Archive for November, 2009

Whatever time of year and whatever holiday you may be celebrating, there’s a reason to make a scrapbook to honor it. The motive behind holiday scrapbooking ideas is the simple fact that time slips away quickly and memories, the priceless stuff that life is made of, are elusive. To capture them for future generations, decide on holiday scrapbooking ideas for all the holidays of the year, but perhaps one scrapbook per year, if you will, insuring thought and consummate effort into your final holiday scrapbooking ideas. Here are some thoughts about how to go about this seemingly monumental task, which like most things in life is accomplished one step at a time.

Write down your thoughts in a holiday scrapbooking ideas journal before you begin. Include some of the following: feelings, plans, hopes and dreams for the holidays. Collect material for your holiday scrapbooking ideas that reflect the ideas expressed in these notes. Use journaling as a tool to document your photos.

Write down as much information as possible about the photos and ephemera you have chosen for your holiday scrapbooking ideas. This could include when and what time of day it was taken, the location, the occasion and of course, who is in the photo. Even though these details may not seem that important, for the future generation, for those who weren’t there when the photos were taken, this is all priceless anecdotal information. Record it for always and incorporate it all into your holiday scrapbooking ideas. Journaling also helps to tell the story of the holiday you are commemorating, no matter which it may be.Personalizing your holiday scrapbooking ideas.

This will greatly depend on the type of scrapbooking paper and pattern you select. There are a myriad of choices available on the market today, so pick those designs for your holiday scrapbooking ideas that best suit you and your family’s collective personality. Paper patterns can also serve as a subtle backdrop to your holiday scrapbooking ideas. Remember that the photos are the main attraction, and you will need something to complement but not overshadow their impact. Anything goes, however, so let your imagination go as wild as it dare to express your holiday scrapbooking ideas. Most important of all, make the choice that reflects your own unique holiday scrapbooking ideas. Holiday mementos for every holiday under the sun.

These run the gamut of all the holidays themselves, ranging from Christmas cards and holiday poems to colored pictures drawn by children, or cards with holiday sayings that match the unique theme of your holiday scrapbooking ideas. Special holiday stickers can also enhance your theme, but don’t go overboard with them while expressing your holiday scrapbook ideas. Stickers are very versatile and can be stitched, painted, embossed or glitterized!Include the whole family in the project.

A family rather than an individual within a family celebrates a holiday, even though some holidays are more family-oriented than others. Encourage everyone in your family to gather items and photos that mean something specifically to them. Figure out where and how these images will fit into your holiday scrapbook ideas later. Each family member should have a page in your holiday scrapbook if it is at all possible. Never lose sight of why you are creating your holiday scrapbooking ideas.

The motive is to have fun and commemorate those special moments that keep us all alive and smiling. Remember too, that if you instill a tradition of exploring your holiday scrapbooking ideas with your children, the chances are that they will also do it with their own children when the time comes.

Organize, organize and then organize some more of your holiday scrapbooking ideas. You might want to keep your scrapping and craft supplies in either glass or plastic containers, which work well because contents can easily be seen from any location on a shelf. Don’t be intimidated by misconceptions about holiday scrapbooking ideas.

Many people would have thought at one time that holiday scrapbooks and the like are for the more artistically inclined among us. Nothing could be further from the truth and with all the advancements of digital scrapbooking, it couldn’t be any easier than it is; simply upload the photos of your choice, crop them, add embellishments with software and then print them all out to express your holiday scrapbooking ideas.

Another misconception about expressing your holiday scrapbooking ideas concerns the amount of time involved. Many think it is too time consuming. Limit your ideal to capturing a moment and feeling in time and nothing more, and you can finish your holiday scrapbooking ideas in far less time that you might have imagined. Do not feel that everything must b done in chronological order.

This is one tip that will save you a lot of time. If you are stuck or bored with one section, move on to another more passionate one because inspiration shows in the end.

Whatever you do, enjoy the holidays that comprise your life. They represent the best of our experiences and as such, should be savored, like a glass of the finest wine.

How can you give a gift that will go on giving long after it is unwrapped, lauded and put away? If you are considering making a personal scrapbook for some of the special people on your list, check out some of these Christmas scrapbooking ideas listed below. (You may have to concentrate on a few people if you are pressed for time. Next year, you can do the people you missed this time around.) It’s no small job, and will require planning on your part, but when you are finished, your Christmas scrapbooking idea is sure to be the talk of all the family this holiday season.

