DON'T:

• Use ball point or felt pens on your pages - they'll bleed and fade
• Crop polaroids - the chemicals will ruin your page (and possibly your health!). Mount them intact and on top of a mat or in a mounting sleeve
• Mount any paper or stickers that aren't acid free directly to your page - mount them on proper mounting paper first, or put them in archival quality mounting sleeves
• Mount your ultrasound pictures - mount copies. The films can darken over time and become very hard to see
• Write on the back of your photos with ball point pens or felt pens. The ink can bleed over other photos or leave indentations.
• Keep your unused stickers for too long - over time they will break down and become difficult to remove from their sheets or may not stick to paper very well.
• Use regular tape for mounting photos as it will harm your photos and yellow over time
• Store your albums flat - keep them upright and in a relatively low-humidity environment
• Forget to put your name on your tools before heading off to a crop night (I've lost a couple of punches that way..)

DO:

• Use only archival quality writing implements on your pages
• Only use archival quality, acid and lignin free paper and stickers
• Copy newspaper articles on to acid and lignin free paper before mounting
• Store your writing implements flat, rather than upright
• Crop your photos to focus on the key element
• Try wetting Mulberry paper with a paint brush before tearing for a better effect
• Use decorative scissors to create unique mounting mats
• When your punches get dull, punch out a few using tinfoil
• Use index prints to create a collage effect
• Journal Journal Journal!
• If you don't have enough pictures for a page, create a large journaling area and fill in the blanks with words instead
• Use postcards to make up for the vacation shots you missed
• Be careful with laminated items - the materials may not be acid free
• Use a hair dryer to remove photos from a magnetic album - the heat will loosen the adhesive
• Use glue dots to attach heavier or bulky items, like buttons, to your scrapbook pages

Did You Know?

• Creative Memories sticker pack envelopes are scrapbook safe and can be used as mounting sleeves in your albums?
• It's easier to cut vellum with a 12 inch cutter starting from the middle than the edges? You're less likely to tear it that way
• You can make your own stickers using a Xyron machine? I love mine - see them here

Want more tips and ideas? Visit my blog, Scrapbooks Galore. Or, better yet, Subscribe to it and never miss a post!