so no further damage happens. Then I guess I will get those new-fangled scrapbooks and try to work on that this summer.

I don't really ever see myself getting into the picture-cutting, sticker-applying type of scrap-booking. That just isn't me. I prefer the semi-chaotic organizational technique I've been using, where there are pages kind of sticking out and the whole thing is kind of messy, for the one going through it to sort through. Plus, I'm keeping these for the kids. So, (just my opinion!) I think it would be cool for them to go through these things later and have the stuff pretty un-touched, you know? Cutting, pasting, stickering and otherwise making it MINE sort of seems a violation of thier memories. My photo albums, I do with what I want. But, this is their stuff, thier memories, and I like it to be "untainted" by my ideas, lol.

[DietCokeHead]

My mom kept all our pics unorganized in a big expanding file for each of us and then gave them to us when we graduated from college to do with what we wished. I had a lot of fun putting them in a scrapbook. I think my creatively challenged brother keeps his in a cardboard box someplace though.... Most of the pics didnt have any info on the back which would have helped me organize them better. So, maybe you would want to write the date and whatever quick memory you have about that picture down before you get too old and it's all a blur

[Petulant Pixie]

Well, the photo albums are very well organized. They're all dated and in order and everything. But, those are different than the scrap books.

[TheBean]