Think of yourself as the FBI and that maniac, J. Edgar Hoover. Keep secret files (photos, etc.) just like he did on everyone who is the subject of your Christmas scrapbook idea. Only work when inspired. It will show otherwise. Gather photos and ephemera enthusiastically. Use only those items that make you laugh, cry or seriously reflect on that person, or you with that person, or something along those lines. Sort the wheat from the chaff (but not necessarily in that order). If you are ambivalent about including pieces in your Christmas scrapbooking ideas, they probably don’t belong.

Decide on the type of scrapbook you want to make. Here are some thoughts on that.

• If you want a recipe album, concentrate on a few recipes that are especially meaningful to the subject of your Christmas scrapbooking idea. Follow the course of history for the particular family member as connected to that recipe or recipes (photos eating, making, transporting, enjoying, etc). Considering the levity of the occasion, focus on desserts for your Christmas scrapbooking ideas, if you can.

• Christmas scrapbooking ideas for young children

ABC scrapbooks are the perfect Christmas scrapbooking ideas for kids and they are very easy to make. Devote each page of your Christmas scrapbook idea to one letter of the alphabet. Use photos and other ephemera to illustrate each letter in a personal way. For example, A is for Aunt Betty, etc.

• Teachers appreciate homemade gifts from students. For your Christmas scrapbooking idea, consider helping your child make an album for a special teacher on your gift list. If you really are organized and start early enough in developing your Christmas scrapbook idea, you might even be able to coordinate a “group gift” by sending each child in the class a page to make for your Christmas scrapbooking idea.

•Teenagers and pre-teens are a more difficult group per se, as their ideas are constantly changing with the different fads and trends. Two weeks from now an adored rock star may well be a thing of the past, and thus, developing Christmas scrapbooking ideas for this age group can be a challenging venture. Consider a “friends” scrapbook for your Christmas scrapbooking idea with pre-made pages for photos, addresses, phone numbers, email (and MySpace) addresses for each special friend.

• One simple Christmas scrapbooking idea for grandparents should involve photos. Try to get everyone in the family involved. For different grandparents, you can duplicate pages to make multiple scrapbooks.

• Special, unexpected touches to your Christmas scrapbooking ideas can include the kind of trappings you use to decorate your unique Christmas scrapbooks. Save pieces of wrapping paper to use for the picture backgrounds of your Christmas scrapbooking ideas. Use the ribbons from your Christmas gifts for decoration by tying bits and pieces along the spine of your Christmas scrapbooking ideas. Have the children write letters to Santa and save, scan or reduce them for use as embellishments for your holiday pages.

• If you are really strapped for time like so many of us are but are determined to execute your homemade Christmas scrapbooking idea nonetheless, consider purchasing some of the many bound hard cover digital photo books that are available on photo Websites. You can still be the captain of the desired design with your own digital photos, albeit online. This Christmas scrapbooking idea can be very cost-effective and you can order multiple copies for several people on your Christmas scrapbooking idea list.

• Finishing touches for your Christmas scrapbooking idea can include a last section that includes your thoughts, feelings, plans and hopes for the years to come.

Start working on your Christmas scrapbooking ideas now while there’s still a bit of time. A rush job always shows and if you organize yourself, you can get these Christmas scrapbooking ideas completed in plenty of time for Christmas. Celebrate your memories and give them a way to live again and again. They are the gifts that last.

I hope that the following article will help you to better understand this topic. Variety of ideas and tips for scrapbooks that will improve your scrapbook creation

Many wander What is scrapbooking? Scrapbooking is one of the methods for the saving of memory in the form of information. This data is in the form of photos, pictures, text, stickers etc. Scrapbooking involves pile of your creativity. Scrapbooking is not just in essence a note-book but it is also a preservation of all the movements that precious to you and much more…

Here is an ideas and tips for scrapbooks The first thing the user should remember in mind is that the scrapbook is a replication of your self. The person should put all his / her creative thinking skills. Its important that a person before creating a scrapbook should keep in mind about the size, the number of pages, the quantity of materials to be needed and the tangible aspects for devising a perfect a perfective scrapbook.

If scrapbook is looked as a spare-time activity the exploiter of a book can put more creative thinking in devising the scrapbook. Color combinations plays a necessary function in the over all look. If color combinations are not proper the scrapbook looks ratty and untidy. The proper colours which match your scrap book should be used. By Modesty enhancing the quality of scrapbooks will help the scrapbooks to be more sparkly and adds a touch off to your scrapbook.

