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saturday jan io 2004 19 the economist sunsuntribune diversions stuck on memories scrapbooks preserve life enthusiasts say by sim one joseph staff writer for karen lochhead mak ing scrapbooks is about more than just gluing photographs on a page its about preserving life the woodbridge resident fell in love with making scrapbooks about 212 years ago when a friend asked if she could use ms lochheads home to host a scrap- book making party when her friend demonstrated the scrap- book stickers paper and other tools ms lochhead was hooked i thought what a practical creative hobby youre creating such a treasure for your family she is making a tribute album of her motherinlaw who died in december 2002 she gathered aunts and uncles at her home last spring and asked them to bring photographs of her motherinlaw or situations that remind them of her she plans to complete an album about her motherinlaws life and children but ms lochhead has seen many people including her par ents lose their precious tangible memories because they collect tons of photographs and albums but do not document or organize them its just a bunch of photos in a box it could belong to anybody everyone makes the effort to take photos or videos and do what with it throw it in a draw er making scrapbooks is a method of trying to preserve our life richmond hill resident sue farguson finds scrapbooking tremendously rewarding about five years ago she decided to organize a big box of photographs and memorabilia from the bot tom of her mothers closet she was amazed by the treas ures she found in that old box including her fathers bank book from the 1920s showing a deposit of a few pennies because that was all he could afford to invest and her great grandfa thers rent receipt book from 1908 staff photomike barrett karen lochhead of woodbridge displays some of her scrapping proj ects that showed 750 paid per month for a cottage i dont think there are many people that can show you their greatgrandfathers handwriting im so glad those pictures wont end up in a garbage somewhere she said ms farguson is now a scrap- book consultant among the bur geoning number of professionals who help preserve other peoples memories a news release out of lodi california demonstrates the popularity of the scrapbook mak ing trend a company called gotta crop wwwgottacropcom organizes weekend scrapbook making get aways at resort hotels complete with supplies prizes and even a massage therapist for weary scrapbook creators ms farguson has seen the increasing popularity of scrap- book making firsthand when she began as a photo para medic six years ago she led one class a month today she leads between four and six classes a month and said the number of students has tripled since she started in workshops and classes she teaches people how to crop pho tographs and how to lay out pic- i tures and additions on a page amateur scrapbook producers can make major mistakes she said for example failing to use photosafe material such as acid see scrapbooks page 20 getting started gather all of your photographs and memorabilia in one place this does not just mean photographs but also wed ding invitations birth announcements play bills ticket stubs and boarding passes decide how you would like to sort your pictures will you display them in chronological order by family member event trip get rid of the duplicates pick the best picture and put the rest into an enve lope to give to someone else there are three properties to look for in a photosafe album first make sure it is acidfree of course there are degrees of acid free just like there are degrees of low fat acid in your album will accelerate the deterioration of your colour photographs you want an album that is ligninfree ugnin is found in any type of vegetation and unless it is removed it will accelerate the deteriora tion of your colour photos andcause white pages to turn yellow the last property to look for is buffered pages just like buffered aspirin they have a coating on them this allovvs you to put a greeting card with acid in it on a page and the acid will not migrate to the other side when you put ticket stubs programs and other memorabilia into your album make sure to put them into a photosafe mounting sleeve if you are putting photos on the same page this will isolate the acid in that paper crop your photos cutting out the stray elbows or distracting backgrounds just keep in mind not to crop anything of historical reference such as that old hobby horse bell bottom pants or a car that will tellsomething about that time period do not crop polaroid photos either they have active chemicals that could harm your skin or eyes if you cut intqthem make a colour copy on good y quality photo paper and crop that copy jmount your photos with acidfree adhesives ifycu are using paper as a r colour or pattern accent in your album make sure it is acidfree too the second most important part of youralbumn nailing the who what when and where of your photos what would you say about each picture or event if you were explaining it tosonieorie if you cah be sure to use your own handwrit- -l- ing as much as possible tips courtesy creative memories con sotent sue ferguson evelyn wolf dirty knees restoring holiday flower labour of love qi saved my christmas poinsettia from last year and while it is strong and liealthy it doesnt have any- blooms what did i do wrong a while you can give your poinsettia a new life as a foliage shrub for the sum- jl jk0 mer garden frankly getting it to bloom again for another christmas is not worth the trouble closet darkness black plastic bags daily doses of an exact amount of light for an exact amount of weeks high tem peratures followed by cool tempera tures fertilizing repotting special prun ing magic wands eye of newt etc getting a poinsettia to bloom again isnt as simple as with other types of plants since the huge scarlet heads are not actually flowers but bracts coloured modified leaves that surround the tiny cluster of budlike flowers in the centre of the rosette of red leaves another example of natures won drous diversity poinsettia is a large shrub native t6- the sunny ravines and hillsides of mexico commercial growers use a wide assortment of special treatments to adjust bloom time keep them compact produce larger blooms than would nat urally occur and in recent years pro duce them in white pink spotted etc poinsertias as we knowthem are vir tually a manmade plant that bears little resemblance to the plant as it appears in the wild see poinsettia page 20 -ci- york regions you s youui newsp spaper ijii t s show nbax vrzz jslm pan now 4v4 tmtfc york rcaior ryflfl ichoo i- wwwoneeightyca for advertising call bryce mcgregor at 9052942200