Another think is the use of proper borders that is also one of the most significant aspects for the formation of an attractive scrapbook. Borders can be made attractive with the help of materials like stickers, stamps or even stencils. The main photos in the scrapbooks should be highlighted or decorated with dissimilar color pencils or multi-colored pencils. There should be two borders made in the scrapbook one should be thin while the other should be a bit wider than the other.

It should be kept in mind that the borders play a critical function in the scrapbook, the borders helps to add spark in your scrapbook. The photos in the scrapbook should be located in a proper order. The order of photos plays an crucial function in one’s scrapbook. The order should be a such that it should be gratifying to the eyes. Proper flow of the photos makes the scrapbook more realistic and easy to follow. The related accents should be located in good order this will help to add a special impression to your scrapbooks.

Photos and stickers should be pasted in the form of triangles this will make the scrapbook more pleasing. The scrapbooks should be divided in multiple-sessions this will enhance the looks of your scrap book. The principal of “Rule of Thirds” should be kept in mind while the establishment of the scrapbook. This will help to raise the caliber of your scrapbook.

For a better attractive lineament in the scrapbook the stickers or the stamps used should be repeated. Sketching of the significant photos should be done this will help to improve the looks of the scrapbook. The scrapbooks is classified in the form of three or five accents.

Thank you for taking the time to read my article it is greatly appreciated. Try searching through my other articles.

Beginner scrapbookers have many resources available to learn how to scrapbook. Scrapbooking is one of the fastest growing hobbies, and options for learning this craft come in many different places. Before considering which method is best for you, consider your time and money commitment, as well as, your goals for scrapbooking.
Are you just looking to make attractive pages for your family to enjoy and preserve your photographs and memories? Maybe you want to learn scrapbooking for a new hobby you can share with others. Scrapbooking can be as simple or as complex as you want to make it.
Your local craft store is a great resource to learn beginner scrapbooking. Some craft stores specialize in scrapbooking, and their staff can help you choose basic tools and supplies to get you started. Many of these stores offer classes on the latest techniques. These classes often allow you to try out new tools and see how others approach their scrapbook pages. You might also take a project class that allows you to complete an entire album.
Scrapbooking classes vary in cost, but most are quite reasonable. They usually provide all the tools and materials necessary, which make them a great way to try out this hobby with little financial investment. You will need to bring several photographs to use on your page layouts. Teachers are experienced and enthusiastic. They are trained to teach all levels of scrapbooking techniques and can answer any questions you might have about this hobby to help you decide if scrapbooking is right for you. Don’t be surprised if you see more experienced scrapbookers in these classes. Some people will take them just for the social aspect of the class and for new ideas on how to use basic techniques more effectively.
To find a class in your area, check with the large craft stores, as well as your local scrapbooking stores. Most offer classes with convenient schedules, and many offer classes that can be started any time.
Another option is to learn beginner scrapbooking in your own home. Direct sales companies, like Creative Memories and Close to My Heart, have consultants that will come to your home and give a class on basic scrapbooking. Much like a Tupperware party, you invite your friends to your home for a lesson. The consultant will teach the basic philosophy behind scrapbooking, as well as, how to choose supplies and tools, and how to design a simple page. You and your friends will usually make a 2-page layout with materials supplied by the consultant and photos you bring from home. Consultants may or may not charge for the lesson. This usually depends on the cost of the supplies used for the pages. The lesson usually ends with an opportunity to purchase that company’s products.
Scrapbooking magazines are full of information on basic techniques and beginner tips. In the United States, most bookstores sell a variety of scrapbooking magazines. The most popular magazines are Creating Keepsakes, Simple Scrapbooks, Memory Makers and Scrapbooks, Etc. Buy a single issue of each magazine first. Each has a slightly different slant on scrapbooking. For example, Simple Scrapbooks focuses on quick, easy pages. Once you find one that seems to match your style, buy the annual subscription which is always more cost effective than buying single newsstand copies.
Many craft stores offer crop nights that can be another way to learn scrapbooking. Crops bring together groups of scrapbookers to work on their pages together. Basically, they are scrapbooking parties. The store will often charge a nominal fee and provide refreshments for the evening. Many will allow you to use their tools during the crop, as well. This is a great way to try out more expensive tools, like die cut machines and cutters. You could even invite your scrapbooking friends to your home for a crop. Crops allow everyone to share techniques with each other and provide beginner scrapbookers with tips and ideas.
One more option to learn basic techniques is to purchase an album kit. Many album kits come complete with all the supplies you need to make a scrapbook. They provide detailed instructions and sometimes even basic color and design layout theory. However, to complete the album you will need to buy your own tools, such as, scissors and adhesive.
Once you’ve learned beginner scrapbooking, remember to practice your techniques often. The more pages you make the better you will become at designing layouts. As you master the basics, you can use the same resources above to find more advanced tips and techniques.

Your honeymoon in Hawaii was simply an occasion made in heaven. You’ve just spent 2 weeks in the most beautiful tropical paradise you’ve ever been to, and now you’d like to capture those memories in one handy, convenient place. Your friends are suggesting that you start a scrapbook album, but you don’t even know how to make one! Scrapbook albums can be a lot of fun to make, even if you have never tried one before. So how exactly do you make scrapbook albums? Let’s look at the process, step-by-step.
First, the basics. Scrapbook albums come in a variety of materials, sizes, and styles. The primary step in creating scrapbook albums is choosing the album itself. Some of the costly ones usually are made of leather. But since important albums, like your honeymoon scrapbooks, are valuable, however, you may feel like selecting a high-quality and hard-wearing leather album for yours, so don’t scrimp on it if you can help it! Cloth-covered scrapbook albums are also a good alternative, however. The fabric used in these albums is usually book cloth, so you can rest assured that it is strong. Cheap scrapbook albums are also obtainable, if you want reasonably-priced ones to begin with. These are typically made of heavy cover stock, plain or covered with paper.
Standard scrapbook albums have a utilizable page size of 12×12 inches. The scrapbook album itself may measure 13×14 inches or more, but part of that is the book’s spine. Some scrapbook albums can get bigger, as big as 18×20 inches. As a beginner, you may feel like choosing your first album from standard-sized scrapbooks, given that the majority of scrapbook supplies are prepared to that standard.
The assortment of scrapbook album designs has also flourished together with the growth of scrapbooking’s popularity. Plain cover scrapbook albums now come in many colors. Some scrapbook albums may have a military-themed cover, while others might have a fun cartoonish theme, with popular cartoon characters embellished on the cover. Tropical scrapbook albums, which you might prefer for your Hawaii honeymoon, would be gorgeous in scrapbook albums with a vivid red or blue Hibiscus-patterned cloth cover.
Once you have selected the scrapbook album, you now have to arrange the pictures and memorabilia you will apply. Pay attention to the subject matter of each piece in addition to the colors. Honeymoon scrapbook albums already have an overall theme – the honeymoon! Your subsequent step will be to settle on sub-themes for each 2-page spread. For example, you might have a theme of your arrival at Hawaii, with approach photos of the island from the air. This theme could also include photos taken upon landing.
Outline the rest of your photos, deciding on a subject matter for each spread. You may want some legroom for notes and other elements you would like to insert later, so don’t give in to the temptation of packing your scrapbook pages with photos. You might furthermore decide to add a bit of torn paper underneath the photos to set them off from the backdrop. On some pages, you may fancy placing a paper frame around the photos.
Whewn the photos are all arranged and affixed to your liking, it’s time to add your notes, or “journalizing”. These notes are nothing more than captions to give details about the photos in your album. You may want to cherish a special memory of what was said when a certain photo was taken – or a comment about what happened right away before or after. Your comments can be added on little pieces of paper that are added to scrapbook albums, much like how photos are added.
Embellishments, charms, stickers, and other small pieces that add interest and personality to your scrapbook will be the final touch in creating scrapbook albums. You can pick out the decorations and embellishments you’ll put on your scrapbook depending on the theme you’re using. Honeymoon scrapbook albums might include small hearts or kisses. Hawaiian scrapbook albums, or other tropical scrapbook albums, might include small sandals or seashells.

Scrapbooks Protect Your Photos
Not only does a well-made scrapbook protect and preserve your photos, it also makes the photos themselves more fun to look at. Most people would much rather thumb through a scrapbook with its extra, fun touches than a plain photo album.
Scrapbooks Make Great Gifts
Because they are so personal, scrapbooks make a great gift for a loved one on a special day. Some especially good occasions to give a scrapbook as a gift are: weddings, anniversaries, milestone birthdays, graduations, and retirement parties.
Scrapbooks show that you put a lot of time and thought into your gift and can be a wonderful keepsake for the receiver.
Scrapbooking Is a Great Creative Outlet
Did you know that you have an artistic, creative side? Everyone does, it’s just that not everyone uses it. Scrapbooking, with its colors, themes, cutting and pasting, writing, and arranging, is a great way to express your creativity. The best part is that all of that is enjoyable and so much fun!
Maybe you are one of those people that don’t believe you can do any of that very well. Guess what? You’re wrong! Even the most un-artistic person can copy a page layout that they found somewhere and really liked. Besides, it’s hard not to be inspired when you have some great photos and some fun scrapbooking materials in front of you.
After a while you’ll be adding your own personal touches to your pages, and soon you’ll be creating your own completely unique layouts that you can be proud of.
Other Scrapbookers!
Nothing will help you make new friends faster than sharing a hobby with someone! Scrapbooking is an especially great hobby for sharing with friends. Many communities have scrapbooking clubs where scrapbookers can get to together to scrapbook, share ideas, show each other photographs, and talk for hours. Some craft stores also have a scrapbooking night for this same purpose (usually with the hope that people will buy a few things).
These scrapbooking nights or “crops”, as they are called by scrapbookers, are a great way to get out of the house and spend some time socializing with other people. If you really need some time for yourself, get your club to put on a weekend scrapbooking retreat. It will be two days of nothing but scrapbooking fun!
Your town doesn’t have a scrapbooking club? That’s easy. Find some friends who scrapbook and start one! If you don’t have some other scrapbookers in your life, you’re missing out.
Scrapbooking Captures Precious Moments and Memories
In my opinion, this is the most wonderful thing about scrapbooking. The best way to explain it is with a quick story.
When I first started scrapbooking, my grandma was the person in my family most interested in my layouts. Every time she came over we would look through them together and she would point out the things she liked the most.
She was so interested that I finally decided to make a scrapbook with her. We put in photos of us together along with mementos of all the special times we could think of. It took a few weeks to finish, but we had a great time.
Two short months later she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and quickly slipped away. I’m so thankful that we were able to make that scrapbook together. Because now, whenever I miss her, I can just look through that scrapbook and smile at all the precious memories.

What is scrapbooking?

Scrapbooking is one of the methods for the preservation of memory in the form of information. This information is in the form of photos, pictures, text, stickers etc. Scrapbooking involves lot of creativity. Scrapbooking is not just basically a note-book but it is also a preservation of all the movements the precious and much more…

Ideas and tips for scrapbooks

* The first thing the user should remember in mind is that the scrapbook is a replica of your self.

* The person should put all his / her creativity skills. The person before creating a scrapbook should keep in mind about the size, the number of pages, the amount of materials to be required and the physical aspects for making a perfect a perfect scrapbook.

* If scrapbook is looked as a hobby the user can put more creativity in making the scrapbook.

* Color combinations plays a crucial role I the color combinations is not proper the scrapbook looks shabby and untidy. The proper colors which

match your scrap book should be used.

* Appropriate enhance the quality of scrapbooks, it helps the scrapbooks to be more glittery and adds a spark to your scrapbook.

* The use of proper borders is also one of the most important aspects for the formation of an attractive scrapbook. Borders can be made attractive with the help of materials like stickers, stamps or even stencils. The main photos in the scrapbooks should be highlighted or decorated with different color pencils or multi-colored pencils. There should be two borders made in the scrapbook one should be thin while the other should be a bit wider than the other.

It should be kept in mind that the borders play a vital role n the scrapbook, the borders help to add spark in your scrapbook.

* The photos in the scrapbook should be placed in a proper order. The order of photos plays an important role in one’s scrapbook. The order should be such that it should be pleasing to the eyes. Proper flow of the photos makes the scrapbook more realistic.

* The related accents should be placed correctly this will help to add a spark to your scrapbooks.

* Photos and stickers should be pasted in the form of triangles this will make the scrapbook more pleasing.

* The scrapbooks should be divided in multiple-sessions this enhance the looks of your scrap book.

* The principal of “Rule of Thirds” should be kept in mind while the formation of the scrapbook. This will help to enhance the quality of your scrapbook.

* For a better attractive feature in the scrapbook the stickers or the stamps used should be repeated.

* Sketching of the important photos should be done this will help to boost the looks of the scrapbook.

* The scrapbooks is classified in the form of three or five accents.

Scrapbooking is defined as an activity to preserve memorabilia and legacy through a notebook called a scrapbook comprising of a person’s thoughts and ideas, which is decorated in a beautiful, interesting and alluring manner. The activity is widespread and extremely popular. The whole aim of a scrapbook is to create a visual impact and make the scrapbook an interesting need for the maker. Surely, a beautifully decorated scrapbook with interesting anecdotes, quotes and ideas is what will surely enchant its maker for a long time.

The traditional form of Scrapbooking includes paper, cards, pens, glue, scissors, and paper trimmers etc all which are used to make or design a scrapbook. Tools for specialized designs include inking tools, heat embossing tools, stencils, eyelet setters, craft punches, die cut templates etc. for decorations, materials like sequins, embellishments, stickers, snow globes, eyelets, rubber stamp-ons etc are used. Digital Scrapbooking involves the use of scanners, printers, desktop publishing, internet etc.

Scrapbooking supplies are extremely essential in the world of Scrapbooking. These supplies help you enhance the beauty and dimensions of your scrapbook. Various brands manufacture a wide range of these supplies and several stores all over outsource them to a large number of consumers. Online stores sell the same products to a much wider scale of consumers. Without the availability of these supplies, Scrapbooking would be a mundane and monotonous activity.

The huge world of Scrapbooking supplies include supplies like albums and scrapbooks, stickers, brass templates, cards, chalk-ons, rub-ons, rubber stamp-ons, papers, cardstock papers, scissors and trimmers in attractive shapes, craft punches, eyelets, brads, embellishments, cards, page protectors and refills, die cuts, cutouts, storage materials, memory kits, idea books, quote books, snow globes and snow globe stickers, photo corners, ribbons, totes and organizers etc. the list goes on and on.

The basic Scrapbooking supplies include albums and scrapbooks which form the basis of Scrapbooking. These come in several types, shapes and sizes. The other basic and important supplies include background papers (printed and cardstock papers), paper trimmer, art pens, archival pens, mounting glues, scissors etc. all are manufactured in a wide variety. The supplies for the scrapbook content available all over. They include interesting quote books with a huge variety of quotes and idea books for writing interesting content in your scrapbooks.

The most demanded Scrapbooking supplies include decoration materials for scrapbooks. Stickers representing several emotions, actions and aspects of the other walks of life are hugely popular. These low priced, easily available decoration supplies make the perfect decoration materials for your scrapbooks. Colorful embellishments certainly add a lot of style and beauty to your scrapbooks. Fibbers and ribbons add that slight bit of charm to your scrapbooks.

Punches, scissors and trimmers, photo corners, stencils, templates, die cut machines, heat embossing stencils, eyelet setters and others are the Scrapbooking supplies that can be used for changing or enhancing the physical shapes of your scrapbooks. Storage materials, totes, organizers etc all serve as storage materials for your scrapbooks. These important Scrapbooking supplies help you organize your other supplies in a systematic way.

Digital scrapbooking is becoming so popular that even traditional scrapbook enthusiasts are making the switch. Read why so many are learning to scrapbook on the computer and why you should give it a try.
1. Saves Time
As in all things digital, there are many ways scrapbooking digitally saves you time.
If you’re really lazy or think you can’t even combine two elements without messing something up, you can buy pre-made pages with spaces for your photos and journaling and just drag and drop your pictures onto the page.
Printing your pictures before you put them into your scrapbook pages is no longer necessary. Just download your digital camera pictures to your computer.
No need to spend hours going from one store to another looking for the right color paper to go with your daughter’s Easter dress. Shopping the Web is faster or you can create your own paper. This also eliminates those unwanted 2-year-old tantrums in the paper aisle of the local store.
Everyone I’ve spoken with that’s made the switch to digital says they love how much faster they can complete pages.
2. Saves Space
For some traditional scrappers, the idea was whoever dies with the most supplies wins. Setting aside a permanent corner, room, basement or annex for your supplies was a way to beat your husband at his game of collecting tools.
On the other hand, the only physical space required for digital scrapbooking is for your computer, scanner and printer. The other “space” requirement is the size of your hard drive in your computer. Digitized images do take a lot of megabytes of drive space, but have you seen the price of hard drives lately? You can get a 500 gigabyte drive (that’s 512000 megabytes) for under $100 these days.
Many digital scrappers also like the fact that printed digital scrapbooks are just like any other book. No bulky pages filled with buttons and ribbons.
3. Clean and Tidy
With your supplies on the computer, there’s no need to physically sort through all the punches, paper, ribbon or other embellishments you might have lying around. No worries about leaving a project partially done and laying out where kids can spill a soda on it. No need to get supplies out on the dining room table only to put them away later so you can serve dinner. Just click save and don’t leave your computer screen where someone can accidentally delete your work.
Since you don’t have to worry about the hassle of getting supplies out and cleaning up afterwards, you will find many more opportunities to work on your pages than ever before.
4. Saves Money
You already own a computer, now all you need is the right software. Cost of software such as Adobe Photoshop Elements is $75 – $100.
Digital scrapbook kits usually go for around $5.00 to $7.00 and have lots of paper and embellishments included. The equivalent in physical paper and embellishments costs $20 to $35 and are “consumable” meaning once you use them, they are gone. Digital kits can be used over and over to your heart’s content.
Once you learn how to use your digital scrapbooking software, it’s not hard to create your own supplies if you feel adventurous.
Oh, and saves a lot of gas money too since there’s no need to spend hours going from one store to another looking for the right color paper to go with your daughter’s Easter dress.
5. Waste Proof
This naturally follows number 4 because you can literally re-use any digital scrapbook element as many times as you like. No more buying extra paper to avoid running out of a certain pattern or color. No more keeping piles of leftover paper scraps. Imaging starting each new project with a complete new scrapbook kit. With digital scrapbooking, you can.
6. Mistake Proof
The most precious items in your scrapbooks are your photos. So why take the chance of butchering them with scissors. With digital scrapbooking, there’s no worry of ruining the only photo you have of Great, Great Grandpa. Scan the photo and make as many copies as you need. Resize and crop as many times as you like. Don’t like it? Back up a few steps with the Undo function or start over.
Ever place a sticker on a page and didn’t quite like it? Oh well, it’s stuck on the page now. Digital scrapbooking allows you to experiment with a multitude of possible combinations until you get it just the way you want.
7. Photo Manipulation
Restore vintage photos to make them look just like new. Take current photos and purposely make them looked aged. Remove the red eye in that otherwise perfect candid shot. Get rid of ugly facial blemishes (the proverbial pimple in the Prom portrait) or too much sweat making the face glisten. Crop, enlarge, tint, age — there are so many options to make your photos even more attractive, you’ll be absolutely amazed. Photos you thought were hopeless are given new life.
8. Easier to Share
Ever create a scrapbook page only to duplicate it once again for your mother? Not anymore. In addition to being another time saver, digital scrapbooks can be shared so easily in so many ways. Print multiple copies of your completed books to share with family. Upload pages to your family blog. Email pages to relatives wherever they live. Use the same digital template for multiple photos. Get the idea?
9. Archival Quality
Remember when everything had to be acid free? First it was the paper, then the sheet protectors, the inks, the glue. Then came all the embellishments. Were they acid free too? Wait a sec…with digital scrapbooking, everything is acid free because there is no ink or glue to mix with your photos. Everything is preserved digitally either on your computer hard drive or on CDs or DVDs. Print as many copies as you need as often as you like. Not only is this archival, but keeping extra copies of your photos digitally either in a fire-proof safe or in a second physical location is the best way to ensure against your keepsakes being destroyed by a disaster such as a fire.
10. Unlimited Styles
With traditional scrapbooking, you’re limited by whatever paper you can find in your local store or on the Web. Even then, you might find a pattern you like but sometimes the color isn’t quite right.
Not a problem with digital scrapbooking. It’s so easy to adjust the paper color from one hue to another so you can always match your daughter’s Easter dress perfectly.
11. Trendiest
Scrapbook paper manufacturers use designers to create a new line of products. Then they decide which designs go into production. From there, retail buyers decide how much of the line to carry in their stores. By the time you get around to shopping, you’re lucky if the product is in stock and in the right color.
Digital paper is not limited by any of the above. There’s a multitude of online purveyors of digital scrapbook kits and there’s no waiting for the product to hit the store. New designers don’t have to have a big company behind them to sell their own designs. You get the trendiest designs and they are guaranteed to always be in stock.
12. Makes Anyone an Expert
So what if your handwriting looks as bad as a doctors prescription. That’s what computer fonts are for…to make you look like a professional calligrapher. But the best part is, there’s no commitment, so if you misspelled a word in your journaling, you’re free to go correct it without damaging your layout. Cropped photos always have perfect edges and text is always straight. Using a computer to scrapbook brings out the real artist inside you when you don’t have to worry about making mistakes.
13. Flexibility
Try this exercise: Take a piece of pattern paper and attach a photo. Now add some ribbon and some journaling. Now go back to the pattern paper and change it to another style to see if it will look better. Can’t do it? You can when doing it digitally. That’s what layers are for. It’s like making a big Dagwood sandwich and deciding you want relish instead of pickles after the sandwich is already built. With layers, you can change any element on the page at any time.
14. Professionalism
Sure we like homemade stuff, but if we can make it look professional, it makes us all the more proud we created it. Submit your digital scrapbooks to printers like Viovio to have them professionally printed and bound. Then show everyone how talented you really are.
15. Versatility
Take any design you like and turn it into just about anything you want. Change the opacity to make it look like vellum. Tweak the colors to add a little more blue or red. Increase the color saturation or decrease it. Change it into anything you desire.
16. Endless Supplies
Never, ever run out of the letter “S” when using a sticker set again. And always have it in the right size, color and style. With digital scrapbooking, you will never run out of supplies again.
And who knows, maybe you’ll start designing your own paper lines.
17. Easy on the Furniture
No more hammering eyelets! No more dents in your oak dining table. Enough said.

Digital Scrapbooking is becoming very popular. It is a way to share photos with friends and family, that allows for creativity just as in traditional scrapbooking and plays into the technology driven world that we live in. Digital scrapbooking is becoming increasing popular among traditional scrapbookers and newbie scrapbookers due to the increased quality, decreased expense and mess as well as the ability to share final projects easily with others.

One of the obvious benefits of digital scrapbooking to the traditional scrapbooking is the physical mess that it does not create. With traditional scrapbooking, creators have to either have enough space in their home to leave their supplies and tools out or have enough storage space and containers. Problems arise with both, potentially dangerous tools lying around for children to get into and the hassle of putting everything in or out of storage mid-project are obvious deterrents. The other important thing to mention is the physical clean up. As many scrapbookers know, getting into a project provides an easy distraction from noticing the paper clippings and pieces of string, buttons and items spreading across the work area. Digital scrapbooking also minimizes the work area, to a computer screen.

The next great thing about digital scrapbooking is the cost, or lack there of. Yes, you can spend a lot of money on digital scrapbooking if you want, but you do not have to. The first money saving aspect is that of tools and supplies. There are many scrapbookers that have endless tubs of tools, cutting devices, hole punchers, rubber stamps, ink pads, paper supply, ribbon, buttons, pins, stickers and the list goes on. The supplies for digital scrapbooking can often times be found online for free or created with graphic and photo software. The biggest cost of digital scrapbooking is usually related to finding a computer program to use. Photo programs can run from $50-300, but many provide free downloadable trials so you can be certain of your investment. One could run into a some expenses when it comes to equipment like digital cameras, scanners and printers, but most people are likely to already own most of this equipment.

One of the best things about digital scrapbooks is just that, it’s digital. The digital platform allows corrections and additions to be made easily. How easy is it to physically change an actual hand-made scrapbook page, its not. In fact, attempting to do so may ruin the page all together, wasting a lot of time and resources. Digital scrapbooks are also extremely popular because of their ’share-ability’ (is that a word?). The satisfaction in scrapbooking in two-fold: seeing the final product and sharing the final product. You can share your scrapbook with all those around you. With digital scrapbooks, you can share with those around the world. Have family members living cross country, or grandparents that can get enough details about their grandchildren? You wouldn’t want to risk mailing your piece of art to them.

As mentioned a minute ago, one of the greatest things about scrapbooking, is being able to see it in completion. To have something physical that looks good, is personal and gives you a sense of accomplishment. Digital scrapbooks do not take this away. There are many websites, scrapbooking companies and even photo labs that can print your pages or even an entire book, printed & bound.

Digital scrapbooking provides many of the perks of traditional scrapbooking but with added ease, lower cost, with just as much of a creative outlet. It also has many benefits that traditional scrapbooking does not have, making it the choice for many. If you are looking for a project that is enjoyable to build, personal and fun to share, digital scrapbooking may be for